1A man from Levi’s family married a Levite woman. 2The woman became pregnant and bore a son. She saw how beautiful he was and hid him for three months. 3When she could not hide him any longer, she took a basket made of papyrus reeds and coated it with tar and pitch. She put the baby in it and set it among the papyrus reeds near the bank of the Nile River. 4The baby’s sister stood at a distance to see what would happen to him. 5The king’s daughter came to the river to bathe. Her servants walked along the bank. Suddenly she noticed the basket in the papyrus reeds and sent a slave woman to get it. 6She opened it and saw a baby boy. He was crying, and she felt sorry for him. »This is one of the Hebrew babies,« she said. 7His sister asked her: »Shall I go and call a Hebrew woman to nurse the baby for you?« 8»Please do,« she answered. So the girl went and brought the baby’s own mother. 9Pharaoh’s daughter told her: »Take care of this child, and I will pay you. The baby’s mother carried him home and took care of him.« 10When he was old enough, she took him to the king’s daughter, who adopted him. She named him Moses because she said: »I pulled him out of the water.« 11After Moses had grown up, he went out to where his own people his brothers were hard at work. He saw an Egyptian beating one of them. 12Moses looked around to see if anyone was watching. Then he killed the Egyptian and hid his body in the sand. 13The next day when Moses went out, he saw two Hebrews fighting. So he went to the man who started the fight and asked: »Why are you beating up one of your own people?« 14The man replied: »Who made you a prince or a judge over us? Are you intending to kill me as you killed the Egyptian?« Moses was afraid and said: »Surely the matter has become known.« 15When Pharaoh heard of this matter, he tried to kill Moses. But Moses fled from the presence of Pharaoh and settled in the land of Midian by a well. 16The priest of Midian had seven daughters. They came to draw water and filled the troughs to water their father’s flock. 17Then the shepherds came and drove them away. Moses stood up and helped them water their flock. 18When they returned to Reuel their father, he said, »Why have you come back so soon today?« 19They said: »An Egyptian delivered us out of the hand of the shepherds. He drew water for us and watered the flock.« 20He asked his daughters: »Where is he? Why have you left the man? Call him, that he may eat bread.« 21Moses was content to live with the man. He gave Moses his daughter Zipporah. 22She bore a son, and he called his name Gershom. For he said: »I have been a stranger in a strange land.« 23Time went by and the king of Egypt died. The Israelites still groaned because they were slaves. So they cried out, and their cries for help went up to God. 24God heard their groaning. He remembered his promise to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. 25God saw the Israelites being oppressed and was concerned about them.