¹Now these are the names of the sons of Israel who came to  ²Egypt with Jacob; each man came with his household:

Reuben, Simeon, Levi, and Judah,

Issachar, Zebulun, and Benjamin,

Dan and Naphtali, Gad and Asher.

And all the  ¹persons who came forth from the loins of Jacob were seventy  ¹persons, but Joseph was already in Egypt.

And Joseph  ¹died, and all his brothers, and all that generation.

But the children of Israel were fruitful and increased abundantly and multiplied and grew exceedingly strong, and the land was filled with them.

And a new king rose up over Egypt, who did not know of Joseph.

And he said to his people, The people of the children of Israel are now more numerous and stronger than we.

Come, let us deal wisely with them, lest they multiply and, when some war occurs, they also join themselves to those who hate us and fight against us and go up from the land.

So they set taskmasters over them to afflict them with their burdens. And they built storage cities for Pharaoh,  ¹Pithom and  ¹Raamses.

But the more they afflicted them, the more they multiplied and the more they spread out so that they came to dread the children of Israel.

And the Egyptians made the children of Israel serve with harshness,

And they made their lives bitter with hard labor in  ¹mortar and in  ¹brick and in all kinds of labor in the field; all their labor with which they made them serve was with harshness.

And the king of Egypt spoke to the Hebrew midwives, one whose name was Shiphrah and the other whose name was Puah;

And he said, When you act as midwives for the Hebrew women and see them on the  ¹birthstool, if it is a  ²son, then you shall put him to death; but if it is a  ²daughter, then she shall live.

But the midwives  ¹feared God and did not do as the king of Egypt had commanded them but let the male children live.

So the king of Egypt called for the midwives and said to them, Why have you done this thing and let the male children live?

And the midwives said to Pharaoh, Because the Hebrew women are not like the Egyptian women; for they are vigorous: before the midwife comes to them, they give birth.

And God dealt well with the midwives, and the people multiplied and grew very strong.

And because the midwives feared God, He established households for them.

And Pharaoh commanded all his people, saying, Every son who is born ¹ you shall cast into the  ²River, but every daughter you shall let live.

And a man of the house of Levi went and took a daughter of Levi as wife.

And the woman conceived and bore a son; and when she saw that he was a fine child, she  ¹hid him three months.

And when she could no longer hide him, she took for him a papyrus basket and plastered it with tar and pitch; and she put the child in it and placed it among the reeds on the bank of the River.

And his sister stood at a distance to find out what would happen to him.

And the daughter of Pharaoh came down to bathe at the River while her maidens walked alongside the River. And she saw the basket in the midst of the reeds and sent her female servant, and she brought it to her.

And she opened it and saw the child, and there was the boy, crying. And she had compassion on him and said, This is one of the Hebrews' children.

Then his sister said to Pharaoh's daughter, Shall I go and call a nurse from the Hebrew women for you that she may nurse the child for you?

And Pharaoh's daughter said to her, Go. And the girl went and called the child's mother.

And Pharaoh's daughter said to her, Take this child away and nurse him for me, and I will give you your wages. So the woman took the child and nursed him.

And the child grew, and she brought him to Pharaoh's daughter, and he became her son. And she called his name  ¹Moses and said, Because I drew him out of the water.

And in those days, when Moses had grown up, he went out to his brothers and looked on their burdens; and he saw an Egyptian beating a Hebrew, one of his brothers.

And he looked this way and that, and when he saw that there was no one there, he struck the Egyptian down and hid him in the sand.

And he went out the next day, and there were two Hebrew men struggling together; and he said to the one who was in the wrong, Why are you beating your companion?

And he said, Who appointed you a ruler and a judge over us? Are you thinking to kill me as you killed the Egyptian? And Moses became  ¹frightened and said, Surely the matter is known.

Now when Pharaoh heard of this matter, he sought to kill Moses. But Moses fled from Pharaoh to dwell in the land of Midian, and he sat down by a well.

Now the priest of Midian had seven daughters, and they came and drew water and filled the troughs to water their father's flock.

And the shepherds came and drove them away, but Moses rose up and helped them and watered their flock.

And when they came to Reuel their father, he said, Why have you come back so quickly today?

And they said, An Egyptian delivered us out of the hand of the shepherds, and he even drew water for us as well and watered the flock.

And he said to his daughters, And where is he? Why did you leave the man? Invite him to eat a meal.

And Moses agreed to  ¹stay with the man, and he gave Moses Zipporah his daughter.

And she bore a son, and he called his name  ¹Gershom, for he said, I have been a sojourner in a foreign land.

And in the course of those many days the king of Egypt died, and the children of Israel groaned because of the bondage. And they cried out, and their cry went up to God because of their bondage.

And God heard their groaning, and God remembered His covenant with Abraham, with Isaac, and with Jacob.

And God looked upon the children of Israel, and God took notice of them.

Now  ¹Moses was shepherding the flock of Jethro his father-in-law, the priest of Midian; and he led the flock to the back of the wilderness and came to the mountain of God, to Horeb.

And the  ¹Angel of Jehovah appeared to him in a  ²flame of fire out of the midst of a  ²thornbush. And when he looked, there was the thornbush, burning with fire; but the thornbush was not consumed.

And Moses said, I must turn aside now and see this great sight, why the thornbush does not burn up.

And when Jehovah saw that he had turned aside to look, God called to him out of the midst of the thornbush and said, Moses, Moses. And he said, Here I am.

And He said, Do not come near here. Remove your sandals from your feet, for the place on which you are standing is holy ground.

And He said, I am the God of your father, the  ¹God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob. And Moses hid his face, for he was afraid to look at God.

And Jehovah said, I have surely seen the affliction of My people who are in Egypt and have heard their cry because of their taskmasters, for I know their sorrows.

And I have come down to  ¹deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians and to  ¹bring them up out of that land to a good and spacious land, to a land flowing with  ²milk and honey, to the place of the Canaanites and the Hittites and the Amorites and the Perizzites and the Hivites and the Jebusites.

And now the cry of the children of Israel has come to Me, and I have also seen the oppression with which the Egyptians oppress them.

So come now, and I will send you to Pharaoh, that you may bring My people, the children of Israel, out of Egypt.

But Moses said to God,  ¹Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh and that I should bring the children of Israel out of Egypt?

And He said, Surely I will be with you, and this shall be the sign for you that I have sent you: When you have brought the people out of Egypt, you will serve God upon this  ¹mountain.

Then Moses said to God, If I come to the children of Israel and say to them, The God of your fathers has sent me to you, and they say to me, What is His name? what shall I say to them?

And God said to Moses,  ¹I AM WHO I AM. And He said, Thus you shall say to the children of Israel, I AM has sent me to you.

And God also said to Moses, Thus you shall say to the children of Israel,  ¹Jehovah, the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has sent me to you. This is My name forever, and this is My memorial from generation to generation.

Go, and gather the elders of Israel together, and say to them, Jehovah, the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, of Isaac, and of Jacob, has appeared to me, saying, I have surely visited you and seen what is being done to you in Egypt.

And I say, I will bring you up out of the affliction of Egypt to the land of the Canaanites and the Hittites and the Amorites and the Perizzites and the Hivites and the Jebusites, to a land flowing with milk and honey.

And they will listen to your voice. And you shall come, you and the elders of Israel, to the king of Egypt, and you shall say to him, Jehovah, the God of the  ¹Hebrews, has met with us; and now let us go a  ²three days' journey into the wilderness that we may sacrifice to Jehovah our God.

But I know that the king of Egypt will not let you go unless compelled by a mighty hand.

So I will stretch out My hand and strike Egypt with all My wonders which I will perform in the midst of it, and after that he will let you go.

And I will give this people favor in the sight of the Egyptians, so that when you go, you will not go empty-handed.

But every woman will ask of her neighbor and of any woman living in her house for articles of silver and articles of gold and clothing, and you will put them on your sons and on your daughters, and thus  ¹plunder the Egyptians.