Exodus 2
Expanded Bible
Baby Moses
2 Now a man from the ·family [L house] of Levi ·married a woman who was also from the family [L took a daughter] of Levi. 2 She ·became pregnant [conceived] and gave birth to a son. When she saw how ·wonderful the baby [good/handsome/healthy he] was, she hid him for three months. 3 But after three months she was not able to hide the baby any longer, so she got a ·basket [ark] made of ·reeds [papyrus] and covered it with ·tar so that it would float [bitumen and pitch]. She put the baby in the basket. Then she put the basket among the ·tall stalks of grass [L reeds] at the edge of the ·Nile River [L river]. 4 The baby’s sister stood ·a short distance away [afar off] to see what would happen to him.
5 Then the daughter of ·the king of Egypt [L Pharaoh] came to the river to ·take a bath [wash], and her servant girls were walking beside the river. When she saw the ·basket [ark] in the ·tall grass [reeds] she sent her slave girl to get it. 6 She opened the basket and saw the baby boy. He was crying, so she ·felt sorry [had pity] for him and said, “This is one of the Hebrew babies.”
7 Then the baby’s sister asked ·the king’s [L Pharaoh’s] daughter, “Would you like me to go and find a Hebrew woman to nurse the baby for you?”
8 ·The king’s [L Pharaoh’s] daughter said, “Go!” So the girl went and got the baby’s own mother [C Moses not only survived but was raised by his own mother].
9 ·The king’s [L Pharaoh’s] daughter said to the woman, “Take this baby and nurse him for me, and I will pay you.” So the woman took her baby and nursed him. 10 When the child ·grew older [L was weaned], the woman took him to the ·king’s [L Pharaoh’s] daughter, and she adopted the baby as her own son. The king’s daughter named him Moses [C sounds like the Hebrew word for “draw/pull up”], because she had ·pulled [drawn] him out of the water.
Moses Tries to Help
11 Moses ·grew and became a man [L grew up]. One day he ·visited his people [L went out among his brothers/relatives/kin] and saw ·that they were forced to work very hard [L their hard/forced labor]. He saw an Egyptian beating a Hebrew man, one of Moses’ ·own people [L brothers; relatives; kin]. 12 Moses looked all around and saw that no one was watching, so he killed the Egyptian and hid his body in the sand.
13 The ·next [L second] day Moses returned and saw two Hebrew men fighting each other. He said to the one that was in the wrong, “Why are you hitting one of your ·own people [friends; neighbors]?”
14 The man answered, “Who made you ·our ruler [L prince over people] and judge? Are you going to kill me as you killed the Egyptian?”
Moses was afraid and thought, “·Now everyone knows what I did [L Indeed the deed is known].”
15 When ·the king [L Pharaoh] heard ·what Moses had done [L of the thing], he ·tried [sought] to kill him. But Moses ·ran away [fled] from ·the king [L Pharaoh] and went to live in the land of Midian [C probably in the eastern Sinai peninsula or in western Arabia]. There he sat down near a well.
Moses in Midian
16 There was a priest in Midian [C Jethro; also known as Reuel] who had seven daughters. His daughters went to that well to ·get [draw] water to fill the water troughs for their father’s flock. 17 Some shepherds came and ·chased [drove] the girls away, but Moses defended the girls and watered their flock.
18 When they went back to their father Reuel [C another name for Jethro], he asked them, “Why have you come home early today?”
19 The girls answered, “·The shepherds chased us away, but an Egyptian defended us [L An Egyptian man rescued us from the hand of shepherds]. He ·got [drew] water for us and watered our flock.”
20 He asked his daughters, “Where is this man? Why did you ·leave [abandon; forsake] him? Invite him to eat with us.”
21 Moses agreed to stay with Jethro, and he gave his daughter Zipporah to Moses to be his wife. 22 She gave birth to a son. Moses named him Gershom [C sounds like “stranger/resident alien there” in Hebrew], because Moses was a stranger in a ·land that was not his own [foreign land].
23 After a long time, the king of Egypt died. The people of Israel groaned, because ·they were forced to work very hard [of their work/slavery]. ·When they cried for help, God heard them [L Their plea for help rose up to God because of their work/slavery]. 24 God heard their ·cries [groaning], and he remembered ·the agreement he had made [his covenant] with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob [Gen. 12:1–3]. 25 God saw the ·troubles of the people [L sons; children] of Israel, and he ·was concerned about [took note of] them.
Exodus 2
King James Version
2 And there went a man of the house of Levi, and took to wife a daughter of Levi.
2 And the woman conceived, and bare a son: and when she saw him that he was a goodly child, she hid him three months.
3 And when she could not longer hide him, she took for him an ark of bulrushes, and daubed it with slime and with pitch, and put the child therein; and she laid it in the flags by the river's brink.
4 And his sister stood afar off, to wit what would be done to him.
5 And the daughter of Pharaoh came down to wash herself at the river; and her maidens walked along by the river's side; and when she saw the ark among the flags, she sent her maid to fetch it.
6 And when she had opened it, she saw the child: and, behold, the babe wept. And she had compassion on him, and said, This is one of the Hebrews' children.
7 Then said his sister to Pharaoh's daughter, Shall I go and call to thee a nurse of the Hebrew women, that she may nurse the child for thee?
8 And Pharaoh's daughter said to her, Go. And the maid went and called the child's mother.
9 And Pharaoh's daughter said unto her, Take this child away, and nurse it for me, and I will give thee thy wages. And the women took the child, and nursed it.
10 And the child grew, and she brought him unto Pharaoh's daughter, and he became her son. And she called his name Moses: and she said, Because I drew him out of the water.
11 And it came to pass in those days, when Moses was grown, that he went out unto his brethren, and looked on their burdens: and he spied an Egyptian smiting an Hebrew, one of his brethren.
12 And he looked this way and that way, and when he saw that there was no man, he slew the Egyptian, and hid him in the sand.
13 And when he went out the second day, behold, two men of the Hebrews strove together: and he said to him that did the wrong, Wherefore smitest thou thy fellow?
14 And he said, Who made thee a prince and a judge over us? intendest thou to kill me, as thou killedst the Egyptian? And Moses feared, and said, Surely this thing is known.
15 Now when Pharaoh heard this thing, he sought to slay Moses. But Moses fled from the face of Pharaoh, and dwelt in the land of Midian: and he sat down by a well.
16 Now the priest of Midian had seven daughters: and they came and drew water, and filled the troughs to water their father's flock.
17 And the shepherds came and drove them away: but Moses stood up and helped them, and watered their flock.
18 And when they came to Reuel their father, he said, How is it that ye are come so soon to day?
19 And they said, An Egyptian delivered us out of the hand of the shepherds, and also drew water enough for us, and watered the flock.
20 And he said unto his daughters, And where is he? why is it that ye have left the man? call him, that he may eat bread.
21 And Moses was content to dwell with the man: and he gave Moses Zipporah his daughter.
22 And she bare him a son, and he called his name Gershom: for he said, I have been a stranger in a strange land.
23 And it came to pass in process of time, that the king of Egypt died: and the children of Israel sighed by reason of the bondage, and they cried, and their cry came up unto God by reason of the bondage.
24 And God heard their groaning, and God remembered his covenant with Abraham, with Isaac, and with Jacob.
25 And God looked upon the children of Israel, and God had respect unto them.
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