1And then a man of the tribe of Levi married a daughter of Levi. 2And she conceived, and bore a son; and when she saw that he was a beautiful child, she hid him for three months. 3And when she could no longer hide him, she built a basket of papyrus reeds for him, coated it with tar and pitch, laid the child in it; and set it among the flags by the bank of the Nile River. 4And his sister watched from a distance to see what would happen to him. 5Then the daughter of Pharaoh came down to wash herself in the river; and her attendants walked along the river bank; and when Pharaoh’s daughter saw the basket among the flags, she sent her maid to fetch it. 6And when she opened it, she saw the baby; and the baby cried. And she felt sorry for him, and said, “This is one of the Hebrews’ babies.” 7Then his sister said to Pharaoh’s daughter, “Shall I go and get one of the Hebrew women to nurse the child for you?” 8And Pharaoh's daughter said, “Go.” And the girl went and called the child's mother. 9And Pharaoh's daughter told her, “Take this child, and nurse it for me; and I will pay you your wages.” And the woman took the child, and nursed it. 10And the child grew, and she brought him to Pharaoh's daughter, and he adopted him as her son. And she named him “Moses” (to draw out); and said, “Because I drew him out of the water.”

11And one day when Moses was grown, he went out to where his people were, and watched them at their hard labor; and he saw an Egyptian beating a Hebrew, one of his own people. 12And he looked around and when he saw no one looking, he intervened, struck, and killed the Egyptian, and hid his body in the sand. 13And when he went out the next day, two Hebrews were fighting together; and he said to the one in the wrong, “Why are you hitting your fellow Jew?” 14And he said, “Who made you a ruler and judge over us? Do you intend to kill me like you killed the Egyptian?” And Moses thought, “Surely this thing is known.” 15And when Pharaoh heard of it, he tried to have Moses killed. But Moses fled from there, and dwelt in the land of Midian; and he sat down by a well there.

16Now the priest of Midian had seven daughters, who came, as was their custom, to draw water to fill the troughs and water their father's flock. 17And then some shepherds would come to chase them away; but Moses stood up and came to their aid, and helped them water their flock. 18And when they got home, Reuel, their grandfather, asked, “Why are you back so soon today?” 19And they said, “An Egyptian rescued us from the shepherds, and he also drew enough water for us, and watered the flock.” 20Then Reuel asked, “Where is he? Why have you left the man? Call him, that he may eat with us.” 21And so Moses was content to dwell with Reuel; and Reuel gave Moses his daughter, Zipporah, in marriage. 22And Zipporah bore him a son, and they named him Gershom (a stranger there); for he said, “I have been a stranger in a foreign land.”

23And during his stay there, the former king of Egypt died. But still the children of Israel groaned under their burden of slavery; and they cried out because of their bondage, and their cry rose to the ears of God. 24And when God heard their groaning, He remembered His covenant with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. 25And as God looked upon the children of Israel, and saw their plight, He felt compassion for them.