Exodus 1-8
English Standard Version
Chapter 1
1These are the names of the sons of Israel who came to Egypt with Jacob, each with his household: 2Reuben, Simeon, Levi, and Judah, 3Issachar, Zebulun, and Benjamin, 4Dan and Naphtali, Gad and Asher. 5All the descendants of Jacob were seventy persons; Joseph was already in Egypt. 6Then Joseph died, and all his brothers and all that generation. 7But the people of Israel were fruitful and increased greatly; they multiplied and grew exceedingly strong, so that the land was filled with them.
8Now there arose a new king over Egypt, who did not know Joseph.
9And he said to his people, "Behold, the people of Israel are too many and too mighty for us.
10Come, let us deal shrewdly with them, lest they multiply, and, if war breaks out, they join our enemies and fight against us and escape from the land."
11Therefore they set taskmasters over them to afflict them with heavy burdens. They built for Pharaoh store cities, Pithom and Raamses.
12But the more they were oppressed, the more they multiplied and the more they spread abroad. And the Egyptians were in dread of the people of Israel.
13So they ruthlessly made the people of Israel work as slaves
14and made their lives bitter with hard service, in mortar and brick, and in all kinds of work in the field. In all their work they ruthlessly made them work as slaves.
15Then the king of Egypt said to the Hebrew midwives, one of whom was named Shiphrah and the other Puah,
16"When you serve as midwife to the Hebrew women and see them on the birthstool, if it is a son, you shall kill him, but if it is a daughter, she shall live."
17But the midwives feared God and did not do as the king of Egypt commanded them, but let the male children live.
18So the king of Egypt called the midwives and said to them, "Why have you done this, and let the male children live?"
19The midwives said to Pharaoh, "Because the Hebrew women are not like the Egyptian women, for they are vigorous and give birth before the midwife comes to them."
20So God dealt well with the midwives. And the people multiplied and grew very strong.
21And because the midwives feared God, he gave them families.
22Then Pharaoh commanded all his people, "Every son that is born to the Hebrews you shall cast into the Nile, but you shall let every daughter live."
Chapter 2
1Now a man from the house of Levi went and took as his wife a Levite woman. 2The woman conceived and bore a son, and when she saw that he was a fine child, she hid him three months. 3When she could hide him no longer, she took for him a basket made of bulrushes and daubed it with bitumen and pitch. She put the child in it and placed it among the reeds by the river bank. 4And his sister stood at a distance to know what would be done to him. 5Now the daughter of Pharaoh came down to bathe at the river, while her young women walked beside the river. She saw the basket among the reeds and sent her servant woman, and she took it. 6When she opened it, she saw the child, and behold, the baby was crying. She took pity on him and said, "This is one of the Hebrews ' children." 7Then his sister said to Pharaoh 's daughter, "Shall I go and call you a nurse from the Hebrew women to nurse the child for you?" 8And Pharaoh 's daughter said to her, "Go." So the girl went and called the child 's mother. 9And 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. 10When the child grew older, she brought him to Pharaoh 's daughter, and he became her son. She named him Moses, "Because," she said, "I drew him out of the water."
11One day, when Moses had grown up, he went out to his people and looked on their burdens, and he saw an Egyptian beating a Hebrew, one of his people.
12He looked this way and that, and seeing no one, he struck down the Egyptian and hid him in the sand.
13When he went out the next day, behold, two Hebrews were struggling together. And he said to the man in the wrong, "Why do you strike your companion?"
14He answered, "Who made you a prince and a judge over us? Do you mean to kill me as you killed the Egyptian?" Then Moses was afraid, and thought, "Surely the thing is known."
15When Pharaoh heard of it, he sought to kill Moses. But Moses fled from Pharaoh and stayed in the land of Midian. And he sat down by a well.
16Now the priest of Midian had seven daughters, and they came and drew water and filled the troughs to water their father 's flock.
17The shepherds came and drove them away, but Moses stood up and saved them, and watered their flock.
18When they came home to their father Reuel, he said, "How is it that you have come home so soon today?"
19They said, "An Egyptian delivered us out of the hand of the shepherds and even drew water for us and watered the flock."
20He said to his daughters, "Then where is he? Why have you left the man? Call him, that he may eat bread."
21And Moses was content to dwell with the man, and he gave Moses his daughter Zipporah.
22She gave birth to a son, and he called his name Gershom, for he said, "I have been a sojourner in a foreign land."
23During those many days the king of Egypt died, and the people of Israel groaned because of their slavery and cried out for help. Their cry for rescue from slavery came up to God.
24And God heard their groaning, and God remembered his covenant with Abraham, with Isaac, and with Jacob.
25God saw the people of Israel — and God knew.
Chapter 3
1Now Moses was keeping the flock of his father-in-law, Jethro, the priest of Midian, and he led his flock to the west side of the wilderness and came to Horeb, the mountain of God. 2And the angel of the Lord appeared to him in a flame of fire out of the midst of a bush. He looked, and behold, the bush was burning, yet it was not consumed. 3And Moses said, "I will turn aside to see this great sight, why the bush is not burned." 4When the Lord saw that he turned aside to see, God called to him out of the bush, "Moses, Moses!" And he said, "Here I am." 5Then he said, "Do not come near; take your sandals off your feet, for the place on which you are standing is holy ground." 6And he said, "I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob." And Moses hid his face, for he was afraid to look at God.
7Then the Lord said, "I have surely seen the affliction of my people who are in Egypt and have heard their cry because of their taskmasters. I know their sufferings,
8and I have come down to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians and to bring them up out of that land to a good and broad land, a land flowing with milk and honey, to the place of the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Amorites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites.
9And now, behold, the cry of the people of Israel has come to me, and I have also seen the oppression with which the Egyptians oppress them.
10Come, I will send you to Pharaoh that you may bring my people, the children of Israel, out of Egypt."
11But Moses said to God, "Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh and bring the children of Israel out of Egypt?"
12He said, "But 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 shall serve God on this mountain."
13Then Moses said to God, "If I come to the people of Israel and say to them, ‘The God of your fathers has sent me to you,’ and they ask me, ‘What is his name?’ what shall I say to them?"
14God said to Moses, "I AM WHO I AM." And he said, "Say this to the people of Israel: ‘I AM has sent me to you.’"
15God also said to Moses, "Say this to the people of Israel: ‘The Lord, 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 thus I am to be remembered throughout all generations.
16Go and gather the elders of Israel together and say to them, ‘The Lord, the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, of Isaac, and of Jacob, has appeared to me, saying, "I have observed you and what has been done to you in Egypt,
17and I promise that I will bring you up out of the affliction of Egypt to the land of the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Amorites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites, a land flowing with milk and honey."’
18And they will listen to your voice, and you and the elders of Israel shall go to the king of Egypt and say to him, ‘The Lord, the God of the Hebrews, has met with us; and now, please let us go a three days ' journey into the wilderness, that we may sacrifice to the Lord our God.’
19But I know that the king of Egypt will not let you go unless compelled by a mighty hand.
20So I will stretch out my hand and strike Egypt with all the wonders that I will do in it; after that he will let you go.
21And I will give this people favor in the sight of the Egyptians; and when you go, you shall not go empty,
22but each woman shall ask of her neighbor, and any woman who lives in her house, for silver and gold jewelry, and for clothing. You shall put them on your sons and on your daughters. So you shall plunder the Egyptians."
Chapter 4
1Then Moses answered, "But behold, they will not believe me or listen to my voice, for they will say, ‘The Lord did not appear to you.’" 2The Lord said to him, "What is that in your hand?" He said, "A staff." 3And he said, "Throw it on the ground." So he threw it on the ground, and it became a serpent, and Moses ran from it. 4But the Lord said to Moses, "Put out your hand and catch it by the tail" — so he put out his hand and caught it, and it became a staff in his hand — 5"that they may believe that the Lord, the God of their fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has appeared to you." 6Again, the Lord said to him, "Put your hand inside your cloak." And he put his hand inside his cloak, and when he took it out, behold, his hand was leprous like snow. 7Then God said, "Put your hand back inside your cloak." So he put his hand back inside his cloak, and when he took it out, behold, it was restored like the rest of his flesh. 8"If they will not believe you," God said, "or listen to the first sign, they may believe the latter sign. 9If they will not believe even these two signs or listen to your voice, you shall take some water from the Nile and pour it on the dry ground, and the water that you shall take from the Nile will become blood on the dry ground."
10But Moses said to the Lord, "Oh, my Lord, I am not eloquent, either in the past or since you have spoken to your servant, but I am slow of speech and of tongue."
11Then the Lord said to him, "Who has made man 's mouth? Who makes him mute, or deaf, or seeing, or blind? Is it not I, the Lord?
12Now therefore go, and I will be with your mouth and teach you what you shall speak."
13But he said, "Oh, my Lord, please send someone else."
14Then the anger of the Lord was kindled against Moses and he said, "Is there not Aaron, your brother, the Levite? I know that he can speak well. Behold, he is coming out to meet you, and when he sees you, he will be glad in his heart.
15You shall speak to him and put the words in his mouth, and I will be with your mouth and with his mouth and will teach you both what to do.
16He shall speak for you to the people, and he shall be your mouth, and you shall be as God to him.
17And take in your hand this staff, with which you shall do the signs."
18Moses went back to Jethro his father-in-law and said to him, "Please let me go back to my brothers in Egypt to see whether they are still alive." And Jethro said to Moses, "Go in peace."
19And the Lord said to Moses in Midian, "Go back to Egypt, for all the men who were seeking your life are dead."
20So Moses took his wife and his sons and had them ride on a donkey, and went back to the land of Egypt. And Moses took the staff of God in his hand.
21And the Lord said to Moses, "When you go back to Egypt, see that you do before Pharaoh all the miracles that I have put in your power. But I will harden his heart, so that he will not let the people go.
22Then you shall say to Pharaoh, ‘Thus says the Lord, Israel is my firstborn son,
23and I say to you, "Let my son go that he may serve me." If you refuse to let him go, behold, I will kill your firstborn son.’"
24At a lodging place on the way the Lord met him and sought to put him to death.
25Then Zipporah took a flint and cut off her son 's foreskin and touched Moses ' feet with it and said, "Surely you are a bridegroom of blood to me!"
26So he let him alone. It was then that she said, "A bridegroom of blood," because of the circumcision.
27The Lord said to Aaron, "Go into the wilderness to meet Moses." So he went and met him at the mountain of God and kissed him.
28And Moses told Aaron all the words of the Lord with which he had sent him to speak, and all the signs that he had commanded him to do.
29Then Moses and Aaron went and gathered together all the elders of the people of Israel.
30Aaron spoke all the words that the Lord had spoken to Moses and did the signs in the sight of the people.
31And the people believed; and when they heard that the Lord had visited the people of Israel and that he had seen their affliction, they bowed their heads and worshiped.
Chapter 5
1Afterward Moses and Aaron went and said to Pharaoh, "Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, ‘Let my people go, that they may hold a feast to me in the wilderness.’" 2But Pharaoh said, "Who is the Lord, that I should obey his voice and let Israel go? I do not know the Lord, and moreover, I will not let Israel go." 3Then they said, "The God of the Hebrews has met with us. Please let us go a three days ' journey into the wilderness that we may sacrifice to the Lord our God, lest he fall upon us with pestilence or with the sword." 4But the king of Egypt said to them, "Moses and Aaron, why do you take the people away from their work? Get back to your burdens." 5And Pharaoh said, "Behold, the people of the land are now many, and you make them rest from their burdens!" 6The same day Pharaoh commanded the taskmasters of the people and their foremen, 7"You shall no longer give the people straw to make bricks, as in the past; let them go and gather straw for themselves. 8But the number of bricks that they made in the past you shall impose on them, you shall by no means reduce it, for they are idle. Therefore they cry, ‘Let us go and offer sacrifice to our God.’ 9Let heavier work be laid on the men that they may labor at it and pay no regard to lying words."
10So the taskmasters and the foremen of the people went out and said to the people, "Thus says Pharaoh, ‘I will not give you straw.
11Go and get your straw yourselves wherever you can find it, but your work will not be reduced in the least.’"
12So the people were scattered throughout all the land of Egypt to gather stubble for straw.
13The taskmasters were urgent, saying, "Complete your work, your daily task each day, as when there was straw."
14And the foremen of the people of Israel, whom Pharaoh 's taskmasters had set over them, were beaten and were asked, "Why have you not done all your task of making bricks today and yesterday, as in the past?"
15Then the foremen of the people of Israel came and cried to Pharaoh, "Why do you treat your servants like this?
16No straw is given to your servants, yet they say to us, ‘Make bricks!’ And behold, your servants are beaten; but the fault is in your own people."
17But he said, "You are idle, you are idle; that is why you say, ‘Let us go and sacrifice to the Lord.’
18Go now and work. No straw will be given you, but you must still deliver the same number of bricks."
19The foremen of the people of Israel saw that they were in trouble when they said, "You shall by no means reduce your number of bricks, your daily task each day."
20They met Moses and Aaron, who were waiting for them, as they came out from Pharaoh;
21and they said to them, "The Lord look on you and judge, because you have made us stink in the sight of Pharaoh and his servants, and have put a sword in their hand to kill us."
22Then Moses turned to the Lord and said, "O Lord, why have you done evil to this people? Why did you ever send me?
23For since I came to Pharaoh to speak in your name, he has done evil to this people, and you have not delivered your people at all."
2God spoke to Moses and said to him, "I am the Lord.
3I appeared to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, as God Almighty, but by my name the Lord I did not make myself known to them.
4I also established my covenant with them to give them the land of Canaan, the land in which they lived as sojourners.
5Moreover, I have heard the groaning of the people of Israel whom the Egyptians hold as slaves, and I have remembered my covenant.
6Say therefore to the people of Israel, ‘I am the Lord, and I will bring you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians, and I will deliver you from slavery to them, and I will redeem you with an outstretched arm and with great acts of judgment.
7I will take you to be my people, and I will be your God, and you shall know that I am the Lord your God, who has brought you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians.
8I will bring you into the land that I swore to give to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob. I will give it to you for a possession. I am the Lord.’"
9Moses spoke thus to the people of Israel, but they did not listen to Moses, because of their broken spirit and harsh slavery.
10So the Lord said to Moses,
11"Go in, tell Pharaoh king of Egypt to let the people of Israel go out of his land."
12But Moses said to the Lord, "Behold, the people of Israel have not listened to me. How then shall Pharaoh listen to me, for I am of uncircumcised lips?"
13But the Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron and gave them a charge about the people of Israel and about Pharaoh king of Egypt: to bring the people of Israel out of the land of Egypt.
14These are the heads of their fathers ' houses: the sons of Reuben, the firstborn of Israel: Hanoch, Pallu, Hezron, and Carmi; these are the clans of Reuben.
15The sons of Simeon: Jemuel, Jamin, Ohad, Jachin, Zohar, and Shaul, the son of a Canaanite woman; these are the clans of Simeon.
16These are the names of the sons of Levi according to their generations: Gershon, Kohath, and Merari, the years of the life of Levi being 137 years.
17The sons of Gershon: Libni and Shimei, by their clans.
18The sons of Kohath: Amram, Izhar, Hebron, and Uzziel, the years of the life of Kohath being 133 years.
19The sons of Merari: Mahli and Mushi. These are the clans of the Levites according to their generations.
20Amram took as his wife Jochebed his father 's sister, and she bore him Aaron and Moses, the years of the life of Amram being 137 years.
21The sons of Izhar: Korah, Nepheg, and Zichri.
22The sons of Uzziel: Mishael, Elzaphan, and Sithri.
23Aaron took as his wife Elisheba, the daughter of Amminadab and the sister of Nahshon, and she bore him Nadab, Abihu, Eleazar, and Ithamar.
24The sons of Korah: Assir, Elkanah, and Abiasaph; these are the clans of the Korahites.
25Eleazar, Aaron 's son, took as his wife one of the daughters of Putiel, and she bore him Phinehas. These are the heads of the fathers ' houses of the Levites by their clans.
26These are the Aaron and Moses to whom the Lord said: "Bring out the people of Israel from the land of Egypt by their hosts."
27It was they who spoke to Pharaoh king of Egypt about bringing out the people of Israel from Egypt, this Moses and this Aaron.
28On the day when the Lord spoke to Moses in the land of Egypt,
29the Lord said to Moses, "I am the Lord; tell Pharaoh king of Egypt all that I say to you."
30But Moses said to the Lord, "Behold, I am of uncircumcised lips. How will Pharaoh listen to me?"
Chapter 7
1And the Lord said to Moses, "See, I have made you like God to Pharaoh, and your brother Aaron shall be your prophet. 2You shall speak all that I command you, and your brother Aaron shall tell Pharaoh to let the people of Israel go out of his land. 3But I will harden Pharaoh 's heart, and though I multiply my signs and wonders in the land of Egypt, 4Pharaoh will not listen to you. Then I will lay my hand on Egypt and bring my hosts, my people the children of Israel, out of the land of Egypt by great acts of judgment. 5The Egyptians shall know that I am the Lord, when I stretch out my hand against Egypt and bring out the people of Israel from among them." 6Moses and Aaron did so; they did just as the Lord commanded them. 7Now Moses was eighty years old, and Aaron eighty-three years old, when they spoke to Pharaoh.
8Then the Lord said to Moses and Aaron,
9"When Pharaoh says to you, ‘Prove yourselves by working a miracle,’ then you shall say to Aaron, ‘Take your staff and cast it down before Pharaoh, that it may become a serpent.’"
10So Moses and Aaron went to Pharaoh and did just as the Lord commanded. Aaron cast down his staff before Pharaoh and his servants, and it became a serpent.
11Then Pharaoh summoned the wise men and the sorcerers, and they, the magicians of Egypt, also did the same by their secret arts.
12For each man cast down his staff, and they became serpents. But Aaron 's staff swallowed up their staffs.
13Still Pharaoh 's heart was hardened, and he would not listen to them, as the Lord had said.
14Then the Lord said to Moses, "Pharaoh 's heart is hardened; he refuses to let the people go.
15Go to Pharaoh in the morning, as he is going out to the water, and stand on the bank of the Nile to meet him. Take in your hand the staff that turned into a serpent.
16And you shall say to him, ‘The Lord, the God of the Hebrews, sent me to you, saying, "Let my people go, that they may serve me in the wilderness." But so far, you have not obeyed.
17Thus says the Lord, "By this you shall know that I am the Lord: behold, with the staff that is in my hand I will strike the water that is in the Nile, and it shall turn into blood.
18The fish in the Nile shall die, and the Nile will stink, and the Egyptians will grow weary of drinking water from the Nile."’"
19And the Lord said to Moses, "Say to Aaron, ‘Take your staff and stretch out your hand over the waters of Egypt, over their rivers, their canals, and their ponds, and all their pools of water, so that they may become blood, and there shall be blood throughout all the land of Egypt, even in vessels of wood and in vessels of stone.’"
20Moses and Aaron did as the Lord commanded. In the sight of Pharaoh and in the sight of his servants he lifted up the staff and struck the water in the Nile, and all the water in the Nile turned into blood.
21And the fish in the Nile died, and the Nile stank, so that the Egyptians could not drink water from the Nile. There was blood throughout all the land of Egypt.
22But the magicians of Egypt did the same by their secret arts. So Pharaoh 's heart remained hardened, and he would not listen to them, as the Lord had said.
23Pharaoh turned and went into his house, and he did not take even this to heart.
24And all the Egyptians dug along the Nile for water to drink, for they could not drink the water of the Nile.
Chapter 8
1Then the Lord said to Moses, "Go in to Pharaoh and say to him, ‘Thus says the Lord, "Let my people go, that they may serve me. 2But if you refuse to let them go, behold, I will plague all your country with frogs. 3The Nile shall swarm with frogs that shall come up into your house and into your bedroom and on your bed and into the houses of your servants and your people, and into your ovens and your kneading bowls. 4The frogs shall come up on you and on your people and on all your servants."’" 5And the Lord said to Moses, "Say to Aaron, ‘Stretch out your hand with your staff over the rivers, over the canals and over the pools, and make frogs come up on the land of Egypt!’" 6So Aaron stretched out his hand over the waters of Egypt, and the frogs came up and covered the land of Egypt. 7But the magicians did the same by their secret arts and made frogs come up on the land of Egypt.
8Then Pharaoh called Moses and Aaron and said, "Plead with the Lord to take away the frogs from me and from my people, and I will let the people go to sacrifice to the Lord."
9Moses said to Pharaoh, "Be pleased to command me when I am to plead for you and for your servants and for your people, that the frogs be cut off from you and your houses and be left only in the Nile."
10And he said, "Tomorrow." Moses said, "Be it as you say, so that you may know that there is no one like the Lord our God.
11The frogs shall go away from you and your houses and your servants and your people. They shall be left only in the Nile."
12So Moses and Aaron went out from Pharaoh, and Moses cried to the Lord about the frogs, as he had agreed with Pharaoh.
13And the Lord did according to the word of Moses. The frogs died out in the houses, the courtyards, and the fields.
14And they gathered them together in heaps, and the land stank.
15But when Pharaoh saw that there was a respite, he hardened his heart and would not listen to them, as the Lord had said.
16Then the Lord said to Moses, "Say to Aaron, ‘Stretch out your staff and strike the dust of the earth, so that it may become gnats in all the land of Egypt.’"
17And they did so. Aaron stretched out his hand with his staff and struck the dust of the earth, and there were gnats on man and beast. All the dust of the earth became gnats in all the land of Egypt.
18The magicians tried by their secret arts to produce gnats, but they could not. So there were gnats on man and beast.
19Then the magicians said to Pharaoh, "This is the finger of God." But Pharaoh 's heart was hardened, and he would not listen to them, as the Lord had said.
20Then the Lord said to Moses, "Rise up early in the morning and present yourself to Pharaoh, as he goes out to the water, and say to him, ‘Thus says the Lord, "Let my people go, that they may serve me.
21Or else, if you will not let my people go, behold, I will send swarms of flies on you and your servants and your people, and into your houses. And the houses of the Egyptians shall be filled with swarms of flies, and also the ground on which they stand.
22But on that day I will set apart the land of Goshen, where my people dwell, so that no swarms of flies shall be there, that you may know that I am the Lord in the midst of the earth.
23Thus I will put a division between my people and your people. Tomorrow this sign shall happen."’"
24And the Lord did so. There came great swarms of flies into the house of Pharaoh and into his servants ' houses. Throughout all the land of Egypt the land was ruined by the swarms of flies.
25Then Pharaoh called Moses and Aaron and said, "Go, sacrifice to your God within the land."
26But Moses said, "It would not be right to do so, for the offerings we shall sacrifice to the Lord our God are an abomination to the Egyptians. If we sacrifice offerings abominable to the Egyptians before their eyes, will they not stone us?
27We must go three days ' journey into the wilderness and sacrifice to the Lord our God as he tells us."
28So Pharaoh said, "I will let you go to sacrifice to the Lord your God in the wilderness; only you must not go very far away. Plead for me."
29Then Moses said, "Behold, I am going out from you and I will plead with the Lord that the swarms of flies may depart from Pharaoh, from his servants, and from his people, tomorrow. Only let not Pharaoh cheat again by not letting the people go to sacrifice to the Lord."
30So Moses went out from Pharaoh and prayed to the Lord.
31And the Lord did as Moses asked, and removed the swarms of flies from Pharaoh, from his servants, and from his people; not one remained.
32But Pharaoh hardened his heart this time also, and did not let the people go.
