Exodus 1-8
New American Standard Bible
Chapter 1
1Now these are the names of the sons of Israel who came to Egypt with Jacob; they came, each one with his household: 2Reuben, Simeon, Levi, and Judah; 3Issachar, Zebulun, and Benjamin; 4Dan and Naphtali, Gad and Asher. 5All the people who descended from Jacob were seventy people, but Joseph was already in Egypt. 6And Joseph died, and all his brothers and all that generation. 7But the sons of Israel were fruitful and increased greatly, and multiplied, and became exceedingly mighty, so that the land was filled with them.
8Now a new king arose over Egypt, who did not know Joseph.
9And he said to his people, 'Behold, the people of the sons of Israel are too many and too mighty for us.
10Come, let us deal shrewdly with them, otherwise they will multiply, and in the event of war, they will also join those who hate us, and fight against us and depart from the land.'
11So they appointed taskmasters over them to oppress them with hard labor. And they built for Pharaoh storage cities, Pithom and Raamses.
12But the more they oppressed them, the more they multiplied and the more they spread out, so that they dreaded the sons of Israel.
13The Egyptians used violence to compel the sons of Israel to labor;
14and they made their lives bitter with hard labor in mortar and bricks and at all kinds of labor in the field, all their labors which they violently had them perform as slaves.
15Then the king of Egypt spoke to the Hebrew midwives, one of whom was named Shiphrah, and the other was named Puah;
16and he said, 'When you are helping the Hebrew women to give birth and see them upon the birthstool, if it is a son, then you shall put him to death; but if it is a daughter, then she shall live.'
17But the midwives feared God, and did not do as the king of Egypt had commanded them, but let the boys live.
18So the king of Egypt called for the midwives and said to them, 'Why have you done this thing, and let the boys 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 can get to them.'
20So God was good to the midwives, and the people multiplied, and became very mighty.
21And because the midwives feared God, He established households for them.
22Then Pharaoh commanded all his people, saying, 'Every son who is born, you are to throw into the Nile, but every daughter, you are to keep alive.'
Chapter 2
1Now a man from the house of Levi went and married a daughter of Levi. 2And the woman conceived and gave birth to a son; and when she saw that he was beautiful, she hid him for three months. 3But when she could no longer hide him, she got him a papyrus basket and covered it with tar and pitch. Then she put the child in it and set it among the reeds by the bank of the Nile. 4And his sister stood at a distance to find out what would happen to him.
5Now the daughter of Pharaoh came down to bathe at the Nile, with her female attendants walking alongside the Nile; and she saw the basket among the reeds and sent her slave woman, and she brought it to her.
6When she opened it, she saw the child, and behold, the boy was crying. And she had 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 a woman for you who is nursing from the Hebrew women, so that she may nurse the child for you?'
8Pharaoh’s daughter said to her, 'Go ahead.' So the girl went and called the child’s mother.
9Then 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.
10And the child grew, and she brought him to Pharaoh’s daughter and he became her son. And she named him Moses, and said, 'Because I drew him out of the water.'
11Now it came about in those days, when Moses had grown up, that he went out to his fellow Hebrews and looked at their hard labors; and he saw an Egyptian beating a Hebrew, one of his fellow Hebrews.
12So he looked this way and that, and when he saw that there was no one around, he struck and killed the Egyptian, and hid his body in the sand.
13Now he went out the next day, and behold, two Hebrews were fighting with each other; and he said to the offender, 'Why are you striking your companion?'
14But he said, 'Who made you a ruler and a judge over us? Do you intend to kill me as you killed the Egyptian?' Then Moses was afraid and said, 'Surely the matter has become known!'
16Now the priest of Midian had seven daughters; and they came to draw water and filled the troughs to water their father’s flock.
17Then the shepherds came and drove them away, but Moses stood up and helped them and watered their flock.
18When they came to their father Reuel, he said, 'Why have you come back so soon today?'
19They said, 'An Egyptian saved us from the shepherds, and what is more, he even drew water for us and watered the flock.'
20So he said to his daughters, 'Where is he then? Why is it that you have left the man behind? Invite him to have something to eat.'
21And Moses was willing to live with the man. And he gave his daughter Zipporah to Moses.
22Then she gave birth to a son, and he named him Gershom, for he said, 'I have been a stranger in a foreign land.'
23Now it came about in the course of those many days that the king of Egypt died. And the sons of Israel groaned because of the bondage, and they cried out; and their cry for help because of their bondage ascended to God.
24So God heard their groaning; and God remembered His covenant with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.
25And God saw the sons of Israel, and God took notice of them.
Chapter 3
1Now Moses was pasturing the flock of his father-in-law Jethro, the priest of Midian; and he led the flock to the west side of the wilderness and came to Horeb, the mountain of God. 2Then the angel of the Lord appeared to him in a blazing fire from the midst of a bush; and he looked, and behold, the bush was burning with fire, yet the bush was not being consumed. 3So Moses said, 'I must turn aside and see this marvelous sight, why the bush is not burning up!' 4When the Lord saw that he turned aside to look, God called to him from the midst of the bush and said, 'Moses, Moses!' And he said, 'Here I am.' 5Then He said, 'Do not come near here; remove your sandals from 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.' Then Moses hid his face, for he was afraid to look at God.
7And the Lord said, 'I have certainly seen the oppression of My people who are in Egypt, and have heard their outcry because of their taskmasters, for I am aware of their sufferings.
8So I have come down to rescue them from the power of the Egyptians, and to bring them up from that land to a good and spacious land, to a land flowing with milk and honey, to the place of the Canaanite, the Hittite, the Amorite, the Perizzite, the Hivite, and the Jebusite.
9And now, behold, the cry of the sons of Israel has come to Me; furthermore, I have seen the oppression with which the Egyptians are oppressing them.
10And now come, and I will send you to Pharaoh, so that you may bring My people, the sons of Israel, out of Egypt.'
11But Moses said to God, 'Who am I, that I should go to Pharaoh, and that I should bring the sons of Israel out of Egypt?'
12And He said, 'Assuredly I will be with you, and this shall be the sign to you that it is I who have sent you: when you have brought the people out of Egypt, you shall worship God at this mountain.'
13Then Moses said to God, 'Behold, I am going to the sons of Israel, and I will say to them, ‘The God of your fathers has sent me to you.’ Now they may say to me, ‘What is His name?’ What shall I say to them?'
14And God said to Moses, 'I AM WHO I AM'; and He said, 'This is what you shall say to the sons of Israel: ‘ I AM has sent me to you.’?'
15God furthermore said to Moses, 'This is what you shall say to the sons 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 this is the name for all generations to use to call upon Me.
16Go and gather the elders of Israel together and say to them, ‘The Lord, the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob has appeared to me, saying, 'I am indeed concerned about you and what has been done to you in Egypt.
17So I said, I will bring you up out of the oppression of Egypt to the land of the Canaanite, the Hittite, the Amorite, the Perizzite, the Hivite, and the Jebusite, to a land flowing with milk and honey.
18Then they will pay attention to what you say; and you with the elders of Israel will come to the king of Egypt, and you will say to him, ‘The Lord, the God of the Hebrews, has met with us. So now, please let us go a three days’ journey into the wilderness, so that we may sacrifice to the Lord our God.’
19But I know that the king of Egypt will not permit you to go, except under compulsion.
20So I will reach out with My hand and strike Egypt with all My miracles which I shall do in the midst of it; and after that he will let you go.
21I will grant this people favor in the sight of the Egyptians; and it shall be that when you go, you will not go empty-handed.
22But every woman shall ask her neighbor and the woman who lives in her house for articles of silver and articles of gold, and clothing; and you will put them on your sons and daughters. So you will plunder the Egyptians.'
Chapter 4
1Then Moses said, 'What if they will not believe me or listen to what I say? For they may say, ‘The Lord has not appeared to you.’?' 2The Lord said to him, 'What is that in your hand?' And he said, 'A staff.' 3Then He said, 'Throw it on the ground.' So he threw it on the ground, and it turned into a serpent; and Moses fled from it. 4But the Lord said to Moses, 'Reach out with your hand and grasp it by its tail'—so he reached out with his hand and caught it, and it turned into a staff in his hand— 5so 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.'
6The Lord furthermore said to him, 'Now put your hand inside the fold of your robe.' So he put his hand inside the fold, and when he took it out, behold, his hand was leprous like snow.
7Then He said, 'Put your hand inside the fold of your robe again.' So he put his hand into the fold again, and when he took it out of the fold, behold, it was restored like the rest of his flesh.
8So if they will not believe you nor pay attention to the evidence of the first sign, they may believe the evidence of the last sign.
9But if they will not believe even these two signs nor pay attention to what you say, then you shall take some water from the Nile and pour it on the dry ground; and the water which you take from the Nile will turn into blood on the dry ground.'
10Then Moses said to the Lord, 'Please, Lord, I have never been eloquent, neither recently nor in time past, nor since You have spoken to Your servant; for I am slow of speech and slow of tongue.'
11But the Lord said to him, 'Who has made the human mouth? Or who makes anyone unable to speak or deaf, or able to see or blind? Is it not I, the Lord?
12Now then go, and I Myself will be with your mouth, and instruct you in what you are to say.'
13But he said, 'Please, Lord, now send the message by whomever You will.'
14Then the anger of the Lord burned against Moses, and He said, 'Is there not your brother Aaron the Levite? I know that he speaks fluently. And moreover, behold, he is coming out to meet you; when he sees you, he will be overjoyed.
15So you are to speak to him and put the words in his mouth; and I Myself will be with your mouth and his mouth, and I will instruct you in what you are to do.
16He shall speak for you to the people; and he will be as a mouth for you and you will be as God to him.
17And you shall take in your hand this staff, with which you shall perform the signs.'
18Then Moses departed and returned to his father-in-law Jethro, and said to him, 'Please, let me go, that I may return to my brothers who are in Egypt, and see if they are still alive.' And Jethro said to Moses, 'Go in peace.'
19Now 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 mounted them on a donkey, and returned to the land of Egypt. Moses also took the staff of God in his hand.
21And the Lord said to Moses, 'When you go back to Egypt, see that you perform before Pharaoh all the wonders which 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, ‘This is what the Lord says: 'Israel is My son, My firstborn.
23So I said to you, ‘Let My son go so that he may serve Me’; but you have refused to let him go. Behold, I am going to kill your son, your firstborn.'?’?'
24But it came about at the overnight encampment on the way, that the Lord met Moses, and sought to put him to death.
25So Zipporah took a flint and cut off her son’s foreskin and threw it at Moses’ feet; and she said, 'You are indeed a groom of blood to me!'
26So He left him alone. At that time she said, 'You are a groom of blood'— because of the circumcision.
27Now the Lord said to Aaron, 'Go to meet Moses in the wilderness.' So he went and met him at the mountain of God and kissed him.
28Moses told Aaron all the words of the Lord with which He had sent him, and all the signs that He had commanded him to do.
29Then Moses and Aaron went and assembled all the elders of the sons of Israel;
30and Aaron spoke all the words which the Lord had spoken to Moses. He then performed the signs in the sight of the people.
31So the people believed; and when they heard that the Lord was concerned about the sons of Israel and that He had seen their affliction, they bowed low and worshiped.
Chapter 5
1And afterward Moses and Aaron came and said to Pharaoh, 'This is what the Lord, the God of Israel says: ‘Let My people go so that they may celebrate a feast to Me in the wilderness.’?' 2But Pharaoh said, 'Who is the Lord that I should obey His voice to let Israel go? I do not know the Lord, and besides, 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 so that we may sacrifice to the Lord our God, otherwise He will strike us with plague or with the sword.' 4But the king of Egypt said to them, 'Moses and Aaron, why do you let the people neglect their work? Get back to your labors!' 5Again Pharaoh said, 'Look, the people of the land are now many, and you would have them cease from their labors!' 6So the same day Pharaoh commanded the taskmasters over the people and their foremen, saying, 7You are no longer to give the people straw to make bricks as previously; have them go and gather straw for themselves. 8But you shall impose on them the quota of bricks which they were making before; you are not to reduce any of it. Because they are lazy, for that reason they cry out, ‘Let us go and sacrifice to our God.’ 9Let the labor be heavier on the men, and have them work at it so that they will pay no attention to false words.'
10So the taskmasters of the people and their foremen went out and spoke to the people, saying, 'This is what Pharaoh says: ‘I am not going to give you any straw.
11You go, get straw for yourselves wherever you can find it; but none of your labor will be reduced.’?'
12So the people scattered through all the land of Egypt to gather stubble for straw.
13And the taskmasters pressed them, saying, 'Complete your work quota, your daily amount, just as when you had straw.'
14Moreover, the foremen of the sons of Israel, whom Pharaoh’s taskmasters had set over them, were beaten and asked, 'Why have you not completed your required task of making bricks either yesterday or today, as before?'
15Then the foremen of the sons of Israel came and cried out to Pharaoh, saying, 'Why do you deal this way with your servants?
16There is no straw given to your servants, yet they keep saying to us, ‘Make bricks!’ And behold, your servants are being beaten; but it is the fault of your own people.'
17But he said, 'You are lazy, very lazy; for that reason you say, ‘Let us go and sacrifice to the Lord.’
18So go now and work; for you will be given no straw, but you must deliver the quota of bricks.'
19The foremen of the sons of Israel saw that they were in trouble, since they were told, 'You must not reduce your daily amount of bricks.'
20When they left Pharaoh’s presence, they met Moses and Aaron as they were waiting for them.
21And they said to them, 'May the Lord look upon you and judge you, because you have made us repulsive in Pharaoh’s sight and in the sight of his servants, to put a sword in their hand to kill us!'
22Then Moses returned to the Lord and said, 'Lord, why have You brought harm to this people? Why did You ever send me?
23Ever since I came to Pharaoh to speak in Your name, he has done harm to this people, and You have not rescued Your people at all.'
2God spoke further to Moses and said to him, 'I am the Lord;
3and I appeared to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob as God Almighty, but by My name, 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 strangers.
5Furthermore I have heard the groaning of the sons of Israel, because the Egyptians are holding them in bondage, and I have remembered My covenant.
6Say, therefore, to the sons of Israel, ‘I am the Lord, and I will bring you out from under the labors of the Egyptians, and I will rescue you from their bondage. I will also redeem you with an outstretched arm, and with great judgments.
7Then I will take you as My people, and I will be your God; and you shall know that I am the Lord your God, who brought you out from under the labors of the Egyptians.
8I will bring you to the land which I swore to give to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and I will give it to you as a possession; I am the Lord.’?'
9So Moses said this to the sons of Israel, but they did not listen to Moses on account of their despondency and cruel bondage.
10Now the Lord spoke to Moses, saying,
11Go, tell Pharaoh king of Egypt to let the sons of Israel go out of his land.'
12But Moses spoke before the Lord, saying, 'Behold, the sons of Israel have not listened to me; how then will Pharaoh listen to me, as I am unskilled in speech?'
13Nevertheless, the Lord spoke to Moses and to Aaron and gave them a command concerning the sons of Israel and Pharaoh king of Egypt, to bring the sons of Israel out of the land of Egypt.
14These are the heads of their fathers’ households. The sons of Reuben, Israel’s firstborn: Hanoch and Pallu, Hezron and Carmi; these are the families of Reuben.
15And the sons of Simeon: Jemuel, Jamin, Ohad, Jachin, Zohar, and Shaul the son of a Canaanite woman; these are the families of Simeon.
16And these are the names of the sons of Levi according to their generations: Gershon, Kohath, and Merari; and the length of Levi’s life was 137 years.
17The sons of Gershon: Libni and Shimei, according to their families.
18And the sons of Kohath: Amram, Izhar, Hebron, and Uzziel; and the length of Kohath’s life was 133 years.
19And the sons of Merari: Mahli and Mushi. These are the families of the Levites according to their generations.
20Now Amram married his father’s sister Jochebed, and she bore him Aaron and Moses; and the length of Amram’s life was 137 years.
21And the sons of Izhar: Korah, Nepheg, and Zichri.
22And the sons of Uzziel: Mishael, Elzaphan, and Sithri.
23Aaron married Elisheba, the daughter of Amminadab, the sister of Nahshon, and she bore him Nadab and Abihu, Eleazar and Ithamar.
24And the sons of Korah: Assir, Elkanah, and Abiasaph; these are the families of the Korahites.
25Now Aaron’s son Eleazar married one of the daughters of Putiel, and she bore him Phinehas. These are the heads of the fathers’ households of the Levites according to their families.
26It was the same Aaron and Moses to whom the Lord said, 'Bring out the sons of Israel from the land of Egypt according to their multitudes.'
27They were the ones who spoke to Pharaoh king of Egypt about bringing out the sons of Israel from Egypt; it was the same Moses and Aaron.
28Now it came about on the day when the Lord spoke to Moses in the land of Egypt,
29that the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 'I am the Lord; say to Pharaoh king of Egypt all that I say to you.'
30But Moses said before the Lord, 'Behold, I am unskilled in speech; how then will Pharaoh listen to me?'
Chapter 7
1Then the Lord said to Moses, 'See, I have made you as God to Pharaoh, and your brother Aaron shall be your prophet. 2As for you, you shall speak all that I command you, and your brother Aaron shall speak to Pharaoh that he let the sons of Israel go out of his land. 3But I will harden Pharaoh’s heart, so that I may multiply My signs and My wonders in the land of Egypt. 4When Pharaoh does not listen to you, I will lay My hand on Egypt and bring out My armies, My people the sons of Israel, from the land of Egypt by great judgments. 5Then the Egyptians shall know that I am the Lord, when I extend My hand over Egypt and bring out the sons of Israel from their midst.' 6So Moses and Aaron did this; as the Lord commanded them, so they did. 7And Moses was eighty years old and Aaron eighty-three, when they spoke to Pharaoh.
8Now the Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron, saying,
9When Pharaoh speaks to you, saying, ‘ Work a miracle,’ then you shall say to Aaron, ‘Take your staff and throw it down before Pharaoh, so that it may turn into a serpent.’?'
10So Moses and Aaron came to Pharaoh, and so they did, just as the Lord had commanded; and Aaron threw his staff down before Pharaoh and his servants, and it turned into a serpent.
11Then Pharaoh also called for the wise men and the sorcerers, and they too, the soothsayer priests of Egypt, did the same with their secret arts.
12For each one threw down his staff, and they turned into serpents. But Aaron’s staff swallowed their staffs.
13Yet Pharaoh’s heart was hardened, and he did not listen to them, just as the Lord had said.
14Then the Lord said to Moses, 'Pharaoh’s heart is stubborn; he refuses to let the people go.
15Go to Pharaoh in the morning just as he is going out to the water, and position yourself to meet him on the bank of the Nile; and you shall take in your hand the staff that was 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, so that they may serve Me in the wilderness. But behold, you have not listened up to now.'
17This is what the Lord says: 'By this you shall know that I am the Lord: behold, I am going to strike the water that is in the Nile with the staff that is in my hand, and it will be turned into blood.
18Then the fish that are in the Nile will die, the Nile will stink, and the Egyptians will no longer be able to drink water from the Nile.'?’?'
19Then the Lord said to Moses, 'Say to Aaron, ‘Take your staff and extend your hand over the waters of Egypt, over their rivers, over their streams, over their pools, and over all their reservoirs of water, so that they may become blood; and there will be blood through all the land of Egypt, both in containers of wood and in containers of stone.’?'
20So Moses and Aaron did just as the Lord had commanded. And he lifted up the staff and struck the water that was in the Nile in the sight of Pharaoh and in the sight of his servants; and all the water that was in the Nile was turned into blood.
21Then the fish that were in the Nile died, and the Nile stank, so that the Egyptians could not drink water from the Nile. And the blood was through all the land of Egypt.
22But the soothsayer priests of Egypt did the same with their secret arts; and Pharaoh’s heart was hardened, and he did not listen to them, just as the Lord had said.
23Then Pharaoh turned and went into his house with no concern even for this.
24So all the Egyptians dug around the Nile for water to drink, because they could not drink from the water of the Nile.
25Seven days passed after the Lord had struck the Nile.
Chapter 8
1Then the Lord said to Moses, 'Go to Pharaoh and say to him, ‘This is what the Lord says: 'Let My people go, so that they may serve Me. 2But if you refuse to let them go, behold, I am going to strike your entire territory with frogs. 3The Nile will swarm with frogs, which will come up and go into your house, and into your bedroom and on your bed, and into the houses of your servants, and on your people, and into your ovens and kneading bowls. 4So the frogs will come up on you, your people, and on all your servants.'?’?' 5Then the Lord said to Moses, 'Say to Aaron, ‘Extend your hand with your staff over the rivers, over the streams, and over the pools, and make frogs come up on the land of Egypt.’?' 6So Aaron extended his hand over the waters of Egypt, and the frogs came up and covered the land of Egypt. 7However, the soothsayer priests did the same with their secret arts, making frogs come up on the land of Egypt.
8Then Pharaoh called for Moses and Aaron and said, 'Plead with the Lord to remove the frogs from me and from my people; and I will let the people go, so that they may sacrifice to the Lord.'
9And Moses said to Pharaoh, 'The honor is yours to tell me: when shall I plead for you and your servants and your people, that the frogs be destroyed from you and your houses, that they be left only in the Nile?'
10Then he said, 'Tomorrow.' So he said, 'May it be according to your word, so that you may know that there is no one like the Lord our God.
11The frogs will depart from you and your houses, and from your servants and your people; they will be left only in the Nile.'
12Then Moses and Aaron went out from Pharaoh, and Moses cried out to the Lord concerning the frogs which He had inflicted upon Pharaoh.
13The Lord did according to the word of Moses, and the frogs died out of the houses, the courtyards, and the fields.
14So they piled them in heaps, and the land stank.
15But when Pharaoh saw that there was relief, he hardened his heart and did not listen to them, just as the Lord had said.
16Then the Lord said to Moses, 'Say to Aaron, ‘Extend your staff and strike the dust of the earth, so that it may turn into gnats through all the land of Egypt.’?'
17They did so; and Aaron extended his hand with his staff and struck the dust of the earth, and there were gnats on every person and animal. All the dust of the earth turned into gnats through all the land of Egypt.
18The soothsayer priests tried with their secret arts to produce gnats, but they could not; so there were gnats on every person and animal.
19Then the soothsayer priests said to Pharaoh, 'This is the finger of God.' But Pharaoh’s heart was hardened, and he did not listen to them, just as the Lord had said.
20Then the Lord said to Moses, 'Rise early in the morning and present yourself before Pharaoh, as he comes out to the water; and say to him, ‘This is what the Lord says: 'Let My people go, so that they may serve Me.
21For if you are not going to let My people go, behold, I will send swarms of flies on you and on your servants and on your people, and into your houses; and the houses of the Egyptians will be full of swarms of flies, and also the ground on which they live.
22But on that day I will set apart the land of Goshen, where My people are living, so that no swarms of flies will be there, in order that you may know that I, the Lord, am in the midst of the land.
23I will put a division between My people and your people. Tomorrow this sign will occur.'?’?'
24Then the Lord did so. And thick swarms of flies entered the house of Pharaoh and the houses of his servants, and the land was laid waste because of the swarms of flies in all the land of Egypt.
25Then Pharaoh called for Moses and Aaron and said, 'Go, sacrifice to your God within the land.'
26But Moses said, 'It is not permissible for us to do so, because we will sacrifice to the Lord our God that which is an abomination to the Egyptians. If we sacrifice that which is an abomination to the Egyptians before their eyes, will they not stone us?
27We must go a three days’ journey into the wilderness and sacrifice to the Lord our God, just as He commands us.'
28Pharaoh said, 'I will let you go, so that you may sacrifice to the Lord your God in the wilderness; only you shall not go very far away. Plead for me.'
29Then Moses said, 'Behold, I am going to leave 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 do not let Pharaoh deal deceitfully again in not letting the people go to sacrifice to the Lord.'
King James Version
Chapter 1
1Now these are the names of the children of Israel, which came into Egypt; every man and his household came with Jacob. 2Reuben, Simeon, Levi, and Judah, 3Issachar, Zebulun, and Benjamin, 4Dan, and Naphtali, Gad, and Asher. 5And all the souls that came out of the loins of Jacob were seventy souls: for Joseph was in Egypt already. 6And Joseph died, and all his brethren, and all that generation. 7And the children of Israel were fruitful, and increased abundantly, and multiplied, and waxed exceeding mighty; and the land was filled with them.
8Now there arose up a new king over Egypt, which knew not Joseph.
9And he said unto his people, Behold, the people of the children of Israel are more and mightier than we:
10Come on, let us deal wisely with them; lest they multiply, and it come to pass, that, when there falleth out any war, they join also unto our enemies, and fight against us, and so get them up out of the land.
11Therefore they did set over them taskmasters to afflict them with their burdens. And they built for Pharaoh treasure cities, Pithom and Raamses.
12But the more they afflicted them, the more they multiplied and grew. And they were grieved because of the children of Israel.
13And the Egyptians made the children of Israel to serve with rigour:
14And they made their lives bitter with hard bondage, in morter, and in brick, and in all manner of service in the field: all their service, wherein they made them serve, was with rigour.
15And the king of Egypt spake to the Hebrew midwives, of which the name of the one was Shiphrah, and the name of the other Puah:
16And he said, When ye do the office of a midwife to the Hebrew women, and see them upon the stools; if it be a son, then ye shall kill him: but if it be a daughter, then she shall live.
17But the midwives feared God, and did not as the king of Egypt commanded them, but saved the men children alive.
18And the king of Egypt called for the midwives, and said unto them, Why have ye done this thing, and have saved the men children alive?
19And the midwives said unto Pharaoh, Because the Hebrew women are not as the Egyptian women; for they are lively, and are delivered ere the midwives come in unto them.
20Therefore God dealt well with the midwives: and the people multiplied, and waxed very mighty.
21And it came to pass, because the midwives feared God, that he made them houses.
Chapter 2
1And there went a man of the house of Levi, and took to wife a daughter of Levi. 2And the woman conceived, and bare a son: and when she saw him that he was a goodly child, she hid him three months. 3And 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. 4And his sister stood afar off, to wit what would be done to him.
5And 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.
6And 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.
7Then 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?
8And Pharaoh's daughter said to her, Go. And the maid went and called the child's mother.
9And Pharaoh's daughter said unto her, Take this child away, and nurse it for me, and I will give thee thy wages. And the woman took the child, and nursed it.
10And 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.
11And 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.
12And 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.
13And 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?
14And 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.
15Now 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.
16Now the priest of Midian had seven daughters: and they came and drew water, and filled the troughs to water their father's flock.
17And the shepherds came and drove them away: but Moses stood up and helped them, and watered their flock.
18And when they came to Reuel their father, he said, How is it that ye are come so soon to day?
19And they said, An Egyptian delivered us out of the hand of the shepherds, and also drew water enough for us, and watered the flock.
20And 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.
21And Moses was content to dwell with the man: and he gave Moses Zipporah his daughter.
22And she bare him a son, and he called his name Gershom: for he said, I have been a stranger in a strange land.
23And 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.
24And God heard their groaning, and God remembered his covenant with Abraham, with Isaac, and with Jacob.
25And God looked upon the children of Israel, and God had respect unto them.
Chapter 3
1Now Moses kept the flock of Jethro his father in law, the priest of Midian: and he led the flock to the backside of the desert, and came to the mountain of God, even to Horeb. 2And the angel of the Lord appeared unto him in a flame of fire out of the midst of a bush: and he looked, and, behold, the bush burned with fire, and the bush was not consumed. 3And Moses said, I will now turn aside, and see this great sight, why the bush is not burnt. 4And when the Lord saw that he turned aside to see, God called unto him out of the midst of the bush, and said, Moses, Moses. And he said, Here am I. 5And he said, Draw not nigh hither: put off thy shoes from off thy feet, for the place whereon thou standest is holy ground. 6Moreover he said, I am the God of thy 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 upon God.
7And the Lord said, I have surely seen the affliction of my people which are in Egypt, and have heard their cry by reason of their taskmasters; for I know their sorrows;
8And I am come down to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians, and to bring them up out of that land unto a good land and a large, unto a land flowing with milk and honey; unto the place of the Canaanites, and the Hittites, and the Amorites, and the Perizzites, and the Hivites, and the Jebusites.
9Now therefore, behold, the cry of the children of Israel is come unto me: and I have also seen the oppression wherewith the Egyptians oppress them.
10Come now therefore, and I will send thee unto Pharaoh, that thou mayest bring forth my people the children of Israel out of Egypt.
11And Moses said unto God, Who am I, that I should go unto Pharaoh, and that I should bring forth the children of Israel out of Egypt?
12And he said, Certainly I will be with thee; and this shall be a token unto thee, that I have sent thee: When thou hast brought forth the people out of Egypt, ye shall serve God upon this mountain.
14And God said unto Moses, I AM THAT I AM: and he said, Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, I AM hath sent me unto you.
15And God said moreover unto Moses, Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, The Lord God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, hath sent me unto you: this is my name for ever, and this is my memorial unto all generations.
16Go, and gather the elders of Israel together, and say unto them, The Lord God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, of Isaac, and of Jacob, appeared unto me, saying, I have surely visited you, and seen that which is done to you in Egypt:
17And I have said, I will bring you up out of the affliction of Egypt unto the land of the Canaanites, and the Hittites, and the Amorites, and the Perizzites, and the Hivites, and the Jebusites, unto a land flowing with milk and honey.
18And they shall hearken to thy voice: and thou shalt come, thou and the elders of Israel, unto the king of Egypt, and ye shall say unto him, The Lord God of the Hebrews hath met with us: and now let us go, we beseech thee, three days' journey into the wilderness, that we may sacrifice to the Lord our God.
19And I am sure that the king of Egypt will not let you go, no, not by a mighty hand.
20And I will stretch out my hand, and smite Egypt with all my wonders which I will do in the midst thereof: and after that he will let you go.
21And I will give this people favour in the sight of the Egyptians: and it shall come to pass, that, when ye go, ye shall not go empty:
22But every woman shall borrow of her neighbour, and of her that sojourneth in her house, jewels of silver, and jewels of gold, and raiment: and ye shall put them upon your sons, and upon your daughters; and ye shall spoil the Egyptians.
Chapter 4
1And Moses answered and said, But, behold, they will not believe me, nor hearken unto my voice: for they will say, The Lord hath not appeared unto thee. 2And the Lord said unto him, What is that in thine hand? And he said, A rod. 3And he said, Cast it on the ground. And he cast it on the ground, and it became a serpent; and Moses fled from before it. 4And the Lord said unto Moses, Put forth thine hand, and take it by the tail. And he put forth his hand, and caught it, and it became a rod in his hand: 5That they may believe that the Lord God of their fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, hath appeared unto thee.
6And the Lord said furthermore unto him, Put now thine hand into thy bosom. And he put his hand into his bosom: and when he took it out, behold, his hand was leprous as snow.
7And he said, Put thine hand into thy bosom again. And he put his hand into his bosom again; and plucked it out of his bosom, and, behold, it was turned again as his other flesh.
8And it shall come to pass, if they will not believe thee, neither hearken to the voice of the first sign, that they will believe the voice of the latter sign.
9And it shall come to pass, if they will not believe also these two signs, neither hearken unto thy voice, that thou shalt take of the water of the river, and pour it upon the dry land: and the water which thou takest out of the river shall become blood upon the dry land.
11And the Lord said unto him, Who hath made man's mouth? or who maketh the dumb, or deaf, or the seeing, or the blind? have not I the Lord?
12Now therefore go, and I will be with thy mouth, and teach thee what thou shalt say.
15And thou shalt speak unto him, and put words in his mouth: and I will be with thy mouth, and with his mouth, and will teach you what ye shall do.
16And he shall be thy spokesman unto the people: and he shall be, even he shall be to thee instead of a mouth, and thou shalt be to him instead of God.
17And thou shalt take this rod in thine hand, wherewith thou shalt do signs.
18And Moses went and returned to Jethro his father in law, and said unto him, Let me go, I pray thee, and return unto my brethren which are in Egypt, and see whether they be yet alive. And Jethro said to Moses, Go in peace.
19And the Lord said unto Moses in Midian, Go, return into Egypt: for all the men are dead which sought thy life.
20And Moses took his wife and his sons, and set them upon an ass, and he returned to the land of Egypt: and Moses took the rod of God in his hand.
21And the Lord said unto Moses, When thou goest to return into Egypt, see that thou do all those wonders before Pharaoh, which I have put in thine hand: but I will harden his heart, that he shall not let the people go.
22And thou shalt say unto Pharaoh, Thus saith the Lord, Israel is my son, even my firstborn:
23And I say unto thee, Let my son go, that he may serve me: and if thou refuse to let him go, behold, I will slay thy son, even thy firstborn.
24And it came to pass by the way in the inn, that the Lord met him, and sought to kill him.
25Then Zipporah took a sharp stone, and cut off the foreskin of her son, and cast it at his feet, and said, Surely a bloody husband art thou to me.
26So he let him go: then she said, A bloody husband thou art, because of the circumcision.
27And the Lord said to Aaron, Go into the wilderness to meet Moses. And he went, and met him in the mount of God, and kissed him.
28And Moses told Aaron all the words of the Lord who had sent him, and all the signs which he had commanded him.
29And Moses and Aaron went and gathered together all the elders of the children of Israel:
30And Aaron spake all the words which the Lord had spoken unto 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 children of Israel, and that he had looked upon their affliction, then they bowed their heads and worshipped.
Chapter 5
1And afterward Moses and Aaron went in, and told Pharaoh, Thus saith the Lord God of Israel, Let my people go, that they may hold a feast unto me in the wilderness. 2And Pharaoh said, Who is the Lord, that I should obey his voice to let Israel go? I know not the Lord, neither will I let Israel go. 3And they said, The God of the Hebrews hath met with us: let us go, we pray thee, three days' journey into the desert, and sacrifice unto the Lord our God; lest he fall upon us with pestilence, or with the sword. 4And the king of Egypt said unto them, Wherefore do ye, Moses and Aaron, let the people from their works? get you unto your burdens. 5And Pharaoh said, Behold, the people of the land now are many, and ye make them rest from their burdens.
6And Pharaoh commanded the same day the taskmasters of the people, and their officers, saying,
7Ye shall no more give the people straw to make brick, as heretofore: let them go and gather straw for themselves.
8And the tale of the bricks, which they did make heretofore, ye shall lay upon them; ye shall not diminish ought thereof: for they be idle; therefore they cry, saying, Let us go and sacrifice to our God.
9Let there more work be laid upon the men, that they may labour therein; and let them not regard vain words.
10And the taskmasters of the people went out, and their officers, and they spake to the people, saying, Thus saith Pharaoh, I will not give you straw.
11Go ye, get you straw where ye can find it: yet not ought of your work shall be diminished.
12So the people were scattered abroad throughout all the land of Egypt to gather stubble instead of straw.
13And the taskmasters hasted them, saying, Fulfil your works, your daily tasks, as when there was straw.
14And the officers of the children of Israel, which Pharaoh's taskmasters had set over them, were beaten, and demanded, Wherefore have ye not fulfilled your task in making brick both yesterday and to day, as heretofore?
15Then the officers of the children of Israel came and cried unto Pharaoh, saying, Wherefore dealest thou thus with thy servants?
16There is no straw given unto thy servants, and they say to us, Make brick: and, behold, thy servants are beaten; but the fault is in thine own people.
17But he said, Ye are idle, ye are idle: therefore ye say, Let us go and do sacrifice to the Lord.
18Go therefore now, and work; for there shall no straw be given you, yet shall ye deliver the tale of bricks.
19And the officers of the children of Israel did see that they were in evil case, after it was said, Ye shall not minish ought from your bricks of your daily task.
20And they met Moses and Aaron, who stood in the way, as they came forth from Pharaoh:
21And they said unto them, The Lord look upon you, and judge; because ye have made our savour to be abhorred in the eyes of Pharaoh, and in the eyes of his servants, to put a sword in their hand to slay us.
22And Moses returned unto the Lord, and said, Lord, wherefore hast thou so evil entreated this people? why is it that thou hast sent me?
23For since I came to Pharaoh to speak in thy name, he hath done evil to this people; neither hast thou delivered thy people at all.
Chapter 6
1Then the Lord said unto Moses, Now shalt thou see what I will do to Pharaoh: for with a strong hand shall he let them go, and with a strong hand shall he drive them out of his land.
2And God spake unto Moses, and said unto him, I am the Lord:
3And I appeared unto Abraham, unto Isaac, and unto Jacob, by the name of God Almighty, but by my name JEHOVAH was I not known to them.
4And I have also established my covenant with them, to give them the land of Canaan, the land of their pilgrimage, wherein they were strangers.
5And I have also heard the groaning of the children of Israel, whom the Egyptians keep in bondage; and I have remembered my covenant.
6Wherefore say unto the children of Israel, I am the Lord, and I will bring you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians, and I will rid you out of their bondage, and I will redeem you with a stretched out arm, and with great judgments:
7And I will take you to me for a people, and I will be to you a God: and ye shall know that I am the Lord your God, which bringeth you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians.
8And I will bring you in unto the land, concerning the which I did swear to give it to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob; and I will give it you for an heritage: I am the Lord.
9And Moses spake so unto the children of Israel: but they hearkened not unto Moses for anguish of spirit, and for cruel bondage.
10And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying,
11Go in, speak unto Pharaoh king of Egypt, that he let the children of Israel go out of his land.
12And Moses spake before the Lord, saying, Behold, the children of Israel have not hearkened unto me; how then shall Pharaoh hear me, who am of uncircumcised lips?
13And the Lord spake unto Moses and unto Aaron, and gave them a charge unto the children of Israel, and unto Pharaoh king of Egypt, to bring the children of Israel out of the land of Egypt.
14These be the heads of their fathers' houses: The sons of Reuben the firstborn of Israel; Hanoch, and Pallu, Hezron, and Carmi: these be the families of Reuben.
26These are that Aaron and Moses, to whom the Lord said, Bring out the children of Israel from the land of Egypt according to their armies.
27These are they which spake to Pharaoh king of Egypt, to bring out the children of Israel from Egypt: these are that Moses and Aaron.
28And it came to pass on the day when the Lord spake unto Moses in the land of Egypt,
29That the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, I am the Lord: speak thou unto Pharaoh king of Egypt all that I say unto thee.
30And Moses said before the Lord, Behold, I am of uncircumcised lips, and how shall Pharaoh hearken unto me?
Chapter 7
1And the Lord said unto Moses, See, I have made thee a god to Pharaoh: and Aaron thy brother shall be thy prophet. 2Thou shalt speak all that I command thee: and Aaron thy brother shall speak unto Pharaoh, that he send the children of Israel out of his land. 3And I will harden Pharaoh's heart, and multiply my signs and my wonders in the land of Egypt. 4But Pharaoh shall not hearken unto you, that I may lay my hand upon Egypt, and bring forth mine armies, and my people the children of Israel, out of the land of Egypt by great judgments. 5And the Egyptians shall know that I am the Lord, when I stretch forth mine hand upon Egypt, and bring out the children of Israel from among them.
6And Moses and Aaron did as the Lord commanded them, so did they.
7And Moses was fourscore years old, and Aaron fourscore and three years old, when they spake unto Pharaoh.
8And the Lord spake unto Moses and unto Aaron, saying,
9When Pharaoh shall speak unto you, saying, Shew a miracle for you: then thou shalt say unto Aaron, Take thy rod, and cast it before Pharaoh, and it shall become a serpent.
10And Moses and Aaron went in unto Pharaoh, and they did so as the Lord had commanded: and Aaron cast down his rod before Pharaoh, and before his servants, and it became a serpent.
11Then Pharaoh also called the wise men and the sorcerers: now the magicians of Egypt, they also did in like manner with their enchantments.
12For they cast down every man his rod, and they became serpents: but Aaron's rod swallowed up their rods.
13And he hardened Pharaoh's heart, that he hearkened not unto them; as the Lord had said.
14And the Lord said unto Moses, Pharaoh's heart is hardened, he refuseth to let the people go.
15Get thee unto Pharaoh in the morning; lo, he goeth out unto the water; and thou shalt stand by the river's brink against he come; and the rod which was turned to a serpent shalt thou take in thine hand.
16And thou shalt say unto him, The Lord God of the Hebrews hath sent me unto thee, saying, Let my people go, that they may serve me in the wilderness: and, behold, hitherto thou wouldest not hear.
17Thus saith the Lord, In this thou shalt know that I am the Lord: behold, I will smite with the rod that is in mine hand upon the waters which are in the river, and they shall be turned to blood.
18And the fish that is in the river shall die, and the river shall stink; and the Egyptians shall lothe to drink of the water of the river.
19And the Lord spake unto Moses, Say unto Aaron, Take thy rod, and stretch out thine hand upon the waters of Egypt, upon their streams, upon their rivers, and upon their ponds, and upon all their pools of water, that they may become blood; and that there may be blood throughout all the land of Egypt, both in vessels of wood, and in vessels of stone.
20And Moses and Aaron did so, as the Lord commanded; and he lifted up the rod, and smote the waters that were in the river, in the sight of Pharaoh, and in the sight of his servants; and all the waters that were in the river were turned to blood.
21And the fish that was in the river died; and the river stank, and the Egyptians could not drink of the water of the river; and there was blood throughout all the land of Egypt.
22And the magicians of Egypt did so with their enchantments: and Pharaoh's heart was hardened, neither did he hearken unto them; as the Lord had said.
23And Pharaoh turned and went into his house, neither did he set his heart to this also.
24And all the Egyptians digged round about the river for water to drink; for they could not drink of the water of the river.
25And seven days were fulfilled, after that the Lord had smitten the river.
Chapter 8
1And the Lord spake unto Moses, Go unto Pharaoh, and say unto him, Thus saith the Lord, Let my people go, that they may serve me. 2And if thou refuse to let them go, behold, I will smite all thy borders with frogs: 3And the river shall bring forth frogs abundantly, which shall go up and come into thine house, and into thy bedchamber, and upon thy bed, and into the house of thy servants, and upon thy people, and into thine ovens, and into thy kneadingtroughs: 4And the frogs shall come up both on thee, and upon thy people, and upon all thy servants.
5And the Lord spake unto Moses, Say unto Aaron, Stretch forth thine hand with thy rod over the streams, over the rivers, and over the ponds, and cause frogs to come up upon the land of Egypt.
6And Aaron stretched out his hand over the waters of Egypt; and the frogs came up, and covered the land of Egypt.
8Then Pharaoh called for Moses and Aaron, and said, Intreat the Lord, that he may take away the frogs from me, and from my people; and I will let the people go, that they may do sacrifice unto the Lord.
9And Moses said unto Pharaoh, Glory over me: when shall I intreat for thee, and for thy servants, and for thy people, to destroy the frogs from thee and thy houses, that they may remain in the river only?
10And he said, To morrow. And he said, Be it according to thy word: that thou mayest know that there is none like unto the Lord our God.
11And the frogs shall depart from thee, and from thy houses, and from thy servants, and from thy people; they shall remain in the river only.
12And Moses and Aaron went out from Pharaoh: and Moses cried unto the Lord because of the frogs which he had brought against Pharaoh.
13And the Lord did according to the word of Moses; and the frogs died out of the houses, out of the villages, and out of the fields.
14And they gathered them together upon heaps: and the land stank.
15But when Pharaoh saw that there was respite, he hardened his heart, and hearkened not unto them; as the Lord had said.
16And the Lord said unto Moses, Say unto Aaron, Stretch out thy rod, and smite the dust of the land, that it may become lice throughout all the land of Egypt.
17And they did so; for Aaron stretched out his hand with his rod, and smote the dust of the earth, and it became lice in man, and in beast; all the dust of the land became lice throughout all the land of Egypt.
18And the magicians did so with their enchantments to bring forth lice, but they could not: so there were lice upon man, and upon beast.
19Then the magicians said unto Pharaoh, This is the finger of God: and Pharaoh's heart was hardened, and he hearkened not unto them; as the Lord had said.
20And the Lord said unto Moses, Rise up early in the morning, and stand before Pharaoh; lo, he cometh forth to the water; and say unto him, Thus saith the Lord, Let my people go, that they may serve me.
21Else, if thou wilt not let my people go, behold, I will send swarms of flies upon thee, and upon thy servants, and upon thy people, and into thy houses: and the houses of the Egyptians shall be full of swarms of flies, and also the ground whereon they are.
22And I will sever in that day the land of Goshen, in which my people dwell, that no swarms of flies shall be there; to the end thou mayest know that I am the Lord in the midst of the earth.
23And I will put a division between my people and thy people: to morrow shall this sign be.
24And the Lord did so; and there came a grievous swarm of flies into the house of Pharaoh, and into his servants' houses, and into all the land of Egypt: the land was corrupted by reason of the swarm of flies.
25And Pharaoh called for Moses and for Aaron, and said, Go ye, sacrifice to your God in the land.
26And Moses said, It is not meet so to do; for we shall sacrifice the abomination of the Egyptians to the Lord our God: lo, shall we sacrifice the abomination of the Egyptians before their eyes, and will they not stone us?
27We will go three days' journey into the wilderness, and sacrifice to the Lord our God, as he shall command us.
29And Moses said, Behold, I go out from thee, and I will intreat the Lord that the swarms of flies may depart from Pharaoh, from his servants, and from his people, to morrow: but let not Pharaoh deal deceitfully any more in not letting the people go to sacrifice to the Lord.
30And Moses went out from Pharaoh, and intreated the Lord.
31And the Lord did according to the word of Moses; and he removed the swarms of flies from Pharaoh, from his servants, and from his people; there remained not one.
32And Pharaoh hardened his heart at this time also, neither would he let the people go.
Christian Standard Bible
Chapter 1
1These are the names of the sons of Israel who came to Egypt with Jacob; each came with his family:
6Joseph and all his brothers and all that generation eventually died.
7But the Israelites were fruitful, increased rapidly, multiplied, and became extremely numerous so that the land was filled with them.
8A new king, who did not know about Joseph, came to power in Egypt.
9He said to his people, "Look, the Israelite people are more numerous and powerful than we are.
10Come, let’s deal shrewdly with them; otherwise they will multiply further, and when war breaks out, they will join our enemies, fight against us, and leave the country."
11So the Egyptians assigned taskmasters over the Israelites to oppress them with forced labor. They built Pithom and Rameses as supply cities for Pharaoh.
12But the more they oppressed them, the more they multiplied and spread so that the Egyptians came to dread the Israelites.
13They worked the Israelites ruthlessly
14and made their lives bitter with difficult labor in brick and mortar and in all kinds of fieldwork. They ruthlessly imposed all this work on them.
15The king of Egypt said to the Hebrew midwives—the first whose name was Shiphrah and the second whose name was Puah—
16"When you help the Hebrew women give birth, observe them as they deliver. If the child is a son, kill him, but if it’s a daughter, she may live."
17The midwives, however, feared God and did not do as the king of Egypt had told them; they let the boys live.
18So the king of Egypt summoned the midwives and asked them, "Why have you done this and let the boys live?"
20So God was good to the midwives, and the people multiplied and became very numerous.
21Since the midwives feared God, he gave them families.
22Pharaoh then commanded all his people: "You must throw every son born to the Hebrews into the Nile, but let every daughter live."
Chapter 2
1Now a man from the family of Levi married a Levite woman. 2The woman became pregnant and gave birth to a son; when she saw that he was beautiful, she hid him for three months. 3But when she could no longer hide him, she got a papyrus basket for him and coated it with asphalt and pitch. She placed the child in it and set it among the reeds by the bank of the Nile. 4Then his sister stood at a distance in order to see what would happen to him.
5Pharaoh’s daughter went down to bathe at the Nile while her servant girls walked along the riverbank. She saw the basket among the reeds, sent her slave girl, took it,
6opened it, and saw him, the child—and there he was, a little boy, crying. She felt sorry for him and said, "This is one of the Hebrew boys."
8"Go," Pharaoh’s daughter told her. So the girl went and called the boy’s mother.
9Then Pharaoh’s daughter said to her, "Take this child and nurse him for me, and I will pay your wages." So the woman took the boy 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."
11Years later, after Moses had grown up, he went out to his own people and observed their forced labor. He saw an Egyptian striking a Hebrew, one of his people.
12Looking all around and seeing no one, he struck the Egyptian dead and hid him in the sand.
13The next day he went out and saw two Hebrews fighting. He asked the one in the wrong, "Why are you attacking your neighbor?"
16Now the priest of Midian had seven daughters. They came to draw water and filled the troughs to water their father’s flock.
17Then some shepherds arrived and drove them away, but Moses came to their rescue and watered their flock.
18When they returned to their father Reuel, he asked, "Why have you come back so quickly today?"
21Moses agreed to stay with the man, and he gave his daughter Zipporah to Moses in marriage.
22She gave birth to a son whom he named Gershom, for he said, "I have been a resident alien in a foreign land."
23After a long time, the king of Egypt died. The Israelites groaned because of their difficult labor; and they cried out; and their cry for help because of the difficult labor ascended to God.
24And God heard their groaning; and God remembered his covenant with Abraham, with Isaac, and with Jacob;
25and God saw the Israelites; and God knew.
Chapter 3
1Meanwhile, Moses was shepherding the flock of his father-in-law Jethro, the priest of Midian. He led the flock to the far side of the wilderness and came to Horeb, the mountain of God. 2Then the angel of the Lord appeared to him in a flame of fire within a bush. As Moses looked, he saw that the bush was on fire but was not consumed. 3So Moses thought, "I must go over and look at this remarkable sight. Why isn’t the bush burning up?"
5"Do not come closer," he said. "Remove the sandals from your feet, for the place where you are standing is holy ground."
6Then he continued, "I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob." Moses hid his face because he was afraid to look at God.
7Then the Lord said, "I have observed the misery of my people in Egypt, and have heard them crying out because of their oppressors. I know about their sufferings,
8and I have come down to rescue them from the power of the Egyptians and to bring them from that land to a good and spacious land, a land flowing with milk and honey —the territory of the Canaanites, Hethites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites.
9So because the Israelites’ cry for help has come to me, and I have also seen the way the Egyptians are oppressing them,
10therefore, go. I am sending you to Pharaoh so that you may lead my people, the Israelites, out of Egypt."
14God replied to Moses, "I AM WHO I AM. This is what you are to say to the Israelites: I AM has sent me to you."
15God also said to Moses, "Say this to the Israelites: 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; this is how I am to be remembered in every generation.
16"Go and assemble the elders of Israel and say to them: The Lord, the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, has appeared to me and said: I have paid close attention to you and to what has been done to you in Egypt.
17And I have promised you that I will bring you up from the misery of Egypt to the land of the Canaanites, Hethites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites—a land flowing with milk and honey.
18They will listen to what you say. Then you, along with the elders of Israel, must go to the king of Egypt and say to him: The Lord, the God of the Hebrews, has met with us. Now please let us go on a three-day trip into the wilderness so that we may sacrifice to the Lord our God.
19"However, I know that the king of Egypt will not allow you to go, even under force from a strong hand.
20But when I stretch out my hand and strike Egypt with all my miracles that I will perform in it, after that, he will let you go.
21And I will give these people such favor with the Egyptians that when you go, you will not go empty-handed.
22Each woman will ask her neighbor and any woman staying in her house for silver and gold jewelry, and clothing, and you will put them on your sons and daughters. So you will plunder the Egyptians."
3"Throw it on the ground," he said. So Moses threw it on the ground, it became a snake, and he ran from it.
4The Lord told Moses, "Stretch out your hand and grab it by the tail." So he stretched out his hand and caught it, and it became a staff in his hand.
5"This will take place," he continued, "so that they will 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."
6In addition the Lord said to him, "Put your hand inside your cloak." So he put his hand inside his cloak, and when he took it out, his hand was diseased, resembling snow.
7"Put your hand back inside your cloak," he said. So he put his hand back inside his cloak, and when he took it out, it had again become like the rest of his skin.
8"If they will not believe you and will not respond to the evidence of the first sign, they may believe the evidence of the second sign.
9And if they don’t believe even these two signs or listen to what you say, take some water from the Nile and pour it on the dry ground. The water you take from the Nile will become blood on the ground."
11The Lord said to him, "Who placed a mouth on humans? Who makes a person mute or deaf, seeing or blind? Is it not I, the Lord?
12Now go! I will help you speak and I will teach you what to say."
14Then the Lord’s anger burned against Moses, and he said, "Isn’t Aaron the Levite your brother? I know that he can speak well. And also, he is on his way now to meet you. He will rejoice when he sees you.
15You will speak with him and tell him what to say. I will help both you and him to speak and will teach you both what to do.
16He will speak to the people for you. He will serve as a mouth for you, and you will serve as God to him.
17And take this staff in your hand that you will perform the signs with."
19Now in Midian the Lord told Moses, "Return to Egypt, for all the men who wanted to kill you are dead."
20So Moses took his wife and sons, put them on a donkey, and returned to the land of Egypt. And Moses took God’s staff in his hand.
21The Lord instructed Moses, "When you go back to Egypt, make sure you do before Pharaoh all the wonders that I have put within your power. But I will harden his heart so that he won’t let the people go.
22And you will say to Pharaoh: This is what the Lord says: Israel is my firstborn son.
23I told you: Let my son go so that he may worship me, but you refused to let him go. Look, I am about to kill your firstborn son!"
24On the trip, at an overnight campsite, it happened that the Lord confronted him and intended to put him to death.
25So Zipporah took a flint, cut off her son’s foreskin, threw it at Moses’s feet, and said, "You are a bridegroom of blood to me!"
26So he let him alone. At that time she said, "You are a bridegroom of blood," referring to the circumcision.
27Now the Lord had said to Aaron, "Go and meet Moses in the wilderness." So he went and met him at the mountain of God and kissed him.
28Moses told Aaron everything the Lord had sent him to say, and about all the signs he had commanded him to do.
29Then Moses and Aaron went and assembled all the elders of the Israelites.
30Aaron repeated everything the Lord had said to Moses and performed the signs before the people.
31The people believed, and when they heard that the Lord had paid attention to them and that he had seen their misery, they knelt low and worshiped.
4The king of Egypt said to them, "Moses and Aaron, why are you causing the people to neglect their work? Get to your labor!"
5Pharaoh also said, "Look, the people of the land are so numerous, and you would stop them from their labor."
6That day Pharaoh commanded the overseers of the people as well as their foremen:
7"Don’t continue to supply the people with straw for making bricks, as before. They must go and gather straw for themselves.
8But require the same quota of bricks from them as they were making before; do not reduce it. For they are slackers—that is why they are crying out, ‘Let us go and sacrifice to our God.’
9Impose heavier work on the men. Then they will be occupied with it and not pay attention to deceptive words."
10So the overseers and foremen of the people went out and said to them, "This is what Pharaoh says: ‘I am not giving you straw.
11Go get straw yourselves wherever you can find it, but there will be no reduction at all in your workload.’"
12So the people scattered throughout the land of Egypt to gather stubble for straw.
13The overseers insisted, "Finish your assigned work each day, just as you did when straw was provided."
14Then the Israelite foremen, whom Pharaoh’s slave drivers had set over the people, were beaten and asked, "Why haven’t you finished making your prescribed number of bricks yesterday or today, as you did before?"
15So the Israelite foremen went in and cried for help to Pharaoh: "Why are you treating your servants this way?
16No straw has been given to your servants, yet they say to us, ‘Make bricks!’ Look, your servants are being beaten, but it is your own people who are at fault."
17But he said, "You are slackers. Slackers! That is why you are saying, ‘Let us go sacrifice to the Lord.’
18Now get to work. No straw will be given to you, but you must produce the same quantity of bricks."
19The Israelite foremen saw that they were in trouble when they were told, "You cannot reduce your daily quota of bricks."
20When they left Pharaoh, they confronted Moses and Aaron, who stood waiting to meet them.
22So Moses went back to the Lord and asked, "Lord, why have you caused trouble for this people? And why did you ever send me?
23Ever since I went in to Pharaoh to speak in your name he has caused trouble for this people, and you haven’t rescued your people at all."
2Then God spoke to Moses, telling him, "I am the Lord.
3I appeared to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob as God Almighty, but I was not known to them by my name ‘the Lord.’
4I also established my covenant with them to give them the land of Canaan, the land they lived in as aliens.
5Furthermore, I have heard the groaning of the Israelites, whom the Egyptians are forcing to work as slaves, and I have remembered my covenant.
6"Therefore tell the Israelites: I am the Lord, and I will bring you out from the forced labor of the Egyptians and rescue you from slavery to them. I will redeem you with an outstretched arm and great acts of judgment.
7I will take you as my people, and I will be your God. You will know that I am the Lord your God, who brought you out from the forced labor of the Egyptians.
8I will bring you to the land that I swore to give to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and I will give it to you as a possession. I am the Lord."
9Moses told this to the Israelites, but they did not listen to him because of their broken spirit and hard labor.
10Then the Lord spoke to Moses,
11"Go and tell Pharaoh king of Egypt to let the Israelites go from his land."
12But Moses said in the Lord’s presence: "If the Israelites will not listen to me, then how will Pharaoh listen to me, since I am such a poor speaker?"
13Then the Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron and gave them commands concerning both the Israelites and Pharaoh king of Egypt to bring the Israelites out of the land of Egypt.
26It was this Aaron and Moses whom the Lord told, "Bring the Israelites out of the land of Egypt according to their military divisions."
27Moses and Aaron were the ones who spoke to Pharaoh king of Egypt in order to bring the Israelites out of Egypt.
28On the day the Lord spoke to Moses in the land of Egypt,
29he said to him, "I am the Lord; tell Pharaoh king of Egypt everything I am telling you."
Chapter 7
1The Lord answered Moses, "See, I have made you like God to Pharaoh, and Aaron your brother will be your prophet. 2You must say whatever I command you; then Aaron your brother must declare it to Pharaoh so that he will let the Israelites go from his land. 3But I will harden Pharaoh’s heart and multiply my signs and wonders in the land of Egypt. 4Pharaoh will not listen to you, but I will put my hand into Egypt and bring the military divisions of my people the Israelites out of the land of Egypt by great acts of judgment. 5The Egyptians will know that I am the Lord when I stretch out my hand against Egypt and bring out the Israelites from among them."
6So Moses and Aaron did this; they did just as the Lord commanded them.
7Moses was eighty years old and Aaron eighty-three when they spoke to Pharaoh.
8The Lord said to Moses and Aaron,
9"When Pharaoh tells you, ‘Perform a miracle,’ tell Aaron, ‘Take your staff and throw it down before Pharaoh. It will become a serpent.’"
10So Moses and Aaron went in to Pharaoh and did just as the Lord had commanded. Aaron threw down his staff before Pharaoh and his officials, and it became a serpent.
11But then Pharaoh called the wise men and sorcerers—the magicians of Egypt, and they also did the same thing by their occult practices.
12Each one threw down his staff, and it became a serpent. But Aaron’s staff swallowed their staffs.
13However, Pharaoh’s heart was hard, and he did not listen to them, as the Lord had said.
14Then the Lord said to Moses, "Pharaoh’s heart is hard: He refuses to let the people go.
15Go to Pharaoh in the morning. When you see him walking out to the water, stand ready to meet him by the bank of the Nile. Take in your hand the staff that turned into a snake.
16Tell him: The Lord, the God of the Hebrews, has sent me to tell you: Let my people go, so that they may worship me in the wilderness, but so far you have not listened.
17This is what the Lord says: Here is how you will know that I am the Lord. Watch. I am about to strike the water in the Nile with the staff in my hand, and it will turn to blood.
18The fish in the Nile will die, the river will stink, and the Egyptians will be unable to drink water from it."
20Moses and Aaron did just as the Lord had commanded; in the sight of Pharaoh and his officials, he raised the staff and struck the water in the Nile, and all the water in the Nile was turned to blood.
21The fish in the Nile died, and the river smelled so bad the Egyptians could not drink water from it. There was blood throughout the land of Egypt.
22But the magicians of Egypt did the same thing by their occult practices. So Pharaoh’s heart was hard, and he would not listen to them, as the Lord had said.
23Pharaoh turned around, went into his palace, and didn’t take even this to heart.
24All the Egyptians dug around the Nile for water to drink because they could not drink the water from the river.
25Seven days passed after the Lord struck the Nile.
Chapter 8
1Then the Lord said to Moses, "Go in to Pharaoh and tell him: This is what the Lord says: Let my people go, so that they may worship me. 2But if you refuse to let them go, then I will plague all your territory with frogs. 3The Nile will swarm with frogs; they will come up and go into your palace, into your bedroom and on your bed, into the houses of your officials and your people, and into your ovens and kneading bowls. 4The frogs will come up on you, your people, and all your officials."
5The Lord then said to Moses, "Tell Aaron: Stretch out your hand with your staff over the rivers, canals, and ponds, and cause the frogs to come up onto the land of Egypt."
6When Aaron stretched out his hand over the waters of Egypt, the frogs came up and covered the land of Egypt.
7But the magicians did the same thing by their occult practices and brought frogs up onto the land of Egypt.
10"Tomorrow," he answered. Moses replied, "As you have said, so that you may know there is no one like the Lord our God,
11the frogs will go away from you, your houses, your officials, and your people. The frogs will remain only in the Nile."
12After Moses and Aaron went out from Pharaoh, Moses cried out to the Lord for help concerning the frogs that he had brought against Pharaoh.
13The Lord did as Moses had said: the frogs in the houses, courtyards, and fields died.
14They piled them in countless heaps, and there was a terrible odor in the land.
15But when Pharaoh saw there was relief, he hardened his heart and would not listen to them, as the Lord had said.
16Then the Lord said to Moses, "Tell Aaron: Stretch out your staff and strike the dust of the land, and it will become gnats throughout the land of Egypt."
17And they did this. Aaron stretched out his hand with his staff, and when he struck the dust of the land, gnats were on people and animals. All the dust of the land became gnats throughout the land of Egypt.
18The magicians tried to produce gnats using their occult practices, but they could not. The gnats remained on people and animals.
20The Lord said to Moses, "Get up early in the morning and present yourself to Pharaoh when you see him going out to the water. Tell him: This is what the Lord says: Let my people go, so that they may worship me.
21But if you will not let my people go, then I will send swarms of flies against you, your officials, your people, and your houses. The Egyptians’ houses will swarm with flies, and so will the land where they live.
22But on that day I will give special treatment to the land of Goshen, where my people are living; no flies will be there. This way you will know that I, the Lord, am in the land.
23I will make a distinction between my people and your people. This sign will take place tomorrow."
24And the Lord did this. Thick swarms of flies went into Pharaoh’s palace and his officials’ houses. Throughout Egypt the land was ruined because of the swarms of flies.
25Then Pharaoh summoned Moses and Aaron and said, "Go sacrifice to your God within the country."
26But Moses said, "It would not be right to do that, because what we will sacrifice to the Lord our God is detestable to the Egyptians. If we sacrifice what the Egyptians detest in front of them, won’t they stone us?
27We must go a distance of three days into the wilderness and sacrifice to the Lord our God as he instructs us."
29"As soon as I leave you," Moses said, "I will appeal to the Lord, and tomorrow the swarms of flies will depart from Pharaoh, his officials, and his people. But Pharaoh must not act deceptively again by refusing to let the people go and sacrifice to the Lord."
30Then Moses left Pharaoh’s presence and appealed to the Lord.
31The Lord did as Moses had said: He removed the swarms of flies from Pharaoh, his officials, and his people; not one was left.
32But Pharaoh hardened his heart this time also and did not let the people go.
New Living Translation
Chapter 1
1These are the names of the sons of Israel (that is, Jacob) who moved to Egypt with their father, each with his family: 2Reuben, Simeon, Levi, Judah, 3Issachar, Zebulun, Benjamin, 4Dan, Naphtali, Gad, and Asher. 5In all, Jacob had seventy descendants in Egypt, including Joseph, who was already there.
6In time, Joseph and all of his brothers died, ending that entire generation.
7But their descendants, the Israelites, had many children and grandchildren. In fact, they multiplied so greatly that they became extremely powerful and filled the land.
8Eventually, a new king came to power in Egypt who knew nothing about Joseph or what he had done.
9He said to his people, 'Look, the people of Israel now outnumber us and are stronger than we are.
10We must make a plan to keep them from growing even more. If we don’t, and if war breaks out, they will join our enemies and fight against us. Then they will escape from the country. '
11So the Egyptians made the Israelites their slaves. They appointed brutal slave drivers over them, hoping to wear them down with crushing labor. They forced them to build the cities of Pithom and Rameses as supply centers for the king.
12But the more the Egyptians oppressed them, the more the Israelites multiplied and spread, and the more alarmed the Egyptians became.
13So the Egyptians worked the people of Israel without mercy.
14They made their lives bitter, forcing them to mix mortar and make bricks and do all the work in the fields. They were ruthless in all their demands.
15Then Pharaoh, the king of Egypt, gave this order to the Hebrew midwives, Shiphrah and Puah:
16When you help the Hebrew women as they give birth, watch as they deliver. If the baby is a boy, kill him; if it is a girl, let her live.'
17But because the midwives feared God, they refused to obey the king’s orders. They allowed the boys to live, too.
20So God was good to the midwives, and the Israelites continued to multiply, growing more and more powerful.
21And because the midwives feared God, he gave them families of their own.
Chapter 2
1About this time, a man and woman from the tribe of Levi got married. 2The woman became pregnant and gave birth to a son. She saw that he was a special baby and kept him hidden for three months. 3But when she could no longer hide him, she got a basket made of papyrus reeds and waterproofed it with tar and pitch. She put the baby in the basket and laid it among the reeds along the bank of the Nile River. 4The baby’s sister then stood at a distance, watching to see what would happen to him.
5Soon Pharaoh’s daughter came down to bathe in the river, and her attendants walked along the riverbank. When the princess saw the basket among the reeds, she sent her maid to get it for her.
6When the princess opened it, she saw the baby. The little boy was crying, and she felt sorry for him. 'This must be one of the Hebrew children,' she said.
11Many years later, when Moses had grown up, he went out to visit his own people, the Hebrews, and he saw how hard they were forced to work. During his visit, he saw an Egyptian beating one of his fellow Hebrews.
12After looking in all directions to make sure no one was watching, Moses killed the Egyptian and hid the body in the sand.
15And sure enough, Pharaoh heard what had happened, and he tried to kill Moses. But Moses fled from Pharaoh and went to live in the land of Midian. When Moses arrived in Midian, he sat down beside a well.
16Now the priest of Midian had seven daughters who came as usual to draw water and fill the water troughs for their father’s flocks.
17But some other shepherds came and chased them away. So Moses jumped up and rescued the girls from the shepherds. Then he drew water for their flocks.
21Moses accepted the invitation, and he settled there with him. In time, Reuel gave Moses his daughter Zipporah to be his wife.
22Later she gave birth to a son, and Moses named him Gershom, for he explained, 'I have been a foreigner in a foreign land.'
23Years passed, and the king of Egypt died. But the Israelites continued to groan under their burden of slavery. They cried out for help, and their cry rose up to God.
24God heard their groaning, and he remembered his covenant promise to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.
25He looked down on the people of Israel and knew it was time to act.
Chapter 3
1One day Moses was tending the flock of his father-in-law, Jethro, the priest of Midian. He led the flock far into the wilderness and came to Sinai, the mountain of God. 2There the angel of the Lord appeared to him in a blazing fire from the middle of a bush. Moses stared in amazement. Though the bush was engulfed in flames, it didn’t burn up. 3This is amazing,' Moses said to himself. 'Why isn’t that bush burning up? I must go see it.'
5Do not come any closer,' the Lord warned. 'Take off your sandals, for you are standing on holy ground.
6I am the God of your father — the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.' When Moses heard this, he covered his face because he was afraid to look at God.
7Then the Lord told him, 'I have certainly seen the oppression of my people in Egypt. I have heard their cries of distress because of their harsh slave drivers. Yes, I am aware of their suffering.
8So I have come down to rescue them from the power of the Egyptians and lead them out of Egypt into their own fertile and spacious land. It is a land flowing with milk and honey — the land where the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites now live.
9Look! The cry of the people of Israel has reached me, and I have seen how harshly the Egyptians abuse them.
10Now go, for I am sending you to Pharaoh. You must lead my people Israel out of Egypt.'
16Now go and call together all the elders of Israel. Tell them, ‘Yahweh, the God of your ancestors — the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob — has appeared to me. He told me, 'I have been watching closely, and I see how the Egyptians are treating you.
17I have promised to rescue you from your oppression in Egypt. I will lead you to a land flowing with milk and honey — the land where the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites now live.'’
19But I know that the king of Egypt will not let you go unless a mighty hand forces him.
20So I will raise my hand and strike the Egyptians, performing all kinds of miracles among them. Then at last he will let you go.
21And I will cause the Egyptians to look favorably on you. They will give you gifts when you go so you will not leave empty-handed.
22Every Israelite woman will ask for articles of silver and gold and fine clothing from her Egyptian neighbors and from the foreign women in their houses. You will dress your sons and daughters with these, stripping the Egyptians of their wealth.'
6Then the Lord said to Moses, 'Now put your hand inside your cloak.' So Moses put his hand inside his cloak, and when he took it out again, his hand was white as snow with a severe skin disease.
7Now put your hand back into your cloak,' the Lord said. So Moses put his hand back in, and when he took it out again, it was as healthy as the rest of his body.
8The Lord said to Moses, 'If they do not believe you and are not convinced by the first miraculous sign, they will be convinced by the second sign.
9And if they don’t believe you or listen to you even after these two signs, then take some water from the Nile River and pour it out on the dry ground. When you do, the water from the Nile will turn to blood on the ground.'
11Then the Lord asked Moses, 'Who makes a person’s mouth? Who decides whether people speak or do not speak, hear or do not hear, see or do not see? Is it not I, the Lord?
12Now go! I will be with you as you speak, and I will instruct you in what to say.'
14Then the Lord became angry with Moses. 'All right,' he said. 'What about your brother, Aaron the Levite? I know he speaks well. And look! He is on his way to meet you now. He will be delighted to see you.
15Talk to him, and put the words in his mouth. I will be with both of you as you speak, and I will instruct you both in what to do.
16Aaron will be your spokesman to the people. He will be your mouthpiece, and you will stand in the place of God for him, telling him what to say.
17And take your shepherd’s staff with you, and use it to perform the miraculous signs I have shown you.'
21And the Lord told Moses, 'When you arrive back in Egypt, go to Pharaoh and perform all the miracles I have empowered you to do. But I will harden his heart so he will refuse to let the people go.
22Then you will tell him, ‘This is what the Lord says: Israel is my firstborn son.
23I commanded you, 'Let my son go, so he can worship me.' But since you have refused, I will now kill your firstborn son!’'
24On the way to Egypt, at a place where Moses and his family had stopped for the night, the Lord confronted him and was about to kill him.
25But Moses’ wife, Zipporah, took a flint knife and circumcised her son. She touched his feet with the foreskin and said, 'Now you are a bridegroom of blood to me.'
26(When she said 'a bridegroom of blood,' she was referring to the circumcision.) After that, the Lord left him alone.
27Now the Lord had said to Aaron, 'Go out into the wilderness to meet Moses.' So Aaron went and met Moses at the mountain of God, and he embraced him.
28Moses then told Aaron everything the Lord had commanded him to say. And he told him about the miraculous signs the Lord had commanded him to perform.
29Then Moses and Aaron returned to Egypt and called all the elders of Israel together.
30Aaron told them everything the Lord had told Moses, and Moses performed the miraculous signs as they watched.
31Then the people of Israel were convinced that the Lord had sent Moses and Aaron. When they heard that the Lord was concerned about them and had seen their misery, they bowed down and worshiped.
4Pharaoh replied, 'Moses and Aaron, why are you distracting the people from their tasks? Get back to work!
5Look, there are many of your people in the land, and you are stopping them from their work.'
6That same day Pharaoh sent this order to the Egyptian slave drivers and the Israelite foremen:
7Do not supply any more straw for making bricks. Make the people get it themselves!
8But still require them to make the same number of bricks as before. Don’t reduce the quota. They are lazy. That’s why they are crying out, ‘Let us go and offer sacrifices to our God.’
9Load them down with more work. Make them sweat! That will teach them to listen to lies!'
10So the slave drivers and foremen went out and told the people: 'This is what Pharaoh says: I will not provide any more straw for you.
11Go and get it yourselves. Find it wherever you can. But you must produce just as many bricks as before!'
12So the people scattered throughout the land of Egypt in search of stubble to use as straw.
13Meanwhile, the Egyptian slave drivers continued to push hard. 'Meet your daily quota of bricks, just as you did when we provided you with straw!' they demanded.
14Then they whipped the Israelite foremen they had put in charge of the work crews. 'Why haven’t you met your quotas either yesterday or today?' they demanded.
15So the Israelite foremen went to Pharaoh and pleaded with him. 'Please don’t treat your servants like this,' they begged.
16We are given no straw, but the slave drivers still demand, ‘Make bricks!’ We are being beaten, but it isn’t our fault! Your own people are to blame!'
17But Pharaoh shouted, 'You’re just lazy! Lazy! That’s why you’re saying, ‘Let us go and offer sacrifices to the Lord.’
18Now get back to work! No straw will be given to you, but you must still produce the full quota of bricks.'
19The Israelite foremen could see that they were in serious trouble when they were told, 'You must not reduce the number of bricks you make each day.'
20As they left Pharaoh’s court, they confronted Moses and Aaron, who were waiting outside for them.
21The foremen said to them, 'May the Lord judge and punish you for making us stink before Pharaoh and his officials. You have put a sword into their hands, an excuse to kill us!'
22Then Moses went back to the Lord and protested, 'Why have you brought all this trouble on your own people, Lord? Why did you send me?
23Ever since I came to Pharaoh as your spokesman, he has been even more brutal to your people. And you have done nothing to rescue them!'
2And God said to Moses, 'I am Yahweh — ‘the Lord.’
3I appeared to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob as El-Shaddai — ‘God Almighty’ — but I did not reveal my name, Yahweh, to them.
4And I reaffirmed my covenant with them. Under its terms, I promised to give them the land of Canaan, where they were living as foreigners.
5You can be sure that I have heard the groans of the people of Israel, who are now slaves to the Egyptians. And I am well aware of my covenant with them.
6Therefore, say to the people of Israel: ‘I am the Lord. I will free you from your oppression and will rescue you from your slavery in Egypt. I will redeem you with a powerful arm and great acts of judgment.
7I will claim you as my own people, and I will be your God. Then you will know that I am the Lord your God who has freed you from your oppression in Egypt.
8I will bring you into the land I swore to give to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. I will give it to you as your very own possession. I am the Lord!’'
10Then the Lord said to Moses,
11Go back to Pharaoh, the king of Egypt, and tell him to let the people of Israel leave his country.'
26The Aaron and Moses named in this list are the same ones to whom the Lord said, 'Lead the people of Israel out of the land of Egypt like an army.'
27It was Moses and Aaron who spoke to Pharaoh, the king of Egypt, about leading the people of Israel out of Egypt.
28When the Lord spoke to Moses in the land of Egypt,
29he said to him, 'I am the Lord! Tell Pharaoh, the king of Egypt, everything I am telling you.'
30But Moses argued with the Lord, saying, 'I can’t do it! I’m such a clumsy speaker! Why should Pharaoh listen to me?'
Chapter 7
1Then the Lord said to Moses, 'Pay close attention to this. I will make you seem like God to Pharaoh, and your brother, Aaron, will be your prophet. 2Tell Aaron everything I command you, and Aaron must command Pharaoh to let the people of Israel leave his country. 3But I will make Pharaoh’s heart stubborn so I can multiply my miraculous signs and wonders in the land of Egypt. 4Even then Pharaoh will refuse to listen to you. So I will bring down my fist on Egypt. Then I will rescue my forces — my people, the Israelites — from the land of Egypt with great acts of judgment. 5When I raise my powerful hand and bring out the Israelites, the Egyptians will know that I am the Lord.'
6So Moses and Aaron did just as the Lord had commanded them.
7Moses was eighty years old, and Aaron was eighty-three when they made their demands to Pharaoh.
8Then the Lord said to Moses and Aaron,
9Pharaoh will demand, ‘Show me a miracle.’ When he does this, say to Aaron, ‘Take your staff and throw it down in front of Pharaoh, and it will become a serpent. ’'
10So Moses and Aaron went to Pharaoh and did what the Lord had commanded them. Aaron threw down his staff before Pharaoh and his officials, and it became a serpent!
11Then Pharaoh called in his own wise men and sorcerers, and these Egyptian magicians did the same thing with their magic.
12They threw down their staffs, which also became serpents! But then Aaron’s staff swallowed up their staffs.
13Pharaoh’s heart, however, remained hard. He still refused to listen, just as the Lord had predicted.
14Then the Lord said to Moses, 'Pharaoh’s heart is stubborn, and he still refuses to let the people go.
15So go to Pharaoh in the morning as he goes down to the river. Stand on the bank of the Nile and meet him there. Be sure to take along the staff that turned into a snake.
16Then announce to him, ‘The Lord, the God of the Hebrews, has sent me to tell you, 'Let my people go, so they can worship me in the wilderness.' Until now, you have refused to listen to him.
17So this is what the Lord says: 'I will show you that I am the Lord.' Look! I will strike the water of the Nile with this staff in my hand, and the river will turn to blood.
18The fish in it will die, and the river will stink. The Egyptians will not be able to drink any water from the Nile.’'
20So Moses and Aaron did just as the Lord commanded them. As Pharaoh and all of his officials watched, Aaron raised his staff and struck the water of the Nile. Suddenly, the whole river turned to blood!
21The fish in the river died, and the water became so foul that the Egyptians couldn’t drink it. There was blood everywhere throughout the land of Egypt.
22But again the magicians of Egypt used their magic, and they, too, turned water into blood. So Pharaoh’s heart remained hard. He refused to listen to Moses and Aaron, just as the Lord had predicted.
23Pharaoh returned to his palace and put the whole thing out of his mind.
24Then all the Egyptians dug along the riverbank to find drinking water, for they couldn’t drink the water from the Nile.
Chapter 8
1Then the Lord said to Moses, 'Go back to Pharaoh and announce to him, ‘This is what the Lord says: Let my people go, so they can worship me. 2If you refuse to let them go, I will send a plague of frogs across your entire land. 3The Nile River will swarm with frogs. They will come up out of the river and into your palace, even into your bedroom and onto your bed! They will enter the houses of your officials and your people. They will even jump into your ovens and your kneading bowls. 4Frogs will jump on you, your people, and all your officials.’'
5Then the Lord said to Moses, 'Tell Aaron, ‘Raise the staff in your hand over all the rivers, canals, and ponds of Egypt, and bring up frogs over all the land.’'
6So Aaron raised his hand over the waters of Egypt, and frogs came up and covered the whole land!
7But the magicians were able to do the same thing with their magic. They, too, caused frogs to come up on the land of Egypt.
10Do it tomorrow,' Pharaoh said. 'All right,' Moses replied, 'it will be as you have said. Then you will know that there is no one like the Lord our God.
11The frogs will leave you and your houses, your officials, and your people. They will remain only in the Nile River.'
12So Moses and Aaron left Pharaoh’s palace, and Moses cried out to the Lord about the frogs he had inflicted on Pharaoh.
13And the Lord did just what Moses had predicted. The frogs in the houses, the courtyards, and the fields all died.
14The Egyptians piled them into great heaps, and a terrible stench filled the land.
15But when Pharaoh saw that relief had come, he became stubborn. He refused to listen to Moses and Aaron, just as the Lord had predicted.
16So the Lord said to Moses, 'Tell Aaron, ‘Raise your staff and strike the ground. The dust will turn into swarms of gnats throughout the land of Egypt.’'
17So Moses and Aaron did just as the Lord had commanded them. When Aaron raised his hand and struck the ground with his staff, gnats infested the entire land, covering the Egyptians and their animals. All the dust in the land of Egypt turned into gnats.
18Pharaoh’s magicians tried to do the same thing with their secret arts, but this time they failed. And the gnats covered everyone, people and animals alike.
20Then the Lord told Moses, 'Get up early in the morning and stand in Pharaoh’s way as he goes down to the river. Say to him, ‘This is what the Lord says: Let my people go, so they can worship me.
21If you refuse, then I will send swarms of flies on you, your officials, your people, and all the houses. The Egyptian homes will be filled with flies, and the ground will be covered with them.
22But this time I will spare the region of Goshen, where my people live. No flies will be found there. Then you will know that I am the Lord and that I am present even in the heart of your land.
23I will make a clear distinction between my people and your people. This miraculous sign will happen tomorrow.’'
26But Moses replied, 'That wouldn’t be right. The Egyptians detest the sacrifices that we offer to the Lord our God. Look, if we offer our sacrifices here where the Egyptians can see us, they will stone us.
27We must take a three-day trip into the wilderness to offer sacrifices to the Lord our God, just as he has commanded us.'
30So Moses left Pharaoh’s palace and pleaded with the Lord to remove all the flies.
31And the Lord did as Moses asked and caused the swarms of flies to disappear from Pharaoh, his officials, and his people. Not a single fly remained.
32But Pharaoh again became stubborn and refused to let the people go.
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. Stand on the bank of the Nile to meet him, and 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.
New International Version
Chapter 1
1These are the names of the sons of Israel who went to Egypt with Jacob, each with his family: 2Reuben, Simeon, Levi and Judah; 3Issachar, Zebulun and Benjamin; 4Dan and Naphtali; Gad and Asher. 5The descendants of Jacob numbered seventy in all; Joseph was already in Egypt.
6Now Joseph and all his brothers and all that generation died,
7but the Israelites were exceedingly fruitful; they multiplied greatly, increased in numbers and became so numerous that the land was filled with them.
8Then a new king, to whom Joseph meant nothing, came to power in Egypt.
9"Look," he said to his people, "the Israelites have become far too numerous for us.
10Come, we must deal shrewdly with them or they will become even more numerous and, if war breaks out, will join our enemies, fight against us and leave the country."
11So they put slave masters over them to oppress them with forced labor, and they built Pithom and Rameses as store cities for Pharaoh.
12But the more they were oppressed, the more they multiplied and spread; so the Egyptians came to dread the Israelites
13and worked them ruthlessly.
14They made their lives bitter with harsh labor in brick and mortar and with all kinds of work in the fields; in all their harsh labor the Egyptians worked them ruthlessly.
15The king of Egypt said to the Hebrew midwives, whose names were Shiphrah and Puah,
16"When you are helping the Hebrew women during childbirth on the delivery stool, if you see that the baby is a boy, kill him; but if it is a girl, let her live."
17The midwives, however, feared God and did not do what the king of Egypt had told them to do; they let the boys live.
18Then the king of Egypt summoned the midwives and asked them, "Why have you done this? Why have you let the boys live?"
20So God was kind to the midwives and the people increased and became even more numerous.
21And because the midwives feared God, he gave them families of their own.
Chapter 2
1Now a man of the tribe of Levi married a Levite woman, 2and she became pregnant and gave birth to a son. When she saw that he was a fine child, she hid him for three months. 3But when she could hide him no longer, she got a papyrus basket for him and coated it with tar and pitch. Then she placed the child in it and put it among the reeds along the bank of the Nile. 4His sister stood at a distance to see what would happen to him.
5Then Pharaoh’s daughter went down to the Nile to bathe, and her attendants were walking along the riverbank. She saw the basket among the reeds and sent her female slave to get it.
6She opened it and saw the baby. He was crying, and she felt sorry for him. "This is one of the Hebrew babies," she said.
8"Yes, go," she answered. So the girl went and got the baby’s mother.
9Pharaoh’s daughter said to her, "Take this baby and nurse him for me, and I will pay you." So the woman took the baby and nursed him.
10When the child grew older, she took him to Pharaoh’s daughter and he became her son. She named him Moses, saying, "I drew him out of the water."
11One day, after Moses had grown up, he went out to where his own people were and watched them at their hard labor. He saw an Egyptian beating a Hebrew, one of his own people.
12Looking this way and that and seeing no one, he killed the Egyptian and hid him in the sand.
13The next day he went out and saw two Hebrews fighting. He asked the one in the wrong, "Why are you hitting your fellow Hebrew?"
15When Pharaoh heard of this, he tried to kill Moses, but Moses fled from Pharaoh and went to live in Midian, where he sat down by a well.
16Now a priest of Midian had seven daughters, and they came to draw water and fill the troughs to water their father’s flock.
17Some shepherds came along and drove them away, but Moses got up and came to their rescue and watered their flock.
21Moses agreed to stay with the man, who gave his daughter Zipporah to Moses in marriage.
22Zipporah gave birth to a son, and Moses named him Gershom, saying, "I have become a foreigner in a foreign land."
23During that long period, the king of Egypt died. The Israelites groaned in their slavery and cried out, and their cry for help because of their slavery went up to God.
24God heard their groaning and he remembered his covenant with Abraham, with Isaac and with Jacob.
25So God looked on the Israelites and was concerned about them.
Chapter 3
1Now Moses was tending the flock of Jethro his father-in-law, the priest of Midian, and he led the flock to the far side of the wilderness and came to Horeb, the mountain of God. 2There the angel of the Lord appeared to him in flames of fire from within a bush. Moses saw that though the bush was on fire it did not burn up. 3So Moses thought, "I will go over and see this strange sight—why the bush does not burn up."
5"Do not come any closer," God said. "Take off your sandals, for the place where you are standing is holy ground."
6Then he said, "I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob." At this, Moses hid his face, because he was afraid to look at God.
7The Lord said, "I have indeed seen the misery of my people in Egypt. I have heard them crying out because of their slave drivers, and I am concerned about their suffering.
8So I have come down to rescue them from the hand of the Egyptians and to bring them up out of that land into a good and spacious land, a land flowing with milk and honey—the home of the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites.
9And now the cry of the Israelites has reached me, and I have seen the way the Egyptians are oppressing them.
10So now, go. I am sending you to Pharaoh to bring my people the Israelites out of Egypt."
16"Go, assemble the elders of Israel and say to them, ‘The Lord, the God of your fathers—the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob—appeared to me and said: I have watched over you and have seen what has been done to you in Egypt.
17And I have promised to bring you up out of your misery in Egypt into the land of the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites—a land flowing with milk and honey.’
18"The elders of Israel will listen to you. Then you and the elders are to go to the king of Egypt and say to him, ‘The Lord, the God of the Hebrews, has met with us. Let us take a three-day journey into the wilderness to offer sacrifices to the Lord our God.’
19But I know that the king of Egypt will not let you go unless a mighty hand compels him.
20So I will stretch out my hand and strike the Egyptians with all the wonders that I will perform among them. After that, he will let you go.
21"And I will make the Egyptians favorably disposed toward this people, so that when you leave you will not go empty-handed.
22Every woman is to ask her neighbor and any woman living in her house for articles of silver and gold and for clothing, which you will put on your sons and daughters. And so you will plunder the Egyptians."
3The Lord said, "Throw it on the ground." Moses threw it on the ground and it became a snake, and he ran from it.
4Then the Lord said to him, "Reach out your hand and take it by the tail." So Moses reached out and took hold of the snake and it turned back into a staff in his hand.
5"This," said the Lord, "is so 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."
8Then the Lord said, "If they do not believe you or pay attention to the first sign, they may believe the second.
9But if they do not believe these two signs or listen to you, take some water from the Nile and pour it on the dry ground. The water you take from the river will become blood on the ground."
11The Lord said to him, "Who gave human beings their mouths? Who makes them deaf or mute? Who gives them sight or makes them blind? Is it not I, the Lord?
12Now go; I will help you speak and will teach you what to say."
14Then the Lord’s anger burned against Moses and he said, "What about your brother, Aaron the Levite? I know he can speak well. He is already on his way to meet you, and he will be glad to see you.
15You shall speak to him and put words in his mouth; I will help both of you speak and will teach you what to do.
16He will speak to the people for you, and it will be as if he were your mouth and as if you were God to him.
17But take this staff in your hand so you can perform the signs with it."
19Now the Lord had said to Moses in Midian, "Go back to Egypt, for all those who wanted to kill you are dead."
20So Moses took his wife and sons, put them on a donkey and started back to Egypt. And he took the staff of God in his hand.
21The Lord said to Moses, "When you return to Egypt, see that you perform before Pharaoh all the wonders I have given you the power to do. But I will harden his heart so that he will not let the people go.
22Then say to Pharaoh, ‘This is what the Lord says: Israel is my firstborn son,
23and I told you, "Let my son go, so he may worship me." But you refused to let him go; so I will kill your firstborn son.’ "
24At a lodging place on the way, the Lord met Moses and was about to kill him.
25But Zipporah took a flint knife, cut off her son’s foreskin and touched Moses’ feet with it. "Surely you are a bridegroom of blood to me," she said.
26So the Lord let him alone. (At that time she said "bridegroom of blood," referring to circumcision.)
27The Lord said to Aaron, "Go into the wilderness to meet Moses." So he met Moses at the mountain of God and kissed him.
28Then Moses told Aaron everything the Lord had sent him to say, and also about all the signs he had commanded him to perform.
29Moses and Aaron brought together all the elders of the Israelites,
30and Aaron told them everything the Lord had said to Moses. He also performed the signs before the people,
31and they believed. And when they heard that the Lord was concerned about them and had seen their misery, they bowed down and worshiped.
4But the king of Egypt said, "Moses and Aaron, why are you taking the people away from their labor? Get back to your work!"
5Then Pharaoh said, "Look, the people of the land are now numerous, and you are stopping them from working."
6That same day Pharaoh gave this order to the slave drivers and overseers in charge of the people:
7"You are no longer to supply the people with straw for making bricks; let them go and gather their own straw.
8But require them to make the same number of bricks as before; don’t reduce the quota. They are lazy; that is why they are crying out, ‘Let us go and sacrifice to our God.’
9Make the work harder for the people so that they keep working and pay no attention to lies."
10Then the slave drivers and the overseers went out and said to the people, "This is what Pharaoh says: ‘I will not give you any more straw.
11Go and get your own straw wherever you can find it, but your work will not be reduced at all.’ "
12So the people scattered all over Egypt to gather stubble to use for straw.
13The slave drivers kept pressing them, saying, "Complete the work required of you for each day, just as when you had straw."
14And Pharaoh’s slave drivers beat the Israelite overseers they had appointed, demanding, "Why haven’t you met your quota of bricks yesterday or today, as before?"
15Then the Israelite overseers went and appealed to Pharaoh: "Why have you treated your servants this way?
16Your servants are given no straw, yet we are told, ‘Make bricks!’ Your servants are being beaten, but the fault is with your own people."
17Pharaoh said, "Lazy, that’s what you are—lazy! That is why you keep saying, ‘Let us go and sacrifice to the Lord.’
18Now get to work. You will not be given any straw, yet you must produce your full quota of bricks."
19The Israelite overseers realized they were in trouble when they were told, "You are not to reduce the number of bricks required of you for each day."
20When they left Pharaoh, they found Moses and Aaron waiting to meet them,
21and they said, "May the Lord look on you and judge you! You have made us obnoxious to Pharaoh and his officials and have put a sword in their hand to kill us."
22Moses returned to the Lord and said, "Why, Lord, why have you brought trouble on this people? Is this why you sent me?
23Ever since I went to Pharaoh to speak in your name, he has brought trouble on this people, and you have not rescued your people at all."
2God also said to Moses, "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 fully known to them.
4I also established my covenant with them to give them the land of Canaan, where they resided as foreigners.
5Moreover, I have heard the groaning of the Israelites, whom the Egyptians are enslaving, and I have remembered my covenant.
6"Therefore, say to the Israelites: ‘I am the Lord, and I will bring you out from under the yoke of the Egyptians. I will free you from being slaves to them, and I will redeem you with an outstretched arm and with mighty acts of judgment.
7I will take you as my own people, and I will be your God. Then you will know that I am the Lord your God, who brought you out from under the yoke of the Egyptians.
8And I will bring you to the land I swore with uplifted hand to give to Abraham, to Isaac and to Jacob. I will give it to you as a possession. I am the Lord.’ "
10Then the Lord said to Moses,
11"Go, tell Pharaoh king of Egypt to let the Israelites go out of his country."
26It was this Aaron and Moses to whom the Lord said, "Bring the Israelites out of Egypt by their divisions."
27They were the ones who spoke to Pharaoh king of Egypt about bringing the Israelites out of Egypt—this same Moses and Aaron.
28Now when the Lord spoke to Moses in Egypt,
29he said to him, "I am the Lord. Tell Pharaoh king of Egypt everything I tell you."
Chapter 7
1Then the Lord said to Moses, "See, I have made you like God to Pharaoh, and your brother Aaron will be your prophet. 2You are to say everything I command you, and your brother Aaron is to tell Pharaoh to let the Israelites go out of his country. 3But I will harden Pharaoh’s heart, and though I multiply my signs and wonders in Egypt, 4he will not listen to you. Then I will lay my hand on Egypt and with mighty acts of judgment I will bring out my divisions, my people the Israelites. 5And the Egyptians will know that I am the Lord when I stretch out my hand against Egypt and bring the Israelites out of it."
6Moses and Aaron did just as the Lord commanded them.
7Moses was eighty years old and Aaron eighty-three when they spoke to Pharaoh.
8The Lord said to Moses and Aaron,
9"When Pharaoh says to you, ‘Perform a miracle,’ then say to Aaron, ‘Take your staff and throw it down before Pharaoh,’ and it will become a snake."
10So Moses and Aaron went to Pharaoh and did just as the Lord commanded. Aaron threw his staff down in front of Pharaoh and his officials, and it became a snake.
11Pharaoh then summoned wise men and sorcerers, and the Egyptian magicians also did the same things by their secret arts:
12Each one threw down his staff and it became a snake. But Aaron’s staff swallowed up their staffs.
13Yet Pharaoh’s heart became hard and he would not listen to them, just as the Lord had said.
14Then the Lord said to Moses, "Pharaoh’s heart is unyielding; he refuses to let the people go.
15Go to Pharaoh in the morning as he goes out to the river. Confront him on the bank of the Nile, and take in your hand the staff that was changed into a snake.
16Then say to him, ‘The Lord, the God of the Hebrews, has sent me to say to you: Let my people go, so that they may worship me in the wilderness. But until now you have not listened.
17This is what the Lord says: By this you will know that I am the Lord: With the staff that is in my hand I will strike the water of the Nile, and it will be changed into blood.
18The fish in the Nile will die, and the river will stink; the Egyptians will not be able to drink its water.’ "
20Moses and Aaron did just as the Lord had commanded. He raised his staff in the presence of Pharaoh and his officials and struck the water of the Nile, and all the water was changed into blood.
21The fish in the Nile died, and the river smelled so bad that the Egyptians could not drink its water. Blood was everywhere in Egypt.
22But the Egyptian magicians did the same things by their secret arts, and Pharaoh’s heart became hard; he would not listen to Moses and Aaron, just as the Lord had said.
23Instead, he turned and went into his palace, and did not take even this to heart.
24And all the Egyptians dug along the Nile to get drinking water, because they could not drink the water of the river.
Chapter 8
1Then the Lord said to Moses, "Go to Pharaoh and say to him, ‘This is what the Lord says: Let my people go, so that they may worship me. 2If you refuse to let them go, I will send a plague of frogs on your whole country. 3The Nile will teem with frogs. They will come up into your palace and your bedroom and onto your bed, into the houses of your officials and on your people, and into your ovens and kneading troughs. 4The frogs will come up on you and your people and all your officials.’ "
6So Aaron stretched out his hand over the waters of Egypt, and the frogs came up and covered the land.
7But the magicians did the same things by their secret arts; they also made frogs come up on the land of Egypt.
10"Tomorrow," Pharaoh said. Moses replied, "It will be as you say, so that you may know there is no one like the Lord our God.
11The frogs will leave you and your houses, your officials and your people; they will remain only in the Nile."
12After Moses and Aaron left Pharaoh, Moses cried out to the Lord about the frogs he had brought on Pharaoh.
13And the Lord did what Moses asked. The frogs died in the houses, in the courtyards and in the fields.
14They were piled into heaps, and the land reeked of them.
15But when Pharaoh saw that there was relief, he hardened his heart and would not listen to Moses and Aaron, just as the Lord had said.
16Then the Lord said to Moses, "Tell Aaron, ‘Stretch out your staff and strike the dust of the ground,’ and throughout the land of Egypt the dust will become gnats."
17They did this, and when Aaron stretched out his hand with the staff and struck the dust of the ground, gnats came on people and animals. All the dust throughout the land of Egypt became gnats.
18But when the magicians tried to produce gnats by their secret arts, they could not. Since the gnats were on people and animals everywhere,
19the magicians said to Pharaoh, "This is the finger of God." But Pharaoh’s heart was hard and he would not listen, just as the Lord had said.
20Then the Lord said to Moses, "Get up early in the morning and confront Pharaoh as he goes to the river and say to him, ‘This is what the Lord says: Let my people go, so that they may worship me.
21If you do not let my people go, I will send swarms of flies on you and your officials, on your people and into your houses. The houses of the Egyptians will be full of flies; even the ground will be covered with them.
22" ‘But on that day I will deal differently with the land of Goshen, where my people live; no swarms of flies will be there, so that you will know that I, the Lord, am in this land.
23I will make a distinction between my people and your people. This sign will occur tomorrow.’ "
26But Moses said, "That would not be right. The sacrifices we offer the Lord our God would be detestable to the Egyptians. And if we offer sacrifices that are detestable in their eyes, will they not stone us?
27We must take a three-day journey into the wilderness to offer sacrifices to the Lord our God, as he commands us."
New King James Version
Chapter 1
1Now these are the names of the children of Israel who came to Egypt; each man and his household came with Jacob: 2Reuben, Simeon, Levi, and Judah; 3Issachar, Zebulun, and Benjamin; 4Dan, Naphtali, Gad, and Asher. 5All those who were descendants of Jacob were seventy persons (for Joseph was in Egypt already). 6And Joseph died, all his brothers, and all that generation. 7But the children of Israel were fruitful and increased abundantly, multiplied and grew exceedingly mighty; and 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, “Look, the people of the children of Israel are more and mightier than we;
10come, let us deal shrewdly with them, lest they multiply, and it happen, in the event of war, that they also join our enemies and fight against us, and so go up out of the land.”
11Therefore they set taskmasters over them to afflict them with their burdens. And they built for Pharaoh supply cities, Pithom and Raamses.
12But the more they afflicted them, the more they multiplied and grew. And they were in dread of the children of Israel.
13So the Egyptians made the children of Israel serve with rigor.
14And they made their lives bitter with hard bondage— in mortar, in brick, and in all manner of service in the field. All their service in which they made them serve was with rigor.
15Then the king of Egypt spoke to the Hebrew midwives, of whom the name of one was Shiphrah and the name of the other Puah;
16and he said, “When you do the duties of a midwife for the Hebrew women, and see them on the birthstools, if it is a son, then you shall kill him; but if it is a daughter, then she shall live.”
17But the midwives feared God, and did not do as the king of Egypt commanded them, but saved the male children alive.
18So the king of Egypt called for the midwives and said to them, “Why have you done this thing, and saved the male children alive?”
20Therefore God dealt well with the midwives, and the people multiplied and grew very mighty.
21And so it was, because the midwives feared God, that He provided households for them.
Chapter 2
1And a man of the house of Levi went and took as wife a daughter of Levi. 2So the woman conceived and bore a son. And when she saw that he was a beautiful child, she hid him three months. 3But when she could no longer hide him, she took an ark of bulrushes for him, daubed it with asphalt and pitch, put the child in it, and laid it in the reeds by the river’s bank. 4And his sister stood afar off, to know what would be done to him.
5Then the daughter of Pharaoh came down to bathe at the river. And her maidens walked along the riverside; and when she saw the ark among the reeds, she sent her maid to get it.
6And when she opened it, she saw the child, and behold, the baby wept. So she had compassion on him, and said, “This is one of the Hebrews’ children.”
8And Pharaoh’s daughter said to her, “Go.” So the maiden went and called the child’s mother.
9Then 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.
10And the child grew, and she brought him to Pharaoh’s daughter, and he became her son. So she called his name Moses, saying, “Because I drew him out of the water.”
11Now it came to pass in those days, when Moses was grown, that he went out to his brethren and looked at their burdens. And he saw an Egyptian beating a Hebrew, one of his brethren.
12So he looked this way and that way, and when he saw no one, he killed the Egyptian and hid him in the sand.
13And when he went out the second day, behold, two Hebrew men were fighting, and he said to the one who did the wrong, “Why are you striking your companion?”
14Then he said, “Who made you a prince and a judge over us? Do you intend to kill me as you killed the Egyptian?” So Moses feared and said, “Surely this thing is known!”
15When Pharaoh heard of this matter, he sought to kill Moses. But Moses fled from the face of Pharaoh and dwelt 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 they filled the troughs to water their father’s flock.
17Then the shepherds came and drove them away; but Moses stood up and helped them, and watered their flock.
21Then Moses was content to live with the man, and he gave Zipporah his daughter to Moses.
22And she bore him a son. He called his name Gershom, for he said, “I have been a stranger in a foreign land.”
23Now it happened in the process of time that the king of Egypt died. Then the children of Israel groaned because of the bondage, and they cried out; and their cry came up to God because of the bondage.
24So God heard their groaning, and God remembered His covenant with Abraham, with Isaac, and with Jacob.
25And God looked upon the children of Israel, and God acknowledged them.
Chapter 3
1Now Moses was tending the flock of Jethro his father-in-law, the priest of Midian. And he led the flock to the back of the desert, and came to Horeb, the mountain of God. 2And the Angel of the Lord appeared to him in a flame of fire from the midst of a bush. So he looked, and behold, the bush was burning with fire, but the bush was not consumed. 3Then Moses said, “I will now turn aside and see this great sight, why the bush does not burn.”
5Then He said, “Do not draw near this place. Take your sandals off your feet, for the place where you stand is holy ground.”
6Moreover 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 upon God.
7And the Lord said: “I have surely seen the oppression of My people who are in Egypt, and have heard their cry because of their taskmasters, for I know their sorrows.
8So I have come down to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians, and to bring them up from that land to a good and large land, to a land flowing with milk and honey, to the place of the Canaanites and the Hittites and the Amorites and the Perizzites and the Hivites and the Jebusites.
9Now therefore, behold, the cry of the children of Israel has come to Me, and I have also seen the oppression with which the Egyptians oppress them.
10Come now, therefore, and I will send you to Pharaoh that you may bring My people, the children of Israel, out of Egypt.”
14And God said to Moses, “I AM WHO I AM.” And He said, “Thus you shall say to the children of Israel, ‘I AM has sent me to you.’ ”
15Moreover God said to Moses, “Thus you shall say to the children of Israel: ‘The Lord 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 to all generations.’
16Go and gather the elders of Israel together, and say to them, ‘The Lord God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, of Isaac, and of Jacob, appeared to me, saying, “I have surely visited you and seen what is done to you in Egypt;
17and I have said 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.” ’
18Then they will heed your voice; and you shall come, you and the elders of Israel, to the king of Egypt; and you shall say to him, ‘The Lord God of the Hebrews has met with us; and now, please, let us go three days’ journey into the wilderness, that we may sacrifice to the Lord our God.’
19But I am sure that the king of Egypt will not let you go, no, not even by a mighty hand.
20So I will stretch out My hand and strike Egypt with all My wonders which I will do in its midst; and after that he will let you go.
21And I will give this people favor in the sight of the Egyptians; and it shall be, when you go, that you shall not go empty-handed.
22But every woman shall ask of her neighbor, namely, of her who dwells near her house, articles of silver, articles of gold, and clothing; and you shall put them on your sons and on your daughters. So you shall plunder the Egyptians.”
3And He said, “Cast it on the ground.” So he cast it on the ground, and it became a serpent; and Moses fled from it.
4Then the Lord said to Moses, “Reach out your hand and take it by the tail” (and he reached out his hand and caught it, and it became a rod in his hand),
5“that they may believe that the Lord God of their fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has appeared to you.”
6Furthermore the Lord said to him, “Now put your hand in your bosom.” And he put his hand in his bosom, and when he took it out, behold, his hand was leprous, like snow.
7And He said, “Put your hand in your bosom again.” So he put his hand in his bosom again, and drew it out of his bosom, and behold, it was restored like his other flesh.
8“Then it will be, if they do not believe you, nor heed the message of the first sign, that they may believe the message of the latter sign.
9And it shall be, if they do not believe even these two signs, or listen to your voice, that you shall take water from the river and pour it on the dry land. The water which you take from the river will become blood on the dry land.”
11So the Lord said to him, “Who has made man’s mouth? Or who makes the mute, the deaf, the seeing, or the blind? Have not I, the Lord?
12Now therefore, go, and I will be with your mouth and teach you what you shall say.”
14So the anger of the Lord was kindled against Moses, and He said: “Is not Aaron the Levite your brother? I know that he can speak well. And look, he is also coming out to meet you. When he sees you, he will be glad in his heart.
15Now you shall speak to him and put the words in his mouth. And I will be with your mouth and with his mouth, and I will teach you what you shall do.
16So he shall be your spokesman to the people. And he himself shall be as a mouth for you, and you shall be to him as God.
17And you shall take this rod in your hand, with which you shall do the signs.”
19Now the Lord said to Moses in Midian, “Go, return to Egypt; for all the men who sought your life are dead.”
20Then Moses took his wife and his sons and set them on a donkey, and he returned to the land of Egypt. And Moses took the rod of God in his hand.
21And the Lord said to Moses, “When you go back to Egypt, see that you do all those wonders before Pharaoh which I have put in your hand. 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 son, My firstborn.
23So I say to you, let My son go that he may serve Me. But if you refuse to let him go, indeed I will kill your son, your firstborn.” ’ ”
24And it came to pass on the way, at the encampment, that the Lord met him and sought to kill him.
25Then Zipporah took a sharp stone and cut off the foreskin of her son and cast it at Moses’ feet, and said, “Surely you are a husband of blood to me!”
26So He let him go. Then she said, “ You are a husband of blood!”—because of the circumcision.
27And the Lord said to Aaron, “Go into the wilderness to meet Moses.” So he went and met him on the mountain of God, and kissed him.
28So Moses told Aaron all the words of the Lord who had sent him, and all the signs which He had commanded him.
29Then Moses and Aaron went and gathered together all the elders of the children of Israel.
30And Aaron spoke all the words which the Lord had spoken to Moses. Then he did the signs in the sight of the people.
31So the people believed; and when they heard that the Lord had visited the children of Israel and that He had looked on their affliction, then they bowed their heads and worshiped.
4Then the king of Egypt said to them, “Moses and Aaron, why do you take the people from their work? Get back to your labor.”
5And Pharaoh said, “Look, the people of the land are many now, and you make them rest from their labor!”
6So the same day Pharaoh commanded the taskmasters of the people and their officers, saying,
7“You shall no longer give the people straw to make brick as before. Let them go and gather straw for themselves.
8And you shall lay on them the quota of bricks which they made before. You shall not reduce it. For they are idle; therefore they cry out, saying, ‘Let us go and sacrifice to our God.’
9Let more work be laid on the men, that they may labor in it, and let them not regard false words.”
10And the taskmasters of the people and their officers went out and spoke to the people, saying, “Thus says Pharaoh: ‘I will not give you straw.
11Go, get yourselves straw where you can find it; yet none of your work will be reduced.’ ”
12So the people were scattered abroad throughout all the land of Egypt to gather stubble instead of straw.
13And the taskmasters forced them to hurry, saying, “Fulfill your work, your daily quota, as when there was straw.”
14Also the officers of the children of Israel, whom Pharaoh’s taskmasters had set over them, were beaten and were asked, “Why have you not fulfilled your task in making brick both yesterday and today, as before?”
15Then the officers of the children of Israel came and cried out to Pharaoh, saying, “Why are you dealing thus with your servants?
16There is no straw given to your servants, and they say to us, ‘Make brick!’ And indeed your servants are beaten, but the fault is in your own people.”
17But he said, “You are idle! Idle! Therefore you say, ‘Let us go and sacrifice to the Lord.’
18Therefore go now and work; for no straw shall be given you, yet you shall deliver the quota of bricks.”
19And the officers of the children of Israel saw that they were in trouble after it was said, “You shall not reduce any bricks from your daily quota.”
20Then, as they came out from Pharaoh, they met Moses and Aaron who stood there to meet them.
21And they said to them, “Let the Lord look on you and judge, because you have made us abhorrent in the sight of Pharaoh and in the sight of his servants, to put a sword in their hand to kill us.”
22So Moses returned to the Lord and said, “Lord, why have You brought trouble on this people? Why is it You have sent me?
23For since I came to Pharaoh to speak in Your name, he has done evil to this people; neither have You delivered Your people at all.”
2And God 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 Lord I was not known to them.
4I have also established My covenant with them, to give them the land of Canaan, the land of their pilgrimage, in which they were strangers.
5And I have also heard the groaning of the children of Israel whom the Egyptians keep in bondage, and I have remembered My covenant.
6Therefore say to the children of Israel: ‘I am the Lord; I will bring you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians, I will rescue you from their bondage, and I will redeem you with an outstretched arm and with great judgments.
7I will take you as My people, and I will be your God. Then you shall know that I am the Lord your God who brings you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians.
8And I will bring you into the land which I swore to give to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob; and I will give it to you as a heritage: I am the Lord.’ ”
9So Moses spoke thus to the children of Israel; but they did not heed Moses, because of anguish of spirit and cruel bondage.
10And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying,
11“Go in, tell Pharaoh king of Egypt to let the children of Israel go out of his land.”
14These are the heads of their fathers’ houses: The sons of Reuben, the firstborn of Israel, were Hanoch, Pallu, Hezron, and Carmi. These are the families of Reuben.
15And the sons of Simeon were Jemuel, Jamin, Ohad, Jachin, Zohar, and Shaul the son of a Canaanite woman. These are the families of Simeon.
16These are the names of the sons of Levi according to their generations: Gershon, Kohath, and Merari. And the years of the life of Levi were one hundred and thirty-seven.
17The sons of Gershon were Libni and Shimi according to their families.
18And the sons of Kohath were Amram, Izhar, Hebron, and Uzziel. And the years of the life of Kohath were one hundred and thirty-three.
19The sons of Merari were Mahli and Mushi. These are the families of Levi according to their generations.
20Now Amram took for himself Jochebed, his father’s sister, as wife; and she bore him Aaron and Moses. And the years of the life of Amram were one hundred and thirty-seven.
21The sons of Izhar were Korah, Nepheg, and Zichri.
22And the sons of Uzziel were Mishael, Elzaphan, and Zithri.
23Aaron took to himself Elisheba, daughter of Amminadab, sister of Nahshon, as wife; and she bore him Nadab, Abihu, Eleazar, and Ithamar.
24And the sons of Korah were Assir, Elkanah, and Abiasaph. These are the families of the Korahites.
25Eleazar, Aaron’s son, took for himself one of the daughters of Putiel as wife; and she bore him Phinehas. These are the heads of the fathers’ houses of the Levites according to their families.
26These are the same Aaron and Moses to whom the Lord said, “Bring out the children of Israel from the land of Egypt according to their armies.”
27These are the ones who spoke to Pharaoh king of Egypt, to bring out the children of Israel from Egypt. These are the same Moses and Aaron.
28And it came to pass, on the day the Lord spoke to Moses in the land of Egypt,
29that the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, “I am the Lord. Speak to Pharaoh king of Egypt all that I say to you.”
Chapter 7
1So the Lord said to Moses: “See, I have made you as God to Pharaoh, and Aaron your brother shall be your prophet. 2You shall speak all that I command you. And Aaron your brother shall tell Pharaoh to send the children of Israel out of his land. 3And I will harden Pharaoh’s heart, and multiply My signs and My wonders in the land of Egypt. 4But Pharaoh will not heed you, so that I may lay My hand on Egypt and bring My armies and My people, the children of Israel, out of the land of Egypt by great judgments. 5And the Egyptians shall know that I am the Lord, when I stretch out My hand on Egypt and bring out the children of Israel from among them.”
6Then Moses and Aaron did so; just as the Lord commanded them, so they did.
7And Moses was eighty years old and Aaron eighty-three years old when they spoke to Pharaoh.
8Then the Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron, saying,
9“When Pharaoh speaks to you, saying, ‘Show a miracle for yourselves,’ then you shall say to Aaron, ‘Take your rod and cast it before Pharaoh, and let it become a serpent.’ ”
10So Moses and Aaron went in to Pharaoh, and they did so, just as the Lord commanded. And Aaron cast down his rod before Pharaoh and before his servants, and it became a serpent.
11But Pharaoh also called the wise men and the sorcerers; so the magicians of Egypt, they also did in like manner with their enchantments.
12For every man threw down his rod, and they became serpents. But Aaron’s rod swallowed up their rods.
13And Pharaoh’s heart grew hard, and he did not heed them, as the Lord had said.
14So the Lord said to Moses: “Pharaoh’s heart is hard; he refuses to let the people go.
15Go to Pharaoh in the morning, when he goes out to the water, and you shall stand by the river’s bank to meet him; and the rod which was turned to a serpent you shall take in your hand.
16And you shall say to him, ‘The Lord God of the Hebrews has sent me to you, saying, “Let My people go, that they may serve Me in the wilderness”; but indeed, until now you would not hear!
17Thus says the Lord: “By this you shall know that I am the Lord. Behold, I will strike the waters which are in the river with the rod that is in my hand, and they shall be turned to blood.
18And the fish that are in the river shall die, the river shall stink, and the Egyptians will loathe to drink the water of the river.” ’ ”
19Then the Lord spoke to Moses, “Say to Aaron, ‘Take your rod and stretch out your hand over the waters of Egypt, over their streams, over their rivers, over their ponds, and over all their pools of water, that they may become blood. And there shall be blood throughout all the land of Egypt, both in buckets of wood and pitchers of stone.’ ”
20And Moses and Aaron did so, just as the Lord commanded. So he lifted up the rod and struck the waters that were in the river, in the sight of Pharaoh and in the sight of his servants. And all the waters that were in the river were turned to blood.
21The fish that were in the river died, the river stank, and the Egyptians could not drink the water of the river. So there was blood throughout all the land of Egypt.
22Then the magicians of Egypt did so with their enchantments; and Pharaoh’s heart grew hard, and he did not heed them, as the Lord had said.
23And Pharaoh turned and went into his house. Neither was his heart moved by this.
24So all the Egyptians dug all around the river for water to drink, because they could not drink the water of the river.
25And seven days passed after the Lord had struck the river.
Chapter 8
1And the Lord spoke to Moses, “Go 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 smite all your territory with frogs. 3So the river shall bring forth frogs abundantly, which shall go up and come into your house, into your bedroom, on your bed, into the houses of your servants, on your people, into your ovens, and into your kneading bowls. 4And the frogs shall come up on you, on your people, and on all your servants.” ’ ”
5Then the Lord spoke to Moses, “Say to Aaron, ‘Stretch out your hand with your rod over the streams, over the rivers, and over the ponds, and cause frogs to 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.
7And the magicians did so with their enchantments, and brought up frogs on the land of Egypt.
10So he said, “Tomorrow.” And he said, “ Let it be according to your word, that you may know that there is no one like the Lord our God.
11And the frogs shall depart from you, from your houses, from your servants, and from your people. They shall remain in the river only.”
12Then Moses and Aaron went out from Pharaoh. And Moses cried out to the Lord concerning the frogs which He had brought against Pharaoh.
13So the Lord did according to the word of Moses. And the frogs died out of the houses, out of the courtyards, and out of the fields.
14They gathered them together in heaps, and the land stank.
15But when Pharaoh saw that there was relief, he hardened his heart and did not heed them, as the Lord had said.
16So the Lord said to Moses, “Say to Aaron, ‘Stretch out your rod, and strike the dust of the land, so that it may become lice throughout all the land of Egypt.’ ”
17And they did so. For Aaron stretched out his hand with his rod and struck the dust of the earth, and it became lice on man and beast. All the dust of the land became lice throughout all the land of Egypt.
18Now the magicians so worked with their enchantments to bring forth lice, but they could not. So there were lice on man and beast.
19Then the magicians said to Pharaoh, “This is the finger of God.” But Pharaoh’s heart grew hard, and he did not heed them, just as the Lord had said.
20And the Lord said to Moses, “Rise early in the morning and stand before Pharaoh as he comes out to the water. Then 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, on your people and into your houses. The houses of the Egyptians shall be full of swarms of flies, and also the ground on which they stand.
22And in that day I will set apart the land of Goshen, in which My people dwell, that no swarms of flies shall be there, in order that you may know that I am the Lord in the midst of the land.
23I will make a difference between My people and your people. Tomorrow this sign shall be.” ’ ”
24And the Lord did so. Thick swarms of flies came into the house of Pharaoh, into his servants’ houses, and into all the land of Egypt. The land was corrupted because of the swarms of flies.
26And Moses said, “It is not right to do so, for we would be sacrificing the abomination of the Egyptians to the Lord our God. If we sacrifice the abomination of the Egyptians before their eyes, then will they not stone us?
27We will go three days’ journey into the wilderness and sacrifice to the Lord our God as He will command us.”
