And they appointed commanders of forced labor over them in order to oppress them with their {forced labor}, and they built storage cities for Pharaoh--Pithom and Rameses.

But when she could no longer hide him, she got a papyrus basket for him, and she coated it with tar and with pitch, and she placed the boy in it, and she placed [it] among the reeds on the bank of the Nile.

And the daughter of Pharaoh went down to wash at the Nile, [while] her maidservants were walking alongside the Nile, and she saw the basket in the midst of the reeds, and she sent her slave woman [for it] and took it

and opened [it] and saw him--the boy--and it was a lad weeping, and she had compassion for him and said, "This [must be] from the boys of the Hebrews."

And his sister said to the daughter of Pharaoh, "Shall I go and call for you a woman from the Hebrews [who is] nursing [so that] she will nurse the boy for you?"

And the daughter of Pharaoh said, "Take this boy and nurse him for me, and I myself will give you wages, and the woman took the boy, and she nursed him.

And they said, "An Egyptian man delivered us from the hand of the shepherds, and he even drew [water] for us and watered the flock."

{And then} during those many days, the king of Egypt died, and the {Israelites} groaned because of the work, and they cried out, and their cry for help because of the work went up to God.

And Yahweh said, "Surely I have seen the misery of my people who [are] in Egypt, and I have heard their cry of distress because of their oppressors, for I know their sufferings.

And he said, "Because I am with you, and this [will be] the sign for you that I myself have sent you: When you bring the people out from Egypt, you will serve God on this mountain."

And a woman will ask from her neighbor and from the woman dwelling as an alien in her house [for] objects of silver and objects of gold and garments, and you will put [them] on your sons and on your daughters; and you will plunder Egypt."

And he will speak for you to the people, {and then} he will be to you as a mouth, and you will be to him as a god.

And afterward, Moses and Aaron went, and they said to Pharaoh, "Thus says Yahweh the God of Israel, 'Release my people so that they may hold a festival for me in the desert.'"

"You must no longer give straw to the people to make the bricks like {before}. Let them go and gather straw for themselves.

You go, get straw for yourselves from whatever you find because not a thing is being reduced from your work.'"

And the people spread out in all the land of Egypt to gather stubble for the straw.

And the slave drivers [were] insisting, saying, "Finish your work {for each day} on its day, as {when there was straw}."

And the foremen of the {Israelites} saw they were in trouble {with the saying}, "You will not reduce from your bricks {for each day} on its day."

And Amram took Jochebed his aunt for himself as a wife, and she bore for him Aaron and Moses, and the years of the life of Amram [were] {one hundred and thirty-seven years}.

And Aaron took Elisheba the daughter of Amminadab, the sister of Nahshon, for himself as a wife, and she bore for him Nadab and Abihu, Eleazar and Ithamar.

And Eleazar the son of Aaron took for himself [one] from the daughters of Putiel as a wife, and she bore for him Phinehas. These [are] the heads of the {families} of the Levites according to their clans.

"When Pharaoh speaks to you, saying, 'Do a wonder for yourselves,' you will say to Aaron, 'Take your staff and throw it before Pharaoh, and it will become a snake.'"

And all of [the] Egyptians dug around the Nile [for] water to drink, because they were unable to drink from the water of the Nile.

And Moses said to Pharaoh, "{I leave to you the honor} over me. When shall I pray for you and for your servants and for your people to cut off the frogs from you and from your houses? They will be left only in the Nile."

And Pharaoh said, "I myself will release you, and you will sacrifice to Yahweh your God in the desert. Only surely you must not go far. Pray for me."

And Yahweh said to Moses and to Aaron, "Take for yourselves full handfuls of soot from a smelting furnace, and let Moses sprinkle it toward the heavens before the eyes of Pharaoh.

And the magicians were not able to stand before Moses because of the skin sores, for the skin sores were on the magicians and on all [the] Egyptians.

For at this time I [am] sending all of my plagues {to you personally} and among your servants and among your people so that you will know that there is no one like me in all the earth.

For now I could have stretched out my hand, and I could have struck you and your people with the plague, and you would have perished from the earth.

But for the sake of this I have caused you to stand--for the sake of showing you my strength and in order to proclaim my name in all the earth.

But [as for] you and your servants, I know that you do not yet fear the presence of Yahweh God."

And Yahweh said to Moses, "Go to Pharaoh, for I have made his heart {insensitive} and the heart of his servants in order to put these signs of mine in his midst,

And they will cover the surface of the land, and no one will be able to see the land, and they will eat the remainder of what is left--what is left over for you from the hail--and they will eat every sprouting tree [belonging] to you from the field.

And the servants of Pharaoh said to him, "Until when will this be a snare for us? Release the men so that they may serve Yahweh their God. Do you not yet know that Egypt is destroyed?"

And Moses said, "With our young and with our old we will go; with our sons and with our daughters, with our sheep and goats and with our cattle we will go because [it is] the feast of Yahweh for us."

And Moses stretched out his hand toward the heavens, and there was darkness of night in all the land of Egypt [for] three days.

No one could see his brother, and {because of it no one could move from where they were} [for] three days, but there was light for the {Israelites} in their dwellings.

Speak in the ears of the people, and let them ask, a man from his neighbor and a woman from her neighbor, [for] objects of silver and objects of gold."

"This month [will be] the beginning of months; it [will be] for you the first of the months of the year.

Speak to all the community of Israel, saying, 'On the tenth of this month, they will each take for themselves {a lamb for the family}, a lamb for the household.

And if the household is too small for a lamb, he and the neighbor nearest to his house will take [one] according to the number of persons; you will count out portions of the lamb {according to how much each one can eat}.

The lamb for you must be a male, without defect, in its first year; you will take [it] from the sheep or from the goats.

And the blood will be a sign for you on the houses where you are, and I will see the blood, and I will pass over you, and there will not be a destructive plague among you when I strike the land of Egypt.

"And this day will become a memorial for you, and you will celebrate it as a religious feast for Yahweh throughout your generations; you will celebrate it as a lasting statute.

You will eat unleavened bread for seven days. Surely on the first day you shall remove yeast from your houses, because anyone [who] eats [food with] yeast from the first day until the seventh day--that person will be cut off from Israel.

It will be for you on the first day a holy assembly and on the seventh day a holy assembly; no work will be done on them; only what is eaten by every person, it alone will be prepared for you.

"And you will keep the Feast of Unleavened Bread, because on this very day I brought out your divisions from the land of Egypt, and you will keep this day for your generations as a lasting statute.

For seven days yeast must not be found in your houses, because {anyone eating food with yeast} will be cut off from the community of Israel--[whether] an alien or a native of the land.

And Moses called all the elders of Israel, and he said to them, "Select and take for yourselves sheep for your clans and slaughter the Passover sacrifice.

"And you will keep this event as a rule for you and for your children forever.

{And} when your children say to you, 'What [is] this {religious custom} for you?'

you will say, 'It [is] a Passover sacrifice for Yahweh, who passed over the houses of the {Israelites} in Egypt when he struck Egypt; and he delivered our houses.'" And the people knelt down and they worshiped.

And the {Israelites} did according to the word of Moses, and they asked from [the] Egyptians [for] objects of silver and objects of gold and [for] clothing.

And they baked the dough that they had brought out from Egypt [as] cakes, unleavened bread, because it had no yeast when they were driven out from Egypt, and they were not able to delay, and also they had not made provisions for themselves.

It [is] a night of vigils [belonging] to Yahweh for bringing them out from the land of Egypt; it [is] this night [belonging] to Yahweh [with] vigils for all of the {Israelites} throughout their generations.

And when an alien dwells with you and he wants to prepare [the] Passover for Yahweh, every male belonging to him must be circumcised, and then he may come near to prepare it, and he will be as the native of the land, but any uncircumcised [man] may not eat it.

One law will be for the native and for the alien who is dwelling in your midst."

Seven days you will eat unleavened bread, and on the seventh day [will be] a feast for Yahweh.

Unleavened bread will be eaten the seven days; [food with] yeast will not be seen for you; and yeast will not be seen for you in all your territory.

And you shall tell your son on that day, saying, 'This [is] because of what Yahweh did for me when I came out from Egypt.'

you will hand over every first offspring of a womb to Yahweh, and every first offspring dropped by a domestic animal that will belong to you, the males [will be] for Yahweh.

Isn't this the word we spoke to you in Egypt, saying, 'Leave us alone [so that] we can serve Egypt!' because serving Egypt is better for us than our dying in the desert."

And Moses said to the people, "You must not be afraid. Stand [still] and see the salvation of Yahweh, which he will accomplish for you today, because [the] Egyptians whom you see today you will see never again.

Yahweh will fight for you, and you must be quiet."

And as for me, look, I [am] about to harden the heart of [the] Egyptians [so that] they come after them, and I will display my glory through Pharaoh and through all of his army, through his chariots and through his charioteers.

And the {Israelites} entered the middle of the sea on the dry land. The waters [were] a wall for them on their right and on their left.

And he removed the wheels of their chariots [so that] they drove them with difficulty, and [the] Egyptians said, "We must flee away from Israel because Yahweh [is] fighting for them against Egypt."

But the {Israelites} walked on the dry land in the middle of the sea. The waters [were] a wall for them on their right and on their left.

You brought them and planted them on the mountain of your inheritance, a place you made for yourself to inhabit, Yahweh, a sanctuary, Lord, [that] your hands established.

And he cried out to Yahweh, and Yahweh showed him [a piece of] wood, and he threw [it] into the water, and the water became sweet. There he made a rule and regulation for them, and there he tested them.

And Yahweh said to Moses, "Look, I am going to rain down for you bread from the heavens, and the people will go out and gather enough for the day on its day; in that way I will test them: Will they go according to my law or not?

and [in the] morning, you will see the glory of Yahweh, {for he hears} your grumblings against Yahweh, and what [are] we that you grumble against us?"

And Moses said, "When in the evening Yahweh gives you meat to eat and bread in the morning {to fill up on}, {for he hears} your grumblings that you grumble against him--and what [are] we? Your grumblings [are] not against us but against Yahweh."

This [is] the word that Yahweh commanded, 'Gather from it, {each according to what he can eat}, an omer per person [according to] the number of you. You each shall take [enough] for whoever [is] in his tent.'"

And when it was the sixth day, they gathered twice [as much] bread, two omers for one [person], and all the leaders of the community came and told Moses.

And he said to them, "This is what Yahweh has said. Tomorrow [is] a rest period, a holy Sabbath for Yahweh. Bake what you [want to] bake, and boil what you [want to] boil. Put aside all the surplus for yourselves for safekeeping until the morning."

And Moses said, "Eat it today, because today is a Sabbath for Yahweh. Today you will not find it in the field.

See, because Yahweh has given to you the Sabbath, therefore he is giving to you on the sixth day bread for two days. Stay, {each in his location}; let no one go from his place on the seventh day."

And Moses said, "This is the word that Yahweh has commanded. 'A full omer of it [is] for safekeeping for your generations so that they will see the bread that I fed you in the desert when I brought you from the land of Egypt.'"

And Moses said to Aaron, "Take one jar and put there a full omer of manna. Leave it before Yahweh for safekeeping for your generations."

As Yahweh had commanded Moses, so Aaron left it before the testimony for safekeeping.

And all the community of the {Israelites} set out from the desert of Sin for their journeys according to the command of Yahweh, and they camped in Rephidim, and there was no water for the people to drink.

And the people thirsted for water, and the people grumbled against Moses and said, "Why {ever} did you bring us up from Egypt to kill me and my sons and my cattle with thirst?"

And Moses said to Joshua, "Choose men for us, and go out, fight against Amalek tomorrow. I [will be] standing on the top of the hill, and the staff of God [will be] in my hand."

And he said, "Because a hand [was] against the throne of Yah, a war [will be] for Yahweh with Amalek from generation [to] generation."

And Jethro, the priest of Midian, the father-in-law of Moses, heard all that God had done for Moses and for Israel, his people, that Yahweh had brought Israel out from Egypt.

and her two sons--the one whose name [was] Gershom, for he had said, "I have been an alien in a foreign land,"

and the one [whose] name [was] Eliezer, for "the God of my father [was] my help, and he delivered me from the sword of Pharaoh."

And Jethro rejoiced over all the good that Yahweh had done for Israel when he delivered them from the hand of Egypt.

And Jethro, the father-in-law of Moses, took a burnt offering and sacrifices for God, and Aaron and all the elders of Israel came to eat bread with the father-in-law of Moses before God.

And the father-in-law of Moses saw all that he was doing for the people, and he said, "What [is] this thing that you [are] doing for the people? Why [are] you sitting alone and all the people [are] standing by you from morning until evening?"

Surely you will wear out, both you and this people who [are] with you, because the thing [is too] {difficult} for you. You are not able to do it alone.

Now listen to my voice; I will advise you, and may God be with you. You be for the people before God, and you bring the issues to God.

And let them judge the people all the time, {and} every major issue they will bring to you, and every minor issue they will judge themselves. And [so] lighten [it] for yourself, and they will bear [it] with you.

And now if you will carefully listen to my voice and keep my covenant, you will be a treasured possession for me out of all the peoples, {for all the earth is mine},

and they must be prepared for the third day, because on the third day, Yahweh will go down on Mount Sinai before the eyes of all the people.

And you must set limits [for] the people all around, saying, 'Guard yourselves {against} going up to the mountain and touching its edge. Anyone touching the mountain will certainly be put to death.

And he said to the people, "Be ready {for the third day}. Do not go near to a woman."

"There shall be for you no other gods before me.

"You shall not make for yourself a divine image [with] any form that [is] in the heavens above or that [is] in the earth below or that [is] in the water below the earth.