Let us take care for fear that their numbers may become even greater, and if there is a war, they may be joined with those who are against us, and make an attack on us, and go up out of the land.

So they put overseers of forced work over them, in order to make their strength less by the weight of their work. And they made store-towns for Pharaoh, Pithom and Raamses.

But the women had the fear of God, and did not do as the king of Egypt said, but let the male children go on living.

And the king of Egypt sent for the women, and said to them, Why have you done this, and let the male children go on living?

And they said to Pharaoh, Because the Hebrew women are not like the Egyptian women, for they are strong, and the birth takes place before we come to them.

And because the women who took care of the Hebrew mothers had the fear of God, he gave them families.

And Pharaoh gave orders to all his people, saying, Every son who comes to birth is to be put into the river, but every daughter may go on living.

And she became with child and gave birth to a Son; and when she saw that he was a beautiful child, she kept him secretly for three months.

Now Pharaoh's daughter came down to the Nile to take a bath, while her women were walking by the riverside; and she saw the basket among the river-plants, and sent her servant-girl to get it.

Then his sister said to Pharaoh's daughter, May I go and get you one of the Hebrew women to give him the breast?

And Pharaoh's daughter said to her, Go. And the girl went and got the child's mother.

And Pharaoh's daughter said to her, Take the child away and give it milk for me, and I will give you payment. And the woman took the child and gave it milk at her breast.

And when the child was older, she took him to Pharaoh's daughter and he became her son, and she gave him the name Moses, Because, she said, I took him out of the water.

And he said, Who made you a ruler and a judge over us? are you going to put me to death as you did the Egyptian? And Moses was in fear, and said, It is clear that the thing has come to light.

Now when Pharaoh had news of this, he would have put Moses to death. But Moses went in flight from Pharaoh into the land of Midian: and he took his seat by a water-spring.

Now the priest of Midian had seven daughters: and they came to get water for their father's flock.

And the keepers of the sheep came up and were driving them away; but Moses got up and came to their help, watering their flock for them.

And they said, An Egyptian came to our help against the keepers of sheep and got water for us and gave it to the flock.

And she gave birth to a son, to whom he gave the name Gershom: for he said, I have been living in a strange land.

Now after a long time the king of Egypt came to his end: and the children of Israel were crying in their grief under the weight of their work, and their cry for help came to the ears of God.

And the angel of the Lord was seen by him in a flame of fire coming out of a thorn-tree: and he saw that the tree was on fire, but it was not burned up.

And he said, Do not come near: take off your shoes from your feet, for the place where you are is holy.

And he said, I am the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob. And Moses kept his face covered for fear of looking on God.

And God said, Truly, I have seen the grief of my people in Egypt, and their cry because of their cruel masters has come to my ears; for I have knowledge of their sorrows;

For now, truly, the cry of the children of Israel has come to me, and I have seen the cruel behaviour of the Egyptians to them.

Come, then, and I will send you to Pharaoh, so that you may take my people, the children of Israel, out of Egypt.

And Moses said to God, Who am I to go to Pharaoh and take the children of Israel out of Egypt?

And God went on to say to Moses, Say to the children of Israel, The Lord, the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, of Isaac, and of Jacob, has sent me to you: this is my name for ever, and this is my sign to all generations.

And they will give ear to your voice: and you, with the chiefs of Israel, will go to Pharaoh, the king of Egypt, and say to him, The Lord, the God of the Hebrews, has come to us: let us then go three days' journey into the waste land to make an offering to the Lord our God.

For every woman will get from her neighbour and from the woman living in her house, ornaments of silver and gold, and clothing; and you will put them on your sons and your daughters; you will take the best of their goods from the Egyptians.

And Moses, answering, said, It is certain that they will not have faith in me or give ear to my voice; for they will say, You have not seen the Lord.

And Moses said to the Lord, O Lord, I am not a man of words; I have never been so, and am not now, even after what you have said to your servant: for talking is hard for me, and I am slow of tongue.

And he will do the talking for you to the people: he will be to you as a mouth and you will be to him as God.

And the Lord said to Moses in Midian, Go back to Egypt, for all the men are dead who were attempting to take your life.

And the Lord said to Moses, When you go back to Egypt, see that you do before Pharaoh all the wonders which I have given you power to do: but I will make his heart hard and he will not let the people go.

And you are to say to Pharaoh, The Lord says, Israel is the first of my sons:

And after that, Moses and Aaron came to Pharaoh, and said, The Lord, the God of Israel, says, Let my people go so that they may keep a feast to me in the waste land.

And Pharaoh said, Who is the Lord, to whose voice I am to give ear and let Israel go? I have no knowledge of the Lord and I will not let Israel go.

And Pharaoh said, Truly, the people of the land are increasing in number, and you are keeping them back from their work.

The same day Pharaoh gave orders to the overseers and those who were responsible for the work, saying,

Give these men no more dry stems for their brick-making as you have been doing; let them go and get the material for themselves.

But see that they make the same number of bricks as before, and no less: for they have no love for work; and so they are crying out and saying, Let us go and make an offering to our God.

And the overseers of the people and their responsible men went out and said to the people, Pharaoh says, I will give you no more dry stems.

Go yourselves and get dry stems wherever you are able; for your work is not to be any less.

So the people were sent in all directions through the land of Egypt to get dry grass for stems.

And the overseers went on driving them and saying, Do your full day's work as before when there were dry stems for you.

And the responsible men of the children of Israel, whom Pharaoh's overseers had put over them, were given blows, and they said to them, Why have you not done your regular work, in making bricks as before?

Then the responsible men of the children of Israel came to Pharaoh, protesting and saying, Why are you acting in this way to your servants?

But he said, You have no love for work: that is why you say, Let us go and make an offering to the Lord.

And they came face to face with Moses and Aaron, who were in their way when they came out from Pharaoh:

And they said to them, May the Lord take note of you and be your judge; for you have given Pharaoh and his servants a bad opinion of us, putting a sword in their hands for our destruction.

For from the time when I came to Pharaoh to put your words before him, he has done evil to this people, and you have given them no help.

And the Lord said to Moses, Now you will see what I am about to do to Pharaoh; for by a strong hand he will be forced to let them go, driving them out of his land because of my outstretched arm.

Say then to the children of Israel, I am Yahweh, and I will take you out from under the yoke of the Egyptians, and make you safe from their power, and will make you free by the strength of my arm after great punishments.

And I will be your guide into the land which I made an oath to give to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob; and I will give it to you for your heritage: I am Yahweh.

Go in and say to Pharaoh, king of Egypt, that he is to let the children of Israel go out of his land.

And Moses, answering the Lord, said, See, the children of Israel will not give ear to me; how then will Pharaoh give ear to me, whose lips are unclean?

And the word of the Lord came to Moses and Aaron, with orders for the children of Israel and for Pharaoh, king of Egypt, to take the children of Israel out of the land of Egypt.

These are the men who gave orders to Pharaoh to let the children of Israel go out of Egypt: these are the same Moses and Aaron.

The Lord said to Moses, I am the Lord: say to Pharaoh, king of Egypt, everything I am saying to you.

And Moses said to the Lord, My lips are unclean; how is it possible that Pharaoh will give me a hearing?

And the Lord said to Moses, See I have made you a god to Pharaoh, and Aaron your brother will be your prophet.

Say whatever I give you orders to say: and Aaron your brother will give word to Pharaoh to let the children of Israel go out of his land.

And I will make Pharaoh's heart hard, and my signs and wonders will be increased in the land of Egypt.

But Pharaoh will not give ear to you, and I will put my hand on Egypt, and take my armies, my people, the children of Israel, out of Egypt, after great punishments.

And Moses was eighty years old, and Aaron eighty-three years old, when they gave the Lord's word to Pharaoh.

If Pharaoh says to you, Let me see a wonder: then say to Aaron, Take your rod and put it down on the earth before Pharaoh so that it may become a snake.

Then Moses and Aaron went in to Pharaoh and they did as the Lord had said: and Aaron put his rod down on the earth before Pharaoh and his servants, and it became a snake.

Then Pharaoh sent for the wise men and the wonder-workers, and they, the wonder-workers of Egypt, did the same with their secret arts.

For every one of them put down his rod on the earth, and they became snakes: but Aaron's rod made a meal of their rods.

But Pharaoh's heart was made hard, and he did not give ear to them, as the Lord had said.

And the Lord said to Moses and Aaron, Pharaoh's heart is unchanged; he will not let the people go.

Go to Pharaoh in the morning; when he goes out to the water, you will be waiting for him by the edge of the Nile, with the rod which was turned into a snake in your hand;

And the fish in the Nile will come to destruction, and the river will send up a bad smell, and the Egyptians will not be able, for disgust, to make use of the water of the Nile for drinking.

And Moses and Aaron did as the Lord had said; and when his rod had been lifted up and stretched out over the waters of the Nile before the eyes of Pharaoh and his servants, all the water in the Nile was turned to blood;

And the fish in the Nile came to destruction, and a bad smell went up from the river, and the Egyptians were not able to make use of the water of the Nile for drinking; and there was blood through all the land of Egypt.

And the wonder-workers of Egypt did the same with their secret arts: but Pharaoh's heart was made hard, and he would not give ear to them, as the Lord had said.

Then Pharaoh went into his house, and did not take even this to heart.

And all the Egyptians made holes round about the Nile to get drinking-water, for they were not able to make use of the Nile water.

And this is what the Lord said to Moses: Go to Pharaoh and say to him, The Lord says, Let my people go so that they may give me worship.

Then Pharaoh sent for Moses and Aaron and said, Make prayer to the Lord that he will take away these frogs from me and my people; and I will let the people go and make their offering to the Lord.

And Moses said, I will let you have the honour of saying when I am to make prayer for you and your servants and your people, that the frogs may be sent away from you and your houses, and be only in the Nile.

Then Moses and Aaron went out from Pharaoh; and Moses made prayer to the Lord about the frogs which he had sent on Pharaoh.

But when Pharaoh saw that there was peace for a time, he made his heart hard and did not give ear to them, as the Lord had said.

Then the wonder-workers said to Pharaoh, This is the finger of God: but Pharaoh's heart was hard, and he did not give ear to them, as the Lord had said.

And the Lord said to Moses, Get up early in the morning and take your place before Pharaoh when he comes out to the water; and say to him, This is what the Lord says: Let my people go to give me worship.

For if you do not let my people go, see, I will send clouds of flies on you and on your servants and on your people and into their houses; and the houses of the Egyptians and the land where they are will be full of flies.

And the Lord did so; and great clouds of flies came into the house of Pharaoh and into his servants' houses, and all the land of Egypt was made waste because of the flies.

And Pharaoh sent for Moses and Aaron and said, Go and make your offering to your God here in the land.

And Moses said, It is not right to do so; for we make our offerings of that to which the Egyptians give worship; and if we do so before their eyes, certainly we will be stoned.

Then Pharaoh said, I will let you go to make an offering to the Lord your God in the waste land; but do not go very far away, and make prayer for me.

And Moses said, When I go out from you I will make prayer to the Lord that the cloud of flies may go away from Pharaoh and from his people and from his servants tomorrow: only let Pharaoh no longer by deceit keep back the people from making their offering to the Lord.

Then Moses went out from Pharaoh and made prayer to the Lord.

And the Lord did as Moses said, and took away the cloud of flies from Pharaoh and from his servants and from his people; not one was to be seen.

But again Pharaoh made his heart hard and did not let the people go.

Then the Lord said to Moses, Go in to Pharaoh and say to him, This is what the Lord, the God of the Hebrews, says: Let my people go so that they may give me worship.

For if you will not let them go, but still keep them in your power,

And Pharaoh sent and got word that there was no loss of any of the cattle of Israel. But the heart of Pharaoh was hard and he did not let the people go.

And the Lord said to Moses and to Aaron, Take in your hand a little dust from the fire and let Moses send it in a shower up to heaven before the eyes of Pharaoh.

So they took some dust from the fire, and placing themselves before Pharaoh, Moses sent it out in a shower up to heaven; and it became a skin-disease bursting out on man and on beast.