Then his sister said to Pharaoh’s daughter, “Shall I go and call a wet-nurse from the Hebrew women to nurse the child for you?”

And Pharaoh’s daughter said to her, “Go ahead.” So the girl went and called the child’s mother.

But Moses said to God, “Who am I, that I should go to Pharaoh, and that I should bring the children of Israel out of Egypt?”

Go, gather the elders (tribal leaders) of Israel together, and say to them, ‘The Lord, the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, of Isaac, and of Jacob, appeared to me, saying, “I am indeed concerned about you and what has been done to you in Egypt.

The elders [of the tribes] will listen and pay attention to what you say; and you, with the elders of Israel, shall go to the king of Egypt and you shall say to him, ‘The Lord, the God of the Hebrews, has met with us; so now, please, [we ask and plead with you,] let us go on a three days’ journey into the wilderness, so that we may sacrifice to the Lord our God.’

But I know that the king of Egypt will not let you go unless [he is forced] by a strong hand.

So I will reach out My hand and strike Egypt with all My wonders which I shall do in the midst of it; and after that he will let you go.

And I will grant this people favor and respect in the sight of the Egyptians; therefore, it shall be that when you go, you will not go empty-handed.

Now then go, and I, even I, will be with your mouth, and will teach you what you shall say.”

Then Moses went away and returned to Jethro his father-in-law, and said to him, “Please, let me go back so that I may return to my relatives in Egypt, and see if they are still alive.” And Jethro said to Moses, “Go in peace.”

Then the Lord said to Moses in Midian, “Go back to Egypt, for all the men who were seeking your life [for killing the Egyptian] are dead.”

The Lord said to Moses, “When you return to Egypt, see that you perform before Pharaoh all the wonders (miracles) which I have put in your hand, but I will harden his heart and make him stubborn so that he will not let the people go.

So I say to you, ‘Let My son go so that he may serve Me’; and if you refuse to let him go, behold, I will kill your son, your firstborn.”’”

The Lord said to Aaron, “Go into the wilderness to meet Moses.” So he went and met him at the mountain of God (Sinai) and kissed him.

Afterward Moses and Aaron came and said to Pharaoh, “Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, ‘Let My people go, so that they may celebrate a feast to Me in the wilderness.’”

But Pharaoh said, “Who is the Lord that I should obey His voice to let Israel go? I do not know the Lord, nor will I let Israel go.”

Then they said, “The God of the Hebrews has met with us. Please, let us go on a three days’ journey into the wilderness and sacrifice to the Lord our God, so that He does not discipline us with pestilence or with the sword.”

“You will no longer give the people straw to make brick as before; let them go and gather straw for themselves.

But the number of bricks which they were making before, you shall [still] require of them; you are not to reduce it in the least. For they are idle and lazy; that is why they cry, ‘Let us go and sacrifice to our God.’

Go, get straw for yourselves wherever you can find it, but your work [quota] will not be reduced in the least.’”

But Pharaoh said, “You are lazy, very lazy and idle! That is why you say, ‘Let us go and sacrifice to the Lord.’

Then the Lord said to Moses, “Now you shall see what I will do to Pharaoh; for under compulsion he will [not only] let them go, but under compulsion he will drive them out of his land.”

“Go, tell Pharaoh king of Egypt to let the children of Israel go out of his land.”

You shall speak all that I command you, and your brother Aaron shall tell Pharaoh to let the children of Israel go out of his land.

Then the Lord said to Moses, “Pharaoh’s heart is hard; he refuses to let the people go.

Go to Pharaoh in the morning as he is going out to the water, and wait for him on the bank of the Nile; and you shall take in your hand the staff that was turned into a serpent.

You shall say to him, ‘The Lord, the God of the Hebrews, has sent me to you, saying, “Let My people go, so that they may serve Me in the wilderness. But behold, you have not listened until now.”

Then the Lord said to Moses, “Go to Pharaoh and say to him, ‘Thus says the Lord, “Let My people go, so that they may serve Me.

However, if you refuse to let them go, hear this: I am going to strike your entire land with frogs.

The Nile will swarm with frogs, which will come up and go into your home, into your bedroom and on to your bed, and into the houses of your servants and on your people, and into your ovens and your kneading bowls.

Then Pharaoh called for Moses and Aaron and said, “Plead with the Lord that He may take away the frogs from me and my people; and I will let the people go, so that they may sacrifice to the Lord.”

Now the Lord said to Moses, “Get up early in the morning and stand before Pharaoh as he is coming out to the water [of the Nile], and say to him, ‘Thus says the Lord, “Let My people go, so that they may serve Me.

For if you do not let My people go, hear this: I will send swarms of [bloodsucking] insects 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 insects, as well as the ground on which they stand.

Then Pharaoh called for Moses and Aaron and said, “Go, sacrifice to your God [here] in the land [of Egypt].”

We must go a three days’ journey into the wilderness and sacrifice to the Lord our God as He commands us.”

So Pharaoh 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 [with your God] for me.”

Moses said, “I am going to leave you, and I will urgently petition (pray, entreat) the Lord that the swarms of insects may leave Pharaoh, his servants, and his people tomorrow; only do not let Pharaoh act deceitfully again by not letting the people go to sacrifice to the Lord.”

But Pharaoh hardened his heart this time also, and he did not let the people go.

Then the Lord said to Moses, “Go to Pharaoh and tell him, ‘Thus says the Lord, the God of the Hebrews: “Let My people go, so that they may serve Me.

But if you refuse to let them go and continue to hold them,

Then Pharaoh sent [men to investigate], and not even one of the livestock of the Israelites had died. But the heart of Pharaoh was hardened [and his mind was firmly set], and he did not let the people go.

Then the Lord said to Moses, “Get up early in the morning and stand before Pharaoh and say to him, ‘Thus says the Lord, the God of the Hebrews, “Let My people go, so that they may serve Me.

Since you are still [arrogantly] exalting yourself [in defiance] against My people by not letting them go,

Pray and entreat the Lord, for there has been enough of God’s thunder and hail; I will let you go, and you shall stay here no longer.”

Pharaoh’s heart was hardened, and he did not let the Israelites go, just as the Lord had said through Moses.

Then the Lord said to Moses, “Go to Pharaoh, for I have hardened his heart and the heart of his servants [making them determined and unresponsive], so that I may exhibit My signs [of divine power] among them,

So Moses and Aaron went to Pharaoh and said to him, “Thus says the Lord, the God of the Hebrews: ‘How long will you refuse to humble yourself before Me? Let My people go, so that they may serve Me.

For if you refuse to let My people go, then hear this: tomorrow I will bring [migratory] locusts into your country.

Pharaoh’s servants said to him, “How long shall this man be a trap to us? Let the men go, so that they may serve the Lord their God. Do you not realize that Egypt is destroyed?”

So Moses and Aaron were brought back to Pharaoh, and he said to them, “Go, serve the Lord your God! Who specifically are the ones that are going?”

Moses said, “We will go with our young and our old, with our sons and our daughters, with our flocks and our herds [all of us and all that we have], for we must hold a feast to the Lord.”

Pharaoh said to them, “The Lord be with you [to help you], if I ever let you go with your children [because you will never return]! Look [be forewarned], you have an evil plan in mind.

No! Go now, you who are men, [without your families] and serve the Lord, if that is what you want.” So Moses and Aaron were driven from Pharaoh’s presence.

But the Lord hardened Pharaoh’s heart [so that it was even more resolved and obstinate], and he did not let the Israelites go.

Then Pharaoh called to Moses, and said, “Go, serve the Lord; only your flocks and your herds must be left behind. Even your children may go with you.”

Therefore, our livestock must also go with us; not one hoof shall be left behind, for we must take some of them to serve the Lord our God. Even we do not know with what we will serve the Lord until we arrive there.”

But the Lord hardened Pharaoh’s heart, and he was not willing to let them go.

Then the Lord said to Moses, “I will bring yet one more plague on Pharaoh and on Egypt; after that he will let you go. When he lets you go, he will most certainly drive you out of here completely.

Then Moses said, “Thus says the Lord: ‘At midnight I am going out into the midst of Egypt,

All these servants of yours will come down to me and bow down before me, saying, ‘Get out, you and all the people who follow you.’ After that I will leave.” And he left Pharaoh in the heat of anger.

Moses and Aaron did all these wonders (miracles) before Pharaoh; yet the Lord hardened Pharaoh’s heart, and he did not let the Israelites go out of his land.

Then Moses called for all the elders of Israel and said to them, “Go and take a lamb for yourselves according to [the size of] your families and slaughter the Passover lamb.

You shall take a bunch of hyssop, dip it in the blood which is in the basin, and touch some of the blood to the lintel [above the doorway] and to the two doorposts; and none of you shall go outside the door of his house until morning.

Then he called for Moses and Aaron at night and said, “Get up, get out from among my people, both you and the Israelites; and go, serve the Lord, as you said.

On this day in the month Abib, you are about to go onward.

For it happened, when Pharaoh stubbornly refused to let us go, that the Lord struck every firstborn in the land of Egypt, both the firstborn of man and the firstborn of animal. Therefore, I sacrifice to the Lord all the males, the first [to be born] of every womb, but every firstborn of my sons I redeem.’

So it happened, when Pharaoh let the people go, God did not lead them by way of the land of the Philistines, even though it was nearer; for God said, “The people might change their minds when they see war [that is, that there will be war], and return to Egypt.”

When the king of Egypt was told that the people had fled, Pharaoh and his servants had a change of heart toward the people, and they said, “What is this that we have done? We have let Israel go from serving us!”

The Lord said to Moses, “Why do you cry to Me? Tell the sons of Israel to move forward [toward the sea].

As for you, lift up your staff and stretch out your hand over the sea and divide it, so that the sons of Israel may go through the middle of the sea on dry land.

As for Me, hear this: I will harden the hearts of the Egyptians, and they will go in [the sea] after them; and I will be glorified and honored through Pharaoh and all his army, and his war-chariots and his horsemen.

Then Moses stretched out his hand over the sea; and the Lord swept the sea back by a strong east wind all that night and turned the seabed into dry land, and the waters were divided.

Then the Lord said to Moses, “Behold, I will cause bread to rain from heaven for you; the people shall go out and gather a day’s portion every day, so that I may test them [to determine] whether or not they will walk [obediently] in My instruction (law).

Then the Lord said to Moses, “Pass before the people and take with you some of the elders of Israel; and take in your hand the staff with which you struck the Nile, and go.

So Moses said to Joshua, “Choose men for us and go out, fight against Amalek [and his people]. Tomorrow I will stand on the top of the hill with the staff of God in my hand.”

If you will do this thing and God so commands you, then you will be able to endure [the responsibility], and all these people will also go [back] to their tents in peace.”

The Lord also said to Moses, “Go to the people and consecrate them today and tomorrow [that is, prepare them for My sacred purpose], and have them wash their clothes

You shall set barriers for the people all around [the mountain], saying, ‘Beware that you do not go up on the mountain or touch its border; whoever touches the mountain must be put to death.

He said to the people, “Be prepared for the third day; do not be intimate with a woman.”

Then the Lord spoke to Moses, “Go down, warn the people, so that they do not break through [the barriers around the mountain] to the Lord to see [Me], and many of them perish [as a result].

Then the Lord said to him, “Go down and come up again, you and Aaron with you; but do not let the priests and the people break through [the barriers] to come up to the Lord, or He will break forth [in judgment] against them [and destroy them].”

Nor shall you go up to My altar on steps, so that your nakedness will not be exposed on it.’

“If you purchase a Hebrew servant [because of his debt or poverty], he shall serve six years, and in the seventh [year] he shall leave as a free man, paying nothing.

If he came [to you] alone, he shall leave alone; if he came married, then his wife shall leave with him.

If his master gives him a wife, and she gives birth to sons or daughters, the wife and her children shall belong to her master, and he shall leave [your service] alone.

But if the servant plainly says, ‘I love my master, my wife and my children; I will not leave as a free man,’

“If a man sells his daughter to be a female servant, she shall not go free [after six years] as male servants do.

If he does not do these three things for her, then shall she leave free, without payment of money.

“If a man hits the eye of his male servant or female servant and it is destroyed, he must let the servant go free because of [the loss of] the eye.

And if he knocks out the tooth of his male servant or female servant, he must let the servant go free because of [the loss of] the tooth.

And he said to the elders, “Wait here for us until we come back to you. Remember that Aaron and Hur are with you; whoever has a legal matter, let him go to them.”

The various articles of clothing shall be on Aaron and on his sons when they enter the Tent of Meeting, or when they approach the altar [of incense] to minister in the Holy Place, so that they do not incur guilt and die. It shall be a statute forever to Aaron and to his descendants after him.

When they enter the Tent of Meeting, they shall wash with water, so that they will not die. Also, when they approach the altar to minister, to burn an offering in the fire to the Lord [they shall do the same].

Now when the people saw that Moses delayed coming down from the mountain, they gathered together before Aaron and said to him, “Come, make us a god who will go before us; as for this Moses, the man who brought us up from the land of Egypt, we do not know what has become of him.”

Then the Lord said to Moses, “Go down at once, for your people, whom you brought up from the land of Egypt, have corrupted themselves.

For they said to me, ‘Make us a god who will go before us; as for this Moses, the man who brought us out of the land of Egypt, we do not know what has become of him.’

He said to them, “Thus says the Lord God of Israel, ‘Every man strap his sword on his thigh and go back and forth from gate to gate throughout the camp, and every man kill his brother, and every man his friend, and every man his neighbor [all who continue pagan worship].’”

Then the next day Moses said to the people, “You have committed a great sin. Now I will go up to the Lord; perhaps I can make atonement for your sin.”

But now go, lead the people [to the place] where I have told you. Behold, My Angel shall go before you; nevertheless, in the day when I punish, I will punish them for their sin!”

The Lord spoke to Moses, saying, “Depart, go up from here, you and the people whom you have brought from the land of Egypt, to the land which I swore to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob (Israel), saying, ‘To your descendants I will give it.’