He said to his people, “Look, the Israelite people are more numerous and powerful than we are.

Then the king of Egypt said to the Hebrew midwives, one of whom was named Shiphrah and the other Puah,

And 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.

And the midwives will fear God, and they did not according to what the king of Egypt said to them, and they will preserve alive the boys.

And 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?

The midwives said to Pharaoh, “The Hebrew women are not like the Egyptian women, for they are vigorous and give birth before a midwife can get to them.”

When she opened it, she saw the child—a little boy, crying. She felt sorry for him and said, “This is one of the Hebrew boys.”

Then his sister said to Pharaoh’s daughter, “Should I go and call a woman from the Hebrews to nurse the boy for you?”

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

Then 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.

When 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.”

And 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?

And 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.

And when they came to Reuel their father, he said, How is it that ye are come so soon to day?

And they said, An Egyptian delivered us out of the hand of the shepherds, and also drew water enough for us, and watered the flock.

And 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.

She gave birth to a son whom he named Gershom, for he said, “I have been a foreigner in a foreign land.”

And Moses said, I will now turn aside, and see this great sight, why the bush is not burnt.

And 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.

“Do not come closer,” He said. “Remove the sandals from your feet, for the place where you are standing is holy ground.”

Moreover 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.

Then the Lord said, “I have observed the misery of My people in Egypt, and have heard them crying out because of their oppressors, and I know about their sufferings.

And 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?

And 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.

And Moses will say to God, Behold me going to the sons of Israel, and I spake to them, The God of your fathers sent me to you; and they said to me, What his name? what shall I say to them?

And 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.

God also said to Moses, “Say this to the Israelites: Yahweh, 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.

“Go and assemble the elders of Israel and say to them: Yahweh, 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.

And 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.

And they heard thy voice; and thou camest, thou and the old men of Israel, to the king of Egypt, and ye said to him, Jehovah the God of the Hebrews, met with us; and now will we go a way of three days into the desert, and we will sacrifice to Jehovah our God.

And Moses answered and said, But behold, they will not believe me, nor hearken unto my voice; for they will say, Jehovah has not appeared to thee.

And Jehovah said to him, What is that in thy hand? And he said, A staff.

Then He said, “Throw it on the ground.” He threw it on the ground, and it became a snake. Moses ran from it,

And Jehovah said to Moses, Stretch out thy hand and take it by the tail and he stretched out his hand and caught it, and it became a staff in his hand --

[“You shall do this,” said the Lord,] “so that the elders may believe that the Lord, the God of their fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has [most certainly] appeared to you.”

In 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, white as snow.

Then He said, “Put your hand back inside your cloak.” He put his hand back inside his cloak, and when he took it out, it had again become like the rest of his skin.

“If they will not believe you or pay attention to the evidence of the first sign, they may believe the evidence of the second sign.

And Moses said to Jehovah, Ah Lord! I am not eloquent, neither heretofore nor since thou hast spoken to thy servant, for I am slow of speech and of a slow tongue.

Yahweh said to him, “Who made the human mouth? Who makes him mute or deaf, seeing or blind? Is it not I, Yahweh?

Moses said, “Please, Lord, send someone else.”

Then 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.

Then Moses went back to his father-in-law Jethro and said to him, “Please let me return to my relatives in Egypt and see if they are still living.”

Jethro said to Moses, “Go in peace.”

And Jehovah said to Moses in Midian, Go, return to Egypt; for all the men are dead who sought thy life.

And Jehovah said to Moses, When thou goest to return to Egypt, see that thou do all the wonders before Pharaoh that I have put in thy hand. And I will harden his heart, that he shall not let the people go.

And say thou to Pharaoh, So said Jehovah, my first-born son is Israel.

and I have said unto thee, Let my son go, that he may serve me; and thou hast refused to let him go: behold, I will slay thy son, thy first-born.

So Zipporah took a flint, cut off her son’s foreskin, and threw it at Moses’ feet. Then she said, “You are a bridegroom of blood to me!”

So He let him alone. At that time she said, “You are a bridegroom of blood,” referring to the circumcision.

Now 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.

Aaron repeated everything the Lord had said to Moses and performed the signs before the people.

Later, Moses and Aaron went in and said to Pharaoh, “This is what Yahweh, the God of Israel, says: Let My people go, so that they may hold a festival for Me in the wilderness.”

And Pharaoh said, Who is Jehovah, to whose voice I am to hearken to let Israel go? I do not know Jehovah, neither will I let Israel go.

And they said, The God of the Hebrews has met with us: let us go, we pray thee, three days' journey into the wilderness, and sacrifice to Jehovah our God; lest he fall upon us with pestilence or with sword.

The king of Egypt said to them, “Moses and Aaron, why are you causing the people to neglect their work? Get to your work!”

Pharaoh also said, “Look, the people of the land are so numerous, and you would stop them from working.”

So the overseers and foremen of the people went out and said to them, “This is what Pharaoh says: ‘I am not giving you straw.

And the officers of the children of Israel, whom Pharaoh's taskmasters had set over them, were beaten, and it was said, Why have ye not fulfilled your task in making brick, both yesterday and to-day, as heretofore?

Straw was not given to thy servants, and they said to us, Make bricks: and behold, thy servants were beaten; and the sin, thy people.

But he said, “You are slackers. Slackers! That is why you are saying, ‘Let us go sacrifice to the Lord.’

And the officers of the children of Israel saw that it stood ill with them, because it was said, Ye shall not diminish anything from your bricks, the daily work.

“May the Lord take note of you and judge,” they said to them, “because you have made us reek in front of Pharaoh and his officials—putting a sword in their hand to kill us!”

And Moses returned to Jehovah, and said, Lord, why hast thou done evil to this people? why now hast thou sent me?

And Jehovah said to Moses, Now shalt thou see what I will do to Pharaoh; for by a strong hand shall he let them go, and by a strong hand shall he drive them out of his land.

And God spoke to Moses, and said to him, I am Jehovah.

And Moses said so to the sons of Israel. But they did not listen to Moses through anguish of spirit and through cruel bondage.

The Lord spoke to Moses, saying,

But 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?”

This Aaron and Moses, whom Jehovah said to them, Bring forth the sons of Israel out of the land of Egypt with their army.

He said to him, “I am Yahweh; tell Pharaoh king of Egypt everything I am telling you.”

And Moses said before Jehovah, Behold, I am of uncircumcised lips, and how will Pharaoh hearken unto me?

And Jehovah said to Moses, See, I have made thee God to Pharaoh; and Aaron thy brother shall be thy prophet.

The Lord said to Moses and Aaron,

When Pharaoh speaketh unto you, saying, Give for yourselves a wonder; then thou hast said unto Aaron, Take thy rod, and cast before Pharaoh -- it becometh a monster.'

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.

However, Pharaoh’s heart hardened, and he did not listen to them, as the Lord had said.

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

and thou hast said unto him: Jehovah, God of the Hebrews, hath sent me unto thee, saying, Send My people away, and they serve Me in the wilderness; and lo, thou hast not hearkened hitherto.

Thus said Jehovah, In this thou shalt know that I am Jehovah: Behold me smiting with the rod which is in my hand upon the waters that in the river, and they were turned into blood.

So the Lord said to Moses, “Tell Aaron: Take your staff and stretch out your hand over the waters of Egypt—over their rivers, canals, ponds, and all their water reservoirs—and they will become blood. There will be blood throughout the land of Egypt, even in wooden and stone containers.”

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;

But the magicians of Egypt did the same thing by their occult practices. So Pharaoh’s heart hardened, and he would not listen to them, as the Lord had said.

Then the Lord said to Moses, “Go in to Pharaoh and tell him: This is what Yahweh says: Let My people go, so that they may worship Me.

The 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.”

Pharaoh summoned Moses and Aaron and said, “Ask Yahweh to remove the frogs from me and my people. Then I will let the people go and they can sacrifice to Yahweh.”

Moses said to Pharaoh, “You make the choice rather than me. When should I ask on behalf of you, your officials, and your people, that the frogs be taken away from you and your houses, and remain only in the Nile?”

“Tomorrow,” he answered.

Moses replied, “As you have said, so you may know there is no one like Yahweh our God,

Moses said, "It will be just as you say, so that you may know that there is no one like the LORD our God. The frogs will leave you, your house, your officials, and your people. They'll remain only in the Nile River."

The Lord did as Moses had said: the frogs in the houses, courtyards, and fields died.

But when Pharaoh saw there was relief, he hardened his heart and would not listen to them, as the Lord had said.

Then the Lord said to Moses, “Tell Aaron: Stretch out your staff and strike the dust of the earth, and it will become gnats throughout the land of Egypt.”

“This is the finger of God,” the magicians said to Pharaoh. But Pharaoh’s heart hardened, and he would not listen to them, as the Lord had said.

The 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 Yahweh says: Let My people go, so that they may worship Me.

Then Pharaoh summoned Moses and Aaron and said, “Go sacrifice to your God within the country.”

But 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?

A journey of three days, must we go, in the desert, - then will we sacrifice to Yahweh our God, as, Yahweh, hath said unto us.

And Pharaoh said, I will let you go, that you may sacrifice to Jehovah your God in the wilderness; only, go not very far away: intreat for me!

“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.”

The Lord did as Moses had said: He removed the swarms of flies from Pharaoh, his officials, and his people; not one was left.

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