making their lives bitter through hard labor with mortar, bricks, and all kinds of outdoor labor. They ruthlessly imposed all this work on them.

And the king of Egypt summoned the midwives, and he said to them, "Why have you done this thing and let the boys live?"

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 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 he turned this way and that way, and when he saw that there was no man, he smote the Egyptian, and hid him in the sand.

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 Pharaoh heard this matter, and he sought to kill Moses, and Moses fled from Pharaoh, and he lived in the land of Midian, and he lived at {a certain well}.

And they will come to Reuel their father, and he will say, Wherefore hastened ye to come this day?

and he saith unto his daughters, 'And where is he? why is this? -- ye left the man! call for him, and he doth eat bread.'

And Moses said, "Let me turn aside and see this great sight. Why does the bush not burn up?"

And he will say, Thou shalt not draw near hither; draw off thy shoes from thy feet, for the place which thou standest upon it, this is holy land.

Then he said, "I am the God of your ancestors, 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.

And I have come down to deliver them from the hand of [the] Egyptians and to bring them up from this land to a good and wide 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.

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."

God said to Moses, "I AM THAT I AM," and he said, "You shall tell the children of Israel this: 'I AM has sent me to you.'"

And God said again to Moses, "So you must say to the {Israelites}, 'Yahweh, the God of your ancestors, 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 remembrance from generation [to] generation.'

And I will give this people favor in the eyes of [the] Egyptians, {and then} when you go, you will not go empty-handed.

And Yahweh said to him, "What [is] this in your hand?" And he said, "A staff."

[“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.”

And you must take this staff in your hand, with which you will do the signs."

You are to say to Pharaoh, "This is what the LORD says: "Israel is my firstborn son.

Afterward Moses and Aaron came, and said to Pharaoh, "This is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says, 'Let my people go, that they may hold a feast to me in the wilderness.'"

Nevertheless, the fixed number of bricks, which they have been making heretofore, shall ye lay upon them, ye shall not diminish therefrom, - for idle, they are, on this account, it is that they are making an outcry, saying, We must go our way, we must sacrifice to our God.

The taskmasters of the people went out, and their officers, and they spoke to the people, saying, This is what Pharaoh says: "I will not give you straw.

And the scribes of the sons of Israel will be beaten, which Pharaoh's urgers on set over them, saying, Wherefore did ye not complete your allowance of brick as yesterday and the third day, also yesterday, also this day?

And the foremen of the {Israelites} came and cried out to Pharaoh, saying, "Why do you treat your servants like this?

But he said: Idle, ye are - idle, on this account, are, ye, saying, We must take our journey, we must sacrifice to Yahweh.

And Moses returned to Yahweh and said, "Lord, why have you brought trouble to this people? Why ever did you send me?

And from the time I came to Pharaoh to speak in your name, he has brought trouble to this people, and you have certainly not delivered your people."

For this say thou to the sons of Israel, I am Jehovah, and I brought you forth from under the burdens of the Egyptians, and I delivered you from their work, and I redeemed you with an arm stretched out and with great judgments.

Moses told this to the Israelites, but they did not listen to him because of their impatience and despondency, and because of their forced labor.

This is that Aaron and Moses, to whom Jehovah said, Bring out the children of Israel from the land of Egypt according to their hosts.

These are they who spoke to Pharaoh king of Egypt, to bring out the children of Israel from Egypt: this is that Moses and Aaron.

So Moses and Aaron did this; they did just as the Lord commanded them.

Thus says Yahweh, "By this you will know that I [am] Yahweh. Look, I [am about to] strike with the staff that is in my hand the water that is in the Nile, and it will be changed to blood.

And Pharaoh turned and went to his house, and {he did not take also this to heart}.

The LORD spoke to Moses, Go in to Pharaoh, and tell him, "This is what the LORD says, 'Let my people go, that they may serve me.

And Moses said unto Pharaoh, Have thou this glory over me: against what time shall I entreat for thee, and for thy servants, and for thy people, that the frogs be destroyed from thee and thy houses, and remain in the river only?

They did this. Aaron stretched his hand out with his staff, struck the dust of the land, and gnats came on people and animals all the dust of the ground became gnats throughout the land of Egypt.

Then the scribes said to Pharaoh, This is the finger of God! But Pharaoh's heart was stubborn, and he hearkened not to them, as Jehovah had said.

The LORD said to Moses, "Rise up early in the morning, and stand before Pharaoh; behold, he comes forth to the water; and tell him, 'This is what the LORD says, "Let my people go, that they may serve me.

But 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, Yahweh, am in the land.

And I will put a distinction between my people and your people; this sign will be tomorrow.'"

The LORD did this, and dense swarms of insects came into the house of Pharaoh and into the houses of his servants. The land was ruined throughout Egypt because of the swarms of insects.

But Moses said, “It is not right [or even possible] to do that, for we will sacrifice to the Lord our God what is repulsive and unacceptable to the Egyptians [that is, animals that the Egyptians consider sacred]. If we sacrifice what is repulsive and unacceptable to the Egyptians, will they not riot and stone us?

And Pharaoh made his heart {insensitive} also this time, and he did not release the people.

Then the LORD said to Moses, "Go in to Pharaoh, and tell him, 'This is what the LORD, the God of the Hebrews, says: "Let my people go, that they may serve me.

And Yahweh set an appointed time, saying, "Tomorrow Yahweh will do this thing in the land."

And Yahweh did this thing the next day; all the livestock of Egypt died, but from the livestock of the {Israelites} not one died.

Then the LORD told Moses, "Get up early in the morning, present yourself to Pharaoh, and say to him, "This is what the LORD God of the Hebrews says: "Let my people go so they may serve me.

Indeed, this time I'm sending all my plagues against you, your officials, and your people, so you may know that there is no one like me in all 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.

Look! About this time tomorrow, I'll send a severe hail storm, such as has not happened in Egypt from the day it was founded until now.

And there will be hail and fire taking hold in the midst of the hail, exceedingly heavy, which was not as this upon all the land of Egypt from the time it was for a nation.

Pharaoh sent word and called for Moses and Aaron. "I've sinned this time," he told them. "The LORD is righteous, but I and my people are wicked.

Make prayer to the Lord; for there has been enough of these thunderings of God and this ice-storm; and I will let you go and will keep you no longer.

Moses and Aaron went to Pharaoh and told him, "This is what the LORD God of the Hebrews says: "How long will you refuse to humble yourself before me? Let my people go, so they may serveme.

And your houses will be full, and the houses of all your servants and the houses of all Egypt, [something] that your fathers and {your grandfathers} never saw from the day they were on the earth until this day.'" And he turned and went out from Pharaoh.

Then the officials of Pharaoh told him, "How long will this man be a snare to us? Let the people go so they may serve the LORD their God! Don't you realize yet that Egypt is about to be destroyed?"

{No indeed}; [just] the men go and serve Yahweh, since this [is what] you [are] seeking." And he drove them out from the presence of Pharaoh.

The locusts came up over all the land of Egypt and settled on all the territory of Egypt in great swarms. There had never been locusts like this before nor would there ever be again.

Now, please forgive my sin only this time, and pray to the LORD your God that he would at least remove this from me."

And Jehovah saith unto Moses, 'One plague more I do bring in on Pharaoh, and on Egypt, afterwards he doth send you away from this; when he is sending you away, he surely casteth you out altogether from this place;

So Moses announced to Pharaoh, "This is what the LORD says: "About midnight I'm going throughout Egypt,

And all these thy servants shall come down to me, and worship to me, saying, Go forth, thou, and all the people which are at thy feet: and after this I will go forth. And he will go forth from Pharaoh in the heat of anger.

"This month will mark the beginning of months for you. It will be the first month of the year for you.

Tell the entire congregation of Israel, "On the tenth of this month they're each to take a lamb for themselves, according to their ancestors' households, one lamb for each household.

If the household be too few for a sheep, then let him and his neighbor that is next unto this house, take according to the number of souls, and count unto a sheep according to every man's eating.

It is to remain under your care until the fourteenth day of this month, and then the entire assembly of the congregation of Israel is to slaughter it at twilight.

And they will eat the meat on this night; they will eat it fire-roasted and [with] unleavened bread on {bitter herbs}.

""This is how you are to eat it: with your cloak tucked into your belt, your sandals on your feet, and your staff in your hand. You are to eat it hurriedly it's the LORD's Passover.

"And I will go through the land of Egypt during this night, and I will strike all of the firstborn in the land of Egypt, from human to animal, and I will do punishments among all of the gods of Egypt. I [am] Yahweh.

The blood will be a sign for you on the houses where you are, so that when I see the blood I will pass over you, and this plague will not fall on you to destroy you when I attack the land of Egypt.

""This day is to be a memorial for you, and you are to celebrate it as a festival to the LORD. You are to celebrate it as a perpetual ordinance from generation to generation.

And in the first day a calling of holiness, and in the seventh day a calling of holiness shall be to you; every service shall not be done in them only what shall be eaten by every soul; this only shall be done by you.

""You are to observe the Festival of Unleavened Bread, since on this very day I brought your tribal divisions from the land of Egypt. You are to observe this day from generation to generation as a perpetual ordinance.

You are to observe this event as a perpetual ordinance for you and your children forever.

When you enter the land that the LORD will give you, just as he promised, you are to observe this ritual.

And when your children say to you, "What does this ritual mean?'

Then you will say, This is the offering of the Lord's Passover; for he went over the houses of the children of Israel in Egypt, when he sent death on the Egyptians, and kept our families safe. And the people gave worship with bent heads.

The Israelis did this. Moses and Aaron did just what the LORD had commanded.

Take even your flocks and your herds as you asked and leave, and also bless me.”

And the Lord gave the people such favor in the Egyptians’ sight that they gave them what they requested. In this way they plundered the Egyptians.

And at the end of four hundred and thirty years, on this exact day, all of Yahweh's divisions went out from the land of Egypt.

That was for the LORD a night of vigil to bring them out of the land of Egypt. This same night belongs to the LORD, and is to be a vigil for all the Israelis from generation to generation.

And Yahweh said to Moses and Aaron, "This [is] the statute of the Passover: No foreigner may eat it.

All the congregation of Israel are to celebrate this.

All the Israelis did this. They did exactly as the LORD commanded Moses and Aaron.

And it was on exactly this day Yahweh brought the {Israelites} out from the land of Egypt by their divisions.

Then Moses told the people, "Remember this day on which you came out of Egypt, from the house of bondage, because the LORD brought you out from this place with a strong show of force. Moreover, nothing leavened is to be eaten.

This day came ye out in the month Abib.

When the LORD brings you to the land of the Canaanite, the Hittite, the Amorite, the Hivite, and the Jebusite, which he swore to your ancestors to give you a land flowing with milk and honey you are to observe this ritual in this month.

And you are to tell your child on that day, "This is because of what the LORD did for me when I came out of Egypt.'

And this will be for a sign to you on your hand and for a mark on your brow, so that the law of the Lord may be in your mouth: for with a strong hand the Lord took you out of Egypt.

You are to keep this ordinance at its appointed time from year to year."

Then when your child asks you in the future, "What is this?', you are to say to him, "The LORD brought us out of Egypt, from the house of bondage with a strong show of force.

And it came to pass when Pharaoh had shown himself too hardened to let us go, then did Yahweh slay every firstborn in the land of Egypt, from the firstborn of men even unto the firstborn of beasts. For this cause, am, I, sacrificing to Yahweh whatsoever is born first, of the males, and every firstborn of my sons, must I redeem.

And this shall be as a token in thine hand, and as a thing hanged up between thine eyes: because the LORD brought us out of Egypt with a mighty hand."

Moses took the bones of Joseph with him, because Joseph had made the Israelis take this solemn oath: "God will certainly take notice of you, and then you must carry my bones up with you from here."

I've made Pharaoh's heart stubborn so he will pursue them. But I'll receive honor by means of Pharaoh and his army, so that the Egyptians will know that I am the LORD." So this is what the Israelis did.