and made their lives bitter with difficult labor in brick and mortar and in all kinds of fieldwork. They ruthlessly imposed all this work on them.

So the king of Egypt summoned the midwives and asked them, “Why have you done this and let the boys live?”

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 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 Pharaoh heard about this, he tried to kill Moses. But Moses fled from Pharaoh and went to live in the land of Midian, and sat down by a well.

So Moses thought: I must go over and look at this remarkable sight. Why isn’t the bush burning up?

He answered, “I will certainly be with you, and this will be the sign to you that I have sent you: when you bring the people out of Egypt, you will all worship God at this mountain.”

God replied to Moses, “I AM WHO I AM. This is what you are to say to the Israelites: I AM has sent me to 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.

And I will give these people such favor in the sight of the Egyptians that when you go, you will not go empty-handed.

“This will take place,” He continued, “so they will believe that Yahweh, the God of their fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has appeared to you.”

And take this staff in your hand that you will perform the signs with.”

Then you will say to Pharaoh: This is what Yahweh says: Israel is My firstborn son.

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.”

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.

So the Israelite foremen went in and cried for help to Pharaoh: “Why are you treating your servants this way?

So Moses went back to the Lord and asked, “Lord, why have You caused trouble for this people? And why did You ever send me?

Ever since I went in to Pharaoh to speak in Your name he has caused trouble for this people, and You haven’t delivered Your people at all.”

>

Moses told this to the Israelites, but they did not listen to him because of their broken spirit and hard labor.

It was this Aaron and Moses whom the Lord told, “Bring the Israelites out of the land of Egypt according to their divisions.”

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

This is what Yahweh says: Here is how you will know that I am Yahweh. Watch. I will strike the water in the Nile with the staff in my hand, and it will turn to blood.

Pharaoh turned around, went into his palace, and didn’t even take this to heart.

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.

And they did this. Aaron stretched out his hand with his staff, and when he struck the dust of the earth, gnats were on man and beast. All the dust of the earth became 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.

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.

I will make a distinction between My people and your people. This sign will take place tomorrow.”

And the Lord did this. Thick swarms of flies went into Pharaoh’s palace and his officials’ houses. Throughout Egypt the land was ruined because of the swarms of flies.

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

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.

And the Lord set a time, saying, “Tomorrow the Lord will do this thing in the land.”

The Lord did this the next day. All the Egyptian livestock died, but none among the Israelite livestock died.

Then the Lord said to Moses, “Get up early in the morning and present yourself to Pharaoh. Tell him: This is what Yahweh, the God of the Hebrews says: Let My people go, so that they may worship Me.

However, I have let you live for this purpose: to show you My power and to make My name known in all the earth.

Tomorrow at this time I will rain down the worst hail that has ever occurred in Egypt from the day it was founded until now.

Pharaoh sent for Moses and Aaron. “I have sinned this time,” he said to them. “Yahweh is the Righteous One, and I and my people are the guilty ones.

So Moses and Aaron went in to Pharaoh and told him, “This is what Yahweh, the God of the Hebrews, says: How long will you refuse to humble yourself before Me? Let My people go, that they may worship Me.

Pharaoh’s officials asked him, “How long must this man be a snare to us? Let the men go, so that they may worship Yahweh their God. Don’t you realize yet that Egypt is devastated?”

Please forgive my sin once more and make an appeal to Yahweh your God, so that He will take this death away from me.”

So Moses said, “This is what Yahweh says: ‘About midnight I will go throughout Egypt,

“This month is to be the beginning of months for you; it is the first month of your year.

Tell the whole community of Israel that on the tenth day of this month they must each select an animal of the flock according to their fathers’ households, one animal per household.

You are to keep it until the fourteenth day of this month; then the whole assembly of the community of Israel will slaughter the animals at twilight.

“This day is to be a memorial for you, and you must celebrate it as a festival to the Lord. You are to celebrate it throughout your generations as a permanent statute.

“You are to observe the Festival of Unleavened Bread because on this very day I brought your divisions out of the land of Egypt. You must observe this day throughout your generations as a permanent statute.

“Keep this command permanently as a statute for you and your descendants.

When you enter the land that the Lord will give you as He promised, you are to observe this ritual.

When your children ask you, ‘What does this ritual mean to you?’

Then the Israelites went and did this; they did just as the Lord had commanded Moses and Aaron.

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.

It was a night of vigil in honor of the Lord, because He would bring them out of the land of Egypt. This same night is in honor of the Lord, a night vigil for all the Israelites throughout their generations.

The Lord said to Moses and Aaron, “This is the statute of the Passover: no foreigner may eat it.

Then all the Israelites did this; they did just as the Lord had commanded Moses and Aaron.

Then Moses said to the people, “Remember this day when you came out of Egypt, out of the place of slavery, for the Lord brought you out of here by the strength of His hand. Nothing leavened may be eaten.

When the Lord brings you into the land of the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Hivites, and Jebusites, which He swore to your fathers that He would give you, a land flowing with milk and honey, you must carry out this ritual in this month.

On that day explain to your son, ‘This is because of what the Lord did for me when I came out of Egypt.’

Keep this statute at its appointed time from year to year.

“In the future, when your son asks you, ‘What does this mean?’ say to him, ‘By the strength of His hand the Lord brought us out of Egypt, out of the place of slavery.

Moses took the bones of Joseph with him, because Joseph had made the Israelites swear a solemn oath, saying, “God will certainly come to your aid; then you must take my bones with you from this place.”

I will harden Pharaoh’s heart so that he will pursue them. Then I will receive glory by means of Pharaoh and all his army, and the Egyptians will know that I am Yahweh.” So the Israelites did this.

Isn’t this what we told you in Egypt: Leave us alone so that we may serve the Egyptians? It would have been better for us to serve the Egyptians than to die in the wilderness.”

Then Moses and the Israelites sang this song to the Lord. They said:

I will sing to the Lord,
for He is highly exalted;
He has thrown the horse
and its rider into the sea.

The Lord is my strength and my song;
He has become my salvation.
This is my God, and I will praise Him,
my father’s God, and I will exalt Him.

The Israelites said to them, “If only we had died by the Lord’s hand in the land of Egypt, when we sat by pots of meat and ate all the bread we wanted. Instead, you brought us into this wilderness to make this whole assembly die of hunger!”

Then the Lord said to Moses, “I am going to rain bread from heaven for you. The people are to go out each day and gather enough for that day. This way I will test them to see whether or not they will follow My instructions.

So Moses and Aaron said to all the Israelites: “This evening you will know that it was the Lord who brought you out of the land of Egypt;

Moses continued, “The Lord will give you meat to eat this evening and more than enough bread in the morning, for He has heard the complaints that you are raising against Him. Who are we? Your complaints are not against us but against the Lord.”

This is what the Lord has commanded: ‘Gather as much of it as each person needs to eat. You may take two quarts per individual, according to the number of people each of you has in his tent.’”

So the Israelites did this. Some gathered a lot, some a little.

On the sixth day they gathered twice as much food, four quarts apiece, and all the leaders of the community came and reported this to Moses.

He told them, “This is what the Lord has said: ‘Tomorrow is a day of complete rest, a holy Sabbath to the Lord. Bake what you want to bake, and boil what you want to boil, and set aside everything left over to be kept until morning.’”

Moses said, “This is what the Lord has commanded: ‘Two quarts of it are to be preserved throughout your generations, so that they may see the bread I fed you in the wilderness when I brought you out of the land of Egypt.’”

I am going to stand there in front of you on the rock at Horeb; when you hit the rock, water will come out of it and the people will drink.” Moses did this in the sight of the elders of Israel.

The Lord then said to Moses, “Write this down on a scroll as a reminder and recite it to Joshua: I will completely blot out the memory of Amalek under heaven.”

When Moses’ father-in-law saw everything he was doing for them he asked, “What is this thing you’re doing for the people? Why are you alone sitting as judge, while all the people stand around you from morning until evening?”

They should judge the people at all times. Then they can bring you every important case but judge every minor case themselves. In this way you will lighten your load, and they will bear it with you.

If you do this, and God so directs you, you will be able to endure, and also all these people will be able to go home satisfied.”

Moses went up the mountain to God, and the Lord called to him from the mountain: “This is what you must say to the house of Jacob, and explain to the Israelites:

Then the Lord told Moses, “This is what you are to say to the Israelites: You have seen that I have spoken to you from heaven.

If it gores a son or a daughter, he is to be dealt with according to this same law.

But if this happens after sunrise, there is guilt of bloodshed. A thief must make full restitution. If he is unable, he is to be sold because of his theft.

Moses took the blood, sprinkled it on the people, and said, “This is the blood of the covenant that the Lord has made with you concerning all these words.”

This is the offering you are to receive from them: gold, silver, and bronze;

There are to be three cups shaped like almond blossoms, each with a calyx and petals, on the first branch, and three cups shaped like almond blossoms, each with a calyx and petals, on the next branch. It is to be this way for the six branches that extend from the lampstand.

In the tent of meeting outside the veil that is in front of the testimony, Aaron and his sons are to tend the lamp from evening until morning before the Lord. This is to be a permanent statute for the Israelites throughout their generations.

Attach the other ends of the two cords to the two filigree settings, and in this way attach them to the ephod’s shoulder pieces in the front.

These must be worn by Aaron and his sons whenever they enter the tent of meeting or approach the altar to minister in the sanctuary area, so that they do not incur guilt and die. This is to be a permanent statute for Aaron and for his future descendants.

“This is what you are to do for them to consecrate them to serve Me as priests. Take a young bull and two unblemished rams,

Tie the sashes on Aaron and his sons and fasten headbands on them. The priesthood is to be theirs by a permanent statute. This is the way you will ordain Aaron and his sons.

Take some of the blood that is on the altar and some of the anointing oil, and sprinkle them on Aaron and his garments, as well as on his sons and their garments. In this way, he and his garments will become holy, as well as his sons and their garments.

“Take the fat from the ram, the fat tail, the fat covering the entrails, the fatty lobe of the liver, the two kidneys and the fat on them, and the right thigh (since this is a ram for ordination);

This will belong to Aaron and his sons as a regular portion from the Israelites, for it is a contribution. It will be the Israelites’ contribution from their fellowship sacrifices, their contribution to the Lord.

“This is what you are to do for Aaron and his sons based on all I have commanded you. Take seven days to ordain them.

“This is what you are to offer regularly on the altar every day: two year-old lambs.

This will be a regular burnt offering throughout your generations at the entrance to the tent of meeting before the Lord, where I will meet you to speak with you.

Everyone who is registered must pay half a shekel according to the sanctuary shekel (20 gerahs to the shekel). This half shekel is a contribution to the Lord.

Each man who is registered, 20 years old or more, must give this contribution to the Lord.