After the child had grown 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."

Years later, after Moses had grown up, he went out to his own people, and took notice of their heavy burdens. He saw an Egyptian beating up a Hebrew, one of his own people.

Going out the next day, Moses noticed two Hebrew men fighting right in front of him. He told the one who was at fault, "Why did you strike your companion?"

The man replied, "Who appointed you to be an official judge over us? Are you planning to kill me like you killed the Egyptian?" Then Moses became terrified and told himself, "Certainly this event has become known!"

When Pharaoh heard about this matter, he tried to kill Moses. So Moses fled from Pharaoh, settled in the land of Midian, and sat down by a well.

Some shepherds came to drive them away, but Moses got up, came to their rescue, and watered their sheep.

Moses agreed to stay with the man, and he gave his daughter Zipporah to Moses in marriage.

Later she gave birth to a son, and Moses named him Gershom, because he used to say, "I became an alien in a foreign land."

Meanwhile, Moses continued tending the sheep that belonged to his father-in-law Jethro, the priest of Midian. He led the sheep to the western desert and came to Horeb, God's mountain, where

the angel of the LORD appeared to him in flaming fire from the center of a bush. As Moses continued to watch, amazingly the bush kept on burning, but was not consumed.

Then Moses told himself, "I'll go over and see this remarkable sight. Why isn't the bush burning up?"

When the LORD saw that he had gone over to look, God called to him from the center of the bush, "Moses! Moses!" He said, "Here I am."

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.

But Moses told God, "Who am I? How can I go to Pharaoh and bring the Israelis out of Egypt?"

Moses told God, "Look! When I go to the Israelis and tell them, "The God of your ancestors sent me to you,' they'll say to me, "What is his name?' What should I say to them?"

God replied to Moses, "I AM WHO I AM," and then said, "Tell the Israelis: "I AM sent me to you.'"

God also told Moses, "Tell the Israelis, "The LORD, the God of your ancestors, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob sent me to you.' This is my name forever, and this is how I am to be remembered from generation to generation.

Then Moses answered, "Look, they won't believe me and they won't listen to me. Instead, they'll say, "The LORD didn't appear to you.'"

"What's that in your hand?" the LORD asked him. Moses answered, "A staff."

Then God said, "Throw it to the ground." He threw it to the ground and it became a snake. Moses ran away from it.

Then God told Moses, "Reach out and grab its tail." So he reached out, grabbed it, and it became a staff in his hand.

Then Moses told the LORD, "Please, LORD, I'm not eloquent. I never was in the past nor am I now since you spoke to your servant. In fact, I talk too slowly and I have a speech impediment."

Moses said, "Please, LORD, send somebody else."

Then the LORD was angry with Moses and said, "There's your brother Aaron, a descendant of Levi, isn't there? I know that he certainly is eloquent. Right now he's coming to meet you and he will be pleased to see you.

Moses left and returned to his father-in-law Jethro. Moses told him, "Please let me go and return to my own people in Egypt so I can see whether they're still alive." Jethro told Moses, "Go in peace."

The LORD told Moses in Midian, "Go back to Egypt, because all the men who wanted to kill you are dead."

So Moses took his wife and sons, put them on donkeys, and headed back to the land of Egypt. Moses took the staff of God in his hand.

Then the LORD told Moses, "When you set out to return to Egypt, keep in mind all the wonders that I've put in your power, so that you may do them before Pharaoh. But I'll harden his heart so that he won't let the people go.

But later on, at the lodging place along the way, the LORD met Moses and was about to kill him.

Zipporah took a flint knife, cut off her son's foreskin, and touched Moses' feet with it, saying while doing so, ""because you are a bridegroom of blood to me."

The LORD told Aaron, "Go meet Moses in the desert." So Aaron went, found him at the mountain of God, and embraced him.

Moses told Aaron all of the LORD's messages that he had sent with Moses, and all of the signs that he commanded him to do.

Later, Moses and Aaron brought together all the elders of Israel.

Aaron spoke everything that the LORD had spoken to Moses, and Moses performed the miracles before the very eyes of the people.

After Moses and Aaron arrived, they told Pharaoh, "This is what the LORD God of Israel says: "Let my people go so they may make a pilgrimage for me in the desert.'"

The king of Egypt replied to them, "Moses and Aaron, why are you keeping the people from their labor? Go back to your work!"

As they left Pharaoh's presence, they met Moses and Aaron standing there.

So Moses returned to the LORD and asked him, "LORD, why have you caused trouble for this people? Why have you sent me here?

The LORD told Moses, "Now you're about to see what I'll do to Pharaoh. Indeed, he'll send them out under compulsion and he'll drive them out of his land violently."

Later, God told Moses, "I am the LORD.

Then Moses reported this to the Israelis, but they did not listen to Moses due to their irritation and impatience because there was no deliverance and because of the cruel bondage.

Then the LORD told Moses,

Then Moses said right in front of the LORD, "Look, the Israelis didn't listen to me, so how will Pharaoh? I'm not a persuasive speaker."

Then the LORD spoke to Moses and Aaron, issuing orders to them regarding the Israelis for delivery to Pharaoh, king of Egypt; that is, to bring the Israelis out of the land of Egypt.

Amram married Jochebed, his father's sister, and she bore him Aaron and Moses. Amram lived for 137 years.

This is the same Aaron and Moses to whom the LORD said, "Bring the Israelis out of the land of Egypt by their tribal divisions."

They were the ones speaking to Pharaoh, king of Egypt, to bring the Israelis out of Egypt; this is that same Moses and Aaron.

And it happened when the LORD spoke to Moses in the land of Egypt

that the LORD told Moses, "I am the LORD. Tell Pharaoh, king of Egypt, everything that I'm saying to you."

Moses said in the presence of the LORD, "Look, I'm not a persuasive speaker, so how will Pharaoh listen to me?"

The LORD told Moses, "Listen! I've positioned you as God to Pharaoh, and your brother Aaron will be your prophet.

Moses and Aaron did what the LORD commanded them.

Moses was 80 years old and Aaron was 83 when they spoke to Pharaoh.

Then the LORD told Moses and Aaron,

So Moses and Aaron went in to Pharaoh and did what the LORD had commanded them. Aaron threw his staff in front of Pharaoh and his officials, and it became a serpent.

Then the LORD told Moses, "Pharaoh's heart is hard. He has refused to let the people go.

The LORD also told Moses, "Tell Aaron, "Take your staff and stretch out your hand over the waters of Egypt, over their rivers, over their Nile River, over their ponds, and over their reservoirs, and they'll become blood. There will be blood throughout the land of Egypt, even in their wood and stone containers.'"

Moses and Aaron did just what the LORD had commanded. Aaron raised his staff and struck the water in the Nile River in front of Pharaoh and his officials, and all the water in the Nile River turned to blood.

he told Moses, "Go to Pharaoh and tell him, "This is what the LORD says: "Let my people go so they may serve me.

Then the LORD told Moses, "Tell Aaron, "Stretch out your hand with your staff over the rivers, over the Nile River, and over the ponds, and bring up frogs over the land of Egypt.'"

Then Pharaoh called to Moses and Aaron and said, "Plead with the LORD so that he may remove the frogs from me and my people. I'll let the people go so they can offer sacrifices to the LORD."

Moses told Pharaoh, "You decide when I should plead for you, your servants, and your people to remove the frogs from you and your household. They'll remain only in the Nile River."

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."

Then Moses and Aaron left Pharaoh's presence, and Moses cried out to the LORD about the frogs which he had sent on Pharaoh.

The LORD did just as Moses asked, and the frogs died in the houses, in the courtyards, and in the fields.

Then the LORD told Moses, "Tell Aaron, "Stretch out your staff, strike the dust of the ground, and the dust will become gnats throughout the land of Egypt.'"

The LORD told Moses, "Get up early in the morning and stand before Pharaoh as he's going down to the water. You are to say to him, "This is what the LORD says: "Let my people go so they can serve me.

Then Pharaoh summoned Moses and Aaron and said, "Go, offer sacrifices to your God in the land."

"It wouldn't be right to sacrifice in this way," Moses replied, "because if we do, we will sacrifice to the LORD our God what is offensive to the Egyptians. If we offer sacrifices that are offensive to the Egyptians in front of them, they'll stone us, won't they?

Moses said, "Right now I'm going to leave you, and I'll pray to the LORD that the swarms of insects may depart from Pharaoh, from his officials, and from his people tomorrow. But Pharaoh, don't continue lying by not letting the people go to offer sacrifices to the LORD."

Then Moses left Pharaoh's presence and prayed to the LORD.

The LORD did what Moses asked, and the swarms of insects departed from Pharaoh, his officials, and his people. Not one remained.

Then the LORD told Moses, "Go 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.

Then the LORD told Moses and Aaron, "Take handfuls of soot from a kiln, and let Moses throw it into the air in front of Pharaoh.

So they took soot from the kiln and stood before Pharaoh. Then Moses threw it into the air,and it became boils producing running sores on people and animals.

The magicians were not able to stand before Moses because of the boils, because the boils were on the magicians and on all the Egyptians.

The LORD made Pharaoh's heart stubborn so that he would not listen to them, just as the LORD had told Moses.

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.

Then the LORD told Moses, "Stretch out your hand toward heaven, and there will be hail in all the land of Egypt, on people, animals, and all the vegetation of the field throughout the land of Egypt."

When Moses stretched out his staff toward heaven, the LORD sent thunder and hail, and lightning struck the earth. The LORD rained hail on the land of Egypt.

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.

Moses told him, "When I leave the city I'll spread out my hands to the LORD. The thunder will cease and the hail won't continue, so that you may know that the earth belongs to the LORD.

Then Moses went out of the city from Pharaoh and spread out his hands to the LORD. The thunder and hail stopped, and the rain no longer poured out on the land.

Pharaoh's heart was stubborn, and he did not let the Israelis go, just as the LORD had said through Moses.

Then the LORD told Moses, "Go to Pharaoh, for I've hardened his heart and the hearts of his officials in order to perform these signs of mine among them,

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.

Your houses will be filled, along with the houses of all your officials and the houses of all the Egyptians something that neither your fathers nor your ancestors ever saw from the time they were on earth until now.'" Then Moses turned and left Pharaoh's presence.

Moses and Aaron were brought back to Pharaoh and he told them, "Go, serve the LORD your God. But exactly who will go?"

Moses said, "We will go with our young and with our old. We will go with our sons and our daughters, with our sheep and our cattle, because it's a festival to the LORD for us."

The LORD told Moses, "Stretch out your hand over the land of Egypt to bring the locusts, and they'll come up over the land of Egypt and eat all the vegetation of the land, everything that the hail left."

Moses stretched out his staff over the land of Egypt, and the LORD sent an east wind into the land all that day and throughout the night. When morning came, the east wind brought the locusts.

Pharaoh quickly called Moses and Aaron and said, "I've sinned against the LORD your God and against you.

Moses left Pharaoh and prayed to the LORD.

Then the LORD told Moses, "Stretch your hand toward the sky and there will be darkness over the land of Egypt, a darkness that one can feel."

So Moses stretched his hand toward the sky, and there was thick darkness in all the land of Egypt for three days.

Pharaoh called Moses and said, "Go serve the LORD, but your flocks and your cattle are to remain. Even your little ones can go with you!"

Moses said, "You must let us havesacrifices and burnt offerings to offer to the LORD our God.

Moses said, "Just as you have said, I won't see your face again!"

Then the LORD told Moses, "I'll bring one more plague on Pharaoh and Egypt. After that he'll let you leave from here, and when he lets you go, he will certainly drive you out from here.

The LORD made the Egyptians look on the people with favor. Also the man Moses was highly regarded in the land of Egypt, both in the opinion of Pharaoh's officials and in the opinion of the people.