Bible Reading Plan – Day 16

₁The sons of Jacob who went to Egypt with him, each with his family, were ₂Reuben, Simeon, Levi, Judah, ₃Issachar, Zebulun, Benjamin, ₄Dan, Naphtali, Gad, and Asher. ₅The total number of these people directly descended from Jacob was seventy. His son Joseph was already in Egypt. ₆In the course of time Joseph, his brothers, and all the rest of that generation died, ₇but their descendants, the Israelites, had many children and became so numerous and strong that Egypt was filled with them.

₈Then, a new king, who knew nothing about Joseph, came to power in Egypt. ₉He said to his people, “These Israelites are so numerous and strong that they are a threat to us. ₁₀In case of war they might join our enemies in order to fight against us, and might escape from the country. We must find some way to keep them from becoming even more numerous.” ₁₁So the Egyptians put slave-drivers over them to crush their spirits with hard labour. The Israelites built the cities of Pithom and Rameses to serve as supply centres for the king. ₁₂But the more the Egyptians oppressed the Israelites, the more they increased in number and the further they spread through the land. The Egyptians came to fear the Israelites _13-14and made their lives miserable by forcing them into cruel slavery. They made them work on their building projects and in their fields, and they had no mercy on them.

₁₅Then the king of Egypt spoke to Shiphrah and Puah, the two midwives who helped the Hebrew women. ₁₆“When you help the Hebrew women give birth,” he said to them, “kill the baby if it is a boy; but if it is a girl, let it live.” ₁₇But the midwives feared God and so did not obey the king; instead, they let the boys live. ₁₈So the king sent for the midwives and asked them, “Why are you doing this? Why are you letting the boys live?”

₁₉They answered, “The Hebrew women are not like Egyptian women; they give birth easily, and their babies are born before either of us gets there.” _20-21Because the midwives feared God, he was good to them and gave them families of their own. And the Israelites continued to increase and become strong. ₂₂Finally the king issued a command to all his people: “Take every newborn Hebrew boy and throw him into the Nile, but let all the girls live.”

₁During this time a man from the tribe of Levi married a woman of his own tribe, ₂and she bore him a son. When she saw what a fine baby he was, she hid him for three months. ₃But when she could not hide him any longer, she took a basket made of reeds and covered it with tar to make it watertight. She put the baby in it and then placed it in the tall grass at the edge of the river. ₄The baby's sister stood some distance away to see what would happen to him.

₅The king's daughter came down to the river to bathe, while her servants walked along the bank. Suddenly she noticed the basket in the tall grass and sent a slave woman to get it. ₆The princess opened it and saw a baby boy. He was crying, and she felt sorry for him. “This is one of the Hebrew babies,” she said.

₇Then his sister asked her, “Shall I go and call a Hebrew woman to act as a wet nurse?”

₈“Please do,” she answered. So the girl went and brought the baby's own mother. ₉The princess told the woman, “Take this baby and nurse him for me, and I will pay you.” So she took the baby and nursed him. ₁₀Later, when the child was old enough, she took him to the king's daughter, who adopted him as her own son. She said to herself, “I pulled him out of the water, and so I name him Moses.”

₁₁When Moses had grown up, he went out to visit his people, the Hebrews, and he saw how they were forced to do hard labour. He even saw an Egyptian kill a Hebrew, one of Moses' own people. ₁₂Moses looked all round, and when he saw that no one was watching, he killed the Egyptian and hid his body in the sand. ₁₃The next day he went back and saw two Hebrew men fighting. He said to the one who was in the wrong, “Why are you beating up a fellow-Hebrew?”

₁₄The man answered, “Who made you our ruler and judge? Are you going to kill me just as you killed that Egyptian?” Then Moses was afraid and said to himself, “People have found out what I have done.” _15-16When the king heard about what had happened, he tried to have Moses killed, but Moses fled and went to live in the land of Midian.

One day, when Moses was sitting by a well, seven daughters of Jethro, the priest of Midian, came to draw water and fill the troughs for their father's sheep and goats. ₁₇But some shepherds drove Jethro's daughters away. Then Moses went to their rescue and watered their animals for them. ₁₈When they returned to their father, he asked, “Why have you come back so early today?”

₁₉“An Egyptian rescued us from the shepherds,” they answered, “and he even drew water for us and watered our animals.”

₂₀“Where is he?” he asked his daughters. “Why did you leave the man out there? Go and invite him to eat with us.”

₂₁So Moses agreed to live there, and Jethro gave him his daughter Zipporah in marriage, ₂₂who bore him a son. Moses said to himself, “I am a foreigner in this land, and so I name him Gershom.”

₂₃Years later the king of Egypt died, but the Israelites were still groaning under their slavery and cried out for help. Their cry went up to God, ₂₄who heard their groaning and remembered his covenant with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. ₂₅He saw the slavery of the Israelites and was concerned for them.

₁One day while Moses was taking care of the sheep and goats of his father-in-law Jethro, the priest of Midian, he led the flock across the desert and came to Sinai, the holy mountain. ₂There the angel of the LORD appeared to him as a flame coming from the middle of a bush. Moses saw that the bush was on fire but that it was not burning up. ₃“This is strange,” he thought. “Why isn't the bush burning up? I will go closer and see.”

₄When the LORD saw that Moses was coming closer, he called to him from the middle of the bush and said, “Moses! Moses!”

He answered, “Yes, here I am.”

₅God said, “Do not come any closer. Take off your sandals, because you are standing on holy ground. ₆I am the God of your ancestors, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.” So Moses covered his face, because he was afraid to look at God.

₇Then the LORD said, “I have seen how cruelly my people are being treated in Egypt; I have heard them cry out to be rescued from their slave-drivers. I know all about their sufferings, ₈and so I have come down to rescue them from the Egyptians and to bring them out of Egypt to a spacious land, one which is rich and fertile and in which the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Amorites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites now live. ₉I have indeed heard the cry of my people, and I see how the Egyptians are oppressing them. ₁₀Now I am sending you to the king of Egypt so that you can lead my people out of his country.”

₁₁But Moses said to God, “I am nobody. How can I go to the king and bring the Israelites out of Egypt?”

₁₂God answered, “I will be with you, and when you bring the people out of Egypt, you will worship me on this mountain. That will be the proof that I have sent you.”

₁₃But Moses replied, “When I go to the Israelites and say to them, ‘The God of your ancestors sent me to you,’ they will ask me, ‘What is his name?’ So what can I tell them?”

₁₄God said, “I am who I am. This is what you must say to them: ‘The one who is called I AM has sent me to you.’ ₁₅Tell the Israelites that I, the LORD, the God of their ancestors, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, have sent you to them. This is my name for ever; this is what all future generations are to call me. ₁₆Go and gather the leaders of Israel together and tell them that I, the LORD, the God of their ancestors, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, appeared to you. Tell them that I have come to them and have seen what the Egyptians are doing to them. ₁₇I have decided that I will bring them out of Egypt, where they are being treated cruelly, and will take them to a rich and fertile land — the land of the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Amorites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites.

₁₈“My people will listen to what you say to them. Then you must go with the leaders of Israel to the king of Egypt and say to him, ‘The LORD, the God of the Hebrews, has revealed himself to us. Now allow us to travel for three days into the desert to offer sacrifices to the LORD, our God.’ ₁₉I know that the king of Egypt will not let you go unless he is forced to do so. ₂₀But I will use my power and will punish Egypt by doing terrifying things there. After that he will let you go.

₂₁“I will make the Egyptians respect you so that when my people leave, they will not go empty-handed. ₂₂Every Israelite woman will go to her Egyptian neighbours and to any Egyptian woman living in her house and will ask for clothing and for gold and silver jewellery. The Israelites will put these things on their sons and daughters and carry away the wealth of the Egyptians.”

₁Then Moses answered the LORD, “But suppose the Israelites do not believe me and will not listen to what I say. What shall I do if they say that you did not appear to me?”

₂So the LORD asked him, “What are you holding?”

“A stick,” he answered.

₃The LORD said, “Throw it on the ground.” When Moses threw it down, it turned into a snake, and he ran away from it. ₄Then the LORD said to Moses, “Bend down and pick it up by the tail.” So Moses bent down and caught it, and it became a stick again. ₅The LORD said, “Do this to prove to the Israelites that the LORD, the God of their ancestors, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, has appeared to you.”

₆The LORD spoke to Moses again, “Put your hand inside your robe.” Moses obeyed; and when he took his hand out, it was diseased, covered with white spots, like snow. ₇Then the LORD said, “Put your hand inside your robe again.” He did so, and when he took it out this time, it was healthy, just like the rest of his body. ₈The LORD said, “If they will not believe you or be convinced by the first miracle, then this one will convince them. ₉If in spite of these two miracles they still will not believe you, and if they refuse to listen to what you say, take some water from the Nile and pour it on the ground. The water will turn into blood.”

₁₀But Moses said, “No, LORD, don't send me. I have never been a good speaker, and I haven't become one since you began to speak to me. I am a poor speaker, slow and hesitant.”

₁₁The LORD said to him, “Who gives man his mouth? Who makes him deaf or dumb? Who gives him sight or makes him blind? It is I, the LORD. ₁₂Now, go! I will help you to speak, and I will tell you what to say.”

₁₃But Moses answered, “No, Lord, please send someone else.”

₁₄At this the LORD became angry with Moses and said, “What about your brother Aaron, the Levite? I know that he can speak well. In fact, he is now coming to meet you and will be glad to see you. ₁₅You can speak to him and tell him what to say. I will help both of you to speak, and I will tell you both what to do. ₁₆He will be your spokesman and speak to the people for you. Then you will be like God, telling him what to say. ₁₇Take this stick with you; for with it you will perform miracles.”

₁₈Then Moses went back to Jethro, his father-in-law, and said to him, “Please let me go back to my relatives in Egypt to see if they are still alive.” Jethro agreed and said goodbye to him.

₁₉While Moses was still in Midian, the LORD said to him, “Go back to Egypt, for all those who wanted to kill you are dead.” ₂₀So Moses took his wife and his sons, put them on a donkey, and set out with them for Egypt, carrying the stick that God had told him to take.

₂₁Again the LORD said to Moses, “Now that you are going back to Egypt, be sure to perform before the king all the miracles which I have given you the power to do. But I will make the king stubborn, and he will not let the people go. ₂₂Then you must tell him that I, the LORD, say, ‘Israel is my firstborn son. ₂₃I told you to let my son go, so that he might worship me, but you refused. Now I am going to kill your firstborn son.’ ”

₂₄At a camping place on the way to Egypt, the LORD met Moses and tried to kill him. _25-26Then Zipporah, his wife, took a sharp stone, cut off the foreskin of her son, and touched Moses' feet with it. Because of the rite of circumcision she said to Moses, “You are a husband of blood to me.” And so the LORD spared Moses' life.

₂₇Meanwhile the LORD had said to Aaron, “Go into the desert to meet Moses.” So he went to meet him at the holy mountain; and when he met him, he kissed him. ₂₈Then Moses told Aaron everything that the LORD had said when he told him to return to Egypt; he also told him about the miracles which the LORD had ordered him to perform. ₂₉So Moses and Aaron went to Egypt and gathered all the Israelite leaders together. ₃₀Aaron told them everything that the LORD had said to Moses, and then Moses performed all the miracles in front of the people. ₃₁They believed, and when they heard that the LORD had come to them and had seen how they were being treated cruelly, they bowed down and worshipped.