The Birth of Moses
1Now a man of the tribe of Levi married a Levite woman, 2and she became pregnant and gave birth to a son. When she saw that he was a fine child, she hid him for three months. 3But when she could hide him no longer, she got a papyrus basket2:3 The Hebrew can also mean ark, as in Gen. 6:14. for him and coated it with tar and pitch. Then she placed the child in it and put it among the reeds along the bank of the Nile. 4His sister stood at a distance to see what would happen to him.
5Then Pharaoh’s daughter went down to the Nile to bathe, and her attendants were walking along the riverbank. She saw the basket among the reeds and sent her female slave to get it. 6She opened it and saw the baby. He was crying, and she felt sorry for him. “This is one of the Hebrew babies,” she said.
7Then his sister asked Pharaoh’s daughter, “Shall I go and get one of the Hebrew women to nurse the baby for you?”
8“Yes, go,” she answered. So the girl went and got the baby’s mother. 9Pharaoh’s daughter said to her, “Take this baby and nurse him for me, and I will pay you.” So the woman took the baby and nursed him. 10When the child grew older, she took him to Pharaoh’s daughter and he became her son. She named him Moses,2:10 Moses sounds like the Hebrew for draw out. saying, “I drew him out of the water.”
Moses Flees to Midian
11One day, after Moses had grown up, he went out to where his own people were and watched them at their hard labor. He saw an Egyptian beating a Hebrew, one of his own people. 12Looking this way and that and seeing no one, he killed the Egyptian and hid him in the sand. 13The next day he went out and saw two Hebrews fighting. He asked the one in the wrong, “Why are you hitting your fellow Hebrew?”
14The man said, “Who made you ruler and judge over us? Are you thinking of killing me as you killed the Egyptian?” Then Moses was afraid and thought, “What I did must have become known.”
15When Pharaoh heard of this, he tried to kill Moses, but Moses fled from Pharaoh and went to live in Midian, where he sat down by a well. 16Now a priest of Midian had seven daughters, and they came to draw water and fill the troughs to water their father’s flock. 17Some shepherds came along and drove them away, but Moses got up and came to their rescue and watered their flock.
18When the girls returned to Reuel their father, he asked them, “Why have you returned so early today?”
19They answered, “An Egyptian rescued us from the shepherds. He even drew water for us and watered the flock.”
20“And where is he?” Reuel asked his daughters. “Why did you leave him? Invite him to have something to eat.”
21Moses agreed to stay with the man, who gave his daughter Zipporah to Moses in marriage. 22Zipporah gave birth to a son, and Moses named him Gershom,2:22 Gershom sounds like the Hebrew for a foreigner there. saying, “I have become a foreigner in a foreign land.”
23During that long period, the king of Egypt died. The Israelites groaned in their slavery and cried out, and their cry for help because of their slavery went up to God. 24God heard their groaning and he remembered his covenant with Abraham, with Isaac and with Jacob. 25So God looked on the Israelites and was concerned about them.
摩西出生
1有一个利未族的人跟他同族的女子结婚。 2那女子怀孕，生了一个男婴。她看见孩子可爱，就把他藏了三个月。 3后来无法再藏下去，她就拿来一个蒲草篮子，外面涂上防水的沥青和柏油，然后把婴儿放在里面，又把篮子放在尼罗河边的芦苇丛中。 4婴儿的姐姐远远地站着，要看看她的弟弟究竟会怎样。
5这时，法老的女儿来到河边沐浴，宫女们在河边行走。公主发现了芦苇丛中的篮子，便吩咐一个婢女去把它取来。 6公主打开一看，原来是一个男婴。公主看见孩子在哭，就可怜他，说：“他是希伯来人的孩子。” 7婴儿的姐姐对公主说：“我去找一个希伯来妇女当奶妈，为你哺养他好吗？” 8公主回答说：“好！”那女孩就跑去把婴孩的母亲带来。 9公主对那妇女说：“你把孩子抱去，替我哺养他，我会给你工钱。”她便把孩子抱去哺养。 10孩子渐渐长大，她便把他带到公主那里，孩子就做了公主的儿子。公主给孩子取名叫摩西，意思是“我把他从水中拉了上来”。
11后来，摩西长大了，他去看望做苦工的希伯来同胞，看见一个埃及人在殴打他的一个希伯来同胞。 12他左右观望，见四下无人，便下手杀了那埃及人，把尸体埋藏在沙地里。 13第二天，他又出去，看见两个希伯来人在打架，便过去对理亏的人说：“你为什么打自己的同胞呢？” 14那人说：“谁立你做我们的首领和审判官？难道你要杀我，像杀那个埃及人一样吗？”摩西听了，害怕起来，心想：“我做的事一定被人知道了。” 15法老听说这件事后，便想杀死摩西。摩西为了躲避法老，就逃到米甸居住。一天他坐在一口井旁， 16米甸祭司的七个女儿来打水，要把水倒进槽里饮她们父亲的羊。 17这时，来了另外一群牧人要把她们赶走。摩西便起来帮助她们，打水饮她们的羊群。 18她们回到父亲流珥2:18 “流珥”又名“叶特罗”。那里，父亲问道：“你们今天怎么这么快就回来了？” 19她们答道：“有一个埃及人救我们免遭牧人的欺负，还帮我们打水饮羊群。” 20他又问女儿们：“现在那人在哪里？你们怎么可以丢下他不管呢？去请他来吃点东西。” 21后来，摩西同意住在那人家里。那人把女儿西坡拉许配给他。 22后来，西坡拉生了一个儿子，摩西给他取名叫革舜，意思是“我成了在异乡寄居的人”。
23过了多年，埃及王死了。以色列人受尽奴役，就哀叹呼求，声音传到上帝那里。 24上帝听见他们的哀声，顾念从前跟亚伯拉罕、以撒、雅各所立的约， 25就垂顾他们，体恤他们。
