10 When the child grew older, she took him to Pharaoh’s daughter and he became her son. She named(A) him Moses,[a] saying, “I drew(B) him out of the water.”

Moses Flees to Midian

11 One day, after Moses had grown up, he went out to where his own people(C) were and watched them at their hard labor.(D) He saw an Egyptian beating a Hebrew, one of his own people. 12 Looking this way and that and seeing no one, he killed the Egyptian and hid him in the sand. 13 The next day he went out and saw two Hebrews fighting. He asked the one in the wrong, “Why are you hitting your fellow Hebrew?”(E)

14 The man said, “Who made you ruler and judge over us?(F) Are you thinking of killing me as you killed the Egyptian?” Then Moses was afraid and thought, “What I did must have become known.”

15 When Pharaoh heard of this, he tried to kill(G) Moses, but Moses fled(H) from Pharaoh and went to live in Midian,(I) where he sat down by a well. 16 Now a priest of Midian(J) had seven daughters, and they came to draw water(K) and fill the troughs(L) to water their father’s flock. 17 Some shepherds came along and drove them away, but Moses got up and came to their rescue(M) and watered their flock.(N)

18 When the girls returned to Reuel(O) their father, he asked them, “Why have you returned so early today?”

19 They 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.”(P)

21 Moses agreed to stay with the man, who gave his daughter Zipporah(Q) to Moses in marriage.

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Footnotes

  1. Exodus 2:10 Moses sounds like the Hebrew for draw out.

20 “At that time Moses was born, and he was no ordinary child.[a] For three months he was cared for by his family.(A) 21 When he was placed outside, Pharaoh’s daughter took him and brought him up as her own son.(B) 22 Moses was educated in all the wisdom of the Egyptians(C) and was powerful in speech and action.

23 “When Moses was forty years old, he decided to visit his own people, the Israelites. 24 He saw one of them being mistreated by an Egyptian, so he went to his defense and avenged him by killing the Egyptian. 25 Moses thought that his own people would realize that God was using him to rescue them, but they did not. 26 The next day Moses came upon two Israelites who were fighting. He tried to reconcile them by saying, ‘Men, you are brothers; why do you want to hurt each other?’

27 “But the man who was mistreating the other pushed Moses aside and said, ‘Who made you ruler and judge over us?(D) 28 Are you thinking of killing me as you killed the Egyptian yesterday?’[b] 29 When Moses heard this, he fled to Midian, where he settled as a foreigner and had two sons.(E)

30 “After forty years had passed, an angel appeared to Moses in the flames of a burning bush in the desert near Mount Sinai. 31 When he saw this, he was amazed at the sight. As he went over to get a closer look, he heard the Lord say:(F) 32 ‘I am the God of your fathers,(G) the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.’[c] Moses trembled with fear and did not dare to look.(H)

33 “Then the Lord said to him, ‘Take off your sandals, for the place where you are standing is holy ground.(I) 34 I have indeed seen the oppression of my people in Egypt. I have heard their groaning and have come down to set them free. Now come, I will send you back to Egypt.’[d](J)

35 “This is the same Moses they had rejected with the words, ‘Who made you ruler and judge?’(K) He was sent to be their ruler and deliverer by God himself, through the angel who appeared to him in the bush. 36 He led them out of Egypt(L) and performed wonders and signs(M) in Egypt, at the Red Sea(N) and for forty years in the wilderness.(O)

37 “This is the Moses who told the Israelites, ‘God will raise up for you a prophet like me from your own people.’[e](P) 38 He was in the assembly in the wilderness, with the angel(Q) who spoke to him on Mount Sinai, and with our ancestors;(R) and he received living words(S) to pass on to us.(T)

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Footnotes

  1. Acts 7:20 Or was fair in the sight of God
  2. Acts 7:28 Exodus 2:14
  3. Acts 7:32 Exodus 3:6
  4. Acts 7:34 Exodus 3:5,7,8,10
  5. Acts 7:37 Deut. 18:15

24 By faith Moses, when he had grown up, refused to be known as the son of Pharaoh’s daughter.(A)

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25 He chose to be mistreated(A) along with the people of God rather than to enjoy the fleeting pleasures of sin.

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