HelpFinder Bible - Flipbook - Page 422
EX O D U S 1
page 52
delight and security in his daily presence, and the great privilege of learning to worship
the Holy One. And that, too, is a foretaste of our journey with Jesus. After we are set free
from the bondage of sin, our feet are set upon a journey to follow him, to learn to be his
people, to find delight in his presence, and to worship and serve him with all our hearts.
Exodus is the story of freedom from oppression . . . but more important, freedom to
become all that God wants us to be.
Key verses in Exodus
3:10 “Now go, for I am sending
you to Pharaoh. You must lead
my people Israel out of Egypt.”
of judgment. I will claim you as
my own people, and I will be
your God.”
5:1 “This is what the Lord,
the God of Israel, says: Let
my people go.”
15:1-2 “I will sing to the Lord,
for he has triumphed gloriously;
he has hurled both horse and
rider into the sea. The Lord is my
strength and my song; he has given 34:6 “Yahweh! The Lord! The
me victory.”
God of compassion and mercy!
I am slow to anger and filled with
19:4-6 “You know how I carried
you on eagles’ wings and brought
unfailing love and faithfulness.”
6:6-7 “I am the Lord. I will free
you from your oppression and
will rescue you from your slavery
in Egypt. I will redeem you with
a powerful arm and great acts
The Israelites in Egypt
These are the names of the sons of Israel
(that is, Jacob) who moved to Egypt with
their father, each with his family: 2 Reuben, Simeon, Levi, Judah, 3 Issachar, Zebulun, Benjamin,
4 Dan, Naphtali, Gad, and Asher. 5 In all, Jacob
had seventy* descendants in Egypt, including
Joseph, who was already there.
6 In time, Joseph and all of his brothers died,
ending that entire generation. 7 But their descendants, the Israelites, had many children
and grandchildren. In fact, they multiplied so
greatly that they became extremely powerful
and filled the land.
8 Eventually, a new king came to power in
Egypt who knew nothing about Joseph or what
he had done. 9 He said to his people, “Look, the
people of Israel now outnumber us and are
stronger than we are. 10 We must make a plan to
keep them from growing even more. If we don’t,
and if war breaks out, they will join our enemies
and fight against us. Then they will escape from
the country.*”
11 So the Egyptians made the Israelites their
slaves. They appointed brutal slave drivers over
them, hoping to wear them down with crushing labor. They forced them to build the cities of
Pithom and Rameses as supply centers for the
king. 12 But the more the Egyptians oppressed
them, the more the Israelites multiplied and
spread, and the more alarmed the Egyptians
became. 13 So the Egyptians worked the people
of Israel without mercy. 14 They made their lives
bitter, forcing them to mix mortar and make
1
you to myself. Now if you will obey
me and keep my covenant, you will
be my own special treasure from
among all the peoples on earth; for
all the earth belongs to me. And
you will be my kingdom of priests,
my holy nation.”
bricks and do all the work in the fields. They
were ruthless in all their demands.
15 Then Pharaoh, the king of Egypt, gave this
order to the Hebrew midwives, Shiphrah and
Puah: 16 “When you help the Hebrew women
as they give birth, watch as they deliver.* If the
baby is a boy, kill him; if it is a girl, let her live.”
17 But because the midwives feared God, they
refused to obey the king’s orders. They allowed
the boys to live, too.
18 So the king of Egypt called for the midwives.
“Why have you done this?” he demanded. “Why
have you allowed the boys to live?”
19 “The Hebrew women are not like the Egyptian women,” the midwives replied. “They are
more vigorous and have their babies so quickly
that we cannot get there in time.”
20 So God was good to the midwives, and
the Israelites continued to multiply, growing
more and more powerful. 21 And because the
midwives feared God, he gave them families of
their own.
22 Then Pharaoh gave this order to all his
people: “Throw every newborn Hebrew boy into
the Nile River. But you may let the girls live.”
The Birth of Moses
About this time, a man and woman from
the tribe of Levi got married. 2 The woman
became pregnant and gave birth to a son. She
saw that he was a special baby and kept him
2
1:5 Dead Sea Scrolls and Greek version read seventy-five;
see notes on Gen 46:27. 1:10 Or will take the country.
1:16 Hebrew look upon the two stones; perhaps the reference
is to a birthstool.