Bible in 90 Days

Jacob’s Family Grows Strong

1 When Jacob^[a] went to Egypt, he took his sons, and each son took his own family with him. These are the names of the sons of Israel: ² Reuben, Simeon, Levi, Judah, ³ Issachar, Zebulun, Benjamin, ⁴ Dan, Naphtali, Gad, and Asher. ⁵ There was a total of seventy people who were descendants of Jacob. Jacob’s son Joseph was already in Egypt.

⁶ Some time later, Joseph and his brothers died, along with all the people who had lived at that same time. ⁷ But the people of Israel had many children, and their number grew greatly. They became very strong, and the country of Egypt was filled with them.

Trouble for the People of Israel

⁸ Then a new king began to rule Egypt, who did not know who Joseph was. ⁹ This king said to his people, “Look! The people of Israel are too many and too strong for us to handle! ¹⁰ If we don’t make plans against them, the number of their people will grow even more. Then if there is a war, they might join our enemies and fight us and escape from the country!”

¹¹ So the Egyptians made life hard for the Israelites. They put slave masters over them, who forced the Israelites to build the cities Pithom and Rameses as supply centers for the king. ¹² But the harder the Egyptians forced the Israelites to work, the more the Israelites grew in number and spread out. So the Egyptians became very afraid of them ¹³ and demanded even more of them. ¹⁴ They made their lives bitter. They forced the Israelites to work hard to make bricks and mortar and to do all kinds of work in the fields. The Egyptians were not merciful to them in all their painful work.

¹⁵ Two Hebrew nurses, named Shiphrah and Puah, helped the Israelite women give birth to their babies. The king of Egypt said to the nurses, ¹⁶ “When you are helping the Hebrew women give birth to their babies, watch! If the baby is a girl, let her live, but if it is a boy, kill him!” ¹⁷ But the nurses feared God, so they did not do as the king told them; they let all the boy babies live. ¹⁸ Then the king of Egypt sent for the nurses and said, “Why did you do this? Why did you let the boys live?”

¹⁹ The nurses said to him, “The Hebrew women are much stronger than the Egyptian women. They give birth to their babies before we can get there.” ²⁰ God was good to the nurses. And the Hebrew people continued to grow in number, so they became even stronger. ²¹ Because the nurses feared God, he gave them families of their own.

²² So the king commanded all his people, “Every time a boy is born to the Hebrews, you must throw him into the Nile River, but let all the girl babies live.”

Baby Moses

2 Now a man from the family of Levi married a woman who was also from the family of Levi. ² She became pregnant and gave birth to a son. When she saw how wonderful the baby was, she hid him for three months. ³ But after three months she was not able to hide the baby any longer, so she got a basket made of reeds and covered it with tar so that it would float. She put the baby in the basket. Then she put the basket among the tall stalks of grass at the edge of the Nile River. ⁴ The baby’s sister stood a short distance away to see what would happen to him.

⁵ Then the daughter of the king of Egypt came to the river to take a bath, and her servant girls were walking beside the river. When she saw the basket in the tall grass, she sent her slave girl to get it. ⁶ The king’s daughter opened the basket and saw the baby boy. He was crying, so she felt sorry for him and said, “This is one of the Hebrew babies.”

⁷ Then the baby’s sister asked the king’s daughter, “Would you like me to go and find a Hebrew woman to nurse the baby for you?”

⁸ The king’s daughter said, “Go!” So the girl went and got the baby’s own mother.

⁹ The king’s daughter said to the woman, “Take this baby and nurse him for me, and I will pay you.” So the woman took her baby and nursed him. ¹⁰ When the child grew older, the woman took him to the king’s daughter, and she adopted the baby as her own son. The king’s daughter named him Moses,^[b] because she had pulled him out of the water.

Moses Tries to Help

¹¹ Moses grew and became a man. One day he visited his people and saw that they were forced to work very hard. He saw an Egyptian beating a Hebrew man, one of Moses’ own people. ¹² Moses looked all around and saw that no one was watching, so he killed the Egyptian and hid his body in the sand.

¹³ The next day Moses returned and saw two Hebrew men fighting each other. He said to the one that was in the wrong, “Why are you hitting one of your own people?”

¹⁴ The man answered, “Who made you our ruler and judge? Are you going to kill me as you killed the Egyptian?”

Moses was afraid and thought, “Now everyone knows what I did.”

¹⁵ When the king heard what Moses had done, he tried to kill him. But Moses ran away from the king and went to live in the land of Midian. There he sat down near a well.

Moses in Midian

¹⁶ There was a priest in Midian who had seven daughters. His daughters went to that well to get water to fill the water troughs for their father’s flock. ¹⁷ Some shepherds came and chased the girls away, but Moses defended the girls and watered their flock.

¹⁸ When they went back to their father Reuel,^[c] he asked them, “Why have you come home early today?”

¹⁹ The girls answered, “The shepherds chased us away, but an Egyptian defended us. He got water for us and watered our flock.”

²⁰ He asked his daughters, “Where is this man? Why did you leave him? Invite him to eat with us.”

²¹ Moses agreed to stay with Jethro, and he gave his daughter Zipporah to Moses to be his wife. ²² Zipporah gave birth to a son. Moses named him Gershom,^[d] because Moses was a stranger in a land that was not his own.

²³ After a long time, the king of Egypt died. The people of Israel groaned, because they were forced to work very hard. When they cried for help, God heard them. ²⁴ God heard their cries, and he remembered the agreement he had made with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. ²⁵ He saw the troubles of the people of Israel, and he was concerned about them.

The Burning Bush

3 One day Moses was taking care of Jethro’s flock. (Jethro was the priest of Midian and also Moses’ father-in-law.) When Moses led the flock to the west side of the desert, he came to Sinai, the mountain of God. ² There the angel of the Lord appeared to him in flames of fire coming out of a bush. Moses saw that the bush was on fire, but it was not burning up. ³ So he said, “I will go closer to this strange thing. How can a bush continue burning without burning up?”

⁴ When the Lord saw Moses was coming to look at the bush, God called to him from the bush, “Moses, Moses!”

And Moses said, “Here I am.”

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

⁷ The Lord said, “I have seen the troubles my people have suffered in Egypt, and I have heard their cries when the Egyptian slave masters hurt them. I am concerned about their pain, ⁸ and I have come down to save them from the Egyptians. I will bring them out of that land and lead them to a good land with lots of room—a fertile land. It is the land of the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites. ⁹ I have heard the cries of the people of Israel, and I have seen the way the Egyptians have made life hard for them. ¹⁰ So now I am sending you to the king of Egypt. Go! Bring my people, the Israelites, out of Egypt!”

¹¹ But Moses said to God, “I am not a great man! How can I go to the king and lead the Israelites out of Egypt?”

¹² God said, “I will be with you. This will be the proof that I am sending you: After you lead the people out of Egypt, all of you will worship me on this mountain.”

¹³ Moses said to God, “When I go to the Israelites, I will say to them, ‘The God of your ancestors sent me to you.’ What if the people say, ‘What is his name?’ What should I tell them?”

¹⁴ Then God said to Moses, “I am who I am.^[e] When you go to the people of Israel, tell them, ‘I am sent me to you.’”

¹⁵ God also said to Moses, “This is what you should tell the people: ‘The Lord is the God of your ancestors—the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob. He sent me to you.’ This will always be my name, by which people from now on will know me.

¹⁶ “Go and gather the elders and tell them this: ‘The Lord, the God of your ancestors Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, has appeared to me. He said, I care about you, and I have seen what has happened to you in Egypt. ¹⁷ I promised I would take you out of your troubles in Egypt. I will lead you to the land of the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites—a fertile land.’

¹⁸ “The elders will listen to you. And then you and the elders of Israel will go to the king of Egypt and tell him, ‘The Lord, the God of the Hebrews, appeared to us. Let us travel three days into the desert to offer sacrifices to the Lord our God.’

¹⁹ “But I know that the king of Egypt will not let you go. Only a great power will force him to let you go, ²⁰ so I will use my great power against Egypt. I will strike Egypt with all the miracles that will happen in that land. After I do that, he will let you go. ²¹ I will cause the Egyptians to think well of the Israelites. So when you leave, they will give gifts to your people. ²² Each woman should ask her Egyptian neighbor and any Egyptian woman living in her house for gifts—silver, gold, and clothing. You should put those gifts on your children when you leave Egypt. In this way you will take with you the riches of the Egyptians.”

Proof for Moses

4 Then Moses answered, “What if the people of Israel do not believe me or listen to me? What if they say, ‘The Lord did not appear to you’?”

² The Lord said to him, “What is that in your hand?”

Moses answered, “It is my walking stick.”

³ The Lord said, “Throw it on the ground.”

So Moses threw it on the ground, and it became a snake. Moses ran from the snake, ⁴ but the Lord said to him, “Reach out and grab the snake by its tail.” When Moses reached out and took hold of the snake, it again became a stick in his hand. ⁵ The Lord said, “This is so that the Israelites will believe that the Lord appeared to you. I am the God of their ancestors, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.”

⁶ Then the Lord said to Moses, “Put your hand inside your coat.” So Moses put his hand inside his coat. When he took it out, it was white with a skin disease.

⁷ Then he said, “Now put your hand inside your coat again.” So Moses put his hand inside his coat again. When he took it out, his hand was healthy again, like the rest of his skin.

⁸ Then the Lord said, “If the people do not believe you or pay attention to the first miracle, they may believe you when you show them this second miracle. ⁹ After these two miracles, if they still do not believe or listen to you, take some water from the Nile River and pour it on the dry ground. The water will become blood when it touches the ground.”

¹⁰ But Moses said to the Lord, “Please, Lord, I have never been a skilled speaker. Even now, after talking to you, I cannot speak well. I speak slowly and can’t find the best words.”

¹¹ Then the Lord said to him, “Who made a person’s mouth? And who makes someone deaf or not able to speak? Or who gives a person sight or blindness? It is I, the Lord. ¹² Now go! I will help you speak, and I will teach you what to say.”

¹³ But Moses said, “Please, Lord, send someone else.”

¹⁴ The Lord became angry with Moses and said, “Your brother Aaron, from the family of Levi, is a skilled speaker. He is already coming to meet you, and he will be happy when he sees you. ¹⁵ You will speak to Aaron and tell him what to say. I will help both of you to speak and will teach you what to do. ¹⁶ Aaron will speak to the people for you. You will tell him what God says, and he will speak for you. ¹⁷ Take your walking stick with you, and use it to do the miracles.”

Moses Returns to Egypt

¹⁸ Moses went back to Jethro, his father-in-law, and said to him, “Let me go back to my people in Egypt. I want to see if they are still alive.”

Jethro said to Moses, “Go! I wish you well.”

¹⁹ While Moses was still in Midian, the Lord said to him, “Go back to Egypt, because the men who wanted to kill you are dead now.”

²⁰ So Moses took his wife and his sons, put them on a donkey, and started back to Egypt. He took with him the walking stick of God.

²¹ The Lord said to Moses, “When you get back to Egypt, do all the miracles I have given you the power to do. Show them to the king of Egypt. But I will make the king very stubborn, and he will not let the people go. ²² Then say to the king, ‘This is what the Lord says: Israel is my firstborn son. ²³ I told you to let my son go so he may worship me. But you refused to let Israel go, so I will kill your firstborn son.’”

²⁴ As Moses was on his way to Egypt, he stopped at a resting place for the night. The Lord met him there and tried to kill him. ²⁵ But Zipporah took a flint knife and circumcised her son. Taking the skin, she touched Moses’ feet with it and said to him, “You are a bridegroom of blood to me.” ²⁶ She said, “You are a bridegroom of blood,” because she had to circumcise her son. So the Lord let Moses alone.

²⁷ Meanwhile the Lord said to Aaron, “Go out into the desert to meet Moses.” When Aaron went, he met Moses at Sinai, the mountain of God, and kissed him. ²⁸ Moses told Aaron everything the Lord had said to him when he sent him to Egypt. He also told him about the miracles which the Lord had commanded him to do.

²⁹ Moses and Aaron gathered all the elders of the Israelites, ³⁰ and Aaron told them everything that the Lord had told Moses. Then Moses did the miracles for all the people to see, ³¹ and the Israelites believed. When they heard that the Lord was concerned about them and had seen their troubles, they bowed down and worshiped him.

Moses and Aaron Before the King

5 After Moses and Aaron talked to the people, they went to the king of Egypt and said, “This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: ‘Let my people go so they may hold a feast for me in the desert.’”

² But the king of Egypt said, “Who is the Lord? Why should I obey him and let Israel go? I do not know the Lord, and I will not let Israel go.”

³ Then Aaron and Moses said, “The God of the Hebrews has met with us. Now let us travel three days into the desert to offer sacrifices to the Lord our God. If we don’t do this, he may kill us with a disease or in war.”

⁴ But the king said to them, “Moses and Aaron, why are you taking the people away from their work? Go back to your jobs! ⁵ There are very many Hebrews, and now you want them to quit working!”

⁶ That same day the king gave a command to the slave masters and foremen. ⁷ He said, “Don’t give the people straw to make bricks as you used to do. Let them gather their own straw. ⁸ But they must still make the same number of bricks as they did before. Do not accept fewer. They have become lazy, and that is why they are asking me, ‘Let us go to offer sacrifices to our God.’ ⁹ Make these people work harder and keep them busy; then they will not have time to listen to the lies of Moses.”

¹⁰ So the slave masters and foremen went to the Israelites and said, “This is what the king says: I will no longer give you straw. ¹¹ Go and get your own straw wherever you can find it. But you must make as many bricks as you made before.” ¹² So the people went everywhere in Egypt looking for dry stalks to use for straw. ¹³ The slave masters kept forcing the people to work harder. They said, “You must make just as many bricks as you did when you were given straw.” ¹⁴ The king’s slave masters had made the Israelite foremen responsible for the work the people did. The Egyptian slave masters beat these men and asked them, “Why aren’t you making as many bricks as you made in the past?”

¹⁵ Then the Israelite foremen went to the king and complained, “Why are you treating us, your servants, this way? ¹⁶ You give us no straw, but we are commanded to make bricks. Our slave masters beat us, but it is your own people’s fault.”

¹⁷ The king answered, “You are lazy! You don’t want to work! That is why you ask to leave here and make sacrifices to the Lord. ¹⁸ Now, go back to work! We will not give you any straw, but you must make just as many bricks as you did before.”

¹⁹ The Israelite foremen knew they were in trouble, because the king had told them, “You must make just as many bricks each day as you did before.” ²⁰ As they were leaving the meeting with the king, they met Moses and Aaron, who were waiting for them. ²¹ So they said to Moses and Aaron, “May the Lord punish you. You caused the king and his officers to hate us. You have given them an excuse to kill us.”

Moses Complains to God

²² Then Moses returned to the Lord and said, “Lord, why have you brought this trouble on your people? Is this why you sent me here? ²³ I went to the king and said what you told me to say, but ever since that time he has made the people suffer. And you have done nothing to save them.”

6 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Now you will see what I will do to the king of Egypt. I will use my great power against him, and he will let my people go. Because of my power, he will force them out of his country.”

² Then God said to Moses, “I am the Lord. ³ I appeared to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob by the name God Almighty, but they did not know me by my name, the Lord. ⁴ I also made my agreement with them to give them the land of Canaan. They lived in that land, but it was not their own. ⁵ Now I have heard the cries of the Israelites, whom the Egyptians are treating as slaves, and I remember my agreement. ⁶ So tell the people of Israel that I say to them, ‘I am the Lord. I will save you from the hard work the Egyptians force you to do. I will make you free, so you will not be slaves to the Egyptians. I will free you by my great power, and I will punish the Egyptians terribly. ⁷ I will make you my own people, and I will be your God. You will know that I am the Lord your God, the One who saves you from the hard work the Egyptians force you to do. ⁸ I will lead you to the land that I promised to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and I will give you that land to own. I am the Lord.’”

⁹ So Moses told this to the Israelites, but they would not listen to him. They were discouraged, and their slavery was hard.

¹⁰ Then the Lord said to Moses, ¹¹ “Go tell the king of Egypt that he must let the Israelites leave his land.”

¹² But Moses answered, “The Israelites will not listen to me, so surely the king will not listen to me either. I am not a good speaker.”

¹³ But the Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron and gave them orders about the Israelites and the king of Egypt. He commanded them to lead the Israelites out of Egypt.

Families of Israel

¹⁴ These are the leaders of the families of Israel:

Israel’s first son, Reuben, had four sons: Hanoch, Pallu, Hezron, and Carmi. These are the family groups of Reuben.

¹⁵ Simeon’s sons were Jemuel, Jamin, Ohad, Jakin, Zohar, and Shaul, the son of a Canaanite woman. These are the family groups of Simeon.

¹⁶ Levi lived one hundred thirty-seven years. These are the names of his sons according to their family history: Gershon, Kohath, and Merari.

¹⁷ Gershon had two sons, Libni and Shimei, with their families.

¹⁸ Kohath lived one hundred thirty-three years. The sons of Kohath were Amram, Izhar, Hebron, and Uzziel.

¹⁹ The sons of Merari were Mahli and Mushi.

These are the family groups of Levi, according to their family history.

²⁰ Amram married his father’s sister Jochebed, who gave birth to Aaron and Moses. Amram lived one hundred thirty-seven years.

²¹ Izhar’s sons were Korah, Nepheg, and Zicri.

²² Uzziel’s sons were Mishael, Elzaphan, and Sithri.

²³ Aaron married Elisheba, the daughter of Amminadab and the sister of Nahshon. Elisheba gave birth to Nadab, Abihu, Eleazar, and Ithamar.

²⁴ The sons of Korah were Assir, Elkanah, and Abiasaph. These are the family groups of the Korahites.

²⁵ Eleazar son of Aaron married a daughter of Putiel, and she gave birth to Phinehas.

These are the leaders of the family groups of the Levites.

²⁶ This was the Aaron and Moses to whom the Lord said, “Lead the people of Israel out of Egypt by their divisions.” ²⁷ Aaron and Moses are the ones who talked to the king of Egypt and told him to let the Israelites leave Egypt.

God Repeats His Call to Moses

²⁸ The Lord spoke to Moses in the land of Egypt ²⁹ and said, “I am the Lord. Tell the king of Egypt everything I tell you.”

³⁰ But Moses answered, “I am not a good speaker. The king will not listen to me.”

7 The Lord said to Moses, “I have made you like God to the king of Egypt, and your brother Aaron will be like a prophet for you. ² Tell Aaron your brother everything that I command you, and let him tell the king of Egypt to let the Israelites leave his country. ³ But I will make the king stubborn. I will do many miracles in Egypt, ⁴ but he will still refuse to listen. So then I will punish Egypt terribly, and I will lead my divisions, my people the Israelites, out of that land. ⁵ I will punish Egypt with my power, and I will bring the Israelites out of that land. Then they will know I am the Lord.”

⁶ Moses and Aaron did just as the Lord had commanded them. ⁷ Moses was eighty years old and Aaron was eighty-three when they spoke to the king.

Aaron’s Walking Stick Becomes a Snake

⁸ The Lord said to Moses and Aaron, ⁹ “Moses, when the king asks you to do a miracle, tell Aaron to throw his walking stick down in front of the king, and it will become a snake.”

¹⁰ So Moses and Aaron went to the king as the Lord had commanded. Aaron threw his walking stick down in front of the king and his officers, and it became a snake.

¹¹ So the king called in his wise men and his magicians, and with their tricks the Egyptian magicians were able to do the same thing. ¹² They threw their walking sticks on the ground, and their sticks became snakes. But Aaron’s stick swallowed theirs. ¹³ Still the king was stubborn and refused to listen to Moses and Aaron, just as the Lord had said.

The Water Becomes Blood

¹⁴ Then the Lord said to Moses, “The king is being stubborn and refuses to let the people go. ¹⁵ In the morning the king will go out to the Nile River. Go meet him by the edge of the river, and take with you the walking stick that became a snake. ¹⁶ Tell him: The Lord, the God of the Hebrews, sent me to you. He said, ‘Let my people go worship me in the desert.’ Until now you have not listened. ¹⁷ This is what the Lord says: ‘This is how you will know that I am the Lord. I will strike the water of the Nile River with this stick in my hand, and the water will change into blood. ¹⁸ Then the fish in the Nile will die, and the river will begin to stink. The Egyptians will not be able to drink the water from the Nile.’”

¹⁹ The Lord said to Moses, “Tell Aaron: ‘Take the walking stick in your hand and stretch your hand over the rivers, canals, ponds, and pools in Egypt.’ The water will become blood everywhere in Egypt, both in wooden buckets and in stone jars.”

²⁰ So Moses and Aaron did just as the Lord had commanded. In front of the king and his officers, Aaron raised his walking stick and struck the water in the Nile River. So all the water in the Nile changed into blood. ²¹ The fish in the Nile died, and the river began to stink, so the Egyptians could not drink water from it. Blood was everywhere in the land of Egypt.

²² Using their tricks, the magicians of Egypt did the same thing. So the king was stubborn and refused to listen to Moses and Aaron, just as the Lord had said. ²³ The king turned and went into his palace and ignored what Moses and Aaron had done. ²⁴ The Egyptians could not drink the water from the Nile, so all of them dug along the bank of the river, looking for water to drink.

The Frogs

²⁵ Seven days passed after the Lord changed the Nile River.

8 Then the Lord told Moses, “Go to the king of Egypt and tell him, ‘This is what the Lord says: Let my people go to worship me. ² If you refuse, I will punish Egypt with frogs. ³ The Nile River will be filled with frogs. They will come up into your palace, into your bedroom, on your bed, into the houses of your officers, and onto your people. They will come into your ovens and into your baking pans. ⁴ The frogs will jump all over you, your people, and your officers.’”

⁵ Then the Lord said to Moses, “Tell Aaron to hold his walking stick in his hand over the rivers, canals, and ponds. Make frogs come up out of the water onto the land of Egypt.”

⁶ So Aaron held his hand over all the waters of Egypt, and the frogs came up out of the water and covered the land of Egypt. ⁷ The magicians used their tricks to do the same thing, so even more frogs came up onto the land of Egypt.

⁸ The king called for Moses and Aaron and said, “Pray to the Lord to take the frogs away from me and my people. I will let your people go to offer sacrifices to the Lord.”

⁹ Moses said to the king, “Please set the time when I should pray for you, your people, and your officers. Then the frogs will leave you and your houses and will remain only in the Nile.”

¹⁰ The king answered, “Tomorrow.”

Moses said, “What you want will happen. By this you will know that there is no one like the Lord our God. ¹¹ The frogs will leave you, your houses, your officers, and your people. They will remain only in the Nile.”

¹² After Moses and Aaron left the king, Moses asked the Lord about the frogs he had sent to the king. ¹³ And the Lord did as Moses asked. The frogs died in the houses, in the yards, and in the fields. ¹⁴ The Egyptians put them in piles, and the whole country began to stink. ¹⁵ But when the king saw that they were free of the frogs, he became stubborn again. He did not listen to Moses and Aaron, just as the Lord had said.

The Gnats

¹⁶ Then the Lord said to Moses, “Tell Aaron to raise his walking stick and strike the dust on the ground. Then everywhere in Egypt the dust will change into gnats.” ¹⁷ They did this, and when Aaron raised the walking stick that was in his hand and struck the dust on the ground, everywhere in Egypt the dust changed into gnats. The gnats got on the people and animals. ¹⁸ Using their tricks, the magicians tried to do the same thing, but they could not make the dust change into gnats. The gnats remained on the people and animals. ¹⁹ So the magicians told the king that the power of God had done this. But the king was stubborn and refused to listen to them, just as the Lord had said.

The Flies

²⁰ The Lord told Moses, “Get up early in the morning, and meet the king of Egypt as he goes out to the river. Tell him, ‘This is what the Lord says: Let my people go so they can worship me. ²¹ If you don’t let them go, I will send swarms of flies into your houses. The flies will be on you, your officers, and your people. The houses of Egypt will be full of flies, and they will be all over the ground, too. ²² But I will not treat the Israelites the same as the Egyptian people. There will not be any flies in the land of Goshen, where my people live. By this you will know that I, the Lord, am in this land. ²³ I will treat my people differently from your people. This miracle will happen tomorrow.’”

²⁴ So the Lord did as he had said, and great swarms of flies came into the king’s palace and his officers’ houses. All over Egypt flies were ruining the land. ²⁵ The king called for Moses and Aaron and told them, “Offer sacrifices to your God here in this country.”

²⁶ But Moses said, “It wouldn’t be right to do that, because the Egyptians hate the sacrifices we offer to the Lord our God. If they see us offering sacrifices they hate, they will throw stones at us and kill us. ²⁷ Let us make a three-day journey into the desert. We must offer sacrifices to the Lord our God there, as the Lord told us to do.”

²⁸ The king said, “I will let you go so that you may offer sacrifices to the Lord your God in the desert, but you must not go very far away. Now go and pray for me.”

²⁹ Moses said, “I will leave and pray to the Lord, and he will take the flies away from you, your officers, and your people tomorrow. But do not try to trick us again. Do not stop the people from going to offer sacrifices to the Lord.”

³⁰ So Moses left the king and prayed to the Lord, ³¹ and the Lord did as he asked. He removed the flies from the king, his officers, and his people so that not one fly was left. ³² But the king became stubborn again and did not let the people go.

The Disease on the Farm Animals

9 Then the Lord told Moses, “Go to the king of Egypt and tell him, ‘This is what the Lord, the God of the Hebrews, says: Let my people go to worship me. ² If you refuse to let them go and continue to hold them, ³ the Lord will punish you. He will send a terrible disease on your farm animals that are in the fields. He will cause your horses, donkeys, camels, cattle, goats, and sheep to become sick. ⁴ But the Lord will treat Israel’s animals differently from the animals of Egypt. None of the animals that belong to the Israelites will die. ⁵ The Lord has set tomorrow as the time he will do this in the land.’” ⁶ The next day the Lord did as he promised. All the farm animals in Egypt died, but none of the animals belonging to Israelites died. ⁷ The king sent people to see what had happened to the animals of Israel, and they found that not one of them had died. But the king was still stubborn and did not let the people go.

The Boils

⁸ The Lord said to Moses and Aaron, “Fill your hands with ashes from a furnace. Moses, throw the ashes into the air in front of the king of Egypt. ⁹ The ashes will spread like dust through all the land of Egypt. They will cause boils to break out and become sores on the skin of people and animals everywhere in the land.”

¹⁰ So Moses and Aaron took ashes from a furnace and went and stood before the king. Moses threw ashes into the air, which caused boils to break out and become sores on people and animals. ¹¹ The magicians could not stand before Moses, because all the Egyptians had boils, even the magicians. ¹² But the Lord made the king stubborn, so he refused to listen to Moses and Aaron, just as the Lord had said.

The Hail

¹³ Then the Lord said to Moses, “Get up early in the morning and go to the king of Egypt. Tell him, ‘This is what the Lord, the God of the Hebrews, says: Let my people go to worship me. ¹⁴ If you don’t, this time I will punish you, your officers, and your people, with all my power. Then you will know there is no one in the whole land like me. ¹⁵ By now I could have used my power and caused a terrible disease that would have destroyed you and your people from the earth. ¹⁶ But I have let you live for this reason: to show you my power so that my name will be talked about in all the earth. ¹⁷ You are still against my people and do not want to let them go. ¹⁸ So at this time tomorrow, I will send a terrible hailstorm, the worst in Egypt since it became a nation. ¹⁹ Now send for your animals and whatever you have in the fields, and bring them into a safe place. The hail will fall on every person or animal that is still in the fields. If they have not been brought in, they will die.’” ²⁰ Some of the king’s officers respected the word of the Lord and hurried to bring their slaves and animals inside. ²¹ But others ignored the Lord’s message and left their slaves and animals in the fields.

²² The Lord told Moses, “Raise your hand toward the sky. Then the hail will start falling in all the land of Egypt. It will fall on people, animals, and on everything that grows in the fields of Egypt.” ²³ When Moses raised his walking stick toward the sky, the Lord sent thunder and hail, and lightning flashed down to the earth. So he caused hail to fall upon the land of Egypt. ²⁴ There was hail, and lightning flashed as it hailed—the worst hailstorm in Egypt since it had become a nation. ²⁵ The hail destroyed all the people and animals that were in the fields in all the land of Egypt. It also destroyed everything that grew in the fields and broke all the trees in the fields. ²⁶ The only place it did not hail was in the land of Goshen, where the Israelites lived.

²⁷ The king sent for Moses and Aaron and told them, “This time I have sinned. The Lord is in the right, and I and my people are in the wrong. ²⁸ Pray to the Lord. We have had enough of God’s thunder and hail. I will let you go; you do not have to stay here any longer.”

²⁹ Moses told the king, “When I leave the city, I will raise my hands to the Lord in prayer, and the thunder and hail will stop. Then you will know that the earth belongs to the Lord. ³⁰ But I know that you and your officers do not yet fear the Lord God.”

³¹ The flax was in bloom, and the barley had ripened, so these crops were destroyed. ³² But both wheat crops ripen later, so they were not destroyed.

³³ Moses left the king and went outside the city. He raised his hands to the Lord, and the thunder and hail stopped. The rain also stopped falling to the ground. ³⁴ When the king saw that the rain, hail, and thunder had stopped, he sinned again, and he and his officers became stubborn. ³⁵ So the king became stubborn and refused to let the Israelites go, just as the Lord had said through Moses.

The Locusts

10 The Lord said to Moses, “Go to the king of Egypt. I have made him and his officers stubborn so I could show them my powerful miracles. ² I also did this so you could tell your children and your grandchildren how I was hard on the Egyptians. Tell them about the miracles I did among them so that all of you will know that I am the Lord.”

³ So Moses and Aaron went to the king and told him, “This is what the Lord, the God of the Hebrews, says: ‘How long will you refuse to be sorry for what you have done? Let my people go to worship me. ⁴ If you refuse to let my people go, tomorrow I will bring locusts into your country. ⁵ They will cover the land so that no one will be able to see the ground. They will eat anything that was left from the hailstorm and the leaves from every tree growing in the field. ⁶ They will fill your palaces and all your officers’ houses, as well as the houses of all the Egyptians. There will be more locusts than your fathers or ancestors have ever seen—more than there have been since people began living in Egypt.’” Then Moses turned and walked away from the king.

⁷ The king’s officers asked him, “How long will this man make trouble for us? Let the Israelites go to worship the Lord their God. Don’t you know that Egypt is ruined?”

⁸ So Moses and Aaron were brought back to the king. He said to them, “Go and worship the Lord your God. But tell me, just who is going?”

⁹ Moses answered, “We will go with our young and old people, our sons and daughters, and our flocks and herds, because we are going to have a feast to honor the Lord.”

¹⁰ The king said to them, “The Lord will really have to be with you if ever I let you and all of your children leave Egypt. See, you are planning something evil! ¹¹ No! Only the men may go and worship the Lord, which is what you have been asking for.” Then the king forced Moses and Aaron out of his palace.

¹² The Lord told Moses, “Raise your hand over the land of Egypt, and the locusts will come. They will spread all over the land of Egypt and will eat all the plants the hail did not destroy.”

¹³ So Moses raised his walking stick over the land of Egypt, and the Lord caused a strong wind to blow from the east. It blew across the land all that day and night, and when morning came, the east wind had brought the locusts. ¹⁴ Swarms of locusts covered all the land of Egypt and settled everywhere. There were more locusts than ever before or after, ¹⁵ and they covered the whole land so that it was black. They ate everything that was left after the hail—every plant in the field and all the fruit on the trees. Nothing green was left on any tree or plant anywhere in Egypt.

¹⁶ The king quickly called for Moses and Aaron. He said, “I have sinned against the Lord your God and against you. ¹⁷ Now forgive my sin this time. Pray to the Lord your God, and ask him to stop this punishment that kills.”

¹⁸ Moses left the king and prayed to the Lord. ¹⁹ So the Lord changed the wind. He made a very strong wind blow from the west, and it blew the locusts away into the Red Sea. Not one locust was left anywhere in Egypt. ²⁰ But the Lord caused the king to be stubborn again, and he did not let the Israelites go.

The Darkness

²¹ Then the Lord told Moses, “Raise your hand toward the sky, and darkness will cover the land of Egypt. It will be so dark you will be able to feel it.” ²² Moses raised his hand toward the sky, and total darkness was everywhere in Egypt for three days. ²³ No one could see anyone else, and no one could go anywhere for three days. But the Israelites had light where they lived.

²⁴ Again the king of Egypt called for Moses. He said, “All of you may go and worship the Lord. You may take your women and children with you, but you must leave your flocks and herds here.”

²⁵ Moses said, “You must let us have animals to use as sacrifices and burnt offerings, because we have to offer them to the Lord our God. ²⁶ So we must take our animals with us; not a hoof will be left behind. We have to use some of the animals to worship the Lord our God. We won’t know exactly what we will need to worship the Lord until we get there.”

²⁷ But the Lord made the king stubborn again, so he refused to let them go. ²⁸ Then he told Moses, “Get out of here, and don’t come again! The next time you see me, you will die.”

²⁹ Then Moses told the king, “I’ll do what you say. I will not come to see you again.”

The Death of the Firstborn

11 Now the Lord had told Moses, “I have one more way to punish the king and the people of Egypt. After this, the king will send all of you away from Egypt. When he does, he will force you to leave completely. ² Tell the men and women of Israel to ask their neighbors for things made of silver and gold.” ³ The Lord had caused the Egyptians to respect the Israelites, and both the king’s officers and the Egyptian people considered Moses to be a great man.

⁴ So Moses said to the king, “This is what the Lord says: ‘About midnight tonight I will go through all Egypt. ⁵ Every firstborn son in the land of Egypt will die—from the firstborn son of the king, who sits on his throne, to the firstborn of the slave girl grinding grain. Also the firstborn farm animals will die. ⁶ There will be loud outcries everywhere in Egypt, worse than any time before or after this. ⁷ But not even a dog will bark at the Israelites or their animals.’ Then you will know that the Lord treats Israel differently from Egypt. ⁸ All your officers will come to me. They will bow facedown to the ground before me and say, ‘Leave and take all your people with you.’ After that, I will leave.” Then Moses very angrily left the king.

⁹ The Lord had told Moses, “The king will not listen to you and Aaron so that I may do many miracles in the land of Egypt.” ¹⁰ Moses and Aaron did all these great miracles in front of the king. But the Lord made him stubborn, and the king would not let the Israelites leave his country.

The First Passover

12 The Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt: ² “This month will be the beginning of months, the first month of the year for you. ³ Tell the whole community of Israel that on the tenth day of this month each man must get one lamb for the people in his house. ⁴ If there are not enough people in his house to eat a whole lamb, he must share it with his closest neighbor, considering the number of people. There must be enough lamb for everyone to eat. ⁵ The lamb must be a one-year-old male that has nothing wrong with it. This animal can be either a young sheep or a young goat. ⁶ Take care of the animals until the fourteenth day of the month. On that day all the people of the community of Israel will kill them in the evening before dark. ⁷ The people must take some of the blood and put it on the sides and tops of the doorframes of the houses where they eat the lambs. ⁸ On this night they must roast the lamb over a fire. They must eat it with bitter herbs and bread made without yeast. ⁹ Do not eat the lamb raw or boiled in water. Roast the whole lamb over a fire—with its head, legs, and inner organs. ¹⁰ You must not leave any of it until morning, but if any of it is left over until morning, you must burn it with fire.

¹¹ “This is the way you must eat it: You must be fully dressed as if you were going on a trip. You must have your sandals on and your walking stick in your hand. You must eat it in a hurry; this is the Lord’s Passover.

¹² “That night I will go through the land of Egypt and kill all the firstborn animals and people in the land of Egypt. I will also punish all the gods of Egypt. I am the Lord. ¹³ But the blood will be a sign on the houses where you are. When I see the blood, I will pass over you. Nothing terrible will hurt you when I punish the land of Egypt.

¹⁴ “You are always to remember this day and celebrate it with a feast to the Lord. Your descendants are to honor the Lord with this feast from now on. ¹⁵ For this feast you must eat bread made without yeast for seven days. On the first day, you are to remove all the yeast from your houses. No one should eat any yeast for the full seven days of the feast, or that person will be cut off from Israel. ¹⁶ You are to have holy meetings on the first and last days of the feast. You must not do any work on these days; the only work you may do is to prepare your meals. ¹⁷ You must celebrate the Feast of Unleavened Bread, because on this very day I brought your divisions of people out of Egypt. So all of your descendants must celebrate this day. This is a law that will last from now on. ¹⁸ In the first month of the year you are to eat bread made without yeast, from the evening of the fourteenth day until the evening of the twenty-first day. ¹⁹ For seven days there must not be any yeast in your houses. Anybody who eats yeast during this time, either an Israelite or non-Israelite, must be cut off from the community of Israel. ²⁰ During this feast you must not eat anything made with yeast. You must eat only bread made without yeast wherever you live.”

²¹ Then Moses called all the elders of Israel together and told them, “Get the animals for your families and kill the lamb for the Passover. ²² Take a branch of the hyssop plant, dip it into the bowl filled with blood, and then wipe the blood on the sides and tops of the doorframes. No one may leave that house until morning. ²³ When the Lord goes through Egypt to kill the Egyptians, he will see the blood on the sides and tops of the doorframes, and he will pass over that house. He will not let the one who brings death come into your houses and kill you.

²⁴ “You must keep this command as a law for you and your descendants from now on. ²⁵ Do this when you go to the land the Lord has promised to give you. ²⁶ When your children ask you, ‘Why are we doing these things?’ ²⁷ you will say, ‘This is the Passover sacrifice to honor the Lord. When we were in Egypt, the Lord passed over the houses of Israel, and when he killed the Egyptians, he saved our homes.’” Then the people bowed down and worshiped the Lord. ²⁸ They did just as the Lord commanded Moses and Aaron.

²⁹ At midnight the Lord killed all the firstborn sons in the land of Egypt—from the firstborn of the king who sat on the throne to the firstborn of the prisoner in jail. Also, all the firstborn farm animals died. ³⁰ The king, his officers, and all the Egyptians got up during the night because someone had died in every house. So there was a loud outcry everywhere in Egypt.

Israel Leaves Egypt

³¹ During the night the king called for Moses and Aaron and said, “Get up and leave my people. You and your people may do as you have asked; go and worship the Lord. ³² Take all of your flocks and herds as you have asked, and go. And also bless me.” ³³ The Egyptians also asked the Israelites to hurry and leave, saying, “If you don’t leave, we will all die!”

³⁴ So the people took their dough before the yeast was added. They wrapped the bowls for making dough in clothing and carried them on their shoulders. ³⁵ The Israelites did what Moses told them to do and asked their Egyptian neighbors for things made of silver and gold and for clothing. ³⁶ The Lord caused the Egyptians to think well of them, and the Egyptians gave the people everything they asked for. So the Israelites took rich gifts from them.

³⁷ The Israelites traveled from Rameses to Succoth. There were about six hundred thousand men walking, not including the women and children. ³⁸ Many other people who were not Israelites went with them, as well as a large number of sheep, goats, and cattle. ³⁹ The Israelites used the dough they had brought out of Egypt to bake loaves of bread without yeast. The dough had no yeast in it, because they had been rushed out of Egypt and had no time to get food ready for their trip.

⁴⁰ The people of Israel had lived in Egypt for four hundred thirty years; ⁴¹ on the very day the four hundred thirty years ended, the Lord’s divisions of people left Egypt. ⁴² That night the Lord kept watch to bring them out of Egypt, and so on this same night the Israelites are to keep watch to honor the Lord from now on.

⁴³ The Lord told Moses and Aaron, “Here are the rules for Passover: No foreigner is to eat the Passover. ⁴⁴ If someone buys a slave and circumcises him, the slave may eat the Passover. ⁴⁵ But neither a person who lives for a short time in your country nor a hired worker may eat it.

⁴⁶ “The meal must be eaten inside a house; take none of the meat outside the house. Don’t break any of the bones. ⁴⁷ The whole community of Israel must take part in this feast. ⁴⁸ A foreigner who lives with you may share in the Lord’s Passover if all the males in his house become circumcised. Then, since he will be like a citizen of Israel, he may share in the meal. But a man who is not circumcised may not eat the Passover meal. ⁴⁹ The same rules apply to an Israelite born in the country or to a foreigner living there.”

⁵⁰ So all the Israelites did just as the Lord had commanded Moses and Aaron. ⁵¹ On that same day the Lord led the Israelites out of Egypt by their divisions.

The Law of the Firstborn

13 Then the Lord said to Moses, ² “Give every firstborn male to me. Every firstborn male among the Israelites belongs to me, whether human or animal.”

³ Moses said to the people, “Remember this day, the day you left Egypt. You were slaves in that land, but the Lord with his great power brought you out of it. You must not eat bread made with yeast. ⁴ Today, in the month of Abib, you are leaving Egypt. ⁵ The Lord will lead you to the land of the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Hivites, and Jebusites. This is the land he promised your ancestors he would give you, a fertile land. There you must celebrate this feast during the first month of every year. ⁶ For seven days you must eat bread made without yeast, and on the seventh day there will be a feast to honor the Lord. ⁷ So for seven days you must not eat any bread made with yeast. There must be no bread made with yeast anywhere in your land. ⁸ On that day you should tell your son: ‘We are having this feast because of what the Lord did for me when I came out of Egypt.’ ⁹ This feast will help you remember, like a mark on your hand or a reminder on your forehead. This feast will remind you to speak the Lord’s teachings, because the Lord used his great power to bring you out of Egypt. ¹⁰ So celebrate this feast every year at the right time.

¹¹ “And when the Lord takes you into the land of the Canaanites, the land he promised to give you and your ancestors, ¹² you must give him every firstborn male. Also every firstborn male animal must be given to the Lord. ¹³ Buy back every firstborn donkey by offering a lamb. But if you don’t want to buy the donkey back, then break its neck. You must buy back from the Lord every firstborn of your sons.

¹⁴ “From now on when your son asks you, ‘What does this mean?’ you will answer, ‘With his great power, the Lord brought us out from Egypt, the land where we were slaves. ¹⁵ The king of Egypt was stubborn and refused to let us leave. But the Lord killed every firstborn male in Egypt, both human and animal. That is why I sacrifice every firstborn male animal to the Lord, and that is why I buy back each of my firstborn sons from the Lord.’ ¹⁶ This feast is like a mark on your hand and a reminder on your forehead to help you remember that the Lord brought us out of Egypt with his great power.”

The Way Out of Egypt

¹⁷ When the king sent the people out of Egypt, God did not lead them on the road through the Philistine country, though that was the shortest way. God said, “If they have to fight, they might change their minds and go back to Egypt.” ¹⁸ So God led them through the desert toward the Red Sea. The Israelites were dressed for fighting when they left the land of Egypt.

¹⁹ Moses carried the bones of Joseph with him, because before Joseph died, he had made the Israelites promise to do this. He had said, “When God saves you, remember to carry my bones with you out of Egypt.”

²⁰ The Israelites left Succoth and camped at Etham, on the edge of the desert. ²¹ The Lord showed them the way; during the day he went ahead of them in a pillar of cloud, and during the night he was in a pillar of fire to give them light. In this way they could travel during the day or night. ²² The pillar of cloud was always with them during the day, and the pillar of fire was always with them at night.

14 Then the Lord said to Moses, ² “Tell the Israelites to turn back to Pi Hahiroth and to camp between Migdol and the Red Sea. Camp across from Baal Zephon, on the shore of the sea. ³ The king will think, ‘The Israelites are lost, trapped by the desert.’ ⁴ I will make the king stubborn again so he will chase after them, but I will defeat the king and his army. This will bring honor to me, and the Egyptians will know that I am the Lord.” The Israelites did just as they were told.

The King Chases the Israelites

⁵ When the king of Egypt was told that the Israelites had left, he and his officers changed their minds about them. They said, “What have we done? We have let the Israelites leave. We have lost our slaves!” ⁶ So the king prepared his war chariot and took his army with him. ⁷ He took six hundred of his best chariots, together with all the other chariots of Egypt, each with an officer in it. ⁸ The Lord made the king of Egypt stubborn, so he chased the Israelites, who were leaving victoriously. ⁹ The Egyptians—with all the king’s horses, chariot drivers, and army—chased the Israelites. They caught up with them while they were camped by the Red Sea, near Pi Hahiroth and Baal Zephon.

¹⁰ When the Israelites saw the king and his army coming after them, they were very frightened and cried to the Lord for help. ¹¹ They said to Moses, “What have you done to us? Why did you bring us out of Egypt to die in the desert? There were plenty of graves for us in Egypt. ¹² We told you in Egypt, ‘Let us alone; we will stay and serve the Egyptians.’ Now we will die in the desert.”

¹³ But Moses answered, “Don’t be afraid! Stand still and you will see the Lord save you today. You will never see these Egyptians again after today. ¹⁴ You only need to remain calm; the Lord will fight for you.”

¹⁵ Then the Lord said to Moses, “Why are you crying out to me? Command the Israelites to start moving. ¹⁶ Raise your walking stick and hold it over the sea so that the sea will split and the people can cross it on dry land. ¹⁷ I will make the Egyptians stubborn so they will chase the Israelites, but I will be honored when I defeat the king and all of his chariot drivers and chariots. ¹⁸ When I defeat the king, his chariot drivers, and chariots, the Egyptians will know that I am the Lord.”

¹⁹ Now the angel of God that usually traveled in front of Israel’s army moved behind them. Also, the pillar of cloud moved from in front of the people and stood behind them. ²⁰ So the cloud came between the Egyptians and the Israelites. This made it dark for the Egyptians but gave light to the Israelites. So the cloud kept the two armies apart all night.

²¹ Then Moses held his hand over the sea. All that night the Lord drove back the sea with a strong east wind, making the sea become dry ground. The water was split, ²² and the Israelites went through the sea on dry land, with a wall of water on their right and on their left.

²³ Then all the king’s horses, chariots, and chariot drivers followed them into the sea. ²⁴ When morning came, the Lord looked down from the pillar of cloud and fire at the Egyptian army and made them panic. ²⁵ He kept the wheels of the chariots from turning, making it hard to drive the chariots. The Egyptians shouted, “Let’s get away from the Israelites! The Lord is fighting for them and against Egypt.”

²⁶ Then the Lord told Moses, “Hold your hand over the sea so that the water will come back over the Egyptians, their chariots, and chariot drivers.” ²⁷ So Moses raised his hand over the sea, and at dawn the sea returned to its place. The Egyptians tried to run from it, but the Lord swept them away into the sea. ²⁸ The water returned, covering the chariots, chariot drivers, and all the king’s army that had followed the Israelites into the sea. Not one of them survived.

²⁹ But the Israelites crossed the sea on dry land, with a wall of water on their right and on their left. ³⁰ So that day the Lord saved the Israelites from the Egyptians, and the Israelites saw the Egyptians lying dead on the seashore. ³¹ When the Israelites saw the great power the Lord had used against the Egyptians, they feared the Lord, and they trusted him and his servant Moses.

The Song of Moses

15 Then Moses and the Israelites sang this song to the Lord: