Moses Is Born
1 A man from the Levi tribe married a woman from the same tribe, 2 and she later had a baby boy. He was a beautiful child, and she kept him inside for three months. 3 But when she could no longer keep him hidden, she made a basket out of reeds and covered it with tar. She put him in the basket and placed it in the tall grass along the edge of the Nile River. 4 The baby's older sister stood off at a distance to see what would happen to him.
5 About that time one of the king's daughters came down to take a bath in the river, while her servant women walked along the river bank. She saw the basket in the tall grass and sent one of them to pull it out of the water. 6 When the king's daughter opened the basket, she saw the baby crying and felt sorry for him. She said, “This must be one of the Hebrew babies.”
7 At once the baby's older sister came up and asked, “Do you want me to get a Hebrew woman to take care of the baby for you?”
8 “Yes,” the king's daughter answered.
So the girl brought the baby's mother, 9 and the king's daughter told her, “Take care of this child, and I will pay you.”
The baby's mother carried him home and took care of him. 10 And when he was old enough, she took him to the king's daughter, who adopted him. She named him Moses because she said, “I pulled him out of the water.”
Moses Escapes from Egypt
11 After Moses had grown up, he went out to where his own people were hard at work, and he saw an Egyptian beating one of them. 12 Moses looked around to see if anyone was watching, then he killed the Egyptian and hid his body in the sand.
13 When Moses went out the next day, he saw two Hebrews fighting. So he went to the man who had started the fight and asked, “Why are you beating up one of your own people?”
14 The man answered, “Who put you in charge of us and made you our judge? Are you planning to kill me, just like you killed that Egyptian?”
This frightened Moses because he was sure that people must have found out what had happened. 15 When the king heard what Moses had done, he wanted to kill him. But Moses escaped and went to the land of Midian.
One day, when Moses was sitting by a well, 16 the seven daughters of Jethro, the priest of Midian, came up to water their father's sheep and goats. 17 Some shepherds tried to chase them away, but Moses came to their rescue and watered their animals. 18 When Jethro's daughters returned home, their father asked, “Why have you come back so early today?”
19 They answered, “An Egyptian rescued us from the shepherds, and he even watered our sheep and goats.”
20 “Where is he?” Jethro asked. “Why did you leave him out there? Invite him to eat with us.”
21 Moses agreed to stay on with Jethro, who later let his daughter Zipporah marry Moses. 22 And when she had a son, Moses said, “I will name him Gershom, since I am a foreigner in this country.”
23 After the death of the king of Egypt, the Israelites still complained because they were forced to be slaves. They cried out for help, 24 and God heard their loud cries. He did not forget the promise he had made to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, 25 and because he knew what was happening to his people, he felt sorry for them.
ولادة موسى
1 وتزَوَّجَ رَجُلٌ مِنْ نسلِ لاوي بِابنَةِ أحدِ اللاَّويِّينَ، 2 فحَبِلَت وولَدتِ ابنا. ولمَّا رأتْهُ حَسَنَ المنظَرِ أخفَتْهُ ثلاثةَ أشهرٍ. 3 ولمَّا عَجزَت عَنْ أنْ تُخفيَهُ بَعدُ، أخَذَت سَلَّةً مِنْ قصَبِ الماءِ وطَلَتْها بِالقِطْرانِ والزِّفتِ وأضجَعَتِ الولَدَ فيها ووضَعَتْها بَيْنَ الخَيزَرانِ، على حافَةِ النَّهرِ. 4 ووَقَفَت أُختُهُ مِنْ بعيدٍ لِترى ما يحدُثُ لهُ. 5 فنَزَلَتِ ابْنَةُ فِرعَونَ إلى النَّهرِ لِتَغتَسِلَ، وكانَت وصيفاتُها يتَمَشَّينَ على الشَّاطئ، فرأتِ السَلَّةَ بَينَ الخَيزَرانِ، فأرسَلَت جاريَتَها لِتأخُذَها. 6 ولمَّا فتَحَتْها رَأت فيها صَبـيًّا يَبكي، فأشفَقَت علَيهِ وقالَت: «هذا مِنْ أولادِ العِبرانيِّينَ». 7 فقالَت أُختُهُ لابنَةِ فِرعَونَ: «هل أذهَبُ وأدعو لكِ امرأةً مِنَ العِبرانيَّاتِ تُرضِعُ لَكِ الولَدَ؟» 8 فأجابَتْها ابْنَةُ فِرعَونَ: «إذهبـي!» فذَهَبَتِ الفتاةُ ودَعَت أُمَّ الطِّفلِ. 9 فقالَت لها ابنَةُ فِرعَونَ: «خُذي هذا الطِّفلَ فأرضِعيهِ، وأنا أُعطيكِ أُجرَتَكِ». فأخَذَتِ المرأةُ الطِّفلَ وأرضَعَتْهُ. 10 ولمَّا كبُرَ جاءَت بِه إلى ابْنَةِ فِرعَونَ فتَبنَّتْهُ وسَمَّتْهُ موسى، قالت: «لأنِّي انْتَشَلْتُهُ مِنَ الماءِ».
موسى يهرب إلى مديان
11 وكانَ موسى شابًّا حينَ خرَجَ يوما إلى بَني قومِهِ لِـيَنظُرَ إلى حالتِهِم، فرَأى رَجُلا مِصْريًّا يضرِبُ رَجُلا عِبرانيًّا مِنْ بَني قومِهِ. 12 فالتَفَتَ يَمينا وشمالا فما رَأى أحدا، فقَتَلَ المِصْريَّ وطَمَرهُ في الرَّملِ. 13 وخرَجَ في اليومِ الثَّاني، فرأى رَجُلَينِ عِبرانيِّينِ يتَشاجَرانِ، فقالَ لِلمُعتَدي: «لماذا تضرِبُ ابنَ قومِكَ؟» 14 فأجابَهُ: «مَنْ أقامَكَ رئيسا وحاكِما علَينا؟ أتُريدُ أنْ تقتُلَني كما قتَلتَ المِصْريَّ؟» فخافَ موسى وقالَ في نفْسِهِ: «ذاعَ الخبَرُ». 15 وسَمِعَ فِرعَونُ بِهذا الخبَرِ، فحاولَ أنْ يقتُلَ موسى. فهَربَ موسى مِنْ وجهِ فِرعَونَ إلى أرضِ مِديانَ، وقعَدَ عِندَ البِئرِ.
16 وكانَ لِـيَثرُونَ كاهنِ مِديانَ سَبْعُ بَناتٍ، فجِئْنَ إلى البِئرِ وأخَذْنَ مِنْ مائِها ومَلأنَ الأحواضَ ليَسقينَ غنَمَ أبـيهِنَّ. 17 فجاءَ الرُّعاةُ، وطَرَدوهُنَّ، فقامَ موسى إلى نجدتِهِنَّ وسَقى غنَمَهُنَّ. 18 فلمَّا رَجَعْنَ إلى رَعوئيلَ أبـيهِنَّ قالَ: «ما بالُكُنَّ أسرَعْتُنَّ في الرُّجوعِ اليومَ؟» 19 فقُلْنَ: «أنقَذَنا رَجُلٌ مِصْريٌّ مِنْ أيدي الرُّعاةِ، وفَوقَ ذلِكَ مَلأَ لنا الأحواضَ وسَقى الغنَمَ». 20 فقالَ لبَناتِهِ: «وأينَ هوَ؟ ولماذا تَرَكْتُنَّ الرَّجُلَ؟ ادعونَهُ ليَأكُلَ طَعَاما».
21 فقَبِلَ موسى أنْ يُقيمَ عِندَ الرَّجُلِ، فزَوَّجَهُ صَفُّورَةَ ابْنَتَهُ. 22 فولدَتِ ابنا، فسَمَّاهُ جِرشُومَ وقالَ: «لأنِّي نزيلٌ في أرضٍ غريـبَةٍ».
23 وبَعدَ ذلِكَ بأيّامٍ كثيرَةٍ ماتَ مَلِكُ مِصْرَ. وكانَ بَنو إِسرائيلَ يرزَحونَ بَعدُ تحتَ نيرِ عُبوديَّتِهِم، فصَرَخوا وصَعِدَ صُراخُهُم إلى اللهِ مِنْ عُبوديَّتِهِم. 24 فسَمِعَ اللهُ أنينَهُم وذكَرَ عَهدَهُ معَ إبراهيمَ وإسحَقَ ويعقوبَ. 25 ونظرَ اللهُ إلى بَني إِسرائيلَ واعترَفَ بِهِم.
