First ReadingExodus 2:1-15a
From the Book of Exodus
1A man of the house of Levi wentand took a daughter of Levi as his wife.2The woman conceived and bore a son.When she saw that he was a fine child,she hid him three months.3When she could no longer hide him,she took a papyrus basket for him,and coated it with tar and with pitch.She put the child in it,and laid it in the reeds by the river’s bank.4His sister stood far off,to see what would be done to him.5Pharaoh’s daughter came down to bathe at the river.Her maidens walked along by the riverside.She saw the basket among the reeds,and sent her servant to get it.6She opened it, and saw the child,and behold, the baby cried.She had compassion on him,and said, “This is one of the Hebrews’ children.”
7Then his sister said to Pharaoh’s daughter,“Should I goand call a nurse for you from the Hebrew women,that she may nurse the child for you?”
8Pharaoh’s daughter said to her, “Go.”
The young woman went and called the child’s mother.9Pharaoh’s daughter said to her,“Take this child away,and nurse him for me,and I will give you your wages.”
The woman took the child, and nursed him.10The child grew, and she brought him to Pharaoh’s daughter,and he became her son.She named him Moses,and said, “Because I drew him out of the water.”
11In those days, when Moses had grown up,he went out to his brothers and saw their burdens.He saw an Egyptian striking a Hebrew, one of his brothers.12He looked this way and that way,and when he saw that there was no one,he killed the Egyptian,and hid him in the sand.
13He went out the second day,and behold, two men of the Hebrews were fighting with each other.He said to him who did the wrong,“Why do you strike your fellow?”
14He said, “Who made you a prince and a judge over us?Do you plan to kill me, as you killed the Egyptian?”
Moses was afraid, and said, “Surely this thing is known.”15Now when Pharaoh heard this thing,he sought to kill Moses.But Moses fled from the face of Pharaoh,and lived in the land of Midian,and he sat down by a well.