Moses and the story of Exodus

[Music] Now Joseph and all his brothers,  and all their generation died. Then a new king to whom Joseph meant  nothing came to power in Egypt. Look, he said to his people, the Israelites  have become far too numerous for us come we must deal surely with them or  they will become even more numerous and if War breaks out we'll join our enemies  fight against us and leave the country.

11 So they put slave masters over them  to oppress them with forced labor, and they built Pithom and Rameses  as store cities for Pharaoh. 12 But the more they were oppressed,  the more they multiplied and spread; so the Egyptians came to dread the  Israelites 13 and worked them ruthlessly. 22 Then Pharaoh gave this order to all his people: “Every Hebrew boy that is born you must throw  into the Nile, but let every girl live.

” Now a man of the tribe of Levi married a  Levite woman, 2 and she became pregnant and gave birth to a son. When she saw that he  was a fine child, she hid him for three months. 3 But when she could hide him no longer, she got  a papyrus basket for him and coated it with tar and pitch.

Then she placed the child in it and put  it among the reeds along the bank of the Nile. 4 His sister stood at a distance  to see what would happen to him. 5 Then Pharaoh’s daughter went down to the Nile  to bathe, and her attendants were walking along the riverbank.

She saw the basket among  the reeds and sent her female slave to get it. 6 She opened it and saw the baby.  He was crying, and she felt sorry for him.

“This is one of the Hebrew babies,” she said. [Music] 7 Then his sister asked Pharaoh’s  daughter, “Shall I go and get one of the Hebrew women to nurse the baby for you? ” 8 “Yes, go,” she answered.

So the girl went and got the baby’s mother. 9 Pharaoh’s daughter said to her,  “Take this baby and nurse him for me, and I will pay you. ” So the woman took the baby  and nursed him.

10 When the child grew older, she took him to Pharaoh’s  daughter and he became her son. She named him Moses, saying,  “I drew him out of the water. ” 11 One day, after Moses had grown up, he went out  to where his own people were and watched them at their hard labor.

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. 15 When Pharaoh heard of this, he tried to kill  Moses, but Moses fled from Pharaoh and went to live in Midian, where he sat down by a well.

23  During that long period, the king of Egypt died. The Israelites groaned in  their slavery and cried out, and their cry for help because of their slavery went up to God. 24 God heard their groaning and he  remembered his covenant with Abraham, with Isaac and with Jacob.

25 So God looked on the  Israelites and was concerned about them. Now Moses was tending the flock of Jethro his  father-in-law, the priest of Midian, and he led the flock to the far side of the wilderness  and came to Horeb, the mountain of God. 2 There the angel of the Lord appeared  to him in flames of fire from within a bush.

Moses saw that though the bush  was on fire it did not burn up. [Music] 4 When the Lord saw that he had gone over to  look, God called to him from within the bush, “Moses! Moses!

” And Moses said, “Here I am. ” do not come any closer God said take off your sandals for the place  where you are standing is Holy Ground [Music] then he said I am the god of your father the god  of Abraham the god of Isaac and the god of Jacob 5 “Do not come any closer,” God said. “Take off  your sandals, for the place where you are standing is holy ground.

” 6 Then he said, “I am the God  of your father,[a] the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob. ” At this, Moses hid  his face, because he was afraid to look at God. 7 The Lord said, “I have indeed seen the misery  of my people in Egypt.

I have heard them crying out because of their slave drivers, and I am  concerned about their suffering. [Music] 10 So now, go. I am sending you to Pharaoh to bring  my people the Israelites out of Egypt.

” [Music] 11 But Moses said to God, “Who am I that I should  go to Pharaoh and bring the Israelites out of Egypt? ” 13 Moses said to God, “Suppose I go to  the Israelites and say to them, ‘The God of your fathers has sent me to you,’ and they ask me,  ‘What is his name? ’ Then what shall I tell them?

” 14 God said to Moses, “I am who I am. This is what you are to say to the  Israelites: ‘I am has sent me to you. ’” Moses answered, “What if they do not believe me or listen to  me and say, ‘The Lord did not appear to you’?

” 2 Then the Lord said to him,  “What is that in your hand? ” “A staff,” he replied. 3 The Lord said, “Throw it on the ground.

” Moses threw it on the ground  and it became a snake, and he ran from it. 4 Then the Lord said to him,  “Reach out your hand and take it by the tail. ” So Moses reached out and took hold of the snake and  it turned back into a staff in his hand.

5 “This,” said the Lord, “is so that they may believe  that the Lord, the God of their fathers—the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and  the God of Jacob—has appeared to you. ” 10 Moses said to the Lord, “Pardon your  servant, Lord. I have never been eloquent, neither in the past nor since you have spoken to  your servant.

I am slow of speech and tongue. ” Moses said, “Pardon your servant,  Lord. Please send someone else.

” 14 Then the Lord’s anger burned against Moses and he  said, “What about your brother, Aaron the Levite? I know he can speak well. He is already on his  way to meet you, and he will be glad to see you.

and it will be as if he were your mouth  and as if you were God to him. [Music] 21 The Lord said to Moses, “When you return to Egypt, see that you perform before Pharaoh all the  wonders I have given you the power to do. But I will harden his heart so that  he will not let the people go.

[Music] 5 Afterward Moses and Aaron  went to Pharaoh and said, “This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: ‘Let my people go, so that they may hold  a festival to me in the wilderness. ’” 2 Pharaoh said, “Who is the  Lord, that I should obey him and let Israel go? I do not know the  Lord and I will not let Israel go.

” 3 Then they said, “The God of  the Hebrews has met with us. Now let us take a three-day journey into the  wilderness to offer sacrifices to the Lord our God, or he may strike us with plagues or  with the sword. ” 4 But the king of Egypt said, “Moses and Aaron, why are you taking the people  away from their labor?

Get back to your work! ” [Music] 6 That same day Pharaoh gave this order to the slave  drivers and overseers in charge of the people: 9 Make the work harder for the people so that  they keep working and pay no attention to lies. ” [Music] 22 Moses returned to the Lord and  said, “Why, Lord, why have you brought trouble on this people?

Is this why you sent me? 23 Ever  since I went to Pharaoh to speak in your name, he has brought trouble on this people, and  you have not rescued your people at all. ” 6 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Now you will see  what I will do to Pharaoh: Because of my mighty hand he will let them go; because of my mighty  hand he will drive them out of his country.

” 5 Moreover, I have heard the groaning of the  Israelites, whom the Egyptians are enslaving, and I have remembered my covenant. [Music]  3 But I will harden Pharaoh’s heart, and though I multiply my signs and wonders in  Egypt, 4 he will not listen to you. [Music] Mighty acts of judgment I  will bring out my divisions, my people the Israelites.

5 And  the Egyptians will know that I am the Lord when I stretch out my hand against  Egypt and bring the Israelites out of it. ” 11 Now the Lord had said to Moses, “I will  bring one more plague on Pharaoh and on Egypt. After that, he will let you go  from here, and when he does, he will drive you out completely.

3 Tell  the whole community of Israel that on the tenth day of this month each man is to take a  lamb[a] for his family, one for each household. 7 Then they are to 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 That same night they are to eat  the meat roasted over the fire, along with bitter herbs, and  bread made without yeast.

11 This is how you are to eat it: with your cloak  tucked into your belt, your sandals on your feet and your staff in your hand. Eat it in haste;  it is the Lord’s Passover. [Music] 12 “On that same night I will pass through Egypt and strike  down every firstborn of both people and animals, and I will bring judgment on all the  gods of Egypt.

I am the Lord. 13 The blood will be a sign for you on the houses  where you are, and when I see the blood, I will pass over you. No destructive  plague will touch you when I strike Egypt.

29 At midnight the Lord struck  down all the firstborn in Egypt, from the firstborn of Pharaoh, who sat  on the throne, to the firstborn of the prisoner, who was in the dungeon, and the  firstborn of all the livestock as well. 30 Pharaoh and all his officials and all  the Egyptians got up during the night, and there was loud wailing in Egypt, for  there was not a house without someone dead. 31 During the night Pharaoh summoned  Moses and Aaron and said, “Up!

Leave my people, you and the Israelites! Go, worship the Lord as you have requested. 32 Take  your flocks and herds, as you have said, and go.

And also bless me. ” 40 Now the length of time the Israelite people lived  in Egypt[b] was 430 years. 41 At the end of the 430 years, to the very day, all the Lord’s  divisions left Egypt.

3 Then Moses said to the people, “Commemorate this day, the day you  came out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery, because the Lord brought you out of it with  a mighty hand. Eat nothing containing yeast. 17 When Pharaoh let the people go, God  did not lead them on the road through the Philistine country, though that was  shorter.

For God said, “If they face war, they might change their minds and return  to Egypt. ” 18 So God led the people around by the desert road toward the Red Sea. [a] The  Israelites went up out of Egypt ready for battle.

21 By day the Lord went ahead of them in  a pillar of cloud to guide them on their way and by night in a pillar of fire to give them  light, so that they could travel by day or night. 14 Then the Lord said to Moses, 2 “Tell  the Israelites to turn back and encamp near Pi Hahiroth, between Migdol and the sea. They are to encamp by the sea, directly  opposite Baal Zephon.

3 Pharaoh will think, ‘The Israelites are wandering around the  land in confusion, hemmed in by the desert. ’ 5 When the king of Egypt was told that the  people had fled, Pharaoh and his officials changed their minds about them and said, “What  have we done? We have let the Israelites go and have lost their services!

” 6 So he had his  chariot made ready and took his army with him. 9 The Egyptians—all Pharaoh’s horses and  chariots, horsemen[a] and troops—pursued the Israelites and overtook them as they camped by  the sea near Pi Hahiroth, opposite Baal Zephon. 10 As Pharaoh approached, the Israelites looked  up, and there were the Egyptians, marching after them.

They were terrified and cried out to the  Lord. 11 They said to Moses, “Was it because there were no graves in Egypt that you brought  us to the desert to die? What have you done to us by bringing us out of Egypt?

12 Didn’t we say  to you in Egypt, ‘Leave us alone; let us serve the Egyptians’? It would have been better for us to  serve the Egyptians than to die in the desert! ” 13 Moses answered the people, “Do not be afraid.

Stand firm and you will see the deliverance the  Lord will bring you today. The Egyptians you see today you will never see again. 14 The Lord  will fight for you; you need only to be still.

” [Music] 15 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Why are you crying out  to me? Tell the Israelites to move on. 16 Raise your staff and stretch out your hand over the  sea to divide the water so that the Israelites can go through the sea on dry ground.

21 Then  Moses stretched out his hand over the sea, and all that night the Lord drove the sea back  with a strong east wind and turned it into dry land. The waters were divided, 22 and the  Israelites went through the sea on dry ground, with a wall of water on their right and on their  left. [Music] 23 The Egyptians pursued them, and all Pharaoh’s horses and chariots  and horsemen followed them into the sea.

[Applause] 26 Then the Lord said to Moses,  “Stretch out your hand over the sea so that the waters may flow back over the  Egyptians and their chariots and horsemen. ” 28 The water flowed back and covered the  chariots and horsemen—the entire army of Pharaoh that had followed the Israelites  into the sea. Not one of them survived.

30 That day the Lord saved Israel  from the hands of the Egyptians, and Israel saw the Egyptians  lying dead on the shore. 31 And when the Israelites saw the mighty hand  of the Lord displayed against the Egyptians, the people feared the Lord and put their  trust in him and in Moses his servant. 16 The whole Israelite community set out from Elim  and came to the Desert of Sin, which is between Elim and Sinai, on the fifteenth day of the second  month after they had come out of Egypt.

2 In the desert the whole community grumbled against Moses  and Aaron. 3 The Israelites said to them, “If only we had died by the Lord’s hand in Egypt! There  we sat around pots of meat and ate all the food we wanted, but you have brought us out into this  desert to starve this entire assembly to death.

” 6 So Moses and Aaron said to all the Israelites,  “In the evening you will know that it was the Lord who brought you out of Egypt, 7 and in  the morning you will see the glory of the Lord, because he has heard your grumbling against  him. Who are we, that you should grumble against us? ” 8 Moses also said, “You will know that it  was the Lord when he gives you meat to eat in the evening and all the bread you want in the morning,  because he has heard your grumbling against him.

Who are we? You are not grumbling  against us, but against the Lord. ” [Music] 13 That evening quail came and  covered the camp, [Music] and in the morning there was a layer of dew  around the camp.

14 When the dew was gone, thin flakes like frost on the ground appeared on  the desert floor. 15 When the Israelites saw it, they said to each other, “What is it? ”  For they did not know what it was.

[Music] Moses said to them “It is the bread the Lord  has given you to eat. [Music] Everyone is to gather as much as they need. Take  an omer for each person you have in your tent.

’ 17 The Israelites did as they were told;  some gathered much, some little. [Music] the whole Israelite Community set out from the desert of sin traveling from place  to place as the Lord commanded 17 The whole Israelite community  set out from the Desert of Sin, traveling from place to  place as the Lord commanded. They camped at Rephidim, but there was  no water for the people to drink.

2 So they quarreled with Moses and  said, “Give us water to drink. ” Moses replied, “Why do you quarrel with  me? Why do you put the Lord to the test?

” 3 But the people were thirsty for water there,  and they grumbled against Moses. They said, “Why did you bring us up out of  Egypt to make us and our children and livestock die of thirst? ” [Music]  4 Then Moses cried out to the Lord, “What am I to do with these people? 

They are almost ready to stone me. ” 5 The Lord answered Moses, “Go out in front of  the people. Take with you some of the elders of Israel and take in your hand the staff with  which you struck the Nile, and go.

[Music] [Music] 6 I will stand there before  you by the rock at Horeb. Strike the rock, and water will come out of it  for the people to drink. ” So Moses did this in the sight of the elders of Israel.

[Music] 16 On the morning of the third day  there was thunder and lightning, with a thick cloud over the mountain, and a very  loud trumpet blast. Everyone in the camp trembled. 20 The Lord descended to the top of  Mount Sinai and called Moses to the top of the mountain.

So Moses went  up 20 And God spoke all these words: 2 “I am the Lord your God, who brought you  out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery. you shall have no other gods before me [Music] 3 “You shall have no other gods before me. 4  “You shall not make for yourself an image in the form of anything in heaven above or  on the earth beneath or in the waters below.

7 “You shall not misuse the  name of the Lord your God, for the Lord will not hold anyone  guiltless who misuses his name. 8 “Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it  holy. 12 “Honor your father and your mother, so that you may live long in the  land the Lord your God is giving you.

13 “You shall not murder. 14 “You shall not commit adultery. 15 “You shall not steal.

16 “You shall not give false  testimony against your neighbor. 17 “You shall not covet your neighbor’s house.  You shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, or his male or female servant, his ox or donkey,  or anything that belongs to your neighbor.

” 22 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Tell the  Israelites this: ‘You have seen for yourselves that I have spoken to you from heaven: 23  Do not make any gods to be alongside me; do not make for yourselves gods  of silver or gods of gold. [Music] don't finish speaking to Moses on  Mount Sinai he gave him the two top of the Covenant law the tablets of  stone inscribed by the Finger of God [Music] 2 When the people saw that Moses was so  long in coming down from the mountain, they gathered around Aaron and said, “Come,  make us gods[a] who will go before us. As for this fellow Moses who brought us up out of  Egypt, we don’t know what has happened to him.

” 7 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Go down, because  your people, whom you brought up out of Egypt, have become corrupt. 8 They have been quick to  turn away from what I commanded them and have made themselves an idol cast in the shape  of a calf. They have bowed down to it and sacrificed to it and have said, ‘These are your  gods, Israel, who brought you up out of Egypt.

’ 17 When Joshua heard the noise of the  people shouting, he said to Moses, “There is the sound of war in  the camp. ” 18 Moses replied: “It is not the sound of victory, it is not the sound of defeat; it is the sound of singing that I hear. ” 19 When Moses approached the camp and saw the  calf and the dancing, his anger burned and he threw the tablets out of his hands, breaking  them to pieces at the foot of the mountain.

[Music] 21 He said to Aaron, “What did these people do to  you, that you led them into such great sin? ” [Music] 31 So Moses went  back to the Lord and said, “Oh, what a great sin these people have  committed! They have made themselves gods of gold.

32 But now, please forgive their sin—but if not,  then blot me out of the book you have written. ” 33 The Lord replied to Moses, “Whoever has sinned  against me I will blot out of my book. [Music] 12 Moses said to the Lord, “You have been telling me, ‘Lead these people,’ but you have not  let me know whom you will send with me.

You have said, ‘I know you by name and you  have found favor with me. ’ 13 If you are pleased with me, teach me your ways so I may  know you and continue to find favor with you. Remember that this nation is your people.

” [Music] 34 The Lord said to Moses, “Chisel  out two stone tablets like the first ones, and I will write on them the words that were  on the first tablets, which you broke. 10 Then the Lord said: “I am making a covenant  with you. Before all your people I will do wonders never before done in any nation in  all the world.

The people you live among will see how awesome is the work that  I, the Lord, will do for you. [Music] 35 Moses assembled the whole Israelite community and  said to them, “These are the things the Lord has commanded you to do: 10 “All who are skilled  among you are to come and make everything the Lord has commanded: 11 the tabernacle with  its tent and its covering, clasps, frames, crossbars, posts and bases; 12 the ark with  its poles and the atonement cover and the curtain that shields it; 13 the table with its  poles and all its articles and the bread of the Presence; 14 the lampstand that is for light with  its accessories, lamps and oil for the light; 15 the altar of incense with its poles, the  anointing oil and the fragrant incense; the curtain for the doorway at  the entrance to the tabernacle; 16 the altar of burnt offering with its bronze  grating, its poles and all its utensils; the bronze basin with its stand; 42 The Israelites had done all the work just  as the Lord had commanded Moses. 43 Moses inspected the work and saw that they had  done it just as the Lord had commanded.

[Music] 34 Then the cloud covered the tent of meeting,  and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle. Numbers 10:33 So they set out from the mountain of  the Lord and traveled for three days. The ark of the covenant of the Lord went before them during  those three days to find them a place to rest.

13 The Lord said to Moses, 2 “Send some men to  explore the land of Canaan, which I am giving to the Israelites. From each ancestral tribe  send one of its leaders. ” 17 When Moses sent them to explore Canaan, he said, “Go up through  the Negev and on into the hill country.

18 See what the land is like and whether the people  who live there are strong or weak, few or many. Are there trees in it or not? Do your best  to bring back some of the fruit of the land.

” [Music] 25 At the end of forty days they returned  from exploring the land. 26 They came back to Moses and Aaron and the whole Israelite  community at Kadesh in the Desert of Paran. There they reported to them and to the  whole assembly and showed them the fruit of the land.

27 They gave Moses this account:  “We went into the land to which you sent us, and it does flow with milk  and honey! Here is its fruit. 30 Then Caleb silenced the  people before Moses and said, “We should go up and take possession of  the land, for we can certainly do it.

” 31 But the men who had gone up with him  said, “We can’t attack those people; they are stronger than we are. ” 32 And they spread among the Israelites a bad report about  the land they had explored. They said, “The land we explored devours those living in it. 

All the people we saw there are of great size. 14 That night all the members of the community  raised their voices and wept aloud. 2 All the Israelites grumbled against Moses and Aaron, and  the whole assembly said to them, “If only we had died in Egypt!

Or in this wilderness! 3 Why is  the Lord bringing us to this land only to let us fall by the sword? Our wives and children will be  taken as plunder.

Wouldn’t it be better for us to go back to Egypt? ” 4 And they said to each other,  “We should choose a leader and go back to Egypt. ” 5 Then Moses and Aaron fell facedown in  front of the whole Israelite assembly gathered there.

but they all assembly  talked about stoning them then the glory of the Lord appeared at the tent  of meeting to all the Israelites 11 The Lord said to Moses, “How long will these  people treat me with contempt? How long will they refuse to believe in me, in spite of all the signs  I have performed among them? 12 I will strike them down with a plague and destroy them, but I  will make you into a nation greater and stronger than they.

” 13 Moses said to the Lord, “Then the  Egyptians will hear about it! By your power you brought these people up from among them. 15 If you  put all these people to death, leaving none alive, the nations who have heard this report about  you will say, 16 ‘The Lord was not able to bring these people into the land he promised them on  oath, so he slaughtered them in the wilderness.

’ 19 In accordance with your great  love, forgive the sin of these people, just as you have pardoned them from  the time they left Egypt until now. ” 20 The Lord replied, “I have  forgiven them, as you asked. 21 Nevertheless, as surely as I live and as surely  as the glory of the Lord fills the whole earth, 22 not one of those who saw my glory and the signs I  performed in Egypt and in the wilderness but who disobeyed me and tested me ten times— 23 not  one of them will ever see the land I promised on oath to their ancestors.

No one who has  treated me with contempt will ever see it. 13 The Lord’s anger burned against Israel and he  made them wander in the wilderness forty years, until the whole generation of those who  had done evil in his sight was gone. 3 In the fortieth year, on the  first day of the eleventh month, Moses proclaimed to the Israelites all that  the Lord had commanded him concerning them.

4 Hear, O Israel: The Lord  our God, the Lord is one. [a] 5 Love the Lord your God with all your heart and  with all your soul and with all your strength.