Study Desk

During this time a man from the tribe of Levi married a woman of his own tribe,

Then his sister asked her, "Shall I go and call a Hebrew woman to nurse the baby for you?"

When Moses had grown up, he went out to visit his people, the Hebrews, and he saw how they were forced to do hard labor. He even saw an Egyptian kill a Hebrew, one of Moses' own people.

Moses looked all around, and when he saw that no one was watching, he killed the Egyptian and hid his body in the sand.

"Where is he?" he asked his daughters. "Why did you leave the man out there? Go and invite him to eat with us."

So Moses decided to live there, and Jethro gave him his daughter Zipporah in marriage,

who heard their groaning and remembered his covenant with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.

One day while Moses was taking care of the sheep and goats of his father-in-law Jethro, the priest of Midian, he led the flock across the desert and came to Sinai, the holy mountain.

I am the God of your ancestors, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob." So Moses covered his face, because he was afraid to look at God.

Now I am sending you to the king of Egypt so that you can lead my people out of his country."

But Moses replied, "When I go to the Israelites and say to them, ‘The God of your ancestors sent me to you,' they will ask me, ‘What is his name?' So what can I tell them?"

The Lord spoke to Moses again, "Put your hand inside your robe." Moses obeyed; and when he took his hand out, it was diseased, covered with white spots, like snow.

Then the Lord said, "Put your hand inside your robe again." He did so, and when he took it out this time, it was healthy, just like the rest of his body.

The Lord said to him, "Who gives man his mouth? Who makes him deaf or dumb? Who gives him sight or makes him blind? It is I, the Lord .

Then Moses went back to Jethro, his father-in-law, and said to him, "Please let me go back to my relatives in Egypt to see if they are still alive." Jethro agreed and told him good-bye.

So Moses took his wife and his sons, put them on a donkey, and set out with them for Egypt, carrying the walking stick that God had told him to take.

Then Zipporah, his wife, took a sharp stone, cut off the foreskin of her son, and touched Moses' feet with it. Because of the rite of circumcision she said to Moses, "You are a husband of blood to me." And so the Lord spared Moses' life.

They said to Moses and Aaron, "The Lord has seen what you have done and will punish you for making the king and his officers hate us. You have given them an excuse to kill us."

Then the Lord said to Moses, "Now you are going to see what I will do to the king. I will force him to let my people go. In fact, I will force him to drive them out of his land."

"Go and tell the king of Egypt that he must let the Israelites leave his land."