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His sister stood at a distance to see what would happen to him.

At this point, his sister said to Pharaoh's daughter, "Would you like me to go and find you one of the Hebrew women to nurse the baby for you?"

(iii) One day, when Moshe was a grown man, he went out to visit his kinsmen; and he watched them struggling at forced labor. He saw an Egyptian strike a Hebrew, one of his kinsmen.

He looked this way and that; and when he saw that no one was around, he killed the Egyptian and hid his body in the sand.

He asked his daughters, "Where is he? Why did you leave the man there? Invite him to have something to eat."

Moshe was glad to stay on with the man, and he gave Moshe his daughter Tzipporah in marriage.

God heard their groaning, and God remembered his covenant with Avraham, Yitz'chak and Ya‘akov.

(iv) Now Moshe was tending the sheep of Yitro his father-in-law, the priest of Midyan. Leading the flock to the far side of the desert, he came to the mountain of God, to Horev.

I am the God of your father," he continued, "the God of Avraham, the God of Yitz'chak and the God of Ya‘akov." Moshe covered his face, because he was afraid to look at God.

Moshe said to God, "Look, when I appear before the people of Isra'el and say to them, ‘The God of your ancestors has sent me to you'; and they ask me, ‘What is his name?' what am I to tell them?"

Then Adonai said to Moshe, "Put your hand out and take it by the tail." He reached out with his hand and took hold of it, and it became a staff in his hand.

Furthermore Adonai said to him, "Now put your hand inside your coat." He put his hand in his coat; and when he took it out his hand was leprous, as white as snow.

Then God said, "Now put your hand back in your coat." He put his hand back in his coat; and when he took it out, it was as healthy as the rest of his body.

You will speak to him and put the words in his mouth; and I will be with your mouth and his, teaching you both what to do.

(vi) Moshe left, returned to Yitro his father-in-law and said to him, "I beg you to let me go and return to my kinsmen in Egypt, to see if they are still alive." Yitro said to Moshe, "Go in peace."

So Moshe took his wife and sons, put them on a donkey, and started out for Egypt. Moshe took God's staff in his hand.

had not Tzipporah taken a flintstone and cut off the foreskin of her son. She threw it at his feet, saying, "What a bloody bridegroom you are for me!"

and they said to them, "May Adonai look at you and judge accordingly, because you have made us utterly abhorrent in the view of Pharaoh and his servants, and you have put a sword in their hands to kill us!"

Adonai said to Moshe, "Now you will see what I am going to do to Pharaoh. With a mighty hand he will send them off; with force he will drive them from the land!" Haftarah Sh'mot: Yesha‘yahu (Isaiah) 27:6–28:13; 29:22–23 (A); Yirmeyahu (Jeremiah) 1:1–2:3 (S) B'rit Hadashah suggested readings for Parashah Sh'mot: Mattityahu (Matthew) 22:23–33; 41–46; Mark 12:18–27; 35–37; Luke 20:27–44; Acts 3:12–15; 5:27–32; 7:17–36; 22:12–16; 24:14–16; Messianic Jews (Hebrews) 11:23–26 God spoke to Moshe; he said to him, "I am Adonai . I appeared to Avraham, Yitz'chak and Ya‘akov as El Shaddai, although I did not make myself known to them by my name, Yud-Heh-Vav-Heh [ Adonai ]. Also with them I established my covenant to give them the land of Kena‘an, the land where they wandered about and lived as foreigners. Moreover, I have heard the groaning of the people of Isra'el, whom the Egyptians are keeping in slavery; and I have remembered my covenant. "Therefore, say to the people of Isra'el: ‘I am Adonai . I will free you from the forced labor of the Egyptians, rescue you from their oppression, and redeem you with an outstretched arm and with great judgments. I will take you as my people, and I will be your God. Then you will know that I am Adonai your God, who freed you from the forced labor of the Egyptians. I will bring you into the land which I swore to give to Avraham, Yitz'chak and Ya‘akov — I will give it to you as your inheritance. I am Adonai .'" Moshe said this to the people of Isra'el. But they wouldn't listen to him, because they were so discouraged, and their slavery was so cruel. Adonai said to Moshe, "Go in; and tell Pharaoh, king of Egypt, to let the people of Isra'el leave his land." Moshe said to Adonai , "Look, the people of Isra'el haven't listened to me; so how will Pharaoh listen to me, poor speaker that I am?" But Adonai spoke to Moshe and Aharon and gave them orders concerning both the people of Isra'el and Pharaoh, king of Egypt, to bring the people of Isra'el out of the land of Egypt. (ii) These were the heads of their families: the sons of Re'uven the firstborn of Isra'el were Hanokh, Pallu, Hetzron and Karmi. These were the families of Re'uven. The sons of Shim‘on were Y'mu'el, Yamin, Ohad, Yakhin, Tzochar and Sha'ul the son of a Kena‘ani woman. These were the families of Shim‘on. These are the names of the sons of Levi with their descendants: Gershon, K'hat and M'rari. Levi lived to be 137 years old. The sons of Gershon were Livni and Shim‘i, with their families. The sons of K'hat were ‘Amram, Yitz'har, Hevron and ‘Uzi'el. K'hat lived to be 133 years old. The sons of M'rari were Machli and Mushi. These were the families of Levi with their descendants. ‘Amram married Yokheved his father's sister, and she bore him Aharon and Moshe. ‘Amram lived to be 137 years old. The sons of Yitz'har were Korach, Nefeg and Zikhri. The sons of ‘Uzi'el were Misha'el, Eltzafan and Sitri. Aharon married Elisheva daughter of ‘Amminadav and sister of Nachshon, and she bore him Nadav, Avihu, El‘azar and Itamar. The sons of Korach were Asir, Elkanah and Avi'asaf. These were the Korchi families. El‘azar the son of Aharon married one of the daughters of Puti'el, and she bore him Pinchas. These were the heads of the families of Levi, family by family. These are the Aharon and Moshe to whom Adonai said, "Bring the people of Isra'el out of the land of Egypt, division by division," and who told Pharaoh king of Egypt, to let the people of Isra'el leave Egypt. These are the same Moshe and Aharon. On the day when Adonai spoke to Moshe in the land of Egypt, (iii) he said, "I am Adonai . Tell Pharaoh, king of Egypt, everything I say to you." Moshe answered Adonai , "Look, I'm such a poor speaker that Pharaoh won't listen to me."

"Go in; and tell Pharaoh, king of Egypt, to let the people of Isra'el leave his land."