Study Desk

But the Israelites had many children, and their number grew until the country of Egypt was filled with them.

"You will continue to help the Hebrew women give birth to their children. If a girl baby is born, let the baby live. But if the baby is a boy, you must kill him!"

The nurses trusted God, so he was good to them and allowed them to have their own families. The Hebrews continued to have more children, and they became very strong.

"All the Hebrew women will ask their Egyptian neighbors and the Egyptian women living in their houses for gifts. And those Egyptian women will give them gifts of silver, gold, and fine clothing. Then you will put those gifts on your children. In this way you will take away the wealth of the Egyptians."

So Moses put his wife and children on the donkey and returned to Egypt. He carried his walking stick with him—the walking stick with the power of God.

I also did this so that you could tell your children and your grandchildren about the miracles and other wonderful things that I have done in Egypt. Then all of you will know that I am the Lord ."

Pharaoh said to them, "The Lord really will have to be with you before I let you and all of your children leave Egypt. Look, you are planning something evil.

Again Pharaoh called for Moses. He said, "Go and worship the Lord ! You can take your children with you. But you must leave your sheep and cattle here."

When your children ask you, ‘Why are we doing this ceremony?'

On this day you should tell your children, ‘We are having this festival because the Lord took me out of Egypt.'

"In the future, your children will ask why you do this. They will say, ‘What does all this mean?' And you will answer, ‘The Lord used his great power to save us from Egypt. We were slaves in that place, but he led us out and brought us here.

But the people were very thirsty, so they continued complaining to Moses. They said, "Why did you bring us out of Egypt? Did you bring us out here so that we, our children, and our cattle will all die without water?"

Don't worship or serve idols of any kind, because I, the Lord , am your God. I hate my people worshiping other gods. People who sin against me become my enemies, and I will punish them. And I will punish their children, their grandchildren, and even their great-grandchildren.

If the slave is not married, the master can give him a wife. If that wife gives birth to sons or daughters, she and her children will belong to the master. After the slave is finished with his years of service, he will be made free.

"But if the slave decides that he wants to stay with the master, he must say, ‘I love my master. I love my wife and my children. I will not become free—I will stay.'

And I will be very angry. I will kill you with a sword. Then your wives will become widows, and your children will become orphans.

He shows his faithful love to thousands of people. He forgives people for the wrong things they do, but he does not forget to punish guilty people. Not only will he punish the guilty people, but their children, their grandchildren, and their great-grandchildren will also suffer for the bad things these people do."

The people must bring the gifts of fat from their animals as part of the sacrifice. They must also bring the thigh of the fellowship offering and the breast that is lifted up to show it is offered in front of the Lord . Then it will be your share of the offering. It will belong to you and your children. That part of the sacrifices will be your share forever, just as the Lord said."

"You must not give any of your children through the fire to Molech. If you do this, you will show that you don't respect the name of your God. I am the Lord .

"You must also tell the Israelites these things: Anyone living in Israel who gives one of their children to the false god Molech must be killed! It doesn't matter if they are a citizen of Israel or a foreigner, you must throw stones at them and kill them.