Shemot

📜 The Story

After Joseph and his brothers passed away, the people of Israel grew very numerous in Egypt. A new king arose who feared them, enslaved them with harsh labor, and decreed that every baby boy be thrown into the Nile.

A woman from the tribe of Levi hid her baby son for three months, then placed him in a basket on the Nile. Pharaoh's daughter found the basket, had pity on the baby, and named him Moshe. His mother Yocheved raised him until he grew and returned to Pharaoh's palace.

When Moshe grew up, he went out to see the suffering of his brothers and struck down an Egyptian who was beating a Hebrew man. He fled to Midian, settled there, married Tzipporah, and shepherded the flocks of his father in law Yitro.

Near Mount Chorev, Hashem appeared to Moshe in a burning bush that was not consumed, saying, Ehyeh Asher Ehyeh. Hashem commanded Moshe to return to Egypt and take the people out with the help of his brother Aharon, and gave him signs so the people would believe him.

Moshe and Aharon came before Pharaoh and asked him to let the people go, but Pharaoh made the labor even harder. Moshe cried out to Hashem, who promised that soon he would see what would be done to Pharaoh, and that Israel would be redeemed with a mighty hand.