17
"When the time that God had promised to Abraham had almost come, the number of our people in Egypt had grown very large.
18
Then a different king, who knew nothing about Joseph, began to rule in Egypt.
19
This king was shrewd in the way he took advantage of our people. He mistreated our ancestors. He made them abandon their newborn babies outdoors, where they would die.
20
"At that time Moses was born, and he was a very beautiful child. His parents took care of him for three months.
21
When Moses was abandoned outdoors, Pharaoh's daughter adopted him and raised him as her son.
22
So Moses was educated in all the wisdom of the Egyptians and became a great man in what he said and did.
23
When he was 40 years old, he decided to visit his own people, the Israelites.
24
When he saw an Israelite man being treated unfairly by an Egyptian, he defended the Israelite. He took revenge by killing the Egyptian.
25
Moses thought his own people would understand that God was going to use him to give them freedom. But they didn't understand.
26
The next day Moses saw two Israelites fighting, and he tried to make peace between them. He said to them, 'Men, you are brothers. Why are you treating each other unfairly?'
27
"But one of the men pushed Moses aside. He asked Moses, 'Who made you our ruler and judge?