The descendants of Jacob
lived many years in Egypt. They were
very industrious so that they became very rich, and their number rapidly
increased until they finally spread all over Egypt.
After many years, a new
king ruled Egypt. He became very mean to
the descendants of Jacob, the Israelites, because he feared their industry and
their number. He said to the Egyptians:
“Let us be very harsh with the Israelites, so that they may not increase in
number and power; for they may become our enemies and over power us.”
However, in spite of the
cruelty of the Egyptians, the Israelites continued to increase in number and
prospered in their industries. They had the
blessing of God with them. At last, the
Egyptian king ordered that all male children of the Jews be thrown into the
river to die. (The Israelites came to be known as
Jews after the exile in Babylon.)
At that time, a baby boy
was born to an Israelite woman of the tribe of Levi. For a time, this woman succeeded in hiding
her child; but when she could no longer do so, she placed him in a basket and
left him near the edge of the river.
This little boy had a sister named Miriam, who watched him from a distance.
One day, the daughter of
the ruler of Egypt went down to the river to wash herself. When she saw the little boy in the basket,
she sent one of her maids to get him.
When she heard the baby cry, she felt very sorry for him.
Miriam approached the
ruler’s daughter and said: “Shall I get a nurse for the baby?”
The ruler’s daughter
said: “Yes, go for a nurse.”
Miriam quickly called
her own mother who was also the mother of the little baby boy. And the princess said to the mother: “I will
pay you to take care of the child for me.”
The mother took her own
child and took care of him. When he was
grown up, the mother brought him to princess, who took him as a son and called
him Moses.
As the years passed,
Moses, to his great sorrow, saw how much his people was made to suffer. One day, when Moses saw an Egyptian hit one
of the Jews, he rushed to aid of the Jew and killed the Egyptian. Moses was afraid of what the king might do to
him if he would hear of what happened.
Hence, Moses fled into another country.
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