13. The next day Moses saw two Hebrew men fighting each other. He saw that one man was wrong and said to him, “Why are you hurting your neighbor?”
14. The man answered, “Did anyone say you could be our ruler and judge? Tell me, will you kill me as you killed the Egyptian yesterday?” Then Moses was afraid. He thought to himself, “Now everyone knows what I did.”
15. Pharaoh heard about what Moses did, so he decided to kill him. But Moses ran away from Pharaoh and went to the land of Midian. Moses stopped near a well in Midian.
16. There was a priest there who had seven daughters. These girls came to that well to get water for their father’s sheep. They were trying to fill the water trough with water.
17. But there were some shepherds there who chased the girls away and would not let them get water. So Moses helped the girls and gave water to their animals.
18. Then they went back to their father, Reuel. He asked them, “Why have you come home early today?”
19. The girls answered, “The shepherds chased us away, but an Egyptian rescued us. He got water for us and gave it to our animals.”
20. So Reuel said to his daughters, “Where is this man? Why did you leave him? Go invite him to eat with us.”
21. Moses was happy to stay with that man. Reuel let Moses marry his daughter, Zipporah.
22. Zipporah became pregnant and had a son. Moses named him Gershom because Moses was a stranger in a land that was not his own.
23. A long time passed and that king of Egypt died. But the Israelites were still forced to work very hard. They cried for help, and God heard them.
24. God heard their painful cries and remembered the agreement he made with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.
25. God saw the troubles of the Israelites, and he knew that he would soon help them.