Chapter 3: The Basket on the Nile

A man from the house of Levi married a Levite woman, and she gave birth to a son. When she saw that he was a beautiful child, she hid him. For three months she kept him out of sight. But when she could hide him no longer, she took a basket woven from reeds, coated it with tar and pitch to keep the water out, placed the child inside, and set it among the reeds along the bank of the Nile. (Exodus 2:1-3)

The baby's older sister stayed nearby, watching from a distance to see what would happen to him. (Exodus 2:4)

Then Pharaoh's daughter came down to bathe at the river, with her servants walking along the bank. She saw the basket among the reeds and sent one of them to bring it. When she opened it, the baby was crying. She took pity on him.

PHARAOH'S DAUGHTER“This is one of the Hebrews' children.”— Exodus 2:6

She knew the decree. She knew what this child was. And she chose mercy. At that moment, the baby's sister, who had been watching everything from the reeds, came forward.

MIRIAM“Shall I go and call a nurse for you from the Hebrew women to nurse the child for you?”— Exodus 2:7

Pharaoh's daughter agreed. The girl ran, and she brought back her own mother, the very woman who had placed the baby in the river. Pharaoh's daughter did not know she was speaking to the child's mother.

PHARAOH'S DAUGHTER“Take this child away and nurse him for me, and I will give you your wages.”— Exodus 2:9

The baby was now under the protection of the princess. He was no longer a hidden child under a death decree. His mother nursed him openly, paid by Pharaoh's own household, until the boy was old enough to be brought to the palace.

When the child grew older, she brought him to Pharaoh's daughter, and he became her son. (Exodus 2:10)

PHARAOH'S DAUGHTER (naming him): "I will call him Moses, because I drew him out of the water." (Exodus 2:10)

The boy now lived inside the palace of the king who had ordered his death. But he would not stay there forever.