Amram and the Birth of Moses

1 After the death of Joseph, the children of Israel multiplied and increased greatly. Another king arose in Egypt who did not know Joseph, and he said to his people, “This people is more numerous than we are. Come, let us take counsel against them so that they do not multiply.” And the king of Egypt commanded all his people, “Every son born to the Hebrews, throw into the river, but keep the females alive.” The Egyptians answered their king, “Let us kill their males and keep their females, to give to our servants as wives; and whoever is born of them will be a servant and serve us.” This appeared most evil before the Lord. 2 Then the elders of the people gathered the people with mourning and lamented, saying, “The wombs of our wives have suffered a miscarriage. Our fruit is handed over to our enemies, and now we are cut off. Let us make a rule that no man go near his wife, so that the fruit of their womb is not defiled and our own children do not serve idols; for it is better to die childless until we know what God will do.” 3 But Amram answered, “It will sooner happen that the age is utterly abolished and the immeasurable world falls, or that the heart of the depths touches the stars, than that the race of the children of Israel be diminished. And it will be, when the covenant is fulfilled that God spoke to Abraham, saying, ‘Surely your sons will dwell in a land that is not theirs and will be brought into bondage and afflicted 400 years.’ Now, since the word was spoken that God spoke to Abraham, there are 350 years; and since we have been in bondage in Egypt it is 130 years. 4 “Now therefore I will not abide by what you decree, but will go in and take my wife and father sons, so that we may become many on the earth. For God will not stay angry forever, nor will he forget his people forever, nor cast the race of Israel away to nothing on the earth, nor did he make his covenant with our fathers in vain; for when we did not yet exist, God spoke of these things. 5 “Now therefore I will go and take my wife, and I will not consent to the command of this king. And if it seems right in your eyes, let us all do so; for when our wives conceive, they will not be known to be pregnant until 3 months are fulfilled, just as our mother Thamar did. Her purpose was not for immorality; rather, because she would not separate herself from the sons of Israel, she resolved and said, ‘It is better for me to die for sinning with my father-in-law than to be joined to Gentiles.’ And she hid the fruit of her womb until the 3rd month, for then it was noticed. As she was going to be put to death, she declared, ‘The man whose staff and ring and goatskin these are, by him I have conceived.’ And her plan delivered her out of all danger. 6 “Now let us also do this. And when the time of giving birth comes, if it is possible, we will not throw away the fruit of our womb. Who knows whether God will be moved by this to deliver us from our humiliation?” 7 The thought that Amram had in his heart was pleasing before God, and God said, “Because the thought of Amram is pleasing before me, and he has not set aside the covenant made between me and his fathers, the one born of him will serve me forever, and through him I will do wonders in the house of Jacob, and will do signs and wonders by him for my people such as I have done for no one else, and I will work my glory in them and declare to them my ways. 8 “I the Lord will kindle my lamp for him to dwell in him, and will show him my covenant that no one has seen, and reveal to him my great excellence, my justice, and my judgments, and I will shine a perpetual light for him. For in ancient days I thought of him, saying, ‘My spirit will not be a mediator among these men forever, for they are flesh, and their days will be 120 years.’”⁠a 9 So Amram of the tribe of Levi went out and took a wife of his own tribe; and when he took her, the rest did the same after him and took their wives. He had one son and one daughter, and their names were Aaron and Miriam.

Miriam's Dream

10 The spirit of God came upon Miriam by night, and she saw a dream and told her parents in the morning, saying, “I saw this night, and a man in a linen garment stood and said to me, ‘Go and tell your parents, the one who will be born of you will be thrown into the water, for through him the water will be dried up, and through him I will do signs, and I will save my people, and he will be its leader forever.’” When Miriam told her dream, her parents did not believe her. 11 But the word of the king of Egypt prevailed against the children of Israel, and they were humiliated and oppressed in the work of bricks.

The Birth and Rescue of Moses

12 Jochabeth conceived by Amram and hid the child in her womb 3 months, for she could not hide him any longer, because the king of Egypt had appointed overseers of the region so that when the Hebrew women gave birth, they would throw the males into the river at once. She took her child and made him an ark from the bark of a pine tree and set the ark at the edge of the river. 13 Now the boy was born in the covenant of God, already circumcised.⁠b 14 When they cast him out, all the elders gathered together and complained against Amram, saying, “Are these not the words we spoke, saying, ‘It is better for us to die childless than that our fruit should be thrown into the water’?” But when they said this, Amram did not listen to them. 15 But the daughter of Pharaoh came down to wash in the river, as she had seen in a dream, and her maids saw the ark, and she sent one of them and took it and opened it. When she saw the child and saw that he was already circumcised, she said, “He is one of the children of the Hebrews.” She took him and raised him, and he became her son, and she named him Moses. But his mother called him Melchiel. And the child was raised and became glorious above all men, and through him God delivered the children of Israel, as he had said.