6. This is what God said to him: ‘Your descendants will live in a foreign country, where they will be slaves and will be badly treated for 400 years.
7. But I will pass judgement on the people that they will serve, and afterwards your descendants will come out of that country and will worship me in this place.’
8. Then God gave Abraham the ceremony of circumcision as a sign of the covenant. So Abraham circumcised Isaac a week after he was born; Isaac circumcised his son Jacob, and Jacob circumcised his twelve sons, the famous ancestors of our race.
9. “Jacob's sons became jealous of their brother Joseph and sold him to be a slave in Egypt. But God was with him
10. and brought him safely through all his troubles. When Joseph appeared before the king of Egypt, God gave him a pleasing manner and wisdom, and the king made Joseph governor over the country and the royal household.
11. Then there was a famine all over Egypt and Canaan, which caused much suffering. Our ancestors could not find any food,
12. and when Jacob heard that there was corn in Egypt, he sent his sons, our ancestors, on their first visit there.
13. On the second visit Joseph made himself known to his brothers, and the king of Egypt came to know about Joseph's family.
14. So Joseph sent a message to his father Jacob, telling him and the whole family, 75 people in all, to come to Egypt.
15. Then Jacob went to Egypt, where he and his sons died.
16. Their bodies were taken to Shechem, where they were buried in the grave which Abraham had bought from the clan of Hamor for a sum of money.
17. “When the time drew near for God to keep the promise he had made to Abraham, the number of our people in Egypt had grown much larger.
18. At last a king who did not know about Joseph began to rule in Egypt.
19. He tricked our ancestors and was cruel to them, forcing them to put their babies out of their homes, so that they would die.
20. It was at this time that Moses was born, a very beautiful child. He was cared for at home for three months,
21. and when he was put out of his home, the king's daughter adopted him and brought him up as her own son.
22. He was taught all the wisdom of the Egyptians and became a great man in words and deeds.