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.
23. “When Moses was forty years old, he decided to find out how his fellow-Israelites were being treated.
24. He saw one of them being ill-treated by an Egyptian, so he went to his help and took revenge on the Egyptian by killing him.
25. (He thought that his own people would understand that God was going to use him to set them free, but they did not understand.)
26. The next day he saw two Israelites fighting, and he tried to make peace between them. ‘Listen, men,’ he said, ‘you are fellow-Israelites; why are you fighting like this?’