4Q13
Exodusb
Language:
Hebrew
Date:
30 B.C. - 68 A.D.
Location:
Qumran Cave 4
Contents:
Exodus 1:1, 3, 5-6, 16-21; 2:2-9, 11-18; 3:13-21; 4:1, 3-8; 5:3-14
Exodus
1
1 Now these are the
names of the sons of Israel, who came into Egypt (every man and his
household came with Jacob their father):
[..]
3 Issachar, Zebulun, Joseph
and Benjamin,
[..]
5 All the souls who
came out of Jacob’s body were seventy-five souls,
and Joseph was in Egypt already. 6 Joseph died, as did all his brothers, and all
that generation.
[..]
16 and he said, “When you perform the duty of a midwife to the
Hebrew women, and see them on the birth stool; if it is a son, then you shall
kill him; but if it is a daughter, then she shall
live.” 17 But the midwives feared God,
and didn’t do what the king of Egypt commanded them, but saved the baby
boys alive. 18 The king of Egypt called for the Hebrew midwives, and said
to them, “Why have you done this thing,
and have saved the boys alive?”
19 The
midwives
said to Pharaoh, “Because the Hebrew
women aren’t like the Egyptian women; for they
are vigorous, and give birth before the midwife comes to them.”
20 God dealt well with the midwives, and the people multiplied, and
grew very mighty. 21 Because the midwives feared God, he gave them families.
[..]
Exodus
2
2 The
woman conceived, and bore a son. When she saw that he was a fine child, she hid
him three months.
3 When
she could no longer hide him, she took a
papyrus basket for him, and coated it with tar and with pitch. She put the
child in it, and said to her maidservant,
“go,” and laid it in the
reeds by the river’s bank. 4 His sister stood far off, to see what would be done to him. 5 Pharaoh’s
daughter came down to bathe at the river. Her
maidens walked along by the riverside.
She saw the basket among the reeds, and sent her servant to get it.
6 She opened it, and saw the child, and behold, the baby cried. She Pharaoh’s daughter
had compassion on him, and said, “This is one of the Hebrews’ children.”
7 Then his
sister said
to Pharaoh’s daughter, “Should I go and call
a nurse for you from the Hebrew women, that
she may nurse the child for you?”
8 Pharaoh’s daughter said to her, “Go.”
The
young woman went
and called the child’s mother.
9 Pharaoh’s daughter said to
her, “Take this child away, and nurse him for me, and I will give you
your wages.”
The
woman took the child, and nursed it. 10 The child
grew, and she brought him to Pharaoh’s daughter, and he became her son. She
named him Moses, and said, “Because I drew him out of the
water.”
11 In After those many days, when Moses had grown up, he went out
to his brothers, and looked at their burdens. He saw an Egyptian striking a Hebrew, one of his brothers. 12 He
looked this way and that way, and
when he saw that there was no one, he killed the Egyptian, and hid him in
the sand.
13 He went out the
second day, and saw and behold, two men
of the Hebrews were fighting with each
other. He said to him who did the wrong, “Why do you strike your
fellow?”
14 He said to him,
“Who made you a prince and a judge over us? Do you plan to kill me, as you killed the
Egyptian?”
Moses
was very afraid, and said, “Surely this
thing is known.” 15 Now when Pharaoh heard this thing, he
sought to kill Moses. But Moses fled from the face of Pharaoh, and lived in the
land of Midian, and he sat down by a well.
16 Now the
priest of Midian had
seven daughters, shepherdesses of his flock.
They came and drew water, and filled the troughs to water their father’s
flock. 17 The shepherds came
and drove them away; but Moses stood up and
helped them, and watered their flock. 18 When they came to Reuel, their father, he said, “How is it
that you have returned so early today?”
[..]
Exodus
3
13 Moses
said to God, “Behold, when I come to the children of Israel, and tell them, ‘The God of your fathers has sent me to
you;’ and they ask me, ‘What is his name?’
what should I tell them?”
14 God said to Moses, “I AM
WHO I AM,” and he said, “You shall tell the
children of Israel this: ‘I AM has sent me to you.’ ” 15 God said moreover to Moses,
“You shall tell the children of Israel this,
‘Yahweh, the God of your fathers, the God
of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has sent me to you.’
This is my name forever, and this is my
memorial to all generations. 16 Go
and gather the elders of the children of Israel
together, and
tell them, ‘Yahweh, the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the
God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has appeared to me, saying, “I have surely
visited you, and seen that which is done to you in Egypt; 17 and I have said, I will bring you up out of the affliction of Egypt to
the land of the Canaanite, the Hittite, the Amorite, the Perizzite, the Hivite,
and the Jebusite and the Girgashite, to
a land flowing with milk and honey.” ’
18 They will listen to your voice, and you shall come, you and the
elders of the children of Israel, to the king of Egypt, and you shall tell him,
‘Yahweh, the God of the Hebrews, has met
with us. Now please let us go three days’
journey into the wilderness, that we may
sacrifice to Yahweh, our God.’ 19 I
know that the king of Egypt won’t give you permission to go, no, not
except by a mighty hand. 20 I
will reach out my hand and strike Egypt with all my wonders which I will do among them, and after that he
will let you go. 21 And thus
I will give this people favor in the sight of the Egyptians, and it will happen
that when you go, you shall not go empty-handed.
[..]
Exodus
4
1 Moses answered, “But,
behold, they will not believe me, nor listen to my voice; for they will
say,
‘Yahweh has not appeared to you.’ ”
[..]
3 He
said, “Throw
it, then, on the ground.”
He
threw it on the ground, and it became a snake; and Moses ran away from it.
4 Yahweh
said to Moses, “Stretch
out your hand, and take it by the tail.”
He
stretched out his hand, and took hold of it, and it became a rod in his hand.
5 “This
is so that they may believe that Yahweh, the God of
their fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has appeared to you.” 6 Yahweh said furthermore to him, “Now put your hand inside your
cloak.”
He
put his hand inside his cloak, and when he took it out, behold, his hand was
leprous, as white as
snow.
7 He said, “Put your
hand inside your cloak again.”
He
put his hand inside his cloak again, and when he took it out of his cloak,
behold, it had turned again as his other flesh.
8 “It will happen So that, if they will not
believe you or listen to the voice of the first sign, that they will believe
the voice of the latter sign.
[..]
Exodus
5
3 They
said, “The God of the Hebrews has met with us. Please let us go three days’
journey into the wilderness, and sacrifice to Yahweh, our
God, lest he fall on us with pestilence, or with the sword.”
4 The
king of Egypt said to them, “Why do you, Moses and
Aaron, take the people from their work? Get back to your burdens!”
5 Pharaoh said, “Behold, the
people of the land are now many, and you
make them rest from their burdens.” 6 The same day Pharaoh commanded the taskmasters of the people, and their
officers, saying, 7 “You shall no
longer give the people straw to make
brick, as before. Let them go and gather straw for themselves. 8 The
number of the bricks, which they made before, you require
from them. You shall not diminish
anything of it, for they are idle;
therefore they cry, saying, ‘Let’s go and sacrifice to our God.’ 9 Let
heavier work be laid on the men, that they may labor in it; and don’t let them pay
any attention to lying words.”
10 The
taskmasters of the people went out, and their officers, and they
spoke to
the people, saying, “This is what Pharaoh says: ‘I
will not give you straw. 11 Go
yourselves, and get straw
where you can find it, for nothing of your
work shall be diminished.’ ” 12 So the people were
scattered abroad throughout all the land of Egypt to gather stubble for
straw. 13 The taskmasters were
urgent saying, “Fulfill your work quota daily, as
when there was straw given to you!”
14 The officers of the children of Israel, whom Pharaoh’s taskmasters had set over them, were beaten, and
were asked, “Why haven’t you fulfilled your quota both yesterday and today, in
making brick as before?”