20. The Israelites Become Slaves

Joseph died many years after his father, and his children had many children. The Egyptians began to be afraid because there were so many of Jacob's descendants—or Israelites as they were called.

A new Pharaoh came into power. He didn't know what Joseph had done to save the Egyptian people in the great famine. He didn't like the Israelites because they were foreigners and he feared they would gain too much power.

Though treated cruelly, the number of the Israelites grew. Something more must be done to stop the Israelites, the king thought. The king called all the midwives together and spoke to them.

"If you go to the house of an Israelite and a son is born, you must be sure that he dies."

The midwives were good women who feared God. They told the king that the Israelite women did not need their help.

Then the king became very angry. He told the people that every baby boy born to the Israelites must be found and thrown into the Nile River.

Not long after the king put his cruel law into effect, a baby boy was born to the family of Levi. The mother could not bear to see her baby hurt so she hid him for as long as she could. As the baby grew older, his mother planned how to save her child. She made a small boat from reeds and tar. She laid her baby in it and sent the baby's sister, Miriam, with him down to the river. Miriam set the little boat afloat and sat down in the bushes to watch.

Nearby, a group of women had come down to the water to bathe. One of these women was the Pharaoh's daughter. She saw the boat floating along and sent one of her servants after it.

"This must be an Israelite child," said the princess. The little boy began to cry so she picked him up and held him.

Then Miriam walked out of the bushes to speak to the princess. "Would you like one of the women to nurse the child till he is older?" she asked.

The princess agreed, and Miriam ran to get her mother.

"Take this baby home and nurse him until he is older," the princess said to the baby's mother. "Then I will take him to live with me."

The princess decided to call the baby Moses because he came from out of the water.

(end of section)