Jacob’s descendants, called Hebrews or Israelites, multiplied greatly in Egypt. A new Pharaoh, who forgot Joseph’s legacy, saw their growing population as a threat. He enslaved them, forcing them to build cities and making their workload harder, but their numbers still grew.

Pharaoh ordered midwives to kill all Hebrew baby boys, but they feared God and let them live, claiming Hebrew women gave birth too quickly for intervention. God blessed the midwives for their defiance.

Pharaoh then decreed all Hebrew boys be thrown into the Nile. During this time, a Hebrew boy was born and hidden by his mother for three months. When hiding became impossible, she placed him in a waterproof basket in the Nile. His sister Miriam watched from afar.

Pharaoh’s daughter found the basket, rescued the crying baby, and, moved with compassion, had Miriam find a Hebrew nurse—who was the baby’s mother. Pharaoh’s daughter paid her to nurse the child. When he was old enough, the boy was returned and adopted by Pharaoh’s daughter, who named him Moses, meaning “pulled out of the water.”