Baby Moses in the Nile

The people of Israel had grown numerous in Egypt, and the Pharaoh became afraid. He made them slaves and gave a terrible order: every Hebrew baby boy born must be thrown into the Nile River. But one mother refused to give up her son. For three months, she hid her baby boy.

When she could hide him no longer, she made a little basket of reeds, waterproofed it with tar, and placed her baby inside. She set the basket among the reeds at the edge of the Nile and sent his older sister Miriam to watch from a distance. Then Pharaoh's own daughter came to bathe in the river. She heard the baby crying and felt compassion for him. "This is one of the Hebrew babies," she said — and she chose to keep him.

Miriam stepped forward bravely and offered to find a Hebrew woman to nurse the baby. The princess agreed — and Miriam brought the baby's own mother! The princess named him Moses, which means "drawn out of the water." God had protected this child because Moses would one day lead his people out of slavery. The hand of God was over that little basket in the Nile.