Many years had passed since Joseph saved Egypt from famine. Jacob's family had settled in Egypt and grown greatly. The children of Israel multiplied and became very numerous and strong, filling the land.

But then a new Pharaoh arose in Egypt who did not know Joseph. He looked at the people of Israel and became afraid. "Look," he said to his people, "the Israelites are more numerous and stronger than we are. We must deal shrewdly with them, or they will multiply even more."

So Pharaoh enslaved the people of Israel. He set taskmasters over them to oppress them with forced labor. The Israelites built cities, made bricks, worked in the fields under the hot sun. It was hard and cruel work.

But the more the Egyptians oppressed the Israelites, the more they multiplied and grew. This made Pharaoh even more worried.

Then Pharaoh gave a terrible order. He said:

It was a cruel and evil order. Pharaoh wanted to end the people of Israel by killing all the baby boys.

There was a man and woman from the tribe of Levi who had a baby boy. When the mother saw that he was a beautiful baby, she hid him for three months.

She loved her baby and didn't want him to die. For three months, she kept him hidden at home, muffling his cries, afraid that Pharaoh's soldiers would hear him.

But babies grow, and it became increasingly difficult to hide him. The mother knew that soon it would be impossible to keep him secret.

Then she had an idea. She took a basket of reeds, covered it with tar and pitch so water wouldn't enter, like a little boat. She placed the baby inside the basket and put it among the reeds at the bank of the Nile River.

The baby's sister, named Miriam, stood at a distance to see what would happen to him. She hid among the plants, watching the basket float gently in the shallow waters of the river.

That morning, Pharaoh's daughter came down to the Nile River to bathe. Her servants walked along the riverbank. Suddenly, she saw the basket among the reeds.

"Bring that to me," she said to one of her servants.

The servant got the basket and brought it to the princess. When Pharaoh's daughter opened the basket, she saw a crying baby. Her heart filled with compassion.

"This is one of the Hebrew boys," she said. She knew about her father's cruel order. But looking at that little crying baby, she couldn't harm him.

It was then that Miriam, the baby's sister, had the courage to approach. She came out of her hiding place and asked Pharaoh's daughter: "Shall I go and call a Hebrew woman to nurse and care for this boy for you?"

Pharaoh's daughter said: "Go."

Miriam ran home and brought the baby's own mother! What a perfect plan from God!

Pharaoh's daughter said to the mother: "Take this boy and nurse him for me, and I will pay you." The mother took the boy and nursed him. Now she no longer had to hide him - she was being paid by Pharaoh's daughter to care for her own son!

When the boy grew older, his mother brought him to Pharaoh's daughter, who adopted him as her own son. She named him MOSES, saying: "Because I drew him out of the water."

Moses grew up in Pharaoh's palace as a prince of Egypt. He had the best clothes, the best food, the best teachers. He learned to read and write, studied mathematics and science, was educated in the wisdom of the Egyptians.

But his mother had told him the truth when he was little. Moses knew he was Hebrew. He knew his people were being enslaved. And he kept this in his heart.

God had saved Moses from the waters of the Nile. The baby that Pharaoh wanted to kill was growing up right under his nose, inside his own palace!

And God was preparing Moses for something very special. One day, Moses would be the leader God would use to free all the people of Israel from slavery.

Pharaoh's order was to kill all Hebrew babies. But God turned that terrible situation into something good. What should have been Moses' death became his salvation.

The brave mother who hid her baby. The watchful sister who observed the basket. The compassionate princess who felt sorry for the baby. All of this was part of God's perfect plan.

Sometimes, situations seem impossible. But God can do wonderful things, even when everything seems lost. He cared for Moses from when he was a little baby, and would continue caring for him all his life.

And Moses' story was just beginning. This baby who was saved from the waters would grow to become one of the greatest leaders in history, the man God chose to free His people.