A basket in the reeds
He was born under a death sentence, along with every other boy of his people. His mother hid him as long as she could, then coated a papyrus basket with tar and laid it in the reeds by the river (Exodus 2:3). Pharaoh's daughter drew him out and raised him, and named him for it (Exodus 2:10).
The Recitation records the instruction to the mother, and the promise that went with it.
And We inspired to the mother of Moses, "Suckle him; but when you fear for him, cast him into the river and do not fear and do not grieve. Indeed, We will return him to you and will make him of the messengers."
She was told the ending before the beginning had finished. She was still afraid.
He grows up in the palace, kills an Egyptian who was beating one of his own people, and runs (Exodus 2:11–15). He marries in Midian and keeps sheep for years.
A fire on a mountain
Then a night on the road, and a light.
When he saw a fire and said to his family, "Stay here; indeed, I have perceived a fire; perhaps I can bring you a torch or find at the fire some guidance."
He goes to fetch a torch and is called by name. He is told to take off his sandals. He is in the sacred valley, and he has been chosen. Then comes the whole message in one sign: "Indeed, I am The God. There is no deity except Me, so worship Me and establish prayer for My remembrance" (The Recitation 20:12–14).
The Torah tells the same fire as a bush that burns and is not consumed. Moses asks who he should say has sent him, and is answered "I AM WHO I AM" (Exodus 3:14). He is sent to Pharaoh (Exodus 3:10), and he does not want to go.
He says he is not eloquent, slow of speech and of a slow tongue (Exodus 4:10). The Recitation records his prayer at that moment, which is the prayer of anyone sent to do something too big for them.
Said, "My Lord, expand for me my breast
And ease for me my task
And untie the knot from my tongue
That they may understand my speech."
Pharaoh
He goes. There are signs, and there is a long refusal, and there are the plagues (Exodus 7–12). In the Recitation, Pharaoh answers the message by claiming the height of it for himself. His own court magicians see the sign, fall down believing, and refuse to take it back (The Recitation 20:70–73).
Then the sea. The Torah has Moses stretch out his hand, and a strong east wind drive the water back all night. The people went through on dry ground, with the water standing on either side (Exodus 14:21–22).
In the Recitation he is told to travel by night and strike a dry path through the sea. He is told not to fear being overtaken (The Recitation 20:77). Pharaoh follows, and the sea covers him and his soldiers (The Recitation 20:78).
The mountain
They are brought to Sinai, and the Lord God speaks the ten words. He begins with who He is and what He has just done: I am the Lord God your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage (Exodus 20:2). Then: no other gods before Me (Exodus 20:3).
Moses asks to see Him. The Lord God revealed to us in the Torah that he is told no man may see His face and live (Exodus 33:20). The Recitation carries the same request and what happened.
"My Lord, show me that I may look at You." Said, "You will not see Me, but look at the mountain; if it should remain in place, then you will see Me." But when his Lord appeared to the mountain, He rendered it level, and Moses fell unconscious.
When he comes round, he says: exalted are You, I have repented to You, and I am the first of the believers (The Recitation 7:143). And he is told he has been chosen with His messages and His words, and to be among the grateful (The Recitation 7:144).
The calf
He comes down and finds them dancing round a calf made of their own jewellery. In the Torah he throws the tablets down at the foot of the mountain and they break (Exodus 32:19).
In the Recitation he is told, still on the mountain, that his people have been tried and led astray while he was gone (The Recitation 20:85). He confronts the man who made the calf. What he says is what the whole story has been saying since the fire: your god is only The God, except for whom there is no deity (The Recitation 20:98).
Then he does the thing he is best remembered for among those who know the whole book. He argues for them. He begs the Lord God not to let His anger burn against the people He has just brought out of Egypt (Exodus 32:11). And the Lord God passes before him and proclaims His own name: merciful and gracious, slow to anger, abundant in loving kindness and truth (Exodus 34:6).
Forty years, and a grave no one knows
He leads them four decades through a wilderness, and does not enter the land himself. The Torah says he was taken in the land of Moab, and that no man knows where his tomb is to this day (Deuteronomy 34:5–6).
What the Lord God said of him
He said "I have chosen you, so listen to what is revealed" (The Recitation 20:13), and "I have chosen you over the people with My messages and My words" (The Recitation 7:144). He spoke to him. The Torah closes his account with a line no one else in it receives.
Since then, there has not arisen a prophet in Israel like Moses, whom The Lord God knew face to face,
He left behind a promise, given in the same book. A prophet like him would be raised up from among their brothers, with the Lord God's words put in his mouth (Deuteronomy 18:15–18).
A prayer
Lord God Almighty, You called a frightened man from a fire and sent him to a king. Expand our breasts and ease our tasks. Untie the knots in our tongues, so that what we say of You is understood.
When we make calves of our own jewellery, be to us what You proclaimed of Yourself: merciful and gracious, slow to anger, abundant in loving kindness and truth. There is no deity except You.
Questions people might ask
What did the Lord God tell Moses at the bush?
His name, I AM WHO I AM, and that He had seen the suffering of His people (Exodus 3:7-14). The Recitation has Him say: I am The God, there is no god but Me, so worship Me and keep up the prayer (The Recitation 20:14).
Did Moses see the Lord God?
He asked. He was told that no one can see Him and live (Exodus 33:20). The Lord God revealed to us in the Recitation that the mountain was levelled and Moses fell down unconscious (The Recitation 7:143).
Where is Moses buried?
The Lord God revealed to us in the Torah that the Lord God buried him in Moab, and no one knows the place to this day (Deuteronomy 34:6).
