When Moses arrived in Midian, he sat besides a well. Now the priest of Midian had seven daughters who came as usual to draw water and fill the water trough for their father’s flocks. But some other shepherds came and chased them away. So Moses jumped and rescued the girls from the shepherds. Then he drew water for their flocks.
When the girls returned to Reul, their father asked, Why are you back so soon today?”
“An Egyptian rescued us from the shepherds,” they answered. “And then he drew water for us and watered our flocks.”
“Where is he?” their father asked. “Why did you leave him there? Invite him to come eat with us.”
Moses accepted the invitation, and he settled there with them. In time, Ruel gave Moses his daughter Zipporah to be his wife. Later she gave birth to a son, and Moses named him Gershom, for he explained, “I have been a foreigner in a foreign land.”
Years passed, and the king of Egypt died. But the Israelites continued to groan under the burden of their slavery. They cried out for help, and their cry rose up to God. God heard their groaning, and he remembered his covenant promise to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. he looked down on the people of Israel and knew it was time to act. (vv. 15b-25, NLT)