The children of Israel had increased in numbers; "and the land was filled with them." The Egyptians feared that if there was a war the Israelites would join their enemies and fight against them. So the king made them slaves, and set taskmasters over them to make them work. "And they made their lives bitter with hard bondage, in mortar, and in brick, and in all manner of service in the field." They thought that by their cruelty and the hard work in the fields, they would stop the Israelites from increasing in the land. "But the more they afflicted them, the more they multiplied and grew." Then the cruel king commanded that all the boys should be killed at their birth. But even this plan did not succeed. The Israelites still increased in the land. It was at this time that Moses was born. For three months he was carefully hidden at home and cared for by his mother. But she dared not keep him there any longer. So she made an ark of bulrushes, and laying the babe in it, hid it among the flags by the river. His sister Miriam anxiously watched the little ark while the mother prayed earnestly that her child might not be destroyed. God heard the mother's prayer, for the babe in the little ark was to be used by the Lord to deliver Israel from bondage. One day the daughter of the king came to the river to bathe. She saw the ark, and sent one of her maids to bring it. When she opened it and saw the beautiful child, she knew why it was there, and said, "This is one of the Hebrews' children." And the child wept, and Pharaoh's daughter pitied it. Then Miriam came near and said to Pharaoh's daughter, "Shall I go and call to thee a nurse of the Hebrew women, that she may nurse the child for thee? And Pharaoh's daughter said to her, Go. And the maid went and called the child's mother. "And Pharaoh's daughter said unto her, Take this child away, and nurse it for me, and I will give thee thy wages." How glad the mother was to again have the care of her own child. He was now safe, for he was the adopted son of Pharaoh's daughter. And better still, he was in the home of his own parents. The mother had the care of her boy until he was about twelve years old. During these years she taught him carefully about the true God. These lessons he never forgot. They kept him pure and free from the wickedness and idolatry which surrounded him in after years. From his humble home he was taken to the royal palace, and became the son of Pharaoh's daughter. "And she called his name Moses," which means, _drawn out_. For, she said, "I drew him out of the water." In his royal home he was trained in all the learning of the Egyptians.