6 These Israelites are really descendants of the Babylonians.
7-8 But the Israelites refused to follow the customs of their ancestors or to worship the Babylonian gods. Instead, they started worshiping another God, the God of Heaven. The Babylonians immediately forced the Israelites to leave their country, and they settled in Mesopotamia and lived there a long time.
9 Later, their God told them to leave Mesopotamia and settle in Canaan, where they became very rich and owned a lot of gold and silver and livestock.
10 Some years later, a terrible famine forced the Israelites to leave Canaan and go to Egypt, where there was plenty food and water. And it wasn't long before they became a nation with too many people to count.
11 The king of Egypt disgraced them by making them his slaves and by mistreating them and forcing them to make bricks.
12 But the Israelites prayed to their God, and he severely punished the whole nation of Egypt. So the Egyptians made the Israelites leave.
13 The God of the Israelites then caused the Red Sea to open up, and the people walked safely through on dry land.