After Joseph and his family live and die in Egypt, Pharaoh Seti (Patrick Stewart) is overwhelmed by the amount of Hebrews and enslaves them with acts of cruelty. In Goshen, Yocheved and her children, Miriam, Aaron and the newborn son, Moses quickly move to the Nile where Yocheved sings a lullaby to Moses and leaves him in a basket. Miriam makes sure if Moses survived. Moses is picked up by Queen Tuya (Helen Mirren) and stays with Seti and his new brother, Rameses.
Decades later, Moses (Val Kilmer) and Rameses (Ralph Fiennes) cause mayhem throughout Egypt, to Seti's dismay. He punishes Rameses for the mischief, even though it was Moses' fault. Seti requests Moses and Rameses to go to the banquet, where they see a desert flower named Tzipporah (Michelle Pfeiffer). After the banquet, Moses sees his true siblings, Miriam (Sandra Bullock) and Aaron (Jeff Goldblum) and is very confused until he hears a familiar lullaby. He runs into the temple and sees hieroglyphics depicting the harsh acts against the Hebrews. Seti explains it to Moses and the latter is horrified.
A day later, Moses sees a Hebrew slave being repeatedly beaten and runs into the Egyptian guard, making him fall into the ground. Moses runs away by himself until he is briefly stopped by Rameses. Moses tells Rameses to ask the man he once called father. In the desert, Moses tears off his clothes and jewelry. He is picked up by a camel and sent to a tribe of Midianites, led by Tzipporah's father, Jethro (Danny Glover). Over the next few years, Moses becomes used to being a shepherd and marries Tzipporah.
One day, he follows a lone sheep to a burning bush. The voice from the burning bush is God who explains to Moses that he was chosen to lead to the Hebrews to a land filled with milk and honey. Moses and Tzipporah return to Egypt with her camel. Rameses is amazed by Moses' staff and hires Hotep (Steve Martin) and Huy (Martin Short) to use their magic but their snakes are eaten by Moses' staff. After the magic show, Moses talks to Rameses to let the Hebrews go. Moses gives Rameses' ring back as an apology.
After Rameses denies permission to let the Hebrews go again, Moses turns the Nile into blood. God summons eight more plagues to make Rameses less stubborn. At the ninth plague, Rameses and his son are fearful of Moses. God gives a message to the residents of Goshen to put the blood of a lamb on the door so God will passover their doors and smite the first-born children, including Rameses' son. Rameses is heartbroken and finally gives permission for Moses to let his people leave.
Moses and the Hebrews walk for many miles until they come upon the Red Sea, where Rameses and his army are chasing behind them. A pillar of fire appears to distract the Egyptians as Moses uses his staff to part the Red Sea. Halfway through the passage, the pillar of fire disappears and Rameses follows towards Moses until the water closes directly around him, killing his army and sending him back to Egypt, broken and defeated. Moses frees the Hebrews and brings them to Mount Sinai, and God gives him the Ten Commandments.
