Exodus 1
King James Version
1 Now these are the names of the children of Israel, which came into Egypt; every man and his household came with Jacob.
2 Reuben, Simeon, Levi, and Judah,
3 Issachar, Zebulun, and Benjamin,
4 Dan, and Naphtali, Gad, and Asher.
5 And all the souls that came out of the loins of Jacob were seventy souls: for Joseph was in Egypt already.
6 And Joseph died, and all his brethren, and all that generation.
7 And the children of Israel were fruitful, and increased abundantly, and multiplied, and waxed exceeding mighty; and the land was filled with them.
8 Now there arose up a new king over Egypt, which knew not Joseph.
9 And he said unto his people, Behold, the people of the children of Israel are more and mightier than we:
10 Come on, let us deal wisely with them; lest they multiply, and it come to pass, that, when there falleth out any war, they join also unto our enemies, and fight against us, and so get them up out of the land.
11 Therefore they did set over them taskmasters to afflict them with their burdens. And they built for Pharaoh treasure cities, Pithom and Raamses.
12 But the more they afflicted them, the more they multiplied and grew. And they were grieved because of the children of Israel.
13 And the Egyptians made the children of Israel to serve with rigour:
14 And they made their lives bitter with hard bondage, in morter, and in brick, and in all manner of service in the field: all their service, wherein they made them serve, was with rigour.
15 And the king of Egypt spake to the Hebrew midwives, of which the name of the one was Shiphrah, and the name of the other Puah:
16 And he said, When ye do the office of a midwife to the Hebrew women, and see them upon the stools; if it be a son, then ye shall kill him: but if it be a daughter, then she shall live.
17 But the midwives feared God, and did not as the king of Egypt commanded them, but saved the men children alive.
18 And the king of Egypt called for the midwives, and said unto them, Why have ye done this thing, and have saved the men children alive?
19 And the midwives said unto Pharaoh, Because the Hebrew women are not as the Egyptian women; for they are lively, and are delivered ere the midwives come in unto them.
20 Therefore God dealt well with the midwives: and the people multiplied, and waxed very mighty.
21 And it came to pass, because the midwives feared God, that he made them houses.
22 And Pharaoh charged all his people, saying, Every son that is born ye shall cast into the river, and every daughter ye shall save alive.
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Exodus 1
New International Version
The Israelites Oppressed
1 These are the names of the sons of Israel(A) who went to Egypt with Jacob, each with his family: 2 Reuben, Simeon, Levi and Judah; 3 Issachar, Zebulun and Benjamin; 4 Dan and Naphtali; Gad and Asher.(B) 5 The descendants of Jacob numbered seventy[a] in all;(C) Joseph was already in Egypt.
6 Now Joseph and all his brothers and all that generation died,(D) 7 but the Israelites were exceedingly fruitful; they multiplied greatly, increased in numbers(E) and became so numerous that the land was filled with them.
8 Then a new king, to whom Joseph meant nothing, came to power in Egypt.(F) 9 “Look,” he said to his people, “the Israelites have become far too numerous(G) for us.(H) 10 Come, we must deal shrewdly(I) with them or they will become even more numerous and, if war breaks out, will join our enemies, fight against us and leave the country.”(J)
11 So they put slave masters(K) over them to oppress them with forced labor,(L) and they built Pithom and Rameses(M) as store cities(N) for Pharaoh. 12 But the more they were oppressed, the more they multiplied and spread; so the Egyptians came to dread the Israelites 13 and worked them ruthlessly.(O) 14 They made their lives bitter with harsh labor(P) in brick(Q) and mortar and with all kinds of work in the fields; in all their harsh labor the Egyptians worked them ruthlessly.(R)
15 The king of Egypt said to the Hebrew midwives,(S) whose names were Shiphrah and Puah, 16 “When you are helping the Hebrew women during childbirth on the delivery stool, if you see that the baby is a boy, kill him; but if it is a girl, let her live.”(T) 17 The midwives, however, feared(U) God and did not do what the king of Egypt had told them to do;(V) they let the boys live. 18 Then the king of Egypt summoned the midwives and asked them, “Why have you done this? Why have you let the boys live?”
19 The midwives answered Pharaoh, “Hebrew women are not like Egyptian women; they are vigorous and give birth before the midwives arrive.”(W)
20 So God was kind to the midwives(X) and the people increased and became even more numerous. 21 And because the midwives feared(Y) God, he gave them families(Z) of their own.
22 Then Pharaoh gave this order to all his people: “Every Hebrew boy that is born you must throw into the Nile,(AA) but let every girl live.”(AB)
Footnotes
- Exodus 1:5 Masoretic Text (see also Gen. 46:27); Dead Sea Scrolls and Septuagint (see also Acts 7:14 and note at Gen. 46:27) seventy-five
Exodus 1
English Standard Version
Israel Increases Greatly in Egypt
1 (A)These are the names of the sons of Israel who came to Egypt with Jacob, each with his household: 2 Reuben, Simeon, Levi, and Judah, 3 Issachar, Zebulun, and Benjamin, 4 Dan and Naphtali, Gad and Asher. 5 All the descendants of Jacob were (B)seventy persons; Joseph was already in Egypt. 6 Then (C)Joseph died, and all his brothers and all that generation. 7 (D)But the people of Israel were fruitful and increased greatly; they multiplied and grew exceedingly strong, so that the land was filled with them.
Pharaoh Oppresses Israel
8 Now there arose a new king over Egypt, (E)who did not know Joseph. 9 And he said to his people, “Behold, (F)the people of Israel are too many and too mighty for us. 10 (G)Come, (H)let us deal shrewdly with them, lest they multiply, and, if war breaks out, they join our enemies and fight against us and escape from the land.” 11 Therefore they set taskmasters over them (I)to afflict them with heavy (J)burdens. They built for Pharaoh (K)store cities, Pithom and (L)Raamses. 12 But the more they were oppressed, the more they multiplied and the more they spread abroad. And the Egyptians were in dread of the people of Israel. 13 So they ruthlessly made the people of Israel (M)work as slaves 14 and (N)made their lives bitter with hard service, in mortar and brick, and in all kinds of work in the field. In all their work they ruthlessly made them work as slaves.
15 Then the king of Egypt said to the Hebrew midwives, one of whom was named Shiphrah and the other Puah, 16 “When you serve as midwife to the Hebrew women and see them on the birthstool, if it is a son, you shall kill him, but if it is a daughter, she shall live.” 17 But the midwives (O)feared God and did not do as the king of Egypt commanded them, but let the male children live. 18 So the king of Egypt called the midwives and said to them, “Why have you done this, and let the male children live?” 19 The midwives said to Pharaoh, “Because the Hebrew women are not like the Egyptian women, for they are vigorous and give birth before the midwife comes to them.” 20 (P)So God dealt well with the midwives. And the people multiplied and grew very strong. 21 And because the midwives feared God, (Q)he gave them families. 22 Then Pharaoh commanded all his people, (R)“Every son that is born to the Hebrews[a] you shall cast into (S)the Nile, but you shall let every daughter live.”
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- Exodus 1:22 Samaritan, Septuagint, Targum; Hebrew lacks to the Hebrews
Exodus 1
Christian Standard Bible
Israel Oppressed in Egypt
1 These are the names of the sons of Israel who came to Egypt with Jacob; each came with his family:(A)
2 Reuben, Simeon, Levi, and Judah;
3 Issachar, Zebulun, and Benjamin;
4 Dan and Naphtali; Gad and Asher.
5 The total number of Jacob’s descendants[a] was seventy;[b](B) Joseph was already in Egypt.
6 Joseph and all his brothers and all that generation eventually died.(C) 7 But the Israelites were fruitful, increased rapidly, multiplied, and became extremely numerous(D) so that the land was filled with them.
8 A new king, who did not know about Joseph, came to power in Egypt. 9 He said to his people, “Look, the Israelite people are more numerous and powerful than we are.(E) 10 Come, let’s deal shrewdly with them; otherwise they will multiply further, and when war breaks out, they will join our enemies, fight against us, and leave the country.”(F) 11 So the Egyptians assigned taskmasters over the Israelites to oppress them with forced labor.(G) They built Pithom and Rameses as supply cities(H) for Pharaoh. 12 But the more they oppressed them, the more they multiplied and spread so that the Egyptians came to dread[c] the Israelites. 13 They worked the Israelites ruthlessly(I) 14 and made their lives bitter with difficult labor in brick and mortar and in all kinds of fieldwork. They ruthlessly imposed all this work on them.(J)
15 The king of Egypt said to the Hebrew midwives—the first, whose name was Shiphrah, and the second, whose name was Puah— 16 “When you help the Hebrew women give birth, observe them as they deliver. If the child is a son, kill him, but if it’s a daughter, she may live.” 17 The midwives, however, feared God(K) and did not do as the king of Egypt had told them;(L) they let the boys live. 18 So the king of Egypt summoned the midwives and asked them, “Why have you done this and let the boys live?”
19 The midwives said to Pharaoh, “The Hebrew women are not like the Egyptian women, for they are vigorous and give birth before the midwife can get to them.”(M)
20 So God was good to the midwives,(N) and the people multiplied and became very numerous. 21 Since the midwives feared God, he gave them families.(O) 22 Pharaoh then commanded all his people, “You must throw every son born to the Hebrews into the Nile, but let every daughter live.”(P)
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Exodus 1
New American Standard Bible 1995
Israel Multiplies in Egypt
1 Now these are the (A)names of the sons of Israel who came to Egypt with Jacob; they came each one [a]with his household: 2 Reuben, Simeon, Levi and Judah; 3 Issachar, Zebulun and Benjamin; 4 Dan and Naphtali, Gad and Asher. 5 All the [b]persons who came from the loins of Jacob were (B)seventy [c]in number, but Joseph was already in Egypt. 6 (C)Joseph died, and all his brothers and all that generation. 7 But the sons of Israel (D)were fruitful and [d]increased greatly, and multiplied, and became exceedingly [e]mighty, so that the land was filled with them.
8 Now a new (E)king arose over Egypt, who did not know Joseph. 9 (F)He said to his people, “Behold, the people of the sons of Israel are [f]more and mightier than we. 10 Come, let us (G)deal wisely with them, or else they will multiply and [g]in the event of war, they will also join themselves to those who hate us, and fight against us and [h]depart from the land.” 11 So they appointed (H)taskmasters over them to afflict them with [i](I)hard labor. And they built for Pharaoh (J)storage cities, Pithom and (K)Raamses. 12 But the more they afflicted them, (L)the more they multiplied and the more they [j]spread out, so that they were in dread of the sons of Israel. 13 The Egyptians compelled the sons of Israel (M)to labor rigorously; 14 and they made (N)their lives bitter with hard labor in mortar and bricks and at all kinds of labor in the field, all their labors which they rigorously [k]imposed on them.
15 Then the king of Egypt spoke to the Hebrew midwives, one of whom [l]was named Shiphrah and the other [m]was named Puah; 16 and he said, “When you are helping the Hebrew women to give birth and see them upon the birthstool, (O)if it is a son, then you shall put him to death; but if it is a daughter, then she shall live.” 17 But the midwives [n](P)feared God, and (Q)did not do as the king of Egypt had [o]commanded them, but let the boys live. 18 So the king of Egypt called for the midwives and said to them, “Why have you done this thing, and let the boys live?” 19 The midwives said to Pharaoh, “Because the Hebrew women are not as the Egyptian women; for they are vigorous and give birth before the midwife [p]can get to them.” 20 So (R)God was good to the midwives, and (S)the people multiplied, and became very [q]mighty. 21 Because the midwives [r](T)feared God, He [s](U)established [t]households for them. 22 Then Pharaoh commanded all his people, saying, “(V)Every son who is born [u]you are to cast into (W)the Nile, and every daughter you are to keep alive.”
Read full chapterFootnotes
- Exodus 1:1 Lit and
- Exodus 1:5 Lit souls
- Exodus 1:5 Lit as to souls
- Exodus 1:7 Lit swarmed
- Exodus 1:7 Or numerous
- Exodus 1:9 Or too many and too mighty for us
- Exodus 1:10 Lit it came about when war befalls that
- Exodus 1:10 Lit go up from
- Exodus 1:11 Lit their burdens
- Exodus 1:12 Lit broke forth
- Exodus 1:14 Lit worked through them
- Exodus 1:15 Lit the name was
- Exodus 1:15 Lit the name was
- Exodus 1:17 Or revered
- Exodus 1:17 Lit spoken to
- Exodus 1:19 Lit comes to
- Exodus 1:20 Or numerous
- Exodus 1:21 Or revered
- Exodus 1:21 Lit made
- Exodus 1:21 Or families
- Exodus 1:22 Some versions insert to the Hebrews
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