Exodus 1
EasyEnglish Bible
Israel's family go to Egypt
1 Here are the names of the Israelites who went to Egypt with Jacob.[a] Each one went there with his family.
2 Jacob's sons were Reuben, Simeon, Levi and Judah, 3 Issachar, Zebulun and Benjamin, 4 Dan, Naphtali, Gad and Asher. 5 Jacob himself had 70 descendants. His other son, Joseph, was already in Egypt.
6 After some time, Joseph died. Joseph's brothers and all his generation also died. 7 But the Israelites had many children, so they grew into a very large family. They became very powerful. They were everywhere in the whole country.
8 Later, a new king began to rule in Egypt. He did not know anything about Joseph.[b] 9 He said to his people, ‘Look! The Israelites have become too many for us. They are more powerful than we are. 10 We must find a clever way to stop them. If we do nothing, their families will become even bigger. Then, if there is a war, they will join our enemies and they will fight against us. That will give the Israelites a chance to leave our country.’
11 So the Egyptians made the Israelites work as their slaves. The Egyptian masters made the Israelites do very hard work. They had to build cities for the king, Pharaoh, where he could store food for his people. The names of the cities were Pithom and Rameses.
12 The Egyptians made the Israelites work more and more. But the Israelites still became more in number. They had many children and they lived in every part of the country. Because of this, the Egyptians began to be afraid of them. 13 So the Egyptians made the Israelites work without any rest. 14 The Israelites became very upset because of all the difficult work. They had to build houses with bricks and mortar.[c] They also did many different kinds of work in the fields. The Egyptians made the Israelites do all this difficult work.
15 There were two Israelite women who helped the other women when they were giving birth. These two women were called Shiphrah and Puah. The king of Egypt said to them, 16 ‘When you help the Israelite women at the birth of their children, this is what you must do. If she gives birth to a son, kill him. But if the child is a daughter, you may let her live.’
17 But the two women respected God. So they did not do what the king of Egypt had told them. They obeyed God and they let the boys live.
18 Then the king of Egypt called the two women to come to him. He asked them, ‘Why have you done this? Why have you let the boys live?’ 19 The two women said to Pharaoh, ‘Israelite women are not like Egyptian women. Israelite women are very strong. They give birth to their babies very quickly, before we arrive at the house.’
20 Because the two women respected God, he was kind to them. The Israelite people continued to grow in number. They became very strong. 21 Because the two women obeyed God, he gave them families of their own.
22 Then Pharaoh spoke to all the Egyptian people. He said, ‘When an Israelite boy is born, you must throw him in the river Nile. But you can let the baby girls live.’
Footnotes
- 1:1 God gave Jacob a new name, ‘Israel’. See Genesis 32:28; 35:10. So Jacob's descendants were called Israelites.
- 1:8 The new king did not know what had happened before. He did not know that Joseph had given food to the Egyptians in a time of famine. See Genesis 37—50.
- 1:14 ‘mortar’ is a mixture of sand and other materials used to fix bricks together.
Exodus 1
Complete Jewish Bible
Parashah 13: Sh’mot (Names) 1:1–6:1
1 These are the names of the sons of Isra’el who came into Egypt with Ya‘akov; each man came with his household: 2 Re’uven, Shim‘on, Levi, Y’hudah, 3 Yissakhar, Z’vulun, Binyamin, 4 Dan, Naftali, Gad and Asher. 5 All told, there were seventy descendants of Ya‘akov; Yosef was already in Egypt.
6 Yosef died, as did all his brothers and all that generation. 7 The descendants of Isra’el were fruitful, increased abundantly, multiplied and grew very powerful; the land became filled with them.
8 Now there arose a new king over Egypt. He knew nothing about Yosef 9 but said to his people, “Look, the descendants of Isra’el have become a people too numerous and powerful for us. 10 Come, let’s use wisdom in dealing with them. Otherwise, they’ll continue to multiply; and in the event of war they might ally themselves with our enemies, fight against us and leave the land altogether.”
11 So they put slavemasters over them to oppress them with forced labor, and they built for Pharaoh the storage cities of Pitom and Ra‘amses. 12 But the more the Egyptians oppressed them, the more they multiplied and expanded, until the Egyptians came to dread the people of Isra’el 13 and worked them relentlessly, 14 making their lives bitter with hard labor — digging clay, making bricks, all kinds of field work; and in all this toil they were shown no mercy.
15 Moreover, the king of Egypt spoke to the Hebrew midwives, one of whom was called Shifrah and the other Pu‘ah. 16 “When you attend the Hebrew women and see them giving birth,” he said, “if it’s a boy, kill him; but if it’s a girl, let her live.” 17 However, the midwives were God-fearing women, so they didn’t do as the king of Egypt ordered but let the boys live. (ii) 18 The king of Egypt summoned the midwives and demanded of them, “Why have you done this and let the boys live?” 19 The midwives answered Pharaoh, “It’s because the Hebrew women aren’t like the Egyptian women — they go into labor and give birth before the midwife arrives.” 20 Therefore God prospered the midwives, and the people continued to multiply and grow very powerful. 21 Indeed, because the midwives feared God, he made them founders of families. 22 Then Pharaoh gave this order to all his people: “Every boy that is born, throw in the river; but let all the girls live.”
Exodus 1
Ang Salita ng Dios (Tagalog Contemporary Bible)
Inapi ang mga Israelita sa Egipto
1 Ito ang mga anak na lalaki ni Jacob[a] na sumama sa kanya sa Egipto, kasama ang kanilang mga pamilya: 2 sina Reuben, Simeon, Levi, Juda, 3 Isacar, Zebulun, Benjamin, 4 Dan, Naftali, Gad, at Asher. 5 Si Jose ay matagal nang nasa Egipto. Ang bilang ng lahat ng lahi ni Jacob na sumama sa kanya sa Egipto ay 70.
6 Dumating ang panahon na namatay si Jose at ang lahat ng kanyang kapatid, at lumipas na ang kanilang henerasyon 7 pero mabilis na dumami ang lahi nila. Sa sobrang dami nila, nangalat sila sa buong lupain ng Egipto.
8 Ngayon, nagkaroon ng bagong hari ang Egipto, na walang alam tungkol kay Jose. 9 Sinabi niya sa kanyang mga mamamayan, “Tingnan ninyo. Masyado nang marami ang mga Israelita at nanganganib tayo. 10 Dahil baka magkaroon ng digmaan at kumampi sila sa mga kaaway natin, at lumaban sa atin para makaalis sa ating bansa. Kaya maghanap tayo ng paraan para hindi na sila dumami pa.”
11 Kaya naglagay sila ng mahihigpit na tao na mamamahala sa mga Israelita para pahirapan sila at pagtrabahuhin nang mabigat. Ipinagawa sa mga Israelita ang mga lungsod ng Pitom at Rameses para magkaroon dito ng mga bodega ang Faraon.[b] 12 Pero habang patuloy silang pinahihirapan, lalo naman silang dumarami at nangangalat sa Egipto. Kaya lalong natakot ang mga taga-Egipto sa kanila. 13 Dahil dito, lalo pa nilang pinagmalupitan ang mga Israelita. 14 Wala silang awa sa mga ito. Pinahirapan nila ang mga Israelita sa paggawa ng mga tisa at pangsemento nito, at pinagtrabaho nang matindi sa bukid.
15 Pagkatapos, sinabi ng hari ng Egipto sa mga Hebreong kumadrona na sina Shifra at Pua, 16 “Kung magpapaanak kayo ng mga babaeng Hebreo, patayin ninyo kung lalaki ang anak, pero kung babae, huwag nʼyo nang patayin.” 17 Pero dahil may takot sa Dios ang mga kumadrona, hindi nila sinunod ang iniutos ng hari. Sa halip, hinahayaan nilang mabuhay ang mga sanggol na lalaki.
18 Kaya ipinatawag ng hari ng Egipto ang mga kumadrona at tinanong, “Bakit ninyo ito ginawa? Bakit hinahayaan ninyong mabuhay ang mga sanggol na lalaki?” 19 Sumagot sila, “Ang mga babaeng Hebreo ay hindi tulad ng mga babaeng Egipcio; madali silang manganak at bago pa po kami dumating, nakapanganak na sila.”
20 Kaya pinagpala ng Dios ang mga kumadrona at dumami pa nang dumami ang mga Israelita. 21 At dahil sa iginagalang ng mga kumadrona ang Dios, binigyan sila ng Dios ng sarili nilang pamilya.
22 Nang bandang huli, nag-utos ang Faraon sa lahat ng mamamayan niya, “Itapon ninyo sa Ilog ng Nilo ang lahat ng bagong panganak na sanggol na lalaki ng mga Israelita, pero pabayaan ninyong mabuhay ang mga batang babae.”
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