Exodus 1
World English Bible
1 Now these are the names of the sons of Israel, who 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 All the souls who came out of Jacob’s body were seventy souls, and Joseph was in Egypt already. 6 Joseph died, as did all his brothers, and all that generation. 7 The children of Israel were fruitful, and increased abundantly, and multiplied, and grew exceedingly mighty; and the land was filled with them.
8 Now there arose a new king over Egypt, who didn’t know Joseph. 9 He said to his people, “Behold,[a] the people of the children of Israel are more and mightier than we. 10 Come, let’s deal wisely with them, lest they multiply, and it happen that when any war breaks out, they also join themselves to our enemies and fight against us, and escape out of the land.” 11 Therefore they set taskmasters over them to afflict them with their burdens. They built storage cities for Pharaoh: Pithom and Raamses. 12 But the more they afflicted them, the more they multiplied and the more they spread out. They started to dread the children of Israel. 13 The Egyptians ruthlessly made the children of Israel serve, 14 and they made their lives bitter with hard service in mortar and in brick, and in all kinds of service in the field, all their service, in which they ruthlessly made them serve.
15 The king of Egypt spoke to the Hebrew midwives, of whom the name of the one was Shiphrah, and the name of the other Puah, 16 and he said, “When you perform the duty of a midwife to the Hebrew women, and see them on the birth stool, if it is a son, then you shall kill him; but if it is a daughter, then she shall live.” 17 But the midwives feared God,[b] and didn’t do what the king of Egypt commanded them, but saved the baby boys alive. 18 The king of Egypt called for the midwives, and said to them, “Why have you done this thing and saved the boys alive?”
19 The midwives said to Pharaoh, “Because the Hebrew women aren’t like the Egyptian women; for they are vigorous and give birth before the midwife comes to them.”
20 God dealt well with the midwives, and the people multiplied, and grew very mighty. 21 Because the midwives feared God, he gave them families. 22 Pharaoh commanded all his people, saying, “You shall cast every son who is born into the river, and every daughter you shall save alive.”
Exodus 1
Expanded Bible
Jacob’s Family Grows Strong
1 When Jacob went to Egypt, he took his sons, and ·each son took his own family [L …their households] with him. These are the names of the sons of Israel: 2 Reuben, Simeon, Levi, Judah, 3 Issachar, Zebulun, Benjamin, 4 Dan, Naphtali, Gad, and Asher. 5 There was a total of seventy people who ·were descendants [L came out of the loins/thigh] of Jacob [Gen. 46:26–27]. Jacob’s son Joseph was already in Egypt.
6 Some time later, Joseph and his brothers died, along with all ·the people who had lived at that same time [L that generation]. 7 But the ·people [L sons; children] of Israel ·had many children [L were fruitful], and ·their number grew greatly [L they became a teeming swarm and multiplied]. They became very strong, and the ·country of Egypt [L land] was filled with them [Gen. 1:28].
Trouble for the People of Israel
8 Then a new king ·began to rule [L rose over] Egypt, who did not know who Joseph was [C identification uncertain; may refer to Ahmose in 16th century bc]. 9 ·This king [L He] said to his people, “Look! The people of Israel are too many and ·too strong for us to handle [L stronger than us]! 10 If we don’t ·make plans against [deal wisely/shrewdly with] them, the number of their people will grow even more. Then if there is a war, they might join ·our enemies [L those who hate us] and fight us and ·escape [L go up] from the country!”
11 So ·the Egyptians made life hard for the Israelites [L they afflicted/oppressed them with hard labor]. They put slave masters over them, who forced the Israelites to build the cities Pithom and Rameses as ·supply centers [storage cities] for ·the king [L Pharaoh]. 12 But the harder ·the Egyptians forced the Israelites to work [L they afflicted/oppressed them], the more ·the Israelites grew in number [they multiplied] and spread out. So ·the Egyptians became very afraid of them [L they dreaded the sons/T children of Israel] 13 and ·demanded even more of them [L the Egyptians ruthlessly forced the sons/T children of Israel to labor]. 14 They made their lives ·bitter [miserable]. They forced the Israelites to work hard to make bricks and mortar and to do all kinds of work in the fields. ·The Egyptians were not merciful to them in all their painful work [L They ruthlessly forced them to work].
15 Two Hebrew ·nurses [midwives] named Shiphrah and Puah were told by the king [C not the Pharaoh of 1:8; perhaps fifteenth or thirteenth century bc—if the latter, probably Rameses], 16 “When you ·are helping the Hebrew women give birth to their babies [act as midwives for the Hebrew women], ·watch [observe them on the birthstool; or look at the stones; C a euphemism for testicles]! If the baby is a girl, let her live, but if it is a boy, kill him!” 17 But the ·nurses [midwives] feared God, so they did not do as the king [L of Egypt] told them; they let all the boy babies live. 18 Then the king of Egypt sent for the ·nurses [midwives] and said, “Why did you do this? Why did you let the boys live?”
19 The ·nurses [midwives] said to ·him [L Pharaoh], “The Hebrew women are ·much stronger than [L not like] the Egyptian women. They are ·strong [vigorous; hardy]. They give birth to their babies before we can get there.” 20 God ·was good [showed favor] to the ·nurses [midwives]. And the Hebrew people continued to grow in number, so they became even stronger. 21 Because the ·nurses [midwives] feared God [Prov. 1:7], he gave them families of their own.
22 So ·the king [L Pharaoh] commanded all his people, “Every time a boy is born to the Hebrews, you must throw him into the Nile River, but let all the girl babies live.”
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