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Israel Multiplies in Egypt

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: Reuben, Simeon, Levi, and Judah; Issachar, Zebulun, and Benjamin; Dan and Naphtali, Gad and Asher. And all the [b]persons who came from the loins of Jacob were (B)seventy [c]in number, but Joseph was already in Egypt. (C)Then Joseph died, and all his brothers and all that generation. But the sons of Israel (D)were fruitful and [d]increased and multiplied and became exceedingly [e]mighty, so that the land was filled with them.

And a new (E)king arose over Egypt, who did not know Joseph. (F)And 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, lest they multiply and it be [g]in the event of war, that they also join themselves to those who hate us and fight against us and (H)go up from the land.” 11 So they appointed (I)taskmasters over them to afflict them with [h](J)hard labors. And they built for Pharaoh (K)storage cities, Pithom and (L)Raamses. 12 But the more they afflicted them, (M)the more they multiplied and the more they [i]spread out, so that they were in dread of the sons of Israel. 13 So the Egyptians brutally compelled the sons of Israel (N)to slave labor; 14 and they made (O)their lives bitter with [j]hard slave labor in mortar and bricks and in all kinds of slave labor in the field, all their slave labor which they brutally [k]compelled them to do.

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, (P)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](Q)feared God and (R)did not do as the king of Egypt had spoken to 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 Then 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 can come to them.” 20 So (S)God was good to the midwives, and (T)the people multiplied and became very [o]mighty. 21 Now it happened that because the midwives [p](U)feared God, He (V)made [q]households for them. 22 And Pharaoh commanded all his people, saying, “(W)Every son who is born [r]you are to cast into (X)the Nile, and every daughter you are to keep alive.”

Footnotes

  1. Exodus 1:1 Lit and
  2. Exodus 1:5 Lit souls
  3. Exodus 1:5 Lit as to souls
  4. Exodus 1:7 Lit swarmed, cf. Gen 1:21; Ex 8:2
  5. Exodus 1:7 Or numerous
  6. Exodus 1:9 Or too many and too mighty for us
  7. Exodus 1:10 Lit when war befalls that
  8. Exodus 1:11 Lit their burdens
  9. Exodus 1:12 Lit broke forth
  10. Exodus 1:14 Lit stiff
  11. Exodus 1:14 Lit worked through them
  12. Exodus 1:15 Lit the name was
  13. Exodus 1:15 Lit the name was
  14. Exodus 1:17 Or reverenced
  15. Exodus 1:20 Or numerous
  16. Exodus 1:21 Or reverenced
  17. Exodus 1:21 Or families
  18. Exodus 1:22 Some versions insert to the Hebrews

Israel Oppressed in Egypt

These are the names of the sons of Israel who came to Egypt with Jacob; each came with his family:(A)

Reuben, Simeon, Levi, and Judah;

Issachar, Zebulun, and Benjamin;

Dan and Naphtali; Gad and Asher.

The total number of Jacob’s descendants[a] was seventy;[b](B) Joseph was already in Egypt.

Joseph and all his brothers and all that generation eventually died.(C) But the Israelites were fruitful, increased rapidly, multiplied, and became extremely numerous(D) so that the land was filled with them.

A new king, who did not know about Joseph, came to power in Egypt. 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)

Footnotes

  1. 1:5 Lit of people issuing from Jacob’s loins
  2. 1:5 LXX, DSS read 75; Gn 46:27; Ac 7:14
  3. 1:12 Or Egyptians loathed