Exodus 1
New American Standard Bible
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 [b]All the people who descended from Jacob were (B)seventy [c]people, but Joseph was already in Egypt. 6 And (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 And (F)he said to his people, “Behold, the people of the sons of Israel are [f]too many and too mighty for us. 10 Come, let us (G)deal [g]shrewdly with them, otherwise they will multiply, and [h]in the event of war, they will also join those who hate us, and fight against us and [i]depart from the land.” 11 So they appointed (H)taskmasters over them to oppress them with [j](I)hard labor. And they built for Pharaoh (J)storage cities, Pithom and (K)Raamses. 12 But the more they oppressed them, (L)the more they multiplied and the more they [k]spread out, so that they dreaded the sons of Israel. 13 The Egyptians [l]used violence to compel the sons of Israel (M)to labor; 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 violently had them perform as slaves.
15 Then the king of Egypt spoke to the Hebrew midwives, one of whom [m]was named Shiphrah, and the other [n]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 [o](P)feared God, and (Q)did not do as the king of Egypt had [p]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 like the Egyptian women; for they are vigorous and give birth before the midwife [q]can get to them.” 20 So (R)God was good to the midwives, and (S)the people multiplied, and became very [r]mighty. 21 And because the midwives [s](T)feared God, He [t](U)established [u]households for them. 22 Then Pharaoh commanded all his people, saying, “(V)Every son who is born, [v]you are to throw into (W)the Nile, but every daughter, you are to keep alive.”
Footnotes
- Exodus 1:1 Lit and
- Exodus 1:5 Lit Every soul
- Exodus 1:5 Lit souls
- Exodus 1:7 Lit swarmed
- Exodus 1:7 Or numerous
- Exodus 1:9 Or more and mightier than we
- Exodus 1:10 Or wisely
- Exodus 1:10 Lit it will come about when war occurs that
- Exodus 1:10 Lit go up from
- Exodus 1:11 Lit their burdens
- Exodus 1:12 Lit broke forth
- Exodus 1:13 Lit with violence compelled
- 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 ancient versions insert to the Hebrews
Exodus 1
International Standard Version
The Israelis Prosper in Egypt
1 These are the names of the Israelis[a] who entered Egypt with Jacob, each one having come with his family:[b] 2 Reuben, Simeon, Levi, Judah, 3 Issacar, Zebulun, Benjamin, 4 Dan, Naphtali, Gad, and Asher. 5 All those who descended from[c] Jacob totaled 75 persons.[d] Now Joseph was already[e] in Egypt. 6 Then Joseph, all his brothers, and that entire generation died. 7 But the Israelis were fruitful and increased abundantly.[f] They multiplied in numbers and became very, very strong. As a result, the land was filled with them.
The Israelis Become Slaves
8 Eventually a new king who was unacquainted with Joseph came to power in[g] Egypt. 9 He told his people, “Look, the Israeli people are more numerous and more powerful than we are. 10 Come on, let’s be careful how we treat them, so that when they grow numerous, if a war breaks out they won’t join our enemies, fight against us, and leave our land.” 11 So the Egyptians[h] placed supervisors over them, oppressing them with heavy burdens. The Israelis[i] built the supply cities of Pithom and Rameses for Pharaoh. 12 But the more the Egyptians afflicted the Israelis,[j] the more they multiplied and flourished, so that the Egyptians[k] became terrified of[l] the Israelis. 13 The Egyptians ruthlessly forced the Israelis to serve them, 14 making their lives bitter through hard labor with mortar, bricks, and all kinds of outdoor labor. They ruthlessly imposed all this[m] work on them.
Pharaoh Orders Male Children Killed
15 Later, the king of Egypt spoke to the Hebrew midwives, one of whom was named Shiphrah and the other Puah. 16 “When you help the Hebrew women give birth,” he said, “watch them as they deliver.[n] If it’s a son, kill him; but if it’s a daughter, let her live.” 17 But the midwives feared God and didn’t do what the king of Egypt told them. Instead,[o] they let the boys live.
18 When the king of Egypt called for the midwives, he asked them, “Why have you done this[p] and allowed the boys to live?”
19 “Hebrew women aren’t like Egyptian women,” the midwives replied to Pharaoh. “They’re so healthy that they give birth before the midwives arrive to help[q] them.”
20 God was pleased with the midwives, and the people multiplied and became very strong. 21 Because the midwives feared God, he provided families[r] for them. 22 Meanwhile, Pharaoh continued commanding all of his people, “You’re to throw every Hebrew[s] son who is born into the Nile River,[t] but you’re to allow every Hebrew[u] daughter to live.”
Footnotes
- Exodus 1:1 Lit. the sons of Israel and so throughout the book
- Exodus 1:1 Or household
- Exodus 1:5 Lit. came out of the loins of
- Exodus 1:5 So with DSS and LXX. MT reads 70
- Exodus 1:5 The Heb. lacks already
- Exodus 1:7 Lit. swarmed
- Exodus 1:8 Lit. arose over
- Exodus 1:11 Lit. they
- Exodus 1:11 Lit. They
- Exodus 1:12 Lit. them
- Exodus 1:12 Lit. they
- Exodus 1:12 Or came to loathe
- Exodus 1:14 Lit. their
- Exodus 1:16 Lit. them on the birth stool
- Exodus 1:17 The Heb. lacks Instead
- Exodus 1:18 Lit. this thing
- Exodus 1:19 The Heb. lacks to help
- Exodus 1:21 Or households; lit. houses
- Exodus 1:22 The Heb. lacks Hebrew
- Exodus 1:22 The Heb. lacks River
- Exodus 1:22 The Heb. lacks Hebrew
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