Exodus 1:8-10

New Catholic Bible

Harsh Condition of the Children of Israel.^[a] ⁸Then a new king arose in Egypt who had not known Joseph. ⁹He said to his people, “Behold, the children of Israel are very numerous and more powerful than we are. ¹⁰Let us deal wisely with them lest they continue to multiply. Otherwise, if there were a war, they would join our enemies and battle against us and then escape from the land.”

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Footnotes

Exodus 1:8 The Pharaoh, probably Rameses II (1298–1232 B.C.), becomes worried when he sees the proliferation of the Hebrews and takes various measures to exterminate this race and doubtless other Asiatic populations. The children of Israel who left Egypt are said to number 600,000, “not including children” (Ex 12:37). Works of the kind that the Hebrews are compelled to do are illustrated in Egyptian paintings of that period, even if these do not picture actual groups of the Patriarchs’ descendants.

Exodus 1:8-10

New King James Version

⁸Now there arose a new king over Egypt, ^(A)who did not know Joseph. ⁹And he said to his people, “Look, the people of the children of Israel are more and ^(B)mightier than we; ¹⁰^(C)come, let us ^(D)deal shrewdly with them, lest they multiply, and it happen, in the event of war, that they also join our enemies and fight against us, and so go up out of the land.”

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Exodus 1:8-10

English Standard Version

Pharaoh Oppresses Israel

⁸Now there arose a new king over Egypt, ^(A)who did not know Joseph. ⁹And he said to his people, “Behold, ^(B)the people of Israel are too many and too mighty for us. ¹⁰^(C)Come, ^(D)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.”