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These are the names of the sons of Israel who came to Egypt with Jacob, each with his household: Reuben, Simeon, Levi, and Judah, Issachar, Zebulun, and Benjamin, Dan and Naphtali, Gad and Asher. The total number of people born to Jacob was seventy. Joseph was already in Egypt. Then Joseph died, and all his brothers, and that whole generation. But the Israelites were fruitful and prolific; they multiplied and grew exceedingly strong, so that the land was filled with them.

The Israelites Are Oppressed

Now a new king arose over Egypt, who did not know Joseph. He said to his people, ‘Look, the Israelite people are more numerous and more powerful than we. 10 Come, let us deal shrewdly with them, or they will increase and, in the event of war, join our enemies and fight against us and escape from the land.’ 11 Therefore they set taskmasters over them to oppress them with forced labour. They built supply cities, Pithom and Rameses, for Pharaoh. 12 But the more they were oppressed, the more they multiplied and spread, so that the Egyptians came to dread the Israelites. 13 The Egyptians became ruthless in imposing tasks on the Israelites, 14 and made their lives bitter with hard service in mortar and brick and in every kind of field labour. They were ruthless in all the tasks that they imposed on them.

15 The king of Egypt said to the Hebrew midwives, one of whom was named Shiphrah and the other Puah, 16 ‘When you act as midwives to the Hebrew women, and see them on the birthstool, if it is a boy, kill him; but if it is a girl, she shall live.’ 17 But the midwives feared God; they did not do as the king of Egypt commanded them, but they let the boys live. 18 So the king of Egypt summoned the midwives and said to them, ‘Why have you done this, and allowed the boys to 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 comes to them.’ 20 So God dealt well with the midwives; and the people multiplied and became very strong. 21 And because the midwives feared God, he gave them families. 22 Then Pharaoh commanded all his people, ‘Every boy that is born to the Hebrews[a] you shall throw into the Nile, but you shall let every girl live.’

Footnotes

  1. Exodus 1:22 Sam Gk Tg: Heb lacks to the Hebrews

These are the names of the Israelites who came to Egypt with Jacob along with their households: Reuben, Simeon, Levi, and Judah, Issachar, Zebulun, and Benjamin, Dan and Naphtali, Gad and Asher. The total number in Jacob’s family was seventy. Joseph was already in Egypt. Eventually, Joseph, his brothers, and everyone in his generation died. But the Israelites were fertile and became populous. They multiplied and grew dramatically, filling the whole land.

Israel is oppressed

Now a new king came to power in Egypt who didn’t know Joseph. He said to his people, “The Israelite people are now larger in number and stronger than we are. 10 Come on, let’s be smart and deal with them. Otherwise, they will only grow in number. And if war breaks out, they will join our enemies, fight against us, and then escape from the land.” 11 As a result, the Egyptians put foremen of forced work gangs over the Israelites to harass them with hard work. They had to build storage cities named Pithom and Rameses for Pharaoh. 12 But the more they were oppressed, the more they grew and spread, so much so that the Egyptians started to look at the Israelites with disgust and dread. 13 So the Egyptians enslaved the Israelites. 14 They made their lives miserable with hard labor, making mortar and bricks, doing field work, and by forcing them to do all kinds of other cruel work.

15 The king of Egypt spoke to two Hebrew midwives named Shiphrah and Puah: 16 “When you are helping the Hebrew women give birth and you see the baby being born, if it’s a boy, kill him. But if it’s a girl, you can let her live.” 17 Now the two midwives respected God so they didn’t obey the Egyptian king’s order. Instead, they let the baby boys live.

18 So the king of Egypt called the two midwives and said to them, “Why are you doing this? Why are you letting the baby boys live?”

19 The two midwives said to Pharaoh, “Because Hebrew women aren’t like Egyptian women. They’re much stronger and give birth before any midwives can get to them.” 20 So God treated the midwives well, and the people kept on multiplying and became very strong. 21 And because the midwives respected God, God gave them households of their own.

22 Then Pharaoh gave an order to all his people: “Throw every baby boy born to the Hebrews into the Nile River, but you can let all the girls live.”

Israel’s Suffering in Egypt

Now (A)these are the names of the children of Israel who came to Egypt; each man and his household came with Jacob: Reuben, Simeon, Levi, and Judah; Issachar, Zebulun, and Benjamin; Dan, Naphtali, Gad, and Asher. All those [a]who were descendants of Jacob were (B)seventy[b] persons (for Joseph was in Egypt already). And (C)Joseph died, all his brothers, and all that generation. (D)But the children of Israel were fruitful and increased abundantly, multiplied and [c]grew exceedingly mighty; and the land was filled with them.

Now there arose a new king over Egypt, (E)who did not know Joseph. And he said to his people, “Look, the people of the children of Israel are more and (F)mightier than we; 10 (G)come, let us (H)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.” 11 Therefore they set taskmasters over them (I)to afflict them with their (J)burdens. And they built for Pharaoh (K)supply cities, Pithom (L)and Raamses. 12 But the more they afflicted them, the more they multiplied and grew. And they were in dread of the children of Israel. 13 So the Egyptians made the children of Israel (M)serve with [d]rigor. 14 And they (N)made their lives bitter with hard bondage—(O)in mortar, in brick, and in all manner of service in the field. All their service in which they made them serve was with rigor.

15 Then the king of Egypt spoke to the (P)Hebrew midwives, of whom the name of one was Shiphrah and the name of the other Puah; 16 and he said, “When you do the duties of a midwife for the Hebrew women, and see them on the birthstools, if it is a (Q)son, then you shall kill him; but if it is a daughter, then she shall live.” 17 But the midwives (R)feared God, and did not do (S)as the king of Egypt commanded them, but saved the male children alive. 18 So the king of Egypt called for the midwives and said to them, “Why have you done this thing, and saved the male children alive?”

19 And (T)the midwives said to Pharaoh, “Because the Hebrew women are not like the Egyptian women; for they [e]are lively and give birth before the midwives come to them.”

20 (U)Therefore God dealt well with the midwives, and the people multiplied and [f]grew very mighty. 21 And so it was, because the midwives feared God, (V)that He [g]provided households for them.

22 So Pharaoh commanded all his people, saying, (W)“Every son who is [h]born you shall cast into the river, and every daughter you shall save alive.”

Footnotes

  1. Exodus 1:5 Lit. who came from the loins of
  2. Exodus 1:5 DSS, LXX seventy-five; cf. Acts 7:14
  3. Exodus 1:7 became very numerous
  4. Exodus 1:13 harshness
  5. Exodus 1:19 have vigor of life, bear quickly, easily
  6. Exodus 1:20 became very numerous
  7. Exodus 1:21 gave them families
  8. Exodus 1:22 Sam., LXX, Tg. add to the Hebrews

The Israelites Oppressed

These are the names of the sons of Israel(A) who went to Egypt with Jacob, each with his family: Reuben, Simeon, Levi and Judah; Issachar, Zebulun and Benjamin; Dan and Naphtali; Gad and Asher.(B) The descendants of Jacob numbered seventy[a] in all;(C) Joseph was already in Egypt.

Now Joseph and all his brothers and all that generation died,(D) but the Israelites were exceedingly fruitful; they multiplied greatly, increased in numbers(E) and became so numerous that the land was filled with them.

Then a new king, to whom Joseph meant nothing, came to power in Egypt.(F) “Look,” he said to his people, “the Israelites have become far too numerous(G) for us.(H) 10 Come, we must deal shrewdly(I) with them or they will become even more numerous and, if war breaks out, will join our enemies, fight against us and leave the country.”(J)

11 So they put slave masters(K) over them to oppress them with forced labor,(L) and they built Pithom and Rameses(M) as store cities(N) for Pharaoh. 12 But the more they were oppressed, the more they multiplied and spread; so the Egyptians came to dread the Israelites 13 and worked them ruthlessly.(O) 14 They made their lives bitter with harsh labor(P) in brick(Q) and mortar and with all kinds of work in the fields; in all their harsh labor the Egyptians worked them ruthlessly.(R)

15 The king of Egypt said to the Hebrew midwives,(S) whose names were Shiphrah and Puah, 16 “When you are helping the Hebrew women during childbirth on the delivery stool, if you see that the baby is a boy, kill him; but if it is a girl, let her live.”(T) 17 The midwives, however, feared(U) God and did not do what the king of Egypt had told them to do;(V) they let the boys live. 18 Then the king of Egypt summoned the midwives and asked them, “Why have you done this? Why have you let the boys live?”

19 The midwives answered Pharaoh, “Hebrew women are not like Egyptian women; they are vigorous and give birth before the midwives arrive.”(W)

20 So God was kind to the midwives(X) and the people increased and became even more numerous. 21 And because the midwives feared(Y) God, he gave them families(Z) of their own.

22 Then Pharaoh gave this order to all his people: “Every Hebrew boy that is born you must throw into the Nile,(AA) but let every girl live.”(AB)

Footnotes

  1. Exodus 1:5 Masoretic Text (see also Gen. 46:27); Dead Sea Scrolls and Septuagint (see also Acts 7:14 and note at Gen. 46:27) seventy-five