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.(A) 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.”(B) 11 So the Egyptians assigned taskmasters over the Israelites to oppress them with forced labor.(C) They built Pithom and Rameses as supply cities(D) for Pharaoh. 12 But the more they oppressed them, the more they multiplied and spread so that the Egyptians came to dread[a] the Israelites. 13 They worked the Israelites ruthlessly(E) 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.(F)

Read full chapter

Footnotes

  1. 1:12 Or Egyptians loathed

The Israelis Become Slaves

Eventually a new king who was unacquainted with Joseph came to power in[a] Egypt. 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[b] placed supervisors over them, oppressing them with heavy burdens. The Israelis[c] built the supply cities of Pithom and Rameses for Pharaoh. 12 But the more the Egyptians afflicted the Israelis,[d] the more they multiplied and flourished, so that the Egyptians[e] became terrified of[f] 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[g] work on them.

Read full chapter

Footnotes

  1. Exodus 1:8 Lit. arose over
  2. Exodus 1:11 Lit. they
  3. Exodus 1:11 Lit. They
  4. Exodus 1:12 Lit. them
  5. Exodus 1:12 Lit. they
  6. Exodus 1:12 Or came to loathe
  7. Exodus 1:14 Lit. their