Exodus 1

1 These are the names of the sons of Israel who went to Egypt with Jacob, each with his family:

And these [are] the names of the sons of Israel who are coming into Egypt; each man and his household have come with Jacob:

2 Reuben, Simeon, Levi, and Judah;

Reuben, Simeon, Levi, and Judah,

3 Issachar, Zebulun, and Benjamin;

Issachar, Zebulun, and Benjamin,

4 Dan and Naphtali; Gad and Asher.

Dan, and Naphtali, Gad, and Asher.

5 The descendants of Jacob numbered seventy in all, including Joseph, who was already in Egypt.

And all the persons coming out of the thigh of Jacob are seventy persons; as for Joseph, he was in Egypt.

6 Now Joseph and all his brothers and all that generation died,

And Joseph dies, and all his brothers, and all that generation;

7 but the Israelites were fruitful and increased rapidly; they multiplied and became exceedingly numerous, so that the land was filled with them.

and the sons of Israel have been fruitful, and they teem, and multiply, and are very, very mighty, and the land is filled with them.

8 Then a new king, who did not know Joseph, came to power in Egypt.

And there rises a new king over Egypt, who has not known Joseph,

9 “Look,” he said to his people, “the Israelites have become too numerous and too powerful for us.

and he says to his people, “Behold, the people of the sons of Israel [are] more numerous and mighty than we.

10 Come, let us deal shrewdly with them, or they will increase even more; and if a war breaks out, they may join our enemies, fight against us, and leave the country.”

Give help! Let us act wisely concerning it, lest it multiply, and it has come to pass, when war happens, that it has been joined, even it, to those hating us, and has fought against us, and has gone up out of the land.”

11 So the Egyptians appointed taskmasters over the Israelites to oppress them with forced labor. As a result, they built Pithom and Rameses as store cities for Pharaoh.

And they set princes of tribute over it, so as to afflict it with their burdens, and it builds the store-cities of Pithom and Rameses for Pharaoh;

12 But the more they were oppressed, the more they multiplied and flourished; so the Egyptians came to dread the Israelites.

and as they afflict it, so it multiplies, and so it breaks forth, and they are distressed because of the sons of Israel;

13 They worked the Israelites ruthlessly

and the Egyptians cause the sons of Israel to serve with rigor,

14 and made their lives bitter with hard labor in brick and mortar, and with all kinds of work in the fields. Every service they imposed was harsh.

and make their lives bitter in hard service, in clay, and in brick, and in every [kind] of service in the field; all their service in which they have served [is] with rigor.

15 Then the king of Egypt said to the Hebrew midwives, whose names were Shiphrah and Puah,

And the king of Egypt speaks to the midwives, the Hebrewesses (of whom the name of the first [is] Shiphrah, and the name of the second Puah),

16 “When you help the Hebrew women give birth, observe them on the birthstools. If the child is a son, kill him; but if it is a daughter, let her live.”

and says, “When you cause the Hebrew women to bear, and have looked on the children, if it [is] a son, then you have put him to death; and if it [is] a daughter, then she has lived.”

17 The midwives, however, feared God and did not do as the king of Egypt had instructed; they let the boys live.

And the midwives fear God, and have not done as the king of Egypt has spoken to them, and they keep the boys alive;

18 So the king of Egypt summoned the midwives and asked them, “Why have you done this? Why have you let the boys live?”

and the king of Egypt calls for the midwives and says to them, “Why have you done this thing, and keep the boys alive?”

19 The midwives answered Pharaoh, “The Hebrew women are not like the Egyptian women, for they are vigorous and give birth before a midwife arrives.”

And the midwives say to Pharaoh, “Because the Hebrew women [are] not as the Egyptian women, for they [are] lively; before the midwife comes to them—they have borne!”

20 So God was good to the midwives, and the people multiplied and became even more numerous.

And God does good to the midwives, and the people multiply, and are very mighty;

21 And because the midwives feared God, He gave them families of their own.

and it comes to pass, because the midwives have feared God, that He makes households for them;

22 Then Pharaoh commanded all his people: “Every son born to the Hebrews you must throw into the Nile, but every daughter you may allow to live.”

and Pharaoh lays a charge on all his people, saying, “Every son who is born—you cast him into the River, and every daughter you keep alive.”