< Exodus 1 >
1 And these are the names of the sons of Israel who had come into Egypt; with Jacob had they come, each with his household:
Now these are the names of the sons of Israel who came into Egypt; every man and his family came 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 And all the souls that had come out of the loins of Jacob were seventy souls; and Joseph was in Egypt.
All the offspring of Jacob were seventy persons: and Joseph had come to Egypt before them.
6 And Joseph died, and all his brethren, and all that generation.
Then Joseph came to his end, and all his brothers, and all that generation.
7 And the children of Israel were fruitful, and swarmed and multiplied, and became exceeding strong; and the land was full of them.
And the children of Israel were fertile, increasing very greatly in numbers and in power; and the land was full of them.
8 And there arose a new king over Egypt, who did not know Joseph.
Now a new king came to power in Egypt, who had no knowledge of Joseph.
9 And he said to his people, Behold, the people of the children of Israel are more numerous and stronger than we.
And he said to his people, See, the people of Israel are greater in number and in power than we are:
10 Come on, let us deal wisely with them, lest they multiply, and it come to pass that, if war occur, they take side with our enemies and fight against us, and go up out of the land.
Let us take care for fear that their numbers may become even greater, and if there is a war, they may be joined with those who are against us, and make an attack on us, and go up out of the land.
11 And they set over them service-masters to oppress them with their burdens. And they built store-cities for Pharaoh, Pithom and Rameses.
So they put overseers of forced work over them, in order to make their strength less by the weight of their work. And they made store-towns for Pharaoh, Pithom and Raamses.
12 But the more they afflicted them, the more they multiplied and spread; and they were distressed because of the children of Israel.
But the more cruel they were to them, the more their number increased, till all the land was full of them. And the children of Israel were hated by the Egyptians.
13 And the Egyptians made the children of Israel serve with harshness;
And they gave the children of Israel even harder work to do:
14 and they embittered their life with hard labour in clay and bricks, and in all manner of labour in the field: all their labour with which they made them serve was with harshness.
And made their lives bitter with hard work, making building-material and bricks, and doing all sorts of work in the fields under the hardest conditions.
15 And the king of Egypt spoke to the Hebrew midwives — of whom the name of the one was Shiphrah, and the name of the other was Puah —
And the king of Egypt said to the Hebrew women who gave help at the time of childbirth (the name of the one was Shiphrah and the name of the other Puah),
16 and he said, When ye help the Hebrew women in bearing, and see [them] on the stool, if it be a son, then ye shall kill him, but if a daughter, then she shall live.
When you are looking after the Hebrew women in childbirth, if it is a son you are to put him to death; but if it is a daughter, she may go on living.
17 But the midwives feared God, and did not as the king of Egypt had said to them, but saved the male children alive.
But the women had the fear of God, and did not do as the king of Egypt said, but let the male children go on living.
18 And the king of Egypt called the midwives and said to them, Why have ye done this, and saved the male children alive?
And the king of Egypt sent for the women, and said to them, Why have you done this, and let the male children go on living?
19 And the midwives said to Pharaoh, Because the Hebrew women are not as the Egyptian; for they are strong, and they have borne before the midwife comes to them.
And they said to Pharaoh, Because the Hebrew women are not like the Egyptian women, for they are strong, and the birth takes place before we come to them.
20 And God dealt well with the midwives; and the people multiplied and became very strong.
And the blessing of God was on these women: and the people were increased in number and became very strong.
21 And it came to pass, because the midwives feared God, that he made them houses.
And because the women who took care of the Hebrew mothers had the fear of God, he gave them families.
22 Then Pharaoh charged all his people, saying, Every son that is born ye shall cast into the river, but every daughter ye shall save alive.
And Pharaoh gave orders to all his people, saying, Every son who comes to birth is to be put into the river, but every daughter may go on living.