Exodus 1

1 NOW THESE are the names of the sons of Israel, who came into Egypt with Jacob; every man came 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 came out of the loins of Jacob were seventy souls; and Joseph was in Egypt already.

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 increased abundantly, and multiplied, and waxed exceeding mighty; and the land was filled with them.

And the children of Israel were fertile, increasing very greatly in numbers and in power; and the land was full of them.

8 Now there arose a new king over Egypt, who knew not Joseph.

Now a new king came to power in Egypt, who had no knowledge of Joseph.

9 And he said unto his people: 'Behold, the people of the children of Israel are too many and too mighty for us;

And he said to his people, See, the people of Israel are greater in number and in power than we are:

10 come, let us deal wisely with them, lest they multiply, and it come to pass, that, when there befalleth us any war, they also join themselves unto our enemies, and fight against us, and get them 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 Therefore they did set over them taskmasters to afflict them with their burdens. And they built for Pharaoh store-cities, Pithom and Raamses.

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 the more they spread abroad. And they were adread 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 to serve with rigour.

And they gave the children of Israel even harder work to do:

14 And they made their lives bitter with hard service, in mortar and in brick, and in all manner of service in the field; in all their service, wherein they made them serve with rigour.

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 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 do the office of a midwife to the Hebrew women, ye shall look upon the birthstool: if it be a son, then ye shall kill him; but if it be 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 commanded them, but saved the men-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 for the midwives, and said unto them: 'Why have ye done this thing, and have saved the men-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 unto Pharaoh: 'Because the Hebrew women are not as the Egyptian women; for they are lively, and are delivered ere the midwife come unto 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 waxed very mighty.

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 And Pharaoh charged all his people, saying: 'Every son that is born ye shall cast into the river, and 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.