Exodus 1

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

The sons of Jacob who went to Egypt with him along with their families were

2 Reuben, Simeon, Levi, and Judah,

Reuben, Simeon, Levi, Judah,

3 Issachar, Zebulun, and Benjamin,

Issachar, Zebulun, Benjamin,

4 Dan, and Naphtali, Gad, and Asher.

Dan, Naphtali, Gad, and Asher.

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

Altogether there were 70 people [who went with] Jacob. That included his [sons, his grandsons, and two great-grandsons]. [His son] Joseph was already in Egypt.

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

[Eventually] Joseph and his [older and younger] brothers and everyone [else in their family who lived] (in that generation/at that time) died.

7 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.

But Jacob’s descendants kept giving birth to many children [IDM]. The number [of his descendants] kept becoming larger and larger. As a result, there were so many of them that they were everywhere in Egypt (OR, that they [became a threat] to the Egyptians).

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

Then [several hundred years later], a new king began to rule [MTY] in Egypt. He did not know [what] Joseph [had done for the people of Egypt long ago].

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

He said to his people, “Look [at what has happened]! The Israeli people have become so numerous and so powerful that they [now might conquer] us!

10 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.”

We must find a way to control them! If we do not do that, their population will continue to grow. Then, if enemies [PRS] attack us, they will join with our enemies and fight against us, and they will escape from [our] land.”

11 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;

So [the king and his officials] put supervisors over the Israeli people to cause them to suffer very much by [forcing them] to work very hard. They forced [the Israeli people to] build [two] cities, Pithom and Ramses, in which to store [supplies for the king/government].

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

But the more cruelly they treated the [Israeli people], the bigger the Israeli [population] grew, and they became more numerous all over [the land]. So the Egyptian people began to be afraid of the Israeli people.

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

They forced the Israeli people to work very hard,

14 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.

and by making them slaves, they made their lives miserable. They [forced them] to [build many buildings with] mortar and bricks. [They also forced them to do] other work in the fields. [In making them do all this work, the Egyptian officials treated them] ruthlessly/cruelly.

15 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),

There were two Hebrew (midwives/women who helped the women when they were giving birth). [Hebrew means the same as Israeli.] The names of the women were Shiphrah and Puah. The king of Egypt said to [those two women],

16 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.”

“When you help the Hebrew women when they are giving birth [MTY], if [the baby that is born] is a boy, you must kill it. If [the baby] is a girl, you (may let it live/do not have to kill them).”

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

But the midwives feared/revered God. So they did not do what the king told them to do. They allowed the baby boys to live.

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

So the king summoned the [two] midwives and said to them, “Why are you doing this? Why are you letting the baby boys live?”

19 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!”

[One of] the midwives replied to the king, “[You need to realize that] the Hebrew women are not like the Egyptian women. The Hebrew women are very strong/healthy. They give birth [to their babies] before we can get to them [to help them].”

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

So God acted kindly toward the midwives, and the [Hebrew] people became even more numerous and strong.

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

Furthermore, because the midwives feared/revered God, he enabled them also to give birth to children.

22 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.”

Then the king commanded all (the [Egyptian] people/his [advisors]): “You must throw into the Nile [River] every baby boy born that the [Hebrew women] give birth to! But you can allow the baby girls to live.”