Exodus 1

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

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, Judah,

Reuben, Simeon, Levi, and Judah;

3 Issachar, Zebulun, Benjamin,

Issachar, Zebulun, and Benjamin;

4 Dan, Naphtali, Gad, and Asher.

Dan and Naphtali, Gad and Asher.

5 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.

All the offspring of Jacob were seventy persons: and Joseph had come to Egypt before them.

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

Then Joseph came to his end, and all his brothers, and all that generation.

7 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).

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

8 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].

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

9 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!

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

10 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.”

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 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].

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 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.

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 They forced the Israeli people to work very hard,

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

14 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.

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 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],

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 “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).”

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

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

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 [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].”

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

And the blessing of God was on these women: and the people were increased in number and became very strong.

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

And because the women who took care of the Hebrew mothers had the fear of God, he gave them families.

22 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.”

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.