Exodus 1

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

These were the names of the sons of Israel (Jacob) who came with him to Egypt along with their families:

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.

Jacob had 70 descendants there, including Joseph who was already in Egypt.

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

Eventually Joseph and all his brothers and all that generation died.

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).

However, the Israelites had many children and their numbers increased rapidly. In fact there were so many of them that they became very powerful—the country 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].

Then a new king came to power who didn't know anything about 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!

He conferred with his fellow Egyptians and said, “Look at these Israelites—there are more than them than us, and they're more powerful than us.

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.”

We've got to make plan to deal with them before they become so many that if there's a war they'll side with our enemies and fight us, and flee the country.”

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 the Egyptians made them do forced labor and put taskmasters in charge of them. They used them to build the storage towns of Pithom and Rameses.

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 the Israelites were mistreated, the more they grew in numbers and spread out—and the more the Egyptians detested them.

13 They forced the Israeli people to work very hard,

The Egyptians worked the Israelites brutally,

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.

making their lives a misery. They made them do hard labor, building with mortar and brick, and all kind of heavy work in the fields. In all of this hard labor they treated them brutally.

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],

Then the king gave orders to the Hebrew midwives, Shiphrah and 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).”

He told them, “When you assist the Hebrew women during childbirth, if you see it's a boy, kill him; but if it's a girl, let her live.”

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 because the midwives revered God, they didn't do what the king of Egypt had ordered. They let the boys live as well.

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?”

The king of Egypt called the midwives in and demanded to know, “Why have you done this— letting the male children live?”

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].”

“Hebrew women aren't like Egyptian women,” the midwives told Pharaoh. “They give birth more easily—they have them before we midwives arrive.”

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

God treated the midwives well, and the people increased in number so there were even more of them.

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

Because the midwives revered God, he gave them families of their own.

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.”

Then Pharaoh issued this order to all his people: “Throw every Hebrew boy that's born into the Nile, but let every girl live.”