Exodus 1

1 These are the names of the sons of Israel who came into Egypt with Jacob, each with his household:

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, Naphtali, Gad, and Asher.

Dan, Naphtali, Gad, and Asher.

5 All the people who were descendants of Jacob were seventy in number. Joseph was already 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 Then Joseph, all his brothers, and all that generation died.

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

7 The Israelites were fruitful, increased greatly in numbers, and became very strong; the land was 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 Now then a new king arose over Egypt, one who did not know about 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 He said to his people, “Look, the Israelites are more numerous and stronger than we are.

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 Come, let us deal with them wisely, otherwise they will continue to grow in numbers, and if war breaks out, they will join our enemies, fight against us, and leave 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 So they put taskmasters over them to oppress them with hard labor. The Israelites built store cities for Pharaoh: Pithom and Rameses.

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 But the more the Egyptians oppressed them, the more the Israelites increased in numbers and spread. So the Egyptians began to dread the Israelites.

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 The Egyptians made the Israelites work rigorously.

They forced the Israeli people to work very hard,

14 They made their lives bitter with hard service with mortar and brick, and with all kinds of work in the fields. All their required work was hard.

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 Then the king of Egypt spoke to the Hebrew midwives; the name of the one was Shiphrah, and the other 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 He said, “When you assist the Hebrew women on the birthstool, observe when they give birth. If it is a son, then you must kill him; but if it is a daughter, then she may live.”

“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 But the midwives feared God and did not do as the king of Egypt ordered them; instead, they let the baby boys live.

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 The king of Egypt summoned the midwives and said to them, “Why have you done this, and let the baby boys live?”

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 The midwives answered Pharaoh, “The Hebrew women are not like the Egyptian women. They are vigorous and have finished giving birth before a midwife comes to them.”

[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 God protected these midwives. The people increased in numbers and became very strong.

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

21 Because the midwives feared God, he gave them families.

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

22 Pharaoh ordered all his people, “You must throw every son that is born into the river, but every daughter you will let live.”

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.”