Exodus 1

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

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 persons coming out of the thigh of Jacob are seventy persons; as to Joseph, he was in Egypt.

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

6 And Joseph dieth, 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 sons of Israel have been fruitful, and they teem, and multiply, and are very very mighty, and the land is 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 And there riseth a new king over Egypt, who hath not known Joseph,

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

9 and he saith unto his people, 'Lo, the people of the sons of Israel [is] more numerous and mighty than we;

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

10 give help! let us act wisely concerning it, lest it multiply, and it hath come to pass, when war happeneth, that it hath been joined, even it, unto those hating us, and hath fought against us, and hath gone out up 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 And they set over it princes of tribute, so as to afflict it with their burdens, and it buildeth store-cities for Pharaoh, 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 and as they afflict it, so it multiplieth, and so it breaketh forth, and they are vexed because of the sons 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 cause the sons of Israel to serve with rigour,

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

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 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 speaketh to the midwives, the Hebrewesses, (of whom the name of the one [is] Shiphrah, and the name of the second 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 saith, 'When ye cause the Hebrew women to bear, and have looked on the children; if it [is] a son — then ye have put him to death; and if it [is] a daughter — then she hath lived.'

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 And the midwives fear God, and have not done as the king of Egypt hath spoken unto them, and keep the lads 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 calleth for the midwives, and saith to them, 'Wherefore have ye done this thing, and keep the lads 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 say unto Pharaoh, 'Because the Hebrew women [are] not as the Egyptian women, for they [are] lively; before the midwife cometh in unto them — they have borne!'

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 doth good to the midwives, and the people multiply, and are 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 cometh to pass, because the midwives have feared God, that He maketh for them households;

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

22 and Pharaoh layeth a charge on all his people, saying, 'Every son who is born — into the River ye do cast him, and every daughter ye do keep 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.