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;

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 to 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 dieth, and all his brethren, 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 riseth a new king over Egypt, who hath 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 saith unto his people, 'Lo, the people of the sons of Israel [is] 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 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.'

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 over it princes of tribute, so as to afflict it with their burdens, and it buildeth store-cities for Pharaoh, Pithom and Raamses;

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 multiplieth, and so it breaketh forth, and they are vexed 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 rigour,

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 rigour.

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 speaketh to the midwives, the Hebrewesses, (of whom the name of the one [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 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 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 hath spoken unto them, and keep the lads 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 calleth for the midwives, and saith to them, 'Wherefore have ye done this thing, and keep the lads 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 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!'

[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 doth 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 cometh to pass, because the midwives have feared God, that He maketh for them households;

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

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.'

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.”