Ἔξοδος 1
1 ταῦτα τὰ ὀνόματα τῶν υἱῶν Ισραηλ τῶν εἰσπεπορευμένων εἰς Αἴγυπτον ἅμα Ιακωβ τῷ πατρὶ αὐτῶν ἕκαστος πανοικίᾳ αὐτῶν εἰσήλθοσαν
These were the names of the sons of Israel (Jacob) who came with him to Egypt along with their families:
2 Ρουβην Συμεων Λευι Ιουδας
Reuben, Simeon, Levi, and Judah;
3 Ισσαχαρ Ζαβουλων καὶ Βενιαμιν
Issachar, Zebulun, and Benjamin;
4 Δαν καὶ Νεφθαλι Γαδ καὶ Ασηρ
Dan and Naphtali, Gad and Asher.
5 Ιωσηφ δὲ ἦν ἐν Αἰγύπτῳ ἦσαν δὲ πᾶσαι ψυχαὶ ἐξ Ιακωβ πέντε καὶ ἑβδομήκοντα
Jacob had 70 descendants there, including Joseph who was already in Egypt.
6 ἐτελεύτησεν δὲ Ιωσηφ καὶ πάντες οἱ ἀδελφοὶ αὐτοῦ καὶ πᾶσα ἡ γενεὰ ἐκείνη
Eventually Joseph and all his brothers and all that generation died.
7 οἱ δὲ υἱοὶ Ισραηλ ηὐξήθησαν καὶ ἐπληθύνθησαν καὶ χυδαῖοι ἐγένοντο καὶ κατίσχυον σφόδρα σφόδρα ἐπλήθυνεν δὲ ἡ γῆ αὐτούς
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 ἀνέστη δὲ βασιλεὺς ἕτερος ἐπ’ Αἴγυπτον ὃς οὐκ ᾔδει τὸν Ιωσηφ
Then a new king came to power who didn't know anything about Joseph.
9 εἶπεν δὲ τῷ ἔθνει αὐτοῦ ἰδοὺ τὸ γένος τῶν υἱῶν Ισραηλ μέγα πλῆθος καὶ ἰσχύει ὑπὲρ ἡμᾶς
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 δεῦτε οὖν κατασοφισώμεθα αὐτούς μήποτε πληθυνθῇ καί ἡνίκα ἂν συμβῇ ἡμῖν πόλεμος προστεθήσονται καὶ οὗτοι πρὸς τοὺς ὑπεναντίους καὶ ἐκπολεμήσαντες ἡμᾶς ἐξελεύσονται ἐκ τῆς γῆς
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 καὶ ἐπέστησεν αὐτοῖς ἐπιστάτας τῶν ἔργων ἵνα κακώσωσιν αὐτοὺς ἐν τοῖς ἔργοις καὶ ᾠκοδόμησαν πόλεις ὀχυρὰς τῷ Φαραω τήν τε Πιθωμ καὶ Ραμεσση καὶ Ων ἥ ἐστιν Ἡλίου πόλις
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 καθότι δὲ αὐτοὺς ἐταπείνουν τοσούτῳ πλείους ἐγίνοντο καὶ ἴσχυον σφόδρα σφόδρα καὶ ἐβδελύσσοντο οἱ Αἰγύπτιοι ἀπὸ τῶν υἱῶν Ισραηλ
But the more the Israelites were mistreated, the more they grew in numbers and spread out—and the more the Egyptians detested them.
13 καὶ κατεδυνάστευον οἱ Αἰγύπτιοι τοὺς υἱοὺς Ισραηλ βίᾳ
The Egyptians worked the Israelites brutally,
14 καὶ κατωδύνων αὐτῶν τὴν ζωὴν ἐν τοῖς ἔργοις τοῖς σκληροῖς τῷ πηλῷ καὶ τῇ πλινθείᾳ καὶ πᾶσι τοῖς ἔργοις τοῖς ἐν τοῖς πεδίοις κατὰ πάντα τὰ ἔργα ὧν κατεδουλοῦντο αὐτοὺς μετὰ βίας
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 καὶ εἶπεν ὁ βασιλεὺς τῶν Αἰγυπτίων ταῖς μαίαις τῶν Εβραίων τῇ μιᾷ αὐτῶν ᾗ ὄνομα Σεπφωρα καὶ τὸ ὄνομα τῆς δευτέρας Φουα
Then the king gave orders to the Hebrew midwives, Shiphrah and Puah.
16 καὶ εἶπεν ὅταν μαιοῦσθε τὰς Εβραίας καὶ ὦσιν πρὸς τῷ τίκτειν ἐὰν μὲν ἄρσεν ᾖ ἀποκτείνατε αὐτό ἐὰν δὲ θῆλυ περιποιεῖσθε αὐτό
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 ἐφοβήθησαν δὲ αἱ μαῖαι τὸν θεὸν καὶ οὐκ ἐποίησαν καθότι συνέταξεν αὐταῖς ὁ βασιλεὺς Αἰγύπτου καὶ ἐζωογόνουν τὰ ἄρσενα
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 ἐκάλεσεν δὲ ὁ βασιλεὺς Αἰγύπτου τὰς μαίας καὶ εἶπεν αὐταῖς τί ὅτι ἐποιήσατε τὸ πρᾶγμα τοῦτο καὶ ἐζωογονεῖτε τὰ ἄρσενα
The king of Egypt called the midwives in and demanded to know, “Why have you done this— letting the male children live?”
19 εἶπαν δὲ αἱ μαῖαι τῷ Φαραω οὐχ ὡς γυναῖκες Αἰγύπτου αἱ Εβραῖαι τίκτουσιν γὰρ πρὶν ἢ εἰσελθεῖν πρὸς αὐτὰς τὰς μαίας καὶ ἔτικτον
“Hebrew women aren't like Egyptian women,” the midwives told Pharaoh. “They give birth more easily—they have them before we midwives arrive.”
20 εὖ δὲ ἐποίει ὁ θεὸς ταῖς μαίαις καὶ ἐπλήθυνεν ὁ λαὸς καὶ ἴσχυεν σφόδρα
God treated the midwives well, and the people increased in number so there were even more of them.
21 ἐπειδὴ ἐφοβοῦντο αἱ μαῖαι τὸν θεόν ἐποίησαν ἑαυταῖς οἰκίας
Because the midwives revered God, he gave them families of their own.
22 συνέταξεν δὲ Φαραω παντὶ τῷ λαῷ αὐτοῦ λέγων πᾶν ἄρσεν ὃ ἐὰν τεχθῇ τοῖς Εβραίοις εἰς τὸν ποταμὸν ῥίψατε καὶ πᾶν θῆλυ ζωογονεῖτε αὐτό
Then Pharaoh issued this order to all his people: “Throw every Hebrew boy that's born into the Nile, but let every girl live.”
