Esodo 1
1 Or questi sono i nomi dei figliuoli d’Israele che vennero in Egitto. Essi ci vennero con Giacobbe, ciascuno con la sua famiglia:
The sons of Jacob who went to Egypt with him along with their families were
2 Ruben, Simeone, Levi e Giuda;
Reuben, Simeon, Levi, Judah,
3 Issacar, Zabulon e Beniamino;
Issachar, Zebulun, Benjamin,
4 Dan e Neftali, Gad e Ascer.
Dan, Naphtali, Gad, and Asher.
5 Tutte le persone discendenti da Giacobbe ammontavano a settanta. Giuseppe era già in Egitto.
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 E Giuseppe morì, come moriron pure tutti i suoi fratelli e tutta quella generazione.
[Eventually] Joseph and his [older and younger] brothers and everyone [else in their family who lived] (in that generation/at that time) died.
7 E i figliuoli d’Israele furon fecondi, moltiplicarono copiosamente, diventarono numerosi e si fecero oltremodo potenti, e il paese ne fu ripieno.
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 Or sorse sopra l’Egitto un nuovo re, che non avea conosciuto Giuseppe.
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 Egli disse al suo popolo: “Ecco, il popolo de’ figliuoli d’Israele è più numeroso e più potente di noi.
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 Orsù, usiamo prudenza con essi; che non abbiano a moltiplicare e, in caso di guerra, non abbiano a unirsi ai nostri nemici e combattere contro di noi e poi andarsene dal paese”.
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 Stabilirono dunque sopra Israele de’ soprastanti ai lavori, che l’opprimessero con le loro angherie. Ed esso edificò a Faraone le città di approvvigionamento, Pithom e 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 Ma più l’opprimevano, e più il popolo moltiplicava e s’estendeva; e gli Egiziani presero in avversione i figliuoli d’Israele,
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 e fecero servire i figliuoli d’Israele con asprezza,
They forced the Israeli people to work very hard,
14 e amareggiaron loro la vita con una dura servitù, adoprandoli nei lavori d’argilla e di mattoni, e in ogni sorta di lavori nei campi. E imponevano loro tutti questi lavori, con asprezza.
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 Il re d’Egitto parlò anche alle levatrici degli Ebrei, delle quali l’una si chiamava Scifra e l’altra Pua. E disse:
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 “Quando assisterete le donne ebree al tempo del parto, e le vedrete sulla seggiola, se è un maschio, uccidetelo; ma se è una femmina, lasciatela vivere”.
“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 Ma le levatrici temettero Iddio, e non fecero quello che il re d’Egitto aveva ordinato loro; lasciarono vivere i maschi.
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 Allora il re d’Egitto chiamò le levatrici, e disse loro: “Perché avete fatto questo, e avete lasciato vivere i maschi?”
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 E le levatrici risposero a Faraone: “Egli è che le donne ebree non sono come le egiziane; sono vigorose, e, prima che la levatrice arrivi da loro, hanno partorito”.
[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 E Dio fece del bene a quelle levatrici; e il popolo moltiplicò e divenne oltremodo potente.
So God acted kindly toward the midwives, and the [Hebrew] people became even more numerous and strong.
21 E perché quelle levatrici temettero Iddio, egli fece prosperare le loro case.
Furthermore, because the midwives feared/revered God, he enabled them also to give birth to children.
22 Allora Faraone diede quest’ordine al suo popolo: “Ogni maschio che nasce, gettatelo nel fiume; ma lasciate vivere tutte le femmine”.
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.”
