Exodus 1
1 Hæc sunt nomina filiorum Israel qui ingressi sunt in Ægyptum cum Iacob: singuli cum domibus suis introierunt:
These were the names of the sons of Israel (Jacob) who came with him to Egypt along with their families:
2 Ruben, Simeon, Levi, Iudas,
Reuben, Simeon, Levi, and Judah;
3 Issachar, Zabulon et Beniamin,
Issachar, Zebulun, and Benjamin;
4 Dan, et Nephthali, Gad, et Aser.
Dan and Naphtali, Gad and Asher.
5 Erant igitur omnes animæ eorum qui egressi sunt de femore Iacob, septuaginta: Ioseph autem in Ægypto erat.
Jacob had 70 descendants there, including Joseph who was already in Egypt.
6 Quo mortuo, et universis fratribus eius, omnique cognatione illa,
Eventually Joseph and all his brothers and all that generation died.
7 filii Israel creverunt, et quasi germinantes multiplicati sunt: ac roborati nimis, impleverunt terram.
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 Surrexit interea rex novus super Ægyptum, qui ignorabat Ioseph:
Then a new king came to power who didn't know anything about Joseph.
9 et ait ad populum suum: Ecce, populus filiorum Israel multus, et fortior nobis est.
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 Venite, sapienter opprimamus eum, ne forte multiplicetur: et si ingruerit contra nos bellum, addatur inimicis nostris, expugnatisque nobis egrediatur de terra.
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 Præposuit itaque eis magistros operum, ut affligerent eos oneribus: ædificaveruntque urbes tabernaculorum Pharaoni, Phithom, et Ramesses.
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 Quantoque opprimebant eos, tanto magis multiplicabantur, et crescebant:
But the more the Israelites were mistreated, the more they grew in numbers and spread out—and the more the Egyptians detested them.
13 oderantque filios Israel Ægyptii, et affligebant illudentes eis:
The Egyptians worked the Israelites brutally,
14 atque ad amaritudinem perducebant vitam eorum operibus duris luti, et lateris, omnique famulatu, quo in terræ operibus premebantur.
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 Dixit autem rex Ægypti obstetricibus Hebræorum: quarum una vocabatur Sephora, altera Phua,
Then the king gave orders to the Hebrew midwives, Shiphrah and Puah.
16 præcipiens eis: Quando obstetricabitis Hebræas, et partus tempus advenerit: si masculus fuerit, interficite eum: si femina, reservate.
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 Timuerunt autem obstetrices Deum, et non fecerunt iuxta præceptum regis Ægypti, sed conservabant mares.
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 Quibus ad se accersitis, rex ait: Quidnam est hoc quod facere voluistis, ut pueros servaretis?
The king of Egypt called the midwives in and demanded to know, “Why have you done this— letting the male children live?”
19 Quæ responderunt: Non sunt Hebreæ sicut Ægyptiæ mulieres: ipsæ enim obstetricandi habent scientiam, et priusquam veniamus ad eas, pariunt.
“Hebrew women aren't like Egyptian women,” the midwives told Pharaoh. “They give birth more easily—they have them before we midwives arrive.”
20 Bene ergo fecit Deus obstetricibus: et crevit populus, confortatusque est nimis.
God treated the midwives well, and the people increased in number so there were even more of them.
21 Et quia timuerunt obstetrices Deum, ædificavit eis domos.
Because the midwives revered God, he gave them families of their own.
22 Præcepit ergo Pharao omni populo suo, dicens: Quidquid masculini sexus natum fuerit, in flumen proiicite: quidquid feminini, reservate.
Then Pharaoh issued this order to all his people: “Throw every Hebrew boy that's born into the Nile, but let every girl live.”
