Éxodo 1

1 Estos son los nombres de los hijos de Israel que entraron en Egipto con Jacob, cada uno con su familia:

The sons of Jacob who went to Egypt with him along with their families were

2 Rubén, Simeón, Leví, Judá,

Reuben, Simeon, Levi, Judah,

3 Isacar, Zabulón, Benjamín,

Issachar, Zebulun, Benjamin,

4 Dan, Neftalí, Gad y Aser.

Dan, Naphtali, Gad, and Asher.

5 Todos los descendientes nacidos de Jacob eran setenta almas. José estaba ya en Egipto.

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 Luego murió José, y todos sus hermanos, y toda aquella generación.

[Eventually] Joseph and his [older and younger] brothers and everyone [else in their family who lived] (in that generation/at that time) died.

7 Mas los hijos de Israel crecieron y se multiplicaron, y llegaron a ser numerosos y fuertes, y se llenó de ellos el país.

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 Entretanto se alzó sobre Egipto un nuevo rey, que nada sabía de José;

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 el cual dijo a su pueblo: “Mirad, el pueblo de los hijos de Israel es más numeroso y más fuerte que nosotros.

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 Tomemos, pues, precauciones contra él, no sea que siga multiplicándose, y en caso de venir sobre nosotros una guerra, se asocie también él a nuestros enemigos para combatirnos, y salga (después) del país.”

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 Por lo cual pusieron sobre (Israel), sobrestantes de trabajos a fin de oprimirlos con sus cargas; y así edificaron para el Faraón ciudades almacenes: Pitom y Ramesés.

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 Pero cuanto más los oprimían, tanto más crecían y tanto más se multiplicaban, de modo que (los egipcios) tomaron aversión a los hijos de 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 Entonces los egipcios redujeron a cruel servidumbre a los hijos de Israel,

They forced the Israeli people to work very hard,

14 y les amargaron la vida con duros trabajos de arcilla y ladrillos, toda suerte de labores del campo y toda clase de servidumbre con que los oprimían por fuerza.

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 El rey de Egipto dio también orden a las parteras de las hebreas, de las cuales una se llamaba Sifrá, y la otra Puá,

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 diciéndoles: “Cuando asistáis a las hebreas en sus partos, averiguad el sexo; si es niño, matadlo; mas si es niña, vivirá.”

“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 Pero las parteras temían a Dios, y no hicieron como les había mandado el rey de Egipto, sino que dejaban con vida a los niños.

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 Por lo cual llamó el rey de Egipto a las parteras y les dijo: “¿Por qué hacéis esto y dejáis con vida a los niños?”

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 Respondieron las parteras al Faraón: “Porque las hebreas no son como las egipcias. Son robustas, y antes que a ellas llegue la partera, ya han dado a luz.”

[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 Recompensó Dios a las parteras; y se multiplicó el pueblo y se hizo muy poderoso.

So God acted kindly toward the midwives, and the [Hebrew] people became even more numerous and strong.

21 Y por haber temido las parteras a Dios, Él les dio numerosa prole.

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

22 Entonces dio el Faraón a todo su pueblo esta orden: “Todo niño que naciere (a los hebreos) lo echaréis al río; mas a toda niña dejaréis con vida.”

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.”