ʻEkisotosi 1

1 Pea ko e ngaahi hingoa eni ʻoe fānau ʻa ʻIsileli, naʻe haʻu ki ʻIsipite; ʻae tangata kotoa pē mo ʻene kau nofoʻanga naʻe haʻu mo Sēkope.

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

2 Ko Lupeni mo Simione, mo Livai, mo Siuta,

Reuben, Simeon, Levi, Judah,

3 Mo ʻIsaka, mo Sepuloni, mo Penisimani,

Issachar, Zebulun, Benjamin,

4 Mo Tani, mo Nafitali, mo Kata, mo ʻAseli.

Dan, Naphtali, Gad, and Asher.

5 Pea ko e fānau kotoa pē naʻe tupu ʻia Sēkope, ko e laumālie ʻe toko fitungofulu: he naʻe ʻi ʻIsipite ʻa Siosefa.

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 Pea naʻe pekia ʻa Siosefa, mo hono kāinga kotoa pē, mo e toʻutangata kotoa pē ko ia.

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

7 Pea naʻe fanafanau ʻae fānau ʻa ʻIsileli, ʻo tupu pe ʻo tokolahi ʻaupito, ʻonau hoko ʻo mālohi ʻaupito: pea naʻe fonu ʻae fonua ʻiate kinautolu.

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 Pea naʻe toki hoko ʻae tuʻi foʻou ke pule ki ʻIsipite, ʻaia naʻe ʻikai te ne ʻilo ʻa Siosefa.

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 Pea pehē ʻe ia ki hono kakai, “Vakai, ko e kakai ʻae fānau ʻa ʻIsileli, ʻoku tokolahi hake, pea ʻoku mālohi ʻiate kitautolu:

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 Ko eni, ke tau fai fakapotopoto kiate kinautolu; telia naʻa nau tupu ʻo tokolahi, pea ʻe hoko ʻo pehē, ʻoka hoko ha tau, tenau kau mo hotau fili, ʻo tauʻi ʻakitautolu, pea ʻe hiki ai ʻakinautolu mei he fonua.”

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 Ko ia naʻa nau fakanofo ai ʻae kau enginaki ngāue ke fakamamahi ʻaki ʻakinautolu ʻa ʻenau ngaahi kavenga. Pea naʻa nau ngaohi ʻae kolo tukungakoloa ʻe ua moʻo Felo; ko Pitomi, mo Lamisisi.

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 Ka neongo ʻae ʻāsili fakamamahi ʻakinautolu, naʻa nau tupu pe ʻo fuʻu tokolahi hake. Pea naʻe mamahi ʻakinautolu koeʻuhi ko e fānau ʻa ʻIsileli.

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 Pea naʻe houtonga ʻae fānau ʻa ʻIsileli ʻe he kakai ʻIsipite.

They forced the Israeli people to work very hard,

14 ‌ʻO nau fakamamahiʻi ʻenau moʻui ʻi he [ngāue ]pōpula ki he kelepulu, mo e makaʻumea, mo e ngāue kehekehe ʻi he ngoue: ko e ngāue kotoa pē ʻaia naʻa nau pule kenau fai, naʻe fakamamahi.

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 Pea naʻe fekau ʻe he tuʻi ʻo ʻIsipite ki he kau māʻuli ʻoe kakai Hepelū, ko e hingoa ʻoe tokotaha ko Sifila, mo e hingoa ʻoe tokotaha ko Piua:

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 ‌ʻO ne pehē, “ʻOka mo ka fai ʻae ngāue ʻae māʻuli ki he kau fefine Hepelū, ʻo mamata ki heʻenau fāʻele; kapau ko e tama tangata, te mo tāmateʻi ia: pea kapau ko e taʻahine, pea ʻe moʻui ia.”

“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 Ka naʻe manavahē ʻae ongo māʻuli ki he ʻOtua, pea naʻe ʻikai te na fai ʻo hangē ko e fekau ʻae tuʻi ʻo ʻIsipite kiate kinaua, ka naʻa na fakamoʻui ʻae fānau tangata.

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 Pea fekau ʻe he tuʻi ʻo ʻIsipite ke haʻu ʻae ongo māʻuli, ʻo ne pehē kiate kinaua, “Ko e hā kuo mo fai ai ʻae meʻa ni, pea kuo mo fakamoʻui ʻae fānau tangata?”

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 Pea talaange ʻe he ongo māʻuli kia Felo, “Koeʻuhi ʻoku ʻikai tatau ʻae kau fefine Hepelū mo e kau fefine ʻIsipite; he ʻoku nau mālohi, pea ʻoku nau fāʻeleʻi ʻi he teʻeki ai hoko atu ʻae kau māʻuli kiate kinautolu.”

[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 Ko ia naʻe fai lelei ʻe he ʻOtua ki he ongo māʻuli: pea naʻe tupu pe ʻae kakai, ʻo fakaʻaʻau ʻo mālohi lahi.

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

21 Pea ko e meʻa ʻi he manavahē ʻae kau māʻuli ki he ʻOtua, ko ia naʻa ne fakatupu ai hona fale.

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

22 Pea naʻe fekau ʻe Felo ki hono kakai kotoa pē, ʻo pehē, “Ko e fānau tangata kotoa pē ʻoku fāʻeleʻi te mou lī ia ki he vaitafe, pea ko e fānau fefine kotoa pē te mou fakamoʻui.”

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.”