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Exodus 1

Israel's family go to Egypt

1 Here are the names of the Israelites who went to Egypt with Jacob. [ a ] Each one went there with his family.

2 Jacob's sons were Reuben, Simeon, Levi and Judah, 3 Issachar, Zebulun and Benjamin, 4 Dan, Naphtali, Gad and Asher. 5 Jacob himself had 70 descendants. His other son, Joseph, was already in Egypt.

6 After some time, Joseph died. Joseph's brothers and all his generation also died. 7 But the Israelites had many children, so they grew into a very large family. They became very powerful. They were everywhere in the whole country.

8 Later, a new king began to rule in Egypt. He did not know anything about Joseph. [ b ] 9 He said to his people, ‘Look! The Israelites have become too many for us. They are more powerful than we are. 10 We must find a clever way to stop them. If we do nothing, their families will become even bigger. Then, if there is a war, they will join our enemies and they will fight against us. That will give the Israelites a chance to leave our country.’

11 So the Egyptians made the Israelites work as their slaves. The Egyptian masters made the Israelites do very hard work. They had to build cities for the king, Pharaoh, where he could store food for his people. The names of the cities were Pithom and Rameses.

12 The Egyptians made the Israelites work more and more. But the Israelites still became more in number. They had many children and they lived in every part of the country. Because of this, the Egyptians began to be afraid of them. 13 So the Egyptians made the Israelites work without any rest. 14 The Israelites became very upset because of all the difficult work. They had to build houses with bricks and mortar. [ c ] They also did many different kinds of work in the fields. The Egyptians made the Israelites do all this difficult work.

15 There were two Israelite women who helped the other women when they were giving birth. These two women were called Shiphrah and Puah. The king of Egypt said to them, 16 ‘When you help the Israelite women at the birth of their children, this is what you must do. If she gives birth to a son, kill him. But if the child is a daughter, you may let her live.’

17 But the two women respected God. So they did not do what the king of Egypt had told them. They obeyed God and they let the boys live.

18 Then the king of Egypt called the two women to come to him. He asked them, ‘Why have you done this? Why have you let the boys live?’ 19 The two women said to Pharaoh, ‘Israelite women are not like Egyptian women. Israelite women are very strong. They give birth to their babies very quickly, before we arrive at the house.’

20 Because the two women respected God, he was kind to them. The Israelite people continued to grow in number. They became very strong. 21 Because the two women obeyed God, he gave them families of their own.

22 Then Pharaoh spoke to all the Egyptian people. He said, ‘When an Israelite boy is born, you must throw him in the river Nile. But you can let the baby girls live.’

Footnotes

  1. 1:1 God gave Jacob a new name, ‘Israel’. See Genesis 32:28 ; 35:10 . So Jacob's descendants were called Israelites.
  2. 1:8 The new king did not know what had happened before. He did not know that Joseph had given food to the Egyptians in a time of famine. See Genesis 37—50 .
  3. 1:14 ‘mortar’ is a mixture of sand and other materials used to fix bricks together.

Jacob’s Family in Egypt

1 When Jacob (Israel) went to Egypt, his sons and their families went with him. Here are the names of those sons: 2 Reuben, Simeon, Levi, Judah, 3 Issachar, Zebulun, Benjamin, 4 Dan, Naphtali, Gad, and Asher. 5 Another son, Joseph, was already in Egypt. So Jacob’s whole family was with him in Egypt—70 descendants in all.

6 Later, Joseph, his brothers, and all the people of that generation died. 7 But the Israelites had many children, and their number grew until the country of Egypt was filled with them.

Trouble for the Israelites

8 Then a new king began to rule Egypt. He did not know Joseph. 9 This king said to his people, “Look at the Israelites. There are too many of them, and they are stronger than we are! 10 We must make plans to stop them from growing stronger. If there is a war, they might join our enemies, defeat us, and escape from the land!”

11 The Egyptians decided to make life hard for the Israelites, so they put slave masters over the people. These masters forced the Israelites to build the cities of Pithom and Rameses for the king. The king used these cities to store grain and other things.

12 The Egyptians forced the Israelites to work harder and harder. But the harder they worked, the more they grew and spread, and the more the Egyptians became afraid of them. 13 So the Egyptians made them work even harder.

14 They made life hard for the Israelites. They forced the Israelites to work hard at making bricks and mortar and to work hard in the fields. The Egyptians showed no mercy in all the hard work they made the Israelites do!

The Nurses Who Followed God

15 There were two Hebrew [ a ] nurses who helped the Israelite women give birth. They were named Shiphrah and Puah. The king of Egypt said to the nurses, 16 “You will continue to help the Hebrew women give birth to their children. If a girl baby is born, let the baby live. But if the baby is a boy, you must kill him!”

17 But the nurses trusted [ b ] God, so they did not obey the king’s command. They let all the baby boys live.

18 The king of Egypt called for the nurses and asked them, “Why did you do this? Why did you let the baby boys live?”

19 The nurses said to the king, “The Hebrew women are much stronger than the Egyptian women. They give birth to their babies before we can go to help them.” 20-21 The nurses trusted God, so he was good to them and allowed them to have their own families.

The Hebrews continued to have more children, and they became very strong. 22 So Pharaoh gave this command to his own people: “If the Hebrew women give birth to a baby girl, let it live. But if they have a baby boy, you must throw it into the Nile River.”

Footnotes

  1. Exodus 1:15 Hebrew Or “Israelite.” This name might also mean “descendants of Eber” (read Gen. 10:25–31) or “people from beyond the Euphrates River.” Also in verse 19.
  2. Exodus 1:17 trusted Literally, “feared” or “respected.” Also in verses 20-21.

1 Now these are the names of the children of Israel, which came into Egypt; every man and his household came with Jacob.

2 Reuben, Simeon, Levi, and Judah,

3 Issachar, Zebulun, and Benjamin,

4 Dan, and Naphtali, Gad, and Asher.

5 And all the souls that came out of the loins of Jacob were seventy souls: for Joseph was in Egypt already.

6 And Joseph died, and all his brethren, and all that generation.

7 And the children of Israel were fruitful, and increased abundantly, and multiplied, and waxed exceeding mighty; and the land was filled with them.

8 Now there arose up a new king over Egypt, which knew not Joseph.

9 And he said unto his people, Behold, the people of the children of Israel are more and mightier than we:

10 Come on, let us deal wisely with them; lest they multiply, and it come to pass, that, when there falleth out any war, they join also unto our enemies, and fight against us, and so get them up out of the land.

11 Therefore they did set over them taskmasters to afflict them with their burdens. And they built for Pharaoh treasure cities, Pithom and Raamses.

12 But the more they afflicted them, the more they multiplied and grew. And they were grieved because of the children of Israel.

13 And the Egyptians made the children of Israel to serve with rigour:

14 And they made their lives bitter with hard bondage, in morter, and in brick, and in all manner of service in the field: all their service, wherein they made them serve, was with rigour.

15 And the king of Egypt spake to the Hebrew midwives, of which the name of the one was Shiphrah, and the name of the other Puah:

16 And he said, When ye do the office of a midwife to the Hebrew women, and see them upon the stools; if it be a son, then ye shall kill him: but if it be a daughter, then she shall live.

17 But the midwives feared God, and did not as the king of Egypt commanded them, but saved the men children alive.

18 And the king of Egypt called for the midwives, and said unto them, Why have ye done this thing, and have saved the men children alive?

19 And the midwives said unto Pharaoh, Because the Hebrew women are not as the Egyptian women; for they are lively, and are delivered ere the midwives come in unto them.

20 Therefore God dealt well with the midwives: and the people multiplied, and waxed very mighty.

21 And it came to pass, because the midwives feared God, that he made them houses.

22 And Pharaoh charged all his people, saying, Every son that is born ye shall cast into the river, and every daughter ye shall save alive.

Israel Multiplies in Egypt

1 Now these are the ( A ) names of the sons of Israel who came to Egypt with Jacob; they came, each one [ a ] with his household: 2 Reuben, Simeon, Levi, and Judah; 3 Issachar, Zebulun, and Benjamin; 4 Dan and Naphtali, Gad and Asher. 5 [ b ] All the people who descended from Jacob were ( B ) seventy [ c ] people, but Joseph was already in Egypt. 6 And ( C ) Joseph died, and all his brothers and all that generation. 7 But the sons of Israel ( D ) were fruitful and [ d ] increased greatly, and multiplied, and became exceedingly [ e ] mighty, so that the land was filled with them.

8 Now a new ( E ) king arose over Egypt, who did not know Joseph. 9 And ( F ) he said to his people, “Behold, the people of the sons of Israel are [ f ] too many and too mighty for us. 10 Come, let us ( G ) deal [ g ] shrewdly with them, otherwise they will multiply, and [ h ] in the event of war, they will also join those who hate us, and fight against us and [ i ] depart from the land.” 11 So they appointed ( H ) taskmasters over them to oppress them with [ j ] ( I ) hard labor. And they built for Pharaoh ( J ) storage cities, Pithom and ( K ) Raamses. 12 But the more they oppressed them, ( L ) the more they multiplied and the more they [ k ] spread out, so that they dreaded the sons of Israel. 13 The Egyptians [ l ] used violence to compel the sons of Israel ( M ) to labor; 14 and they made ( N ) their lives bitter with hard labor in mortar and bricks and at all kinds of labor in the field, all their labors which they violently had them perform as slaves.

15 Then the king of Egypt spoke to the Hebrew midwives, one of whom [ m ] was named Shiphrah, and the other [ n ] was named Puah; 16 and he said, “When you are helping the Hebrew women to give birth and see them upon the birthstool, ( O ) if it is a son, then you shall put him to death; but if it is a daughter, then she shall live.” 17 But the midwives [ o ] ( P ) feared God, and ( Q ) did not do as the king of Egypt had [ p ] commanded them, but let the boys live. 18 So the king of Egypt called for the midwives and said to them, “Why have you done this thing, and let the boys live?” 19 The midwives said to Pharaoh, “Because the Hebrew women are not like the Egyptian women; for they are vigorous and give birth before the midwife [ q ] can get to them.” 20 So ( R ) God was good to the midwives, and ( S ) the people multiplied, and became very [ r ] mighty. 21 And because the midwives [ s ] ( T ) feared God, He [ t ] ( U ) established [ u ] households for them. 22 Then Pharaoh commanded all his people, saying, “ ( V ) Every son who is born, [ v ] you are to throw into ( W ) the Nile, but every daughter, you are to keep alive.”

Footnotes

  1. Exodus 1:1 Lit and
  2. Exodus 1:5 Lit Every soul
  3. Exodus 1:5 Lit souls
  4. Exodus 1:7 Lit swarmed
  5. Exodus 1:7 Or numerous
  6. Exodus 1:9 Or more and mightier than we
  7. Exodus 1:10 Or wisely
  8. Exodus 1:10 Lit it will come about when war occurs that
  9. Exodus 1:10 Lit go up from
  10. Exodus 1:11 Lit their burdens
  11. Exodus 1:12 Lit broke forth
  12. Exodus 1:13 Lit with violence compelled
  13. Exodus 1:15 Lit the name was
  14. Exodus 1:15 Lit the name was
  15. Exodus 1:17 Or revered
  16. Exodus 1:17 Lit spoken to
  17. Exodus 1:19 Lit comes to
  18. Exodus 1:20 Or numerous
  19. Exodus 1:21 Or revered
  20. Exodus 1:21 Lit made
  21. Exodus 1:21 Or families
  22. Exodus 1:22 Some ancient versions insert to the Hebrews

The Israelites Oppressed

1 These are the names of the sons of Israel ( A ) who went to Egypt with Jacob, each with his family: 2 Reuben, Simeon, Levi and Judah; 3 Issachar, Zebulun and Benjamin; 4 Dan and Naphtali; Gad and Asher. ( B ) 5 The descendants of Jacob numbered seventy [ a ] in all; ( C ) Joseph was already in Egypt.

6 Now Joseph and all his brothers and all that generation died, ( D ) 7 but the Israelites were exceedingly fruitful; they multiplied greatly, increased in numbers ( E ) and became so numerous that the land was filled with them.

8 Then a new king, to whom Joseph meant nothing, came to power in Egypt. ( F ) 9 “Look,” he said to his people, “the Israelites have become far too numerous ( G ) for us. ( H ) 10 Come, we must deal shrewdly ( I ) with them or they will become even more numerous and, if war breaks out, will join our enemies, fight against us and leave the country.” ( J )

11 So they put slave masters ( K ) over them to oppress them with forced labor, ( L ) and they built Pithom and Rameses ( M ) as store cities ( N ) for Pharaoh. 12 But the more they were oppressed, the more they multiplied and spread; so the Egyptians came to dread the Israelites 13 and worked them ruthlessly. ( O ) 14 They made their lives bitter with harsh labor ( P ) in brick ( Q ) and mortar and with all kinds of work in the fields; in all their harsh labor the Egyptians worked them ruthlessly. ( R )

15 The king of Egypt said to the Hebrew midwives, ( S ) whose names were Shiphrah and Puah, 16 “When you are helping the Hebrew women during childbirth on the delivery stool, if you see that the baby is a boy, kill him; but if it is a girl, let her live.” ( T ) 17 The midwives, however, feared ( U ) God and did not do what the king of Egypt had told them to do; ( V ) they let the boys live. 18 Then the king of Egypt summoned the midwives and asked them, “Why have you done this? Why have you let the boys live?”

19 The midwives answered Pharaoh, “Hebrew women are not like Egyptian women; they are vigorous and give birth before the midwives arrive.” ( W )

20 So God was kind to the midwives ( X ) and the people increased and became even more numerous. 21 And because the midwives feared ( Y ) God, he gave them families ( Z ) of their own.

22 Then Pharaoh gave this order to all his people: “Every Hebrew boy that is born you must throw into the Nile, ( AA ) but let every girl live.” ( AB )

Footnotes

  1. Exodus 1:5 Masoretic Text (see also Gen. 46:27); Dead Sea Scrolls and Septuagint (see also Acts 7:14 and note at Gen. 46:27) seventy-five
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