1:1 These are the names of the sons of Israel who went to Egypt with Jacob, each with his family:
1:2 Reuben, Simeon, Levi and Judah;
1:3 Issachar, Zebulun and Benjamin;
1:4 Dan and Naphtali; Gad and Asher.
1:5 The descendants of Jacob numbered seventy in all; Joseph was already in Egypt.
1:6 Now Joseph and all his brothers and all that generation died,
1:7 but the Israelites were fruitful and multiplied greatly and became exceedingly numerous, so that the land was filled with them.
1:8 Then a new king, who did not know about Joseph, came to power in Egypt.
1:9 “Look,” he said to his people, “the Israelites have become much too numerous for us.
1:10 Come, we must deal shrewdly 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.”
1:11 So they put slave masters over them to oppress them with forced labor, and they built Pithom and Rameses as store cities for Pharaoh.
1:12 But the more they were oppressed, the more they multiplied and spread; so the Egyptians came to dread the Israelites
1:13 and worked them ruthlessly.
1:14 They made their lives bitter with hard labor in brick and mortar and with all kinds of work in the fields; in all their hard labor the Egyptians used them ruthlessly.
1:15 The king of Egypt said to the Hebrew midwives, whose names were Shiphrah and Puah,
1:16 “When you help the Hebrew women in childbirth and observe them on the delivery stool, if it is a boy, kill him; but if it is a girl, let her live.”
1:17 The midwives, however, feared God and did not do what the king of Egypt had told them to do; they let the boys live.
1:18 Then the king of Egypt summoned the midwives and asked them, “Why have you done this? Why have you let the boys live?”
1:19 The midwives answered Pharaoh, “Hebrew women are not like Egyptian women; they are vigorous and give birth before the midwives arrive.”
1:20 So God was kind to the midwives and the people increased and became even more numerous.
1:21 And because the midwives feared God, he gave them families of their own.
1:22 Then Pharaoh gave this order to all his people: “Every boy that is born you must throw into the Nile, but let every girl live.”
1:1 Now these are the names of the sons of Israel who came to Egypt with Jacob; each man came with his household:
1:2 Reuben, Simeon, Levi, and Judah,
1:3 Issachar, Zebulun, and Benjamin,
1:4 Dan and Naphtali, Gad and Asher.
1:5 And all the persons who came forth from the loins of Jacob were seventy persons, but Joseph was already in Egypt.
1:6 And Joseph died, and all his brothers, and all that generation.
1:7 But the children of Israel were fruitful and increased abundantly and multiplied and grew exceedingly strong, and the land was filled with them.
1:8 And a new king rose up over Egypt, who did not know of Joseph.
1:9 And he said to his people, The people of the children of Israel are now more numerous and stronger than we.
1:10 Come, let us deal wisely with them, lest they multiply and, when some war occurs, they also join themselves to those who hate us and fight against us and go up from the land.
1:11 So they set taskmasters over them to afflict them with their burdens. And they built storage cities for Pharaoh, Pithom and Raamses.
1:12 But the more they afflicted them, the more they multiplied and the more they spread out so that they came to dread the children of Israel.
1:13 And the Egyptians made the children of Israel serve with harshness,
1:14 And they made their lives bitter with hard labor in mortar and in brick and in all kinds of labor in the field; all their labor with which they made them serve was with harshness.
1:15 And the king of Egypt spoke to the Hebrew midwives, one whose name was Shiphrah and the other whose name was Puah;
1:16 And he said, When you act as midwives for the Hebrew women and see them on the birthstool, if it is a son, then you shall put him to death; but if it is a daughter, then she shall live.
1:17 But the midwives feared God and did not do as the king of Egypt had commanded them but let the male children live.
1:18 So the king of Egypt called for the midwives and said to them, Why have you done this thing and let the male children live?
1:19 And the midwives said to Pharaoh, Because the Hebrew women are not like the Egyptian women; for they are vigorous: before the midwife comes to them, they give birth.
1:20 And God dealt well with the midwives, and the people multiplied and grew very strong.
1:21 And because the midwives feared God, He established households for them.
1:22 And Pharaoh commanded all his people, saying, Every son who is born you shall cast into the River, but every daughter you shall let live.