Exodus 1
1
Jacob’s Family in Egypt
1When Jacob, also called Israel, went to Egypt, he took his sons. And each son took his own family with him. These are the names of the sons of Israel: 2Reuben, Simeon, Levi, Judah, 3Issachar, Zebulun, Benjamin, 4Dan, Naphtali, Gad and Asher. 5There was a total of 70 people who were descendants of Jacob. Jacob’s son Joseph was already in Egypt.
6By some time later, Joseph and his brothers had died, along with all the people who had lived at that same time. 7But the people of Israel had many children, and their number grew greatly. They became very strong, and the country of Egypt was filled with them.
Trouble for the People of Israel
8Then a new king began to rule Egypt. He did not know who Joseph was. 9This king said to his people, “Look! The people of Israel are too many! And they are too strong for us to handle! 10We must make plans against them. If we don’t, the number of their people will grow even more. Then if there is a war, they might join our enemies. Then they could fight us and escape from the country!”
11So the Egyptians made life hard for the people of Israel. They put slave masters over the Israelites. The slave masters forced the Israelites to build the cities Pithom and Rameses for the king. These cities were supply centers in which the Egyptians stored things. 12The Egyptians forced the Israelites to work even harder. But this made the Israelites grow in number and spread more. So the Egyptians became more afraid of them. 13They forced the Israelites to work even harder. 14The Egyptians made life hard for the Israelites. They forced the Israelites to work very hard making bricks and mortar. They also forced them to do all kinds of hard work in the fields. The Egyptians were not merciful to them in all their hard work.
15There were two Hebrew nurses named Shiphrah and Puah. These nurses helped the Israelite women give birth to their babies. The king of Egypt said to the nurses, 16“When you are helping the Hebrew women give birth to their babies, watch! If the baby is a girl, let the baby live. But if it is a boy, kill it!” 17But the nurses feared God. So they did not do as the king told them. They let all the boy babies live. 18Then the king of Egypt sent for the nurses. He said, “Why did you do this? Why did you let the boys live?”
19The nurses said to him, “The Hebrew women are much stronger than the Egyptian women. They give birth to their babies before we can get there.” 20God was good to the nurses. And the Hebrew people continued to grow in number. So they became even stronger. 21Because the nurses feared God, he gave them families of their own.
22So the king commanded all his people: “Every time a boy is born to the Hebrews, you must throw him into the Nile River. But let all the girl babies live.”
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Exodus 1
1
Israel and Oppression in Egypt
1And these are the names of the sons of Israel who came to Egypt; with Jacob, they each came with his family:#Literally “house” 2Reuben, Simeon, Levi, and Judah; 3Issachar, Zebulun, and Benjamin; 4Dan and Naphtali, Gad and Asher. 5And all those who descended from Jacob#Literally “every soul/individual/life, the ones going out from the loins of Jacob” were seventy individuals,#Or “souls,” “lives” and Joseph was in Egypt. 6And Joseph died and all of his brothers and all of that generation. 7And the Israelites#Literally “sons/children of Israel” were fruitful and multiplied and were many and were very, very numerous, and the land was filled with them.
8And a new king rose over Egypt who did not know Joseph. 9And he said to his people, “Look, the people of the Israelites#Literally “sons/children of Israel” are greater and more numerous than us. 10Come, we must deal shrewdly with them, lest they become many, and when war happens, they also will join our enemies and will fight against us and go up from the land.” 11And they appointed commanders of forced labor over them in order to oppress them with their forced labor,#Literally “burdens” or “burdensome labor” and they built storage cities for Pharaoh—Pithom and Rameses. 12And as he oppressed them, so they became many, and so they spread out, and the Egyptians were afraid because of the presence of the Israelites.#Literally “sons/children of Israel” 13And the Egyptians ruthlessly compelled the Israelites#Literally “sons/children of Israel” to work. 14And they made their lives bitter with hard work with mortar and with bricks and with all sorts of work in the field—with all their work in which they ruthlessly enslaved them.
15And the king of Egypt said to the Hebrew midwives—of whom the name of the one was Shiphrah and the name of the second was Puah—16and he said, “When you help the Hebrews give birth, you will look upon the pairs of testicles; if he is a son, you will put him to death, and if she is a daughter, she will live.” 17But the midwives feared God, and they did not do as the king of Egypt had said to them. They let the boys live. 18And the king of Egypt summoned the midwives, and he said to them, “Why have you done this thing and let the boys live?” 19And the midwives said to Pharaoh, “Because the Hebrew women are not like the Egyptian women, because they are vigorous; before the midwife comes to them, they have given birth.” 20And God did the midwives good, and the Israelite people became many and were very numerous. 21And so#Literally “and he/it was” because the midwives feared God, he gave them families.#Literally “houses” 22And Pharaoh commanded all his people, saying, “Every son who is born you will throw into the Nile, and every daughter you will let live.”
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