Exodus 1

Modern

Literal

The Israelites Multiply in Egypt

¹These are the names of the sons of Israel who went to Egypt with Jacob, each with his family:

¹And these are the names of the sons of Israel who came to Egypt with Jacob; each man and his house they came:

²Reuben, Simeon, Levi, and Judah;

²Reuben, Simeon, Levi, and Judah,

³Issachar, Zebulun, and Benjamin;

³Issachar, Zebulun, and Benjamin,

⁴Dan and Naphtali;

Gad and Asher.

⁴Dan and Naphtali, Gad and Asher.

⁵The descendants of Jacob numbered seventy^a in all, including Joseph, who was already in Egypt.

⁵And all the souls coming out of the loins of Jacob were seventy souls, and Joseph was in Egypt.

⁶Now Joseph and all his brothers and all that generation died,

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

⁷but the Israelites were fruitful and increased rapidly; they multiplied and became exceedingly numerous, so that the land was filled with them.

⁷And the sons of Israel were fruitful and they swarmed, and they multiplied, and they grew mighty exceedingly, exceedingly, and the land was filled with them.

Oppression by a New King

⁸Then a new king, who did not know Joseph, came to power in Egypt.

⁸And there arose a new king over Egypt, who had not known Joseph.

⁹“Look,” he said to his people, “the Israelites have become too numerous and too powerful for us.

⁹And he said to his people, “Behold, the people of the sons of Israel are many and mightier than us.

¹⁰Come, let us deal shrewdly with them, or they will increase even more; and if a war breaks out, they may join our enemies, fight against us, and leave the country.”^a

¹⁰Come, let us act wisely with him, lest he multiply, and it comes to pass when war meets us, that he also may join himself to those hating us and fight against us and go up out of the land.”

¹¹So the Egyptians appointed taskmasters over the Israelites to oppress them with forced labor. As a result, they built Pithom and Rameses as store cities for Pharaoh.

¹¹And they set over him chiefs of forced labor in order to afflict them with their burdens. And they built store cities for Pharaoh, Pithom and Rameses.

¹²But the more they were oppressed, the more they multiplied and flourished; so the Egyptians came to dread the Israelites.

¹²And as they afflicted him, so he multiplied and so he burst forth. And they were in dread from the face of the sons of Israel.

¹³They worked the Israelites ruthlessly

¹³And Egypt made the sons of Israel serve with harshness,

¹⁴and made their lives bitter with hard labor in brick and mortar, and with all kinds of work in the fields. Every service they imposed was harsh.

¹⁴and they made bitter their lives with hard labor—with mortar and with bricks and with all manner of labor in the field, all their service in which they made them serve—with harshness.

¹⁵Then the king of Egypt said to the Hebrew midwives, whose names were Shiphrah and Puah,

¹⁵And the king of Egypt spoke to the midwives, the Hebrewesses, of whom the name of the one was Shiphrah, and the name of the second was Puah.

¹⁶“When you help the Hebrew women give birth, observe them on the birthstools. If the child is a son, kill him; but if it is a daughter, let her live.”

¹⁶And he said, “When you cause the Hebrewesses to give birth and you see them on the birthstools, if he is a son, then you shall kill him; but if she is a daughter, then she shall live.”

¹⁷The midwives, however, feared God and did not do as the king of Egypt had instructed; they let the boys live.

¹⁷And the midwives feared God and they did not do as the king of Egypt commanded to them. And the male children they kept alive.

¹⁸So the king of Egypt summoned the midwives and asked them, “Why have you done this? Why have you let the boys live?”

¹⁸And the king of Egypt called for the midwives and said to them, “Why have you done this thing and kept alive the male children?”

¹⁹The midwives answered Pharaoh, “The Hebrew women are not like the Egyptian women, for they are vigorous and give birth before a midwife arrives.”

¹⁹And the midwives said to Pharaoh, “Because the Hebrewesses are not like the Egyptian women, for they are lively; and before the midwife comes to them, they have given birth.”

²⁰So God was good to the midwives, and the people multiplied and became even more numerous.

²⁰And God dealt well with the midwives, and the people multiplied, and they grew mighty exceedingly.

²¹And because the midwives feared God, He gave them families of their own.

²¹And it came to pass, because the midwives feared God, that He provided for them houses.

²²Then Pharaoh commanded all his people: “Every son born to the Hebrews^a you must throw into the Nile, but every daughter you may allow to live.”

²²And Pharaoh commanded to all his people, saying, “Every son born to the Hebrews you shall cast him into the River, and every daughter you shall let live.”