Exodus 1

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

²Reuben, Simeon, Levi, and Judah,

³Issachar, Zebulun, and Benjamin,

⁴Dan, and Naphtali, Gad, and Asher.

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

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

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

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

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

¹⁰Come 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.

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

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

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

¹⁴And 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.

¹⁵And 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:

¹⁶And 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.

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

¹⁸And 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?

¹⁹And 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.

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

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

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

Exodus 1

¹Now these are the names of the sons of Israel who came into Egypt; every man and his family came with Jacob.

²Reuben, Simeon, Levi, and Judah;

³Issachar, Zebulun, and Benjamin;

⁴Dan and Naphtali, Gad and Asher.

⁵All the offspring of Jacob were seventy persons: and Joseph had come to Egypt before them.

⁶Then Joseph came to his end, and all his brothers, and all that generation.

⁷And the children of Israel were fertile, increasing very greatly in numbers and in power; and the land was full of them.

⁸Now a new king came to power in Egypt, who had no knowledge of Joseph.

⁹And he said to his people, See, the people of Israel are greater in number and in power than we are:

¹⁰Let us take care for fear that their numbers may become even greater, and if there is a war, they may be joined with those who are against us, and make an attack on us, and go up out of the land.

¹¹So they put overseers of forced work over them, in order to make their strength less by the weight of their work. And they made store-towns for Pharaoh, Pithom and Raamses.

¹²But the more cruel they were to them, the more their number increased, till all the land was full of them. And the children of Israel were hated by the Egyptians.

¹³And they gave the children of Israel even harder work to do:

¹⁴And made their lives bitter with hard work, making building-material and bricks, and doing all sorts of work in the fields under the hardest conditions.

¹⁵And the king of Egypt said to the Hebrew women who gave help at the time of childbirth (the name of the one was Shiphrah and the name of the other Puah),

¹⁶When you are looking after the Hebrew women in childbirth, if it is a son you are to put him to death; but if it is a daughter, she may go on living.

¹⁷But the women had the fear of God, and did not do as the king of Egypt said, but let the male children go on living.

¹⁸And the king of Egypt sent for the women, and said to them, Why have you done this, and let the male children go on living?

¹⁹And they said to Pharaoh, Because the Hebrew women are not like the Egyptian women, for they are strong, and the birth takes place before we come to them.

²⁰And the blessing of God was on these women: and the people were increased in number and became very strong.

²¹And because the women who took care of the Hebrew mothers had the fear of God, he gave them families.

²²And Pharaoh gave orders to all his people, saying, Every son who comes to birth is to be put into the river, but every daughter may go on living.