1:1 Now these are the names of the sons of Israel who came to Egypt with Jacob; they came, each one ①with his household:
▷ ①Lit and
1:2 Reuben, Simeon, Levi, and Judah;
1:3 Issachar, Zebulun, and Benjamin;
1:4 Dan and Naphtali, Gad and Asher.
1:5 ①All the people who descended from Jacob were seventy ②people, but Joseph was already in Egypt.
▷ ①Lit Every soul ②Lit souls
1:6 And Joseph died, and all his brothers and all that generation.
1:7 But the sons of Israel were fruitful and ①increased greatly, and multiplied, and became exceedingly ②mighty, so that the land was filled with them.
▷ ①Lit swarmed ②Or numerous
1:8 Now a new king arose over Egypt, who did not know Joseph.
1:9 And he said to his people, “Behold, the people of the sons of Israel are ①too many and too mighty for us.
▷ ①Ormore and mightier than we
1:10 Come, let us deal ①shrewdly with them, otherwise they will multiply, and ②in the event of war, they will also join those who hate us, and fight against us and ③depart from the land.”
▷ ①Or wisely ②Lit it will come about when war occurs that ③Lit go up from
1:11 So they appointed taskmasters over them to oppress them with ①hard labor. And they built for Pharaoh storage cities, Pithom and Raamses.
▷ ①Lit their burdens
1:12 But the more they oppressed them, the more they multiplied and the more they ①spread out, so that they dreaded the sons of Israel.
▷ ①Lit broke forth
1:13 The Egyptians ①used violence to compel the sons of Israel to labor;
▷ ①Lit with violence compelled
1:14 and they made 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.
1:15 Then the king of Egypt spoke to the Hebrew midwives, one of whom ①was named Shiphrah, and the other ②was named Puah;
▷ ①Lit the name was ②Lit the name was
1:16 and he said, “When you are helping the Hebrew women to give birth and see them upon 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 ①feared God, and did not do as the king of Egypt had ②commanded them, but let the boys live.
▷ ①Or revered ②Lit spoken to
1:18 So the king of Egypt called for the midwives and said to them, “Why have you done this thing, and let the boys live?”
1:19 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 ①can get to them.”
▷ ①Lit comes to
1:20 So God was good to the midwives, and the people multiplied, and became very ①mighty.
▷ ①Or numerous
1:21 And because the midwives ①feared God, He ②established ③households for them.
▷ ①Or revered ②Lit made ③Or families
1:22 Then Pharaoh commanded all his people, saying, “Every son who is born, ①you are to throw into the Nile, but every daughter, you are to keep alive.”
▷ ①Some ancient versions insert to the Hebrews