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: ICB
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Exodus 1
1
1 Now these are the names of the sons of Israel, who 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. 5All the souls who came out of Jacob’s body were seventy souls, and Joseph was in Egypt already. 6Joseph died, as did all his brothers, and all that generation. 7The children of Israel were fruitful, and increased abundantly, and multiplied, and grew exceedingly mighty; and the land was filled with them.
8 Now there arose a new king over Egypt, who didn’t know Joseph. 9He said to his people, “Behold,#1:9 “Behold”, from “הִנֵּה”, means look at, take notice, observe, see, or gaze at. It is often used as an interjection. the people of the children of Israel are more and mightier than we. 10Come, let’s deal wisely with them, lest they multiply, and it happen that when any war breaks out, they also join themselves to our enemies and fight against us, and escape out of the land.” 11Therefore they set taskmasters over them to afflict them with their burdens. They built storage cities for Pharaoh: Pithom and Raamses. 12But the more they afflicted them, the more they multiplied and the more they spread out. They started to dread the children of Israel. 13The Egyptians ruthlessly made the children of Israel serve, 14and they made their lives bitter with hard service in mortar and in brick, and in all kinds of service in the field, all their service, in which they ruthlessly made them serve.
15 The king of Egypt spoke to the Hebrew midwives, of whom the name of the one was Shiphrah, and the name of the other Puah, 16and he said, “When you perform the duty of a midwife to the Hebrew women, and see them on the birth stool, if it is a son, then you shall kill him; but if it is a daughter, then she shall live.” 17But the midwives feared God,#1:17 The Hebrew word rendered “God” is “אֱלֹהִ֑ים” (Elohim). and didn’t do what the king of Egypt commanded them, but saved the baby boys alive. 18The king of Egypt called for the midwives, and said to them, “Why have you done this thing and saved the boys alive?”
19 The midwives said to Pharaoh, “Because the Hebrew women aren’t like the Egyptian women; for they are vigorous and give birth before the midwife comes to them.”
20 God dealt well with the midwives, and the people multiplied, and grew very mighty. 21Because the midwives feared God, he gave them families. 22Pharaoh commanded all his people, saying, “You shall cast every son who is born into the river, and every daughter you shall save alive.”
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