Exodus 1
1
The People of Israel Suffer
1-5 #
Gn 46.8-27. When Jacob went to Egypt, his son Joseph was already there. So Jacob took his eleven other sons and their families. They were: Reuben, Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar, Zebulun, Benjamin, Dan, Naphtali, Gad, and Asher. Altogether, Jacob had 70 children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren#1.1-5 70 children … great-grandchildren: See Genesis 46.8-27. who went with him.
6After Joseph, his brothers, and everyone else in that generation had died, 7#Ac 7.17. the people of Israel became so numerous that the whole region of Goshen was full of them.
8 #
Ac 7.18. Many years later a new king came to power. He did not know what Joseph had done for Egypt, 9and he told the Egyptians:
There are too many of those Israelites in our country, and they are becoming more powerful than we are. 10#3 Macc 3.24; Ac 7.19. If we don't outsmart them, their families will keep growing larger. And if our country goes to war, they could easily fight on the side of our enemies and escape from Egypt.
11The Egyptians put slave bosses in charge of the people of Israel and tried to wear them down with hard work. Those bosses forced them to build the cities of Pithom and Rameses,#1.11 Pithom and Rameses: This is the only mention of Pithom in the Bible; its exact location is unknown, though it was probably in the northern Delta of Egypt. Rameses is the famous Delta city that was the home of Rameses II; its exact location is also unknown. where the king#1.11 the king: The Hebrew text has “Pharaoh,” a Hebrew word sometimes used for the title of the king of Egypt. could store his supplies. 12But even though the Israelites were mistreated, their families grew larger, and they took over more land. Because of this, the Egyptians feared them worse than before 13and made them work so hard 14that their lives were miserable. The Egyptians were cruel to the people of Israel and forced them to make bricks and to mix mortar and to work in the fields.
15Finally, the king called in Shiphrah and Puah, the two women who helped the Hebrew#1.15 Hebrew: An earlier term for “Israelite.” mothers when they gave birth. 16He told them, “If a Hebrew woman gives birth to a girl, let the child live. If the baby is a boy, kill him!”
17But the two women were faithful to God and did not kill the boys, even though the king had told them to. 18The king called them in again and asked, “Why are you letting those baby boys live?”
19They answered, “Hebrew women have their babies much quicker than Egyptian women. By the time we arrive, their babies are already born.” 20-21God was good to the two women because they truly respected him, and he blessed them with children of their own.
The Hebrews kept increasing 22#Ac 7.19. until finally, the king gave a command to everyone in the nation, “As soon as a Hebrew boy is born, throw him into the Nile River! But you can let the girls live.”
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Contemporary English Version, Second Edition (CEV®)
© 2006 American Bible Society. All rights reserved.
Exodus 1
1
Israel’s Suffering in Egypt
1Now #Gen. 46:8–27; Ex. 6:14–16these are the names of the children of Israel who came to Egypt; each man and his household came with Jacob: 2Reuben, Simeon, Levi, and Judah; 3Issachar, Zebulun, and Benjamin; 4Dan, Naphtali, Gad, and Asher. 5All those who were descendants of Jacob were #Gen. 46:26, 27; (Deut. 10:22)seventy persons (for Joseph was in Egypt already). 6And #Gen. 50:26; Acts 7:15Joseph died, all his brothers, and all that generation. 7#Gen. 12:2; 28:3; 35:11; 46:3; 47:27; 48:4; Num. 22:3; Deut. 1:10, 11; 26:5; Ps. 105:24; Acts 7:17But the children of Israel were fruitful and increased abundantly, multiplied and grew exceedingly mighty; and the land was filled with them.
8Now there arose a new king over Egypt, #Acts 7:18, 19who did not know Joseph. 9And he said to his people, “Look, the people of the children of Israel are more and #Gen. 26:16mightier than we; 10#Ps. 83:3, 4come, let us #Ps. 105:25; (Prov. 16:25); Acts 7:19deal shrewdly with them, lest they multiply, and it happen, in the event of war, that they also join our enemies and fight against us, and so go up out of the land.” 11Therefore they set taskmasters over them #Gen. 15:13; Ex. 3:7; 5:6to afflict them with their #Ex. 1:14; 2:11; 5:4–9; 6:6burdens. And they built for Pharaoh #1 Kin. 9:19; 2 Chr. 8:4supply cities, Pithom #Gen. 47:11and Raamses. 12But the more they afflicted them, the more they multiplied and grew. And they were in dread of the children of Israel. 13So the Egyptians made the children of Israel #Gen. 15:13; Ex. 5:7–19serve with rigor. 14And they #Ex. 2:23; 6:9; Num. 20:15; (Acts 7:19, 34)made their lives bitter with hard bondage—#Ps. 81:6in mortar, in brick, and in all manner of service in the field. All their service in which they made them serve was with rigor.
15Then the king of Egypt spoke to the #Ex. 2:6Hebrew midwives, of whom the name of one was Shiphrah and the name of the other Puah; 16and he said, “When you do the duties of a midwife for the Hebrew women, and see them on the birthstools, if it is a #Matt. 2:16; Acts 7:19son, then you shall kill him; but if it is a daughter, then she shall live.” 17But the midwives #Ex. 1:21; Prov. 16:6feared God, and did not do #Dan. 3:16, 18; Acts 4:18–20; 5:29as the king of Egypt commanded them, but saved the male children alive. 18So the king of Egypt called for the midwives and said to them, “Why have you done this thing, and saved the male children alive?”
19And #Josh. 2:4; 2 Sam. 17:19, 20the midwives said to Pharaoh, “Because the Hebrew women are not like the Egyptian women; for they are lively and give birth before the midwives come to them.”
20#Gen. 15:1; Ruth 2:12; (Prov. 11:18); Eccl. 8:12; (Is. 3:10); Heb. 6:10Therefore God dealt well with the midwives, and the people multiplied and grew very mighty. 21And so it was, because the midwives feared God, #1 Sam. 2:35; 2 Sam. 7:11, 13, 27, 29; 1 Kin. 2:24; 11:38; (Ps. 127:1)that He provided households for them.
22So Pharaoh commanded all his people, saying, #Acts 7:19“Every son who is born you shall cast into the river, and every daughter you shall save alive.”
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The Holy Bible, New King James Version, Copyright © 1982 Thomas Nelson. All rights reserved.