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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Exodus 1: CEV
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Contemporary English Version, Second Edition (CEV®)
© 2006 American Bible Society. All rights reserved.
Exodus 1
1
Chapter 1
Israel's family go to Egypt
1Here are the names of the Israelites who went to Egypt with Jacob. #1:1 God gave Jacob a new name, ‘Israel’. See Genesis 32:28; 35:10. So Jacob's descendants were called Israelites. Each one went there with his family.
2Jacob's sons were Reuben, Simeon, Levi and Judah, 3Issachar, Zebulun and Benjamin, 4Dan, Naphtali, Gad and Asher. 5Jacob himself had 70 descendants. His other son, Joseph, was already in Egypt.
6After some time, Joseph died. Joseph's brothers and all his generation also died. 7But the Israelites had many children, so they grew into a very large family. They became very powerful. They were everywhere in the whole country.
8Later, a new king began to rule in Egypt. He did not know anything about Joseph. #1:8 The new king did not know what had happened before. He did not know that Joseph had given food to the Egyptians in a time of famine. See Genesis 37—50. 9He said to his people, ‘Look! The Israelites have become too many for us. They are more powerful than we are. 10We must find a clever way to stop them. If we do nothing, their families will become even bigger. Then, if there is a war, they will join our enemies and they will fight against us. That will give the Israelites a chance to leave our country.’
11So the Egyptians made the Israelites work as their slaves. The Egyptian masters made the Israelites do very hard work. They had to build cities for the king, Pharaoh, where he could store food for his people. The names of the cities were Pithom and Rameses.
12The Egyptians made the Israelites work more and more. But the Israelites still became more in number. They had many children and they lived in every part of the country. Because of this, the Egyptians began to be afraid of them. 13So the Egyptians made the Israelites work without any rest. 14The Israelites became very upset because of all the difficult work. They had to build houses with bricks and mortar. #1:14 ‘mortar’ is a mixture of sand and other materials used to fix bricks together. They also did many different kinds of work in the fields. The Egyptians made the Israelites do all this difficult work.
15There were two Israelite women who helped the other women when they were giving birth. These two women were called Shiphrah and Puah. The king of Egypt said to them, 16‘When you help the Israelite women at the birth of their children, this is what you must do. If she gives birth to a son, kill him. But if the child is a daughter, you may let her live.’
17But the two women respected God. So they did not do what the king of Egypt had told them. They obeyed God and they let the boys live.
18Then the king of Egypt called the two women to come to him. He asked them, ‘Why have you done this? Why have you let the boys live?’ 19The two women said to Pharaoh, ‘Israelite women are not like Egyptian women. Israelite women are very strong. They give birth to their babies very quickly, before we arrive at the house.’
20Because the two women respected God, he was kind to them. The Israelite people continued to grow in number. They became very strong. 21Because the two women obeyed God, he gave them families of their own.
22Then Pharaoh spoke to all the Egyptian people. He said, ‘When an Israelite boy is born, you must throw him in the river Nile. But you can let the baby girls live.’
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