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.
Shemoth (Exodus) 1
1
1And these are the names of the children of Yisra’ĕl who came to Mitsrayim with Ya‛aqoḇ, each one with his household:
2Re’uḇĕn, Shim‛on, Lĕwi, and Yehuḏah;
3Yissasḵar, Zeḇulun, and Binyamin;
4Dan and Naphtali, Gaḏ and Ashĕr.
5And all those who were descendants of Ya‛aqoḇ were seventy beings, as Yosĕph was already in Mitsrayim.
6And Yosĕph died, and all his brothers, and all that generation.
7And the children of Yisra’ĕl were fruitful and increased very much, multiplied and became very strong, and the land was filled with them.
8Then a new sovereign arose over Mitsrayim, who did not know Yosĕph,
9and he said to his people, “See, the people of the children of Yisra’ĕl are more and stronger than we,
10come, let us act wisely towards them, lest they increase, and it shall be when fighting befalls us, that they shall join our enemies and fight against us, and shall go up out of the land.”
11So they set slave-masters over them to afflict them with their burdens, and they built for Pharaoh supply cities, Pithom and Ra‛amses.
12But the more they afflicted them, the more they increased and grew, and they were in dread of the children of Yisra’ĕl.
13And the Mitsrites made the children of Yisra’ĕl serve with harshness,
14and they made their lives bitter with hard bondage, in mortar, and in brick, and in all kinds of work in the field, all their work which they made them do was with harshness.
15Then the sovereign of Mitsrayim spoke to the Hebrew midwives, of whom the name of one was Shiphrah and the name of the other Pu‛ah,
16and he said, “When you deliver the Hebrew women, and see them on the birthstools, if it is a son, then you shall put him to death, but if it is a daughter, then she shall live.”
17But the midwives feared Elohim, and did not do as the sovereign of Mitsrayim commanded them, and kept the male children alive.
18So the sovereign of Mitsrayim called for the midwives and said to them, “Why have you done this, and kept the male children alive?”
19And the midwives said to Pharaoh, “Because the Hebrew women are not like the Mitsrian women. For they are lively and give birth before the midwives come to them.”
20So Elohim was good to the midwives, and the people increased and became very numerous.
21And it came to be, because the midwives feared Elohim, that He provided households for them.
22And Pharaoh commanded all his people, saying, “Throw every son who is born into the river, and keep alive every daughter.”
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