Exodus 1
1
Jacob’s Family in Egypt
1When Jacob (Israel) went to Egypt, his sons and their families went with him. Here are the names of those sons: 2Reuben, Simeon, Levi, Judah, 3Issachar, Zebulun, Benjamin, 4Dan, Naphtali, Gad, and Asher. 5Another son, Joseph, was already in Egypt. So Jacob’s whole family was with him in Egypt—70 descendants in all.
6Later, Joseph, his brothers, and all the people of that generation died. 7But the Israelites had many children, and their number grew until the country of Egypt was filled with them.
Trouble for the Israelites
8Then a new king began to rule Egypt. He did not know Joseph. 9This king said to his people, “Look at the Israelites. There are too many of them, and they are stronger than we are! 10We must make plans to stop them from growing stronger. If there is a war, they might join our enemies, defeat us, and escape from the land!”
11The Egyptians decided to make life hard for the Israelites, so they put slave masters over the people. These masters forced the Israelites to build the cities of Pithom and Rameses for the king. The king used these cities to store grain and other things.
12The Egyptians forced the Israelites to work harder and harder. But the harder they worked, the more they grew and spread, and the more the Egyptians became afraid of them. 13So the Egyptians made them work even harder.
14They made life hard for the Israelites. They forced the Israelites to work hard at making bricks and mortar and to work hard in the fields. The Egyptians showed no mercy in all the hard work they made the Israelites do!
The Nurses Who Followed God
15There were two Hebrew#1:15 Hebrew Or “Israelite.” This name might also mean “descendants of Eber” (read Gen. 10:25–31) or “people from beyond the Euphrates River.” Also in verse 19. nurses who helped the Israelite women give birth. They were named Shiphrah and Puah. The king of Egypt said to the nurses, 16“You will continue to help the Hebrew women give birth to their children. If a girl baby is born, let the baby live. But if the baby is a boy, you must kill him!”
17But the nurses trusted#1:17 trusted Literally, “feared” or “respected.” Also in verses 20-21. God, so they did not obey the king’s command. They let all the baby boys live.
18The king of Egypt called for the nurses and asked them, “Why did you do this? Why did you let the baby boys live?”
19The nurses said to the king, “The Hebrew women are much stronger than the Egyptian women. They give birth to their babies before we can go to help them.” 20-21The nurses trusted God, so he was good to them and allowed them to have their own families.
The Hebrews continued to have more children, and they became very strong. 22So Pharaoh gave this command to his own people: “If the Hebrew women give birth to a baby girl, let it live. But if they have a baby boy, you must throw it into the Nile River.”
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© 1987, 2004 Bible League International
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.