Exodus 1
1
1 These are the names of the sons of Israel, who went into Egypt with Jacob. They entered, each one with his house:
2 Reuben, Simeon, Levi, Judah,
3 Issachar, Zebulun, and Benjamin,
4 Dan and Naphtali, Gad and Asher.
5 Therefore, all the souls of those who went forth from Jacob's thigh were seventy. Now Joseph was in Egypt.
6 When he had died, along with all of his brothers and all of that generation,
7 the sons of Israel increased, and they multiplied like seedlings. And having been strengthened exceedingly, they filled the land.
8 Meanwhile, there arose a new king over Egypt, who was ignorant of Joseph.
9 And he said to his people: "Behold, the people of the sons of Israel are many, and they are stronger than we are.
10 Come, let us wisely oppress them, lest they multiply; and if any war should advance against us, they may be added to our enemies, and having fought against us, they might depart from the land."
11 And so he set over them masters of the works, in order to afflict them with burdens. And they built for Pharaoh the cities of the tabernacles: Pithom and Raamses.
12 And the more they oppressed them, so much more did they multiply and increase.
13 And the Egyptians hated the sons of Israel, and they afflicted them and mocked them.
14 And they led their life directly into bitterness, with hard work in clay and brick, and with all kinds of servitude, so that they were being overwhelmed with the works of the land.
15 Then the king of Egypt spoke to the midwives of the Hebrews, (one of whom one was called Shiphrah, another Puah)
16 instructing them: "When you will act as a midwife to the Hebrew women, and the time of delivery has arrived: if it is male, put it to death; if it is female, retain it."
17 But the midwives feared God, and so they did not act according to the precept of the king of Egypt, but they kept the males safe.
18 And summoning them, the king said, "What did you intend to do, so that you would save the boys?"
19 They responded: "The Hebrew women are not like the Egyptian women. For they themselves have the wisdom of a midwife, and so they give birth before we can come to them."
20 Therefore, God acted favorably toward the midwives. And the people increased, and they were strengthened exceedingly.
21 And because the midwives feared God, he built houses for them.
22 Therefore, Pharaoh instructed all his people, saying: "Whatever will be born of the male sex, cast it into the river; whatever will be born of the female sex, retain it."
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Exodus 1: CPDV
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Exodus 1
1
1These are the names of the Israelites who came to Egypt with Jacob along with their households: 2Reuben, Simeon, Levi, and Judah, 3Issachar, Zebulun, and Benjamin, 4Dan and Naphtali, Gad and Asher. 5The total number in Jacob’s family was seventy. Joseph was already in Egypt. 6Eventually, Joseph, his brothers, and everyone in his generation died. 7But the Israelites were fertile and became populous. They multiplied and grew dramatically, filling the whole land.
Israel is oppressed
8Now a new king came to power in Egypt who didn’t know Joseph. 9He said to his people, “The Israelite people are now larger in number and stronger than we are. 10Come on, let’s be smart and deal with them. Otherwise, they will only grow in number. And if war breaks out, they will join our enemies, fight against us, and then escape from the land.” 11As a result, the Egyptians put foremen of forced work gangs over the Israelites to harass them with hard work. They had to build storage cities named Pithom and Rameses for Pharaoh. 12But the more they were oppressed, the more they grew and spread, so much so that the Egyptians started to look at the Israelites with disgust and dread. 13So the Egyptians enslaved the Israelites. 14They made their lives miserable with hard labor, making mortar and bricks, doing field work, and by forcing them to do all kinds of other cruel work.
15The king of Egypt spoke to two Hebrew midwives named Shiphrah and Puah: 16“When you are helping the Hebrew women give birth and you see the baby being born, if it’s a boy, kill him. But if it’s a girl, you can let her live.” 17Now the two midwives respected God so they didn’t obey the Egyptian king’s order. Instead, they let the baby boys live.
18So the king of Egypt called the two midwives and said to them, “Why are you doing this? Why are you letting the baby boys live?”
19The two midwives said to Pharaoh, “Because Hebrew women aren’t like Egyptian women. They’re much stronger and give birth before any midwives can get to them.” 20So God treated the midwives well, and the people kept on multiplying and became very strong. 21And because the midwives respected God, God gave them households of their own.
22Then Pharaoh gave an order to all his people: “Throw every baby boy born to the Hebrews into the Nile River, but you can let all the girls live.”
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