Exodus 1:1-22
Israelites are Repressed
1 These are the names of the sons of Israel who went to Egypt with Jacob, each with his family: 2 Reuben, Simeon, Levi and Judah; 3 Issachar, Zebulun and Benjamin; 4 Dan and Naphtali; Gad and Asher. 5 The descendants of Jacob numbered seventy in all; Joseph was already in Egypt.
6 Now Joseph and all his brothers and all that generation died, 7 but the Israelites were exceedingly fruitful; they multiplied greatly, increased in numbers and became so numerous that the land was filled with them.
8 Then a new king, to whom Joseph meant nothing, came to power in Egypt. 9 “Look,” he said to his people, “the Israelites have become far too numerous for us. 10 Come, we must deal shrewdly with them or they will become even more numerous and, if war breaks out, will join our enemies, fight against us and leave the country.”
11 So they put slave masters over them to oppress them with forced labor, and they built Pithom and Rameses as store cities for Pharaoh.12 But the more they were oppressed, the more they multiplied and spread; so the Egyptians came to dread the Israelites 13 and worked them ruthlessly. 14 They made their lives bitter with harsh labor in brick and mortar and with all kinds of work in the fields; in all their harsh labor the Egyptians worked them ruthlessly.
15 The king of Egypt said to the Hebrew midwives, whose names were Shiphrah and Puah, 16 “When you are helping the Hebrew women during childbirth on the delivery stool, if you see that the baby is a boy, kill him; but if it is a girl, let her live.” 17 The midwives, however, feared God and did not do what the king of Egypt had told them to do; they let the boys live. 18 Then the king of Egypt summoned the midwives and asked them, “Why have you done this? Why have you let the boys live?”
19 The midwives answered Pharaoh, “Hebrew women are not like Egyptian women; they are vigorous and give birth before the midwives arrive.”
20 So God was kind to the midwives and the people increased and became even more numerous. 21 And because the midwives feared God, he gave them families of their own.
22 Then Pharaoh gave this order to all his people: “Every Hebrew boy that is born you must throw into the Nile, but let every girl live.”
These are the names of Jacob’s sons—the ones who traveled from Canaan and entered into Egypt with Jacob during the great famine...Each of these men arrived in Egypt with his family...Jacob sons were Reuben, Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar, Zebulun, Benjamin, Dan, Naphtali, Gad, and Asher...At that time, Jacob had 70 descendants of children and grandchildren...All of them came to Egypt, except for Joseph...Joseph was already living there and an Egyptian official...A king of Egypt had appointed as a government official...But as years passed Joseph died, and so did all of his brothers...Time had passed...It was not long before that entire generation was gone...But the people of Israel continued to have children easily...Their numbers increased rapidly...As their numbers grew so did their strength and how the officials of Egypt viewed them...Eventually, they filled the land of Egypt...
Another king came into power and the new king, to whom Joseph meant nothing, came to power in Egypt...The Israeli people were still called Hebrews at this time...“Look,” the new king said to his people, “the Israelites have become far too numerous for us...Come, we must deal shrewdly with them or they will become even more numerous and, if war breaks out, will join our enemies, fight against us and leave the country.”...So the Egyptians put slave masters over the people of Israel to oppress them with forced labor, and they built Pithom and Rameses as store cities for Pharaoh...But the more the Israeli people were oppressed, the more they multiplied and spread; so the Egyptians came to dread the Israelites and they worked them ruthlessly...They made the lives of the Israeli people bitter with harsh labor in brick and mortar and with all kinds of work in the fields; in all their harsh labor the Egyptians worked them ruthlessly...
The Hebrew women kept on having more and more children...And the king of Egypt went to the midwives who helped the Hebrew women deliver their babies...The Egyptian king said, “When you are helping the Hebrew women during childbirth on the delivery stool, if you see that the baby is a boy, kill him; but if it is a girl, let her live.”...The midwives, however, feared God and did not do what the king of Egypt had told them to do; they let the boys live...Then the king of Egypt summoned the midwives and asked them, “Why have you done this?...Why have you let the boys live?”...The midwives answered Pharaoh, “Hebrew women are not like Egyptian women; they are vigorous and give birth before the midwives arrive.”...So God was kind to the midwives and the Hebrew people increased in number and their population grew in Egypt...And because the midwives feared God, He gave them families of their own...Then Pharaoh gave this order to all his people: “Every Hebrew boy that is born you must throw into the Nile, but let every girl live.”...