Exodus 1:1-22 - Israel And Oppression In Egypt

¹ Now these are the names of the sons of Israel who came to Egypt with Jacob; each came with his household: ² Reuben, Simeon, Levi, and Judah; ³ Issachar, Zebulun, and Benjamin; ⁴ Dan and Naphtali, Gad, and Asher.

⁵ All the descendants of Jacob were seventy people; Joseph was [already] in Egypt.

⁶ Then Joseph died, and all his brothers and all that generation, ⁷ but the Israelites were prolific and increased greatly; they multiplied and became extremely strong, so that the land was filled with them.

⁸ Now a new king arose over Egypt, who did not know Joseph [nor the history of his accomplishments]. ⁹ He said to his people, “Behold, the people of the sons of Israel are too many and too mighty for us [they greatly outnumber us]. ¹⁰ Come, let us deal shrewdly with them, so that they will not multiply and in the event of war, join our enemies, and fight against us and escape from the land.” ¹¹ So they set taskmasters over them to oppress them with hard labor. And the sons of Israel built Pithom and Raamses as storage cities for Pharaoh. ¹² But the more the Egyptians oppressed them, the more they multiplied and expanded, so that the Egyptians dreaded and were exasperated by the Israelites. ¹³ And the Egyptians made the Israelites serve rigorously [forcing them into severe slavery]. ¹⁴ They made their lives bitter with hard labor in mortar, brick, and all kinds of field work. All their labor was harsh and severe.

¹⁵ Then the king of Egypt said to the Hebrew midwives, one of whom was named Shiphrah (beauty) and the other named Puah (splendor), ¹⁶ “When you act as midwives to the Hebrew women and see them on the birthstool, if it is a son, you shall kill him; but if it is a daughter, she shall live.” ¹⁷ But the midwives feared God [with profound reverence] and did not do as the king of Egypt commanded, but they let the boy babies live. ¹⁸ So the king of Egypt called for the midwives and said to them, “Why have you done this thing, and allowed the boy babies to live?”

¹⁹ The midwives answered Pharaoh, “Because the Hebrew women are not like the Egyptian women; they are vigorous and give birth quickly and their babies are born before the midwife can get to them.”

²⁰ So God was good to the midwives, and the people [of Israel] multiplied and became very strong. ²¹ And because the midwives feared God [with profound reverence], He established families and households for them. ²² Then Pharaoh commanded all his people, saying, “Every son who is born [to the Hebrews] must be thrown into the Nile, but every daughter you shall keep alive.”