The Children of Israel in Egypt
Oppression of the Israelites
Chapter 1
1 These are the names of the children of Israel who entered Egypt with Joseph, each of them arriving with his family: 2 Reuben, Simeon, Levi, and Judah, 3 Issachar, Zebulun, and Benjamin, 4 Dan and Naphtali, Gad and Asher. 5 The total number of those born to Jacob was seventy. Joseph was already in Egypt.
6 Now Joseph died and then all his brothers and all that generation. 7 The children of Israel multiplied and grew numerous and very powerful and filled the land.
Harsh Condition of the Children of Israel. 8 Then a new king arose in Egypt who had not known Joseph. 9 He said to his people, “Behold, the children of Israel are very numerous and more powerful than we are. 10 Let us deal wisely with them lest they continue to multiply. Otherwise, if there were a war, they would join our enemies and battle against us and then escape from the land.”
11 So taskmasters were set over the children of Israel to wear them down with forced labor. They built the supply cities of Pithom and Raameses for Pharaoh. 12 But the more they were oppressed, the more they multiplied and grew beyond measure. The Egyptians began to dread the presence of the children of Israel 13 and therefore put them to work, treating them harshly. 14 They made their lives difficult and forced them to make clay bricks and to do all kinds of work in the fields. They forced them to do every type of harsh work.
15 Command to the Midwives. The king of Egypt said to the midwives of the Hebrews, one of whom was named Shiphrah and the other named Puah, 16 “When you assist the Hebrew women who are in labor, look at the child while it is still on the birthing stool. If it is a boy, kill it. If it is a girl, you can let it live.” 17 But the midwives feared God. They did not do what the king of Egypt had ordered them to do. They let the babies live.
18 The king of Egypt summoned the midwives and said to them, “Why have you done this and let the babies live?” 19 The midwives answered Pharaoh, “The Hebrew women are not like the Egyptians. They are full of life. Before the midwife arrives, they have already given birth.”
20 God blessed the midwives. The people grew and became very numerous. 21 God gave the midwives numerous families because they had feared God. 22 Pharaoh therefore gave this command to all of his people: “Every male son who is born to the Hebrews is to be thrown into the Nile, but let the girl babies live.”
Footnotes
- Exodus 1:1
- Exodus 1:1
- Exodus 1:1
- Exodus 1:2
- Exodus 1:5
- Exodus 1:6
- Exodus 1:8
- Exodus 1:11
