Exodus 1:1
These are the names of the sons of Israel who went to Egypt with Jacob, each with his family:
Exodus 1:2
Reuben, Simeon, Levi, and Judah;
Exodus 1:3
Issachar, Zebulun, and Benjamin;
Exodus 1:4
Dan and Naphtali; Gad and Asher.
Exodus 1:5
The descendants of Jacob numbered seventy in all, including Joseph, who was already in Egypt.
Exodus 1:6
Now Joseph and all his brothers and all that generation died,
Exodus 1:7
but the Israelites were fruitful and increased rapidly; they multiplied and became exceedingly numerous, so that the land was filled with them.
Exodus 1:8
Then a new king, who did not know Joseph, came to power in Egypt.
Exodus 1:9
“Look,” he said to his people, “the Israelites have become too numerous and too powerful for us.
Exodus 1:10
Come, let us deal shrewdly with them, or they will increase even more; and if a war breaks out, they may join our enemies, fight against us, and leave the country.”
Exodus 1:11
So the Egyptians appointed taskmasters over the Israelites to oppress them with forced labor. As a result, they built Pithom and Rameses as store cities for Pharaoh.
Exodus 1:12
But the more they were oppressed, the more they multiplied and flourished; so the Egyptians came to dread the Israelites.
Exodus 1:13
They worked the Israelites ruthlessly
Exodus 1:14
and made their lives bitter with hard labor in brick and mortar, and with all kinds of work in the fields. Every service they imposed was harsh.
Exodus 1:15
Then the king of Egypt said to the Hebrew midwives, whose names were Shiphrah and Puah,
Exodus 1:16
“When you help the Hebrew women give birth, observe them on the birthstools. If the child is a son, kill him; but if it is a daughter, let her live.”
Exodus 1:17
The midwives, however, feared God and did not do as the king of Egypt had instructed; they let the boys live.
Exodus 1:18
So the king of Egypt summoned the midwives and asked them, “Why have you done this? Why have you let the boys live?”
Exodus 1:19
The midwives answered Pharaoh, “The Hebrew women are not like the Egyptian women, for they are vigorous and give birth before a midwife arrives.”
Exodus 1:20
So God was good to the midwives, and the people multiplied and became even more numerous.
Exodus 1:21
And because the midwives feared God, He gave them families of their own.
Exodus 1:22
Then Pharaoh commanded all his people: “Every son born to the Hebrews you must throw into the Nile, but every daughter you may allow to live.”