Exodus
Chapter 1
1 Here are the names of the people of Israel who went to Egypt; each one with his family joined Jacob.
2 Reuben, Simeon, Levi, and Judah,
3 Issachar, Zebulun, and Benjamin.
4 Dan, Naphtali, Gad, and Asher.
5 Everyone born from Jacob totaled seventy people; Joseph was already in Egypt.
6 Joseph and all his brothers and everyone from that generation died.
7 The Israelites grew many, became very strong and filled the land.
8 A new king came to power in Egypt who did not know about Joseph.
9 He said to his people, “Look, the Israelites are becoming too numerous and powerful for us.”
10 Let’s be smart in handling them so they don’t increase in number. If there’s a war, they might join our enemies, fight us, and then leave this land.
11 So they put bosses over them to make them suffer with hard work. And they built storage cities for Pharaoh, Pithom and Raamses.
12 The more they hurt them, the more they increased and became strong. And they were upset because of the children of Israel.
13 The Egyptians forced the Israelites to work very hard.
14 They made their lives very hard with tough work, using mortar, bricks, and all sorts of field work; every task they forced them to do was done harshly.
15 The king of Egypt talked to the Hebrew midwives, named Shiphrah and Puah.
16 He said, “When you help the Hebrew women give birth and see them on the birthing stools; if it’s a boy, you must kill him, but if it’s a girl, she can live.”
17 The midwives respected God and did not follow the Egyptian king’s orders; instead, they kept the baby boys alive.
18 The king of Egypt called the midwives and asked them, “Why have you done this and let the boy babies live?”
19 The midwives told the king, “Hebrew women are not like Egyptian women; they are strong and give birth before the midwives arrive.”
20 So God was good to the midwives, and the people grew and became very strong.
21 Because the midwives respected God, he gave them homes.
22 Pharaoh ordered all his people, “Throw every newborn boy into the river, but let every girl live.”