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Israel Multiplies in Egypt

¹ Now these are the ^(C1)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 ^(C1)seventy people; Joseph was already in Egypt.^6 (C1)Then Joseph died, and all his brothers and all that generation,⁷ but the ^(F1)Israelites ^(C1)were prolific and increased greatly; ^(F2)they multiplied and became extremely strong, so that the land was filled with them.

^8 (F1)Now a new ^(F2)(C1)king arose over Egypt, who did not know Joseph nor the history of his accomplishments.^9 (C1)He said to his people, "Behold, the ^(F1)people of the sons of Israel are too many and too mighty for us they greatly outnumber us.¹⁰ "Come, let us ^(C1)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 ^(C1)taskmasters over them to oppress them with ^(C2)hard labor. And the sons of Israel built Pithom and ^(C3)Raamses as ^(C4)storage cities for Pharaoh.¹² But the more the Egyptians oppressed them, ^(C1)the more they multiplied and expanded, so that the Egyptians dreaded and were exasperated by the Israelites.¹³ And the Egyptians made the Israelites ^(C1)serve rigorously forcing them into severe slavery.¹⁴ They made ^(C1)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, ^(C1)if it is a son, you shall kill him; but if it is a daughter, she shall live."¹⁷ But the midwives ^(C1)feared God with profound reverence and ^(C2)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 ^(C1)God was good to the midwives, and ^(C2)the people of Israel multiplied and became very strong.²¹ And because the midwives ^(C1)feared God with profound reverence, ^(F1)He ^(C2)established families and households for them.²² Then ^(F1)Pharaoh commanded all his people, saying, "^(C1)Every son who is born to the Hebrews must be thrown into ^(C2)the Nile, but every daughter you shall keep alive."