1 These are the names of the sons of Israel who went to Egypt with Jacob, each with his family: | TOSK |
2 Reuben, Simeon, Levi, and Judah; | TOSK |
3 Issachar, Zebulun, and Benjamin; | TOSK |
4 Dan and Naphtali; Gad and Asher. | TOSK |
5 The descendants of Jacob numbered seventy in all, including Joseph, who was already in Egypt. | TOSK |
6 Now Joseph and all his brothers and all that generation died, | TOSK |
7 but the Israelites were fruitful and increased rapidly; they multiplied and became exceedingly numerous, so that the land was filled with them. | IP¹ | IP² | IP³ | C | TOSK | TT |
8 Then a new king, who did not know Joseph, came to power in Egypt. | C | TOSK |
9 "Look," he said to his people, "the Israelites have become too numerous and too powerful for us. | C | TOSK |
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." | C | TOSK |
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. | C | TOSK |
12 But the more they were oppressed, the more they multiplied and flourished; so the Egyptians came to dread the Israelites. | C | TOSK |
13 They worked the Israelites ruthlessly | C | TOSK |
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. | C | TOSK |
15 Then the king of Egypt said to the Hebrew midwives, whose names were Shiphrah and Puah, | C | TOSK |
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." | C | TOSK |
17 The midwives, however, feared God and did not do as the king of Egypt had instructed; they let the boys live. | C | TOSK |
18 So the king of Egypt summoned the midwives and asked them, "Why have you done this? Why have you let the boys live?" | C | TOSK |
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." | C | TOSK |
20 So God was good to the midwives, and the people multiplied and became even more numerous. | C | TOSK |
21 And because the midwives feared God, He gave them families of their own. | C | TOSK |
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." | C | TOSK |