Bible Gateway passage: Exodus 1 - New American Standard Bible (2024)

Israel Multiplies in Egypt

1Now these are the ^(A)names of the sons of Israel who came to Egypt with Jacob; they came, each one ^[a]with his household: ²Reuben, Simeon, Levi, and Judah; ³Issachar, Zebulun, and Benjamin; ⁴Dan and Naphtali, Gad and Asher. ^5[b]All the people who descended from Jacob were ^(B)seventy ^[c]people, but Joseph was already in Egypt. ⁶And ^(C)Joseph died, and all his brothers and all that generation. ⁷But the sons of Israel ^(D)were fruitful and ^[d]increased greatly, and multiplied, and became exceedingly ^[e]mighty, so that the land was filled with them.

⁸Now a new ^(E)king arose over Egypt, who did not know Joseph. ⁹And ^(F)he said to his people, “Behold, the people of the sons of Israel are ^[f]too many and too mighty for us. ¹⁰Come, let us ^(G)deal ^[g]shrewdly with them, otherwise they will multiply, and ^[h]in the event of war, they will also join those who hate us, and fight against us and ^[i]depart from the land.” ¹¹So they appointed ^(H)taskmasters over them to oppress them with ^[j](I)hard labor. And they built for Pharaoh ^(J)storage cities, Pithom and ^(K)Raamses. ¹²But the more they oppressed them, ^(L)the more they multiplied and the more they ^[k]spread out, so that they dreaded the sons of Israel. ¹³The Egyptians ^[l]used violence to compel the sons of Israel ^(M)to labor; ¹⁴and they made ^(N)their lives bitter with hard labor in mortar and bricks and at all kinds of labor in the field, all their labors which they violently had them perform as slaves.

¹⁵Then the king of Egypt spoke to the Hebrew midwives, one of whom ^[m]was named Shiphrah, and the other ^[n]was named Puah; ¹⁶and he said, “When you are helping the Hebrew women to give birth and see them upon the birthstool, ^(O)if it is a son, then you shall put him to death; but if it is a daughter, then she shall live.” ¹⁷But the midwives ^[o](P)feared God, and ^(Q)did not do as the king of Egypt had ^[p]commanded them, but let the boys live. ¹⁸So the king of Egypt called for the midwives and said to them, “Why have you done this thing, and let the boys live?” ¹⁹The midwives said to Pharaoh, “Because the Hebrew women are not like the Egyptian women; for they are vigorous and give birth before the midwife ^[q]can get to them.” ²⁰So ^(R)God was good to the midwives, and ^(S)the people multiplied, and became very ^[r]mighty. ²¹And because the midwives ^[s](T)feared God, He ^[t](U)established ^[u]households for them. ²²Then Pharaoh commanded all his people, saying, “^(V)Every son who is born, ^[v]you are to throw into ^(W)the Nile, but every daughter, you are to keep alive.”