Exodus 1

The Israelites in Egypt

1These are the names of the sons of Israel (that is, Jacob) who moved to Egypt with their father, each with his family.H8034H1121H3478H935H4714H376H1004H935H32902Reuben, Simeon, Levi, Judah,H7205H8095H3878H30633Issachar, Zebulun, Benjamin,H3485H2074H11444Dan, Naphtali, Gad, and Asher.H1835H5321H1410H8365In all, Jacob had seventy

descendants in Egypt, including Joseph, who was already there.H5315H3318H3409H3290H7657H5315H3130H47146In time, Joseph and all of his brothers died, ending that entire generation.H3130H4191H251H17557But their descendants, the Israelites, had many children and grandchildren. In fact, they multiplied so greatly that they became extremely powerful and filled the land.H1121H3478H6509H8317H7235H3966H3966H6105H776H43908Eventually, a new king came to power in Egypt who knew nothing about Joseph or what he had done.H6965H2319H4428H4714H3045H31309He said to his people, "Look, the people of Israel now outnumber us and are stronger than we are.H559H5971H5971H1121H3478H7227H609910We must make a plan to keep them from growing even more. If we don't, and if war breaks out, they will join our enemies and fight against us. Then they will escape from the country

."H3051H2449H7235H7122H4421H1931H3254H8130H3898H5927H77611So the Egyptians made the Israelites their slaves. They appointed brutal slave drivers over them, hoping to wear them down with crushing labor. They forced them to build the cities of Pithom and Rameses as supply centers for the king.H7760H4522H8269H6031H5450H1129H6547H4543H5892H6619H748612But the more the Egyptians oppressed them, the more the Israelites multiplied and spread, and the more alarmed the Egyptians became.H6031H3651H7235H6555H6973H6440H1121H347813So the Egyptians worked the people of Israel without mercy.H4714H5647H1121H3478H5647H653114They made their lives bitter, forcing them to mix mortar and make bricks and do all the work in the fields. They were ruthless in all their demands.H4843H2416H4843H7186H5656H2563H3843H5656H7704H5656H5647H653115Then Pharaoh, the king of Egypt, gave this order to the Hebrew midwives, Shiphrah and Puah.H4428H4714H559H5680H3205H8034H259H8236H8034H8145H632616"When you help the Hebrew women as they give birth, watch as they deliver

. If the baby is a boy, kill him; if it is a girl, let her live."H559H3205H5680H7200H70H1121H4191H1323H242517But because the midwives feared God, they refused to obey the king's orders. They allowed the boys to live, too.H3205H3372H430H6213H4428H4714H1696H2421H3206H242118So the king of Egypt called for the midwives. "Why have you done this?" he demanded. "Why have you allowed the boys to live?"H4428H4714H7121H3205H559H4069H6213H1697H2421H3206H242119"The Hebrew women are not like the Egyptian women," the midwives replied. "They are more vigorous and have their babies so quickly that we cannot get there in time."H3205H559H6547H5680H802H4713H2422H3205H2962H3205H93520So God was good to the midwives, and the Israelites continued to multiply, growing more and more powerful.H430H3190H3205H5971H7235H3966H610521And because the midwives feared God, he gave them families of their own.H3205H3372H430H6213H100422Then Pharaoh gave this order to all his people: "Throw every newborn Hebrew boy into the Nile River. But you may let the girls live."H6547H6680H5971H559H1121H3209H7993H2975H1323H2421