Now these are the ^anames of the sons of Israel who came to Egypt with Jacob; they came each one ¹with his household: 2 Reuben, Simeon, Levi, and Judah; 3 Issachar, Zebulun, and Benjamin; 4 Dan and Naphtali, Gad and Asher. 5 And all the ¹persons who came from the loins of Jacob were ^aseventy ²in number, but Joseph was already in Egypt. 6 ^aThen Joseph died, and all his brothers and all that generation. 7 But the sons of Israel ^awere fruitful and ¹increased and multiplied and became exceedingly ²mighty, so that the land was filled with them.

8 And a new ^aking arose over Egypt, who did not know Joseph. 9 ^aAnd he said to his people, “Behold, the people of the sons of Israel are ¹more and mightier than we. 10 Come, let us ^adeal wisely with them, lest they multiply and it be ¹in the event of war, that they also join themselves to those who hate us and fight against us and ^bgo up from the land.” 11 So they appointed ^ataskmasters over them to afflict them with ^1bhard labors. And they built for Pharaoh ^cstorage cities, Pithom and ^dRaamses. 12 But the more they afflicted them, ^athe more they multiplied and the more they ¹spread out, so that they were in dread of the sons of Israel. 13 So the Egyptians brutally compelled the sons of Israel ^ato slave labor; 14 and they made ^atheir lives bitter with ¹hard slave labor in mortar and bricks and in all kinds of slave labor in the field, all their slave labor which they brutally ²compelled them to do.

15 Then the king of Egypt spoke to the Hebrew midwives, one of whom ¹was named Shiphrah and the other ²was named Puah; 16 and he said, “When you are helping the Hebrew women to give birth and see them upon the birthstool, ^aif it is a son, then you shall put him to death; but if it is a daughter, then she shall live.” 17 But the midwives ^1afeared God and ^bdid not do as the king of Egypt had spoken to them, but let the boys live. 18 So the king of Egypt called for the midwives and said to them, “Why have you done this thing, and let the boys live?” 19 Then the midwives said to Pharaoh, “Because the Hebrew women are not as the Egyptian women; for they are vigorous and give birth before the midwife can come to them.” 20 So ^aGod was good to the midwives, and ^bthe people multiplied and became very ¹mighty. 21 Now it happened that because the midwives ^1afeared God, He ^bmade ²households for them. 22 And Pharaoh commanded all his people, saying, “^aEvery son who is born ¹you are to cast into ^bthe Nile, and every daughter you are to keep alive.”

Now these are the ^anames 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 ^aseventy people; Joseph was already in Egypt. 6 ^aThen Joseph died, and all his brothers and all that generation, 7 but the ¹Israelites ^awere prolific and increased greatly; ²they multiplied and became extremely strong, so that the land was filled with them.

8 ¹Now a new ^2aking arose over Egypt, who did not know Joseph nor the history of his accomplishments. 9 ^aHe said to his people, “Behold, the ¹people of the sons of Israel are too many and too mighty for us they greatly outnumber us. 10 Come, let us ^adeal 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 ^ataskmasters over them to oppress them with ^bhard labor. And the sons of Israel built Pithom and ^cRaamses as ^dstorage cities for Pharaoh. 12 But the more the Egyptians oppressed them, ^athe more they multiplied and expanded, so that the Egyptians dreaded and were exasperated by the Israelites. 13 And the Egyptians made the Israelites ^aserve rigorously forcing them into severe slavery. 14 They made ^atheir 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, ^aif it is a son, you shall kill him; but if it is a daughter, she shall live.” 17 But the midwives ^afeared God with profound reverence and ^bdid 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 ^aGod was good to the midwives, and ^bthe people of Israel multiplied and became very strong. 21 And because the midwives ^afeared God with profound reverence, ¹He ^bestablished families and households for them. 22 Then ¹Pharaoh commanded all his people, saying, “^aEvery son who is born to the Hebrews must be thrown into ^bthe Nile, but every daughter you shall keep alive.”