Exodus 1

¹And these are the names of the sons of Israel who came to Egypt — Jacob, each man and his household, they came.

²Reuben, Simeon, Levi, and Judah,

³Issachar, Zebulun, and Benjamin.

⁴Dan and Naphtali, Gad and Asher.

⁵And all the persons coming out of Jacob's thigh were seventy persons, and Joseph was in Egypt.

⁶And Joseph died, and all his brothers, and all that generation.

⁷And the children of Israel were fruitful and swarmed and multiplied and grew mighty, exceedingly exceedingly, and the land was filled with them.

⁸And a new king arose over Egypt, who did not know Joseph.

⁹And he said to his people, Look, the people of the children of Israel are more numerous and mightier than us.

¹⁰Come, let us deal shrewdly with them, lest they multiply further, and it will come about that, when war breaks out, they too join our enemies and fight against us and go up from the land.

¹¹And they set over them foremen of forced labor so as to afflict them with their burdens, and he built store cities for Pharaoh, Pithom and Rameses.

¹²But as they afflicted him, so he multiplied and so he broke through; and they felt dread because of the children of Israel.

¹³And the Egyptians made the children of Israel serve with harshness.

¹⁴And they made their lives bitter with hard service — in mortar and in bricks and in all service in the field — all their service in which they made them serve with harshness.

¹⁵And the king of Egypt said to the Hebrew midwives — the name of the one was Shiphrah and the name of the second was Puah —

¹⁶And he said, When you deliver the Hebrew women, you shall look on the two stones: if it is a son, you shall put him to death, but if it is a daughter, she shall live.

¹⁷But the midwives feared God and did not do as the king of Egypt had spoken to them; they let the boys live.

¹⁸And the king of Egypt called to the midwives and said to them, Why have you done this thing and let the children live?

¹⁹And the midwives said to Pharaoh, Because the Hebrew women are not like the Egyptian women, for they are vigorous — before the midwife comes to them they have given birth.

²⁰And God dealt well with the midwives, and the people multiplied and grew mighty exceedingly.

²¹And it came to pass, because the midwives feared God, that he made households for them.

²²Then Pharaoh commanded all his people, saying: Every son that is born, throw him into the Nile; but every daughter you shall let live.