1:8 Then a new king, 1 who did not know about 2 Joseph, came to power 3 over Egypt. 1:9 He said 4 to his people, “Look at 5 the Israelite people, more numerous and stronger than we are! 1:10 Come, let’s deal wisely 6 with them. Otherwise 7 they will continue to multiply, 8 and if 9 a war breaks out, they will ally themselves with 10 our enemies and fight against us and leave 11 the country.”
1:11 So they put foremen 12 over the Israelites 13 to oppress 14 them with hard labor. As a result 15 they built Pithom and Rameses 16 as store cities for Pharaoh. 1:12 But the more the Egyptians 17 oppressed them, the more they multiplied and spread. 18 As a result the Egyptians loathed 19 the Israelites, 1:13 and they 20 made the Israelites serve rigorously. 21 1:14 They made their lives bitter 22 by 23 hard service with mortar and bricks and by all kinds of service 24 in the fields. Every kind of service the Israelites were required to give was rigorous. 25
1:15 The king of Egypt said 26 to the Hebrew midwives, 27 one of whom was named Shiphrah and the other Puah, 28 1:16 29 “When you assist 30 the Hebrew women in childbirth, observe at the delivery: 31 If it is a son, kill him, 32 but if it is a daughter, she may live.” 33 1:17 But 34 the midwives feared God and did not do what the king of Egypt had told them; they let the boys live. 35
1:18 Then the king of Egypt summoned 36 the midwives and said to them, “Why have you done this and let the boys live?” 37 1:19 The midwives said to Pharaoh, “Because the Hebrew 38 women are not like the Egyptian women – for the Hebrew women 39 are vigorous; they give birth before the midwife gets to them!” 40 1:20 So God treated the midwives well, 41 and the people multiplied and became very strong. 1:21 And because the midwives feared God, he made 42 households 43 for them.
1:22 Then Pharaoh commanded all his people, “All sons 44 that are born you must throw 45 into the river, but all daughters you may let live.” 46