| English Standard Version | New Living Translation |
| 1These are the names of the sons of Israel who came to Egypt with Jacob, each with his household: | 1These are the names of the sons of Israel (that is, Jacob) who moved to Egypt with their father, each with his family: |
| 2Reuben, Simeon, Levi, and Judah, | 2Reuben, Simeon, Levi, Judah, |
| 3Issachar, Zebulun, and Benjamin, | 3Issachar, Zebulun, Benjamin, |
| 4Dan and Naphtali, Gad and Asher. | 4Dan, Naphtali, Gad, and Asher. |
| 5All the descendants of Jacob were seventy persons; Joseph was already in Egypt. | 5In all, Jacob had seventy descendants in Egypt, including Joseph, who was already there. |
| 6Then Joseph died, and all his brothers and all that generation. | 6In time, Joseph and all of his brothers died, ending that entire generation. |
| 7But the people of Israel were fruitful and increased greatly; they multiplied and grew exceedingly strong, so that the land was filled with them. | 7But their descendants, the Israelites, had many children and grandchildren. In fact, they multiplied so greatly that they became extremely powerful and filled the land. |
| 8Now there arose a new king over Egypt, who did not know Joseph. | 8Eventually, a new king came to power in Egypt who knew nothing about Joseph or what he had done. |
| 9And he said to his people, “Behold, the people of Israel are too many and too mighty for us. | 9He said to his people, “Look, the people of Israel now outnumber us and are stronger than we are. |
| 10Come, let us deal shrewdly with them, lest they multiply, and, if war breaks out, they join our enemies and fight against us and escape from the land.” | 10We 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. ” |
| 11Therefore they set taskmasters over them to afflict them with heavy burdens. They built for Pharaoh store cities, Pithom and Raamses. | 11So 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. |
| 12But the more they were oppressed, the more they multiplied and the more they spread abroad. And the Egyptians were in dread of the people of Israel. | 12But the more the Egyptians oppressed them, the more the Israelites multiplied and spread, and the more alarmed the Egyptians became. |
| 13So they ruthlessly made the people of Israel work as slaves | 13So the Egyptians worked the people of Israel without mercy. |
| 14and made their lives bitter with hard service, in mortar and brick, and in all kinds of work in the field. In all their work they ruthlessly made them work as slaves. | 14They 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. |
| 15Then the king of Egypt said to the Hebrew midwives, one of whom was named Shiphrah and the other Puah, | 15Then Pharaoh, the king of Egypt, gave this order to the Hebrew midwives, Shiphrah and Puah: |
| 16“When you serve as midwife to the Hebrew women and see them on the birthstool, if it is a son, you shall kill him, but if it is a daughter, she shall live.” | 16“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.” |
| 17But the midwives feared God and did not do as the king of Egypt commanded them, but let the male children live. | 17But because the midwives feared God, they refused to obey the king’s orders. They allowed the boys to live, too. |
| 18So the king of Egypt called the midwives and said to them, “Why have you done this, and let the male children live?” | 18So the king of Egypt called for the midwives. “Why have you done this?” he demanded. “Why have you allowed the boys to 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 comes to them.” | 19“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.” |
| 20So God dealt well with the midwives. And the people multiplied and grew very strong. | 20So God was good to the midwives, and the Israelites continued to multiply, growing more and more powerful. |
| 21And because the midwives feared God, he gave them families. | 21And because the midwives feared God, he gave them families of their own. |
| 22Then Pharaoh commanded all his people, “Every son that is born to the Hebrews you shall cast into the Nile, but you shall let every daughter live.” | 22Then Pharaoh gave this order to all his people: “Throw every newborn Hebrew boy into the Nile River. But you may let the girls live.” |
| ESV Text Edition: 2016. The ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®) copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. The ESV® text has been reproduced in cooperation with and by permission of Good News Publishers. Unauthorized reproduction of this publication is prohibited. All rights reserved. | Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved. |
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