[1] These are the names of the sons of Israel who went to Egypt with Jacob, each with his family: [2] Reuben, Simeon, Levi, and Judah; [3] Issachar, Zebulun, and Benjamin; [4] Dan and Naphtali; Gad and Asher. [5] The descendants of Jacob numbered seventy in all, including Joseph, who was already in Egypt. [6] Now Joseph and all his brothers and all that generation died, [7] but the Israelites were fruitful and increased rapidly; they multiplied and became exceedingly numerous, so that the land was filled with them. [8] Then a new king, who did not know Joseph, came to power in Egypt. [9] “Look,” he said to his people, “the Israelites have become too numerous and too powerful for us. [10] Come, let us deal shrewdly with them, or they will increase even more; and if a war breaks out, they may join our enemies, fight against us, and leave the country.” [11] So the Egyptians appointed taskmasters over the Israelites to oppress them with forced labor. As a result, they built Pithom and Rameses as store cities for Pharaoh. [12] But the more they were oppressed, the more they multiplied and flourished; so the Egyptians came to dread the Israelites. [13] They worked the Israelites ruthlessly [14] and made their lives bitter with hard labor in brick and mortar, and with all kinds of work in the fields. Every service they imposed was harsh. [15] Then the king of Egypt said to the Hebrew midwives, whose names were Shiphrah and Puah, [16] “When you help the Hebrew women give birth, observe them on the birthstools. If the child is a son, kill him; but if it is a daughter, let her live.” [17] The midwives, however, feared God and did not do as the king of Egypt had instructed; they let the boys live. [18] So the king of Egypt summoned the midwives and asked them, “Why have you done this? Why have you let the boys live?” [19] The midwives answered Pharaoh, “The Hebrew women are not like the Egyptian women, for they are vigorous and give birth before a midwife arrives.” [20] So God was good to the midwives, and the people multiplied and became even more numerous. [21] And because the midwives feared God, He gave them families of their own. [22] Then Pharaoh commanded all his people: “Every son born to the Hebrews you must throw into the Nile, but every daughter you may allow to live.”
