Exodus, Chapter 1:

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Verses from Exodus, Chapter 1 of the book of Exodus in the Bible.

Exodus - Old Testament — Exodus – Old Testament

The oppressed Israelites

1. These are the names of the children 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. There were seventy descendants of Jacob in total. Joseph, however, was already in Egypt.
6. Joseph and all his brothers, and all that generation, died.
7. But the Israelites were fruitful, they greatly increased in number, they became extremely strong, and they filled the land.
8. Meanwhile, a new king came to power in Egypt who had not known Joseph.
9. He said to his people, “Look! The people of the Israelites are more numerous and stronger than us.
10. It is necessary to act cunningly, so that they do not multiply even more. If a war breaks out, they will join our enemies, fight against us, and leave the land.”
11. Then the Egyptians placed labor leaders over the Israelites, to oppress them with hard labor. They built for Pharaoh the cities of treasure, Pithom and Ramesses.
12. The more the Israelites were oppressed, the more they multiplied and spread out, so that the Egyptians began to fear them.
13. Therefore, the Egyptians treated the Israelites cruelly and imposed heavy labor on them.
14. They forced them to make bricks from clay and straw, and burdened them with all kinds of work in the field and in construction.
15. The king of Egypt said to the Hebrew midwives, whose names were Shiphrah and Puah:
16. “When you help the Hebrew women with the birth, observe the sex of the child. If it is a boy, kill him; If it’s a girl, let her live.”
17. But the midwives feared God and did not do as the king of Egypt commanded them, but let the boys live.
18. The king of Egypt sent for the midwives and asked them, “Why did you do this? Why did they let the boys live?”
19. They answered Pharaoh: “Hebrew women are not like Egyptian women. They are strong and give birth before the midwife arrives.”
20. Therefore, God blessed the midwives, and the people multiplied and became even more numerous.
21. And because the midwives feared God, he gave them families.
22. Then Pharaoh gave this order to all his people: “Cast every boy born into the river, but let all the girls live.”