EXODUS 1

1. And these are the names of the sons of Israel that came into Egypt with Jacob; a man and his house they came. 2. Reuben, Simeon, Levi, and Judah;

3. Issachar, Zebulun, and Benjamin;

4. Dan and Naphtali, Gad and Asher. 5. And all the souls that came out of the thigh of Jacob were seventy souls: and Joseph was in Egypt. 6. And Joseph died, and all his brethren, and all that generation. 7. And the sons of Israel were fruitful, and were productive, and multiplied, and become very exceeding numerous; and the land was filled with them. 8. And there arose a new king over Egypt, who knew not Joseph. 9. And he said unto his people, Behold, the people of the sons of Israel are many and numerous more than we. 10. Come, let us use prudence with it,* peradventure it will be multiplied, and it will be that wars will happen, and it will also join itself to our enemies, and fight against us, and go up out of the land. 11. And they set over it princes of tributes, in order to afflict it with burdens. And it built cities of storehouses for Pharaoh, Pithom and Raamses. 12. And as they afflicted it, so it was multiplied, and so it was increased. And they were moved with loathing because of the sons of Israel. 13. And the Egyptians made the sons of Israel to serve with cruelty:

14. And they rendered their life bitter with grievous service, in clay, and in bricks, and in all service in the field, with all their service wherein they made them serve with cruelty. 15. And the king of Egypt said to the midwives of the Hebrew women, of whom the name of the one was Shiphrah, and the name of the other Puah;

16. And he said, When ye do the office of a midwife to the Hebrew women, and see them upon the stools; if it be a son, then ye shall kill him; and if it be a daughter, then she shall live. 17. And the midwives feared God, and did not as the king of Egypt spoke to them, and they kept the boys alive. 18. And the king of Egypt called the midwives, and said to them, Wherefore do ye this word, and keep the boys alive? 19. And the midwives said unto Pharaoh, Because the Hebrew women are not as the Egyptian women; for they are living, and have brought forth before the midwife comes unto them. 20. And God did well to the midwives; and the people was multiplied and became very numerous. 21. And it came to pass, because the midwives feared God, that He made them houses. 22. And Pharaoh commanded all his people, saying, Every son that is born, ye shall cast him forth into the river, and every daughter ye shall keep alive. * The singular number is here used in both the Hebrew and the Latin. The same peculiar form is found also in the English Bible (Gen. 11:6),"Behold the people is one."