King James New American Standard Bible
  • 1 Now these are the names of the children of Israel, which came into Egypt; every man and his household came with Jacob.
  • 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 loins of Jacob were seventy souls: for Joseph was in Egypt already.
  • 6 And Joseph died, and all his brethren, and all that generation.
  • 7 And the children of Israel were fruitful, and increased abundantly, and multiplied, and waxed exceeding mighty; and the land was filled with them.
  • 8 Now there arose up a new king over Egypt, which knew not Joseph.
  • 9 And he said unto his people, Behold, the people of the children of Israel are more and mightier than we:
  • 10 Come on, let us deal wisely with them; lest they multiply, and it come to pass, that, when there falleth out any war, they join also unto our enemies, and fight against us, and so get them up out of the land.
  • 11 Therefore they did set over them taskmasters to afflict them with their burdens. And they built for Pharaoh treasure cities, Pithom and Raamses.
  • 12 But the more they afflicted them, the more they multiplied and grew. And they were grieved because of the children of Israel.
  • 13 And the Egyptians made the children of Israel to serve with rigour:
  • 14 And they made their lives bitter with hard bondage, in morter, and in brick, and in all manner of service in the field: all their service, wherein they made them serve, was with rigour.
  • 15 And the king of Egypt spake to the Hebrew midwives, of which 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: but if it be a daughter, then she shall live.
  • 17 But the midwives feared God, and did not as the king of Egypt commanded them, but saved the men children alive.
  • 18 And the king of Egypt called for the midwives, and said unto them, Why have ye done this thing, and have saved the men children alive?
  • 19 And the midwives said unto Pharaoh, Because the Hebrew women are not as the Egyptian women; for they are lively, and are delivered ere the midwives come in unto them.
  • 20 Therefore God dealt well with the midwives: and the people multiplied, and waxed very mighty.
  • 21 And it came to pass, because the midwives feared God, that he made them houses.
  • 22 And Pharaoh charged all his people, saying, Every son that is born ye shall cast into the river, and every daughter ye shall save alive.
  • 1 Now these are the names of the sons of Israel who came to Egypt with Jacob; they came each one with his household:
  • 2 Reuben, Simeon, Levi and Judah;
  • 3 Issachar, Zebulun and Benjamin;
  • 4 Dan and Naphtali, Gad and Asher.
  • 5 All the persons who came from the loins of Jacob were seventy in number, but Joseph was already in Egypt.
  • 6 Joseph died, and all his brothers and all that generation.
  • 7 But the sons of Israel were fruitful and increased greatly, and multiplied, and became exceedingly mighty, so that the land was filled with them.
  • 8 Now a new king arose over Egypt, who did not know Joseph.
  • 9 He said to his people, “Behold, the people of the sons of Israel are more and mightier than we.
  • 10 “Come, let us deal wisely with them, or else they will multiply and in the event of war, they will also join themselves to those who hate us, and fight against us and depart from the land.”
  • 11 So they appointed taskmasters over them to afflict them with hard labor. And they built for Pharaoh storage cities, Pithom and Raamses.
  • 12 But the more they afflicted them, the more they multiplied and the more they spread out, so that they were in dread of the sons of Israel.
  • 13 The Egyptians compelled the sons of Israel to labor rigorously;
  • 14 and they made their lives bitter with hard labor in mortar and bricks and at all kinds of labor in the field, all their labors which they rigorously imposed on them.
  • 15 Then the king of Egypt spoke to the Hebrew midwives, one of whom was named Shiphrah and the other was named Puah;
  • 16 and he said, “When you are helping the Hebrew women to give birth and see them upon the birthstool, if it is a son, then you shall put him to death; but if it is a daughter, then she shall live.”
  • 17 But the midwives feared God, and did not do as the king of Egypt had commanded them, but let the boys live.
  • 18 So the king of Egypt called for the midwives and said to them, “Why have you done this thing, and let the boys live?”
  • 19 The midwives said to Pharaoh, “Because the Hebrew women are not as the Egyptian women; for they are vigorous and give birth before the midwife can get to them.”
  • 20 So God was good to the midwives, and the people multiplied, and became very mighty.
  • 21 Because the midwives feared God, He established households for them.
  • 22 Then Pharaoh commanded all his people, saying, “Every son who is born you are to cast into the Nile, and every daughter you are to keep alive.”
New American Standard Bible (NASB)
Copyright 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation
Used by permission.