Exodus 1:8-18
New American Standard Bible
Chapter 1
8Now a new king arose over Egypt, who did not know Joseph. 9And he said to his people, 'Behold, the people of the sons of Israel are too many and too mighty for us. 10Come, let us deal shrewdly with them, otherwise they will multiply, and in the event of war, they will also join those who hate us, and fight against us and depart from the land.' 11So they appointed taskmasters over them to oppress them with hard labor. And they built for Pharaoh storage cities, Pithom and Raamses. 12But the more they oppressed them, the more they multiplied and the more they spread out, so that they dreaded the sons of Israel. 13The Egyptians used violence to compel the sons of Israel to labor; 14and 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 violently had them perform as slaves.
15Then the king of Egypt spoke to the Hebrew midwives, one of whom was named Shiphrah, and the other was named Puah;
16and 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.'
17But the midwives feared God, and did not do as the king of Egypt had commanded them, but let the boys live.
18So the king of Egypt called for the midwives and said to them, 'Why have you done this thing, and let the boys live?'
King James Version
Chapter 1
8Now there arose up a new king over Egypt, which knew not Joseph. 9And he said unto his people, Behold, the people of the children of Israel are more and mightier than we: 10Come 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. 11Therefore they did set over them taskmasters to afflict them with their burdens. And they built for Pharaoh treasure cities, Pithom and Raamses. 12But the more they afflicted them, the more they multiplied and grew. And they were grieved because of the children of Israel. 13And the Egyptians made the children of Israel to serve with rigour: 14And 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.
15And 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:
16And 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.
17But the midwives feared God, and did not as the king of Egypt commanded them, but saved the men children alive.
18And 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?
Christian Standard Bible
Chapter 1
8A new king, who did not know about Joseph, came to power in Egypt. 9He said to his people, "Look, the Israelite people are more numerous and powerful than we are. 10Come, let's deal shrewdly with them; otherwise they will multiply further, and when war breaks out, they will join our enemies, fight against us, and leave the country." 11So the Egyptians assigned taskmasters over the Israelites to oppress them with forced labor. They built Pithom and Rameses as supply cities for Pharaoh. 12But the more they oppressed them, the more they multiplied and spread so that the Egyptians came to dread the Israelites. 13They worked the Israelites ruthlessly 14and made their lives bitter with difficult labor in brick and mortar and in all kinds of fieldwork. They ruthlessly imposed all this work on them.
15The king of Egypt said to the Hebrew midwives--the first, whose name was Shiphrah, and the second, whose name was Puah--
16"When you help the Hebrew women give birth, observe them as they deliver. If the child is a son, kill him, but if it's a daughter, she may live."
17The midwives, however, feared God and did not do as the king of Egypt had told them; they let the boys live.
18So the king of Egypt summoned the midwives and asked them, "Why have you done this and let the boys live? "
New Living Translation
Chapter 1
8Eventually, a new king came to power in Egypt who knew nothing about Joseph or what he had done. 9He said to his people, 'Look, the people of Israel now outnumber us and are stronger than we are. 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. '
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 the Egyptians oppressed them, the more the Israelites multiplied and spread, and the more alarmed the Egyptians became.
13So the Egyptians worked the people of Israel without mercy.
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 Pharaoh, the king of Egypt, gave this order to the Hebrew midwives, Shiphrah and Puah:
16When 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 because the midwives feared God, they refused to obey the king’s orders. They allowed the boys to live, too.
English Standard Version
Chapter 1
8Now there arose a new king over Egypt, who did not know Joseph. 9And he said to his people, “Behold, the people of Israel are too many and too mighty for us. 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.” 11Therefore they set taskmasters over them to afflict them with heavy burdens. They built for Pharaoh store cities, Pithom and Raamses. 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. 13So they ruthlessly made the people of Israel work as slaves 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.
15Then the king of Egypt said to the Hebrew midwives, one of whom was named Shiphrah and the other 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.”
17But the midwives feared God and did not do as the king of Egypt commanded them, but let the male children live.
18So the king of Egypt called the midwives and said to them, “Why have you done this, and let the male children live?”
New International Version
Chapter 1
8Then a new king, to whom Joseph meant nothing, came to power in Egypt. 9Look,' he said to his people, 'the Israelites have become far too numerous for us. 10Come, we must deal shrewdly with them or they will become even more numerous and, if war breaks out, will join our enemies, fight against us and leave the country.'
11So they put slave masters over them to oppress them with forced labor, and they built Pithom and Rameses as store cities for Pharaoh.
12But the more they were oppressed, the more they multiplied and spread; so the Egyptians came to dread the Israelites
13and worked them ruthlessly.
14They made their lives bitter with harsh labor in brick and mortar and with all kinds of work in the fields; in all their harsh labor the Egyptians worked them ruthlessly.
15The king of Egypt said to the Hebrew midwives, whose names were Shiphrah and Puah,
16When you are helping the Hebrew women during childbirth on the delivery stool, if you see that the baby is a boy, kill him; but if it is a girl, let her live.'
17The midwives, however, feared God and did not do what the king of Egypt had told them to do; they let the boys live.
18Then the king of Egypt summoned the midwives and asked them, 'Why have you done this? Why have you let the boys live?'
