A modern English translation drawn directly from the original Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek texts. Translated word-for-word where possible, by a committee with scholarly oversight.
Uses the same source texts as the ESV, NASB, and most academic Bibles, including the Biblia Hebraica Stuttgartensia and the Nestle-Aland critical edition.
Exodus 1
Exodus 1 is the opening chapter of the second book of the Bible. The 22-verse chapter sets up the situation that will dominate the rest of the book: the Israelites have become numerous in Egypt, and a new Pharaoh sees them as a threat.
The chapter opens by listing the sons of Jacob who came down to Egypt with him in Genesis, summarizing the family that became a people. Joseph and his entire generation have died. The Israelites have multiplied dramatically; the chapter says they filled the land.
A new king of Egypt arises who does not know Joseph. He sees the Israelite population as a security risk: if war comes, they might join Egypt's enemies. He puts them to forced labor, making them build the supply cities of Pithom and Rameses. The harder he works them, the more they multiply.
Pharaoh escalates. He orders the Hebrew midwives, two of whom are named as Shiphrah and Puah, to kill every Hebrew boy at birth. The midwives refuse, telling Pharaoh that the Hebrew women give birth before they can arrive. God blesses them for their disobedience.
Pharaoh issues a final command to the entire Egyptian population: throw every newborn Hebrew boy into the Nile. The chapter closes there, with the population of Israel under direct threat. The events of chapter 2 follow, including the birth of Moses.
Verse 1. These are the names of the sons of Israel who went to Egypt with Jacob, each with his family:
Verse 2. Reuben, Simeon, Levi, and Judah;
Verse 3. Issachar, Zebulun, and Benjamin;
Verse 4. Dan and Naphtali; Gad and Asher.
Verse 5. The descendants of Jacob numbered seventy in all, including Joseph, who was already in Egypt.
Verse 6. Now Joseph and all his brothers and all that generation died,
Verse 7. but the Israelites were fruitful and increased rapidly; they multiplied and became exceedingly numerous, so that the land was filled with them.
Verse 8. Then a new king, who did not know Joseph, came to power in Egypt.
Verse 9. “Look,” he said to his people, “the Israelites have become too numerous and too powerful for us.
Verse 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.”
Verse 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.
Verse 12. But the more they were oppressed, the more they multiplied and flourished; so the Egyptians came to dread the Israelites.
Verse 13. They worked the Israelites ruthlessly
Verse 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.
Verse 15. Then the king of Egypt said to the Hebrew midwives, whose names were Shiphrah and Puah,
Verse 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.”
Verse 17. The midwives, however, feared God and did not do as the king of Egypt had instructed; they let the boys live.
Verse 18. So the king of Egypt summoned the midwives and asked them, “Why have you done this? Why have you let the boys live?”
Verse 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.”
Verse 20. So God was good to the midwives, and the people multiplied and became even more numerous.
Verse 21. And because the midwives feared God, He gave them families of their own.
Verse 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.”
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