(GWT)
Exodus
1
:
1
These are the names of the sons of Israel (that is, Jacob) who came with him to Egypt with their families:
(GWT)
Exodus
1
:
5
Joseph was already in Egypt. The total number of Jacob's descendants was 70.
(GWT)
Exodus
1
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6
Eventually, Joseph, all his brothers, and that entire generation died.
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Exodus
1
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7
But the descendants of Israel had many children. They became so numerous and strong that the land was filled with them.
(GWT)
Exodus
1
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8
Then a new king, who knew nothing about Joseph, began to rule in Egypt.
(GWT)
Exodus
1
:
9
He said to his people, "There are too many Israelites, and they are stronger than we are.
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Exodus
1
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10
We have to outsmart them, or they'll increase in number. Then, if war breaks out, they will join our enemies, fight against us, and leave the country."
(GWT)
Exodus
1
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11
So the Egyptians put slave drivers in charge of them in order to oppress them through forced labor. They built Pithom and Rameses as supply cities for Pharaoh.
(GWT)
Exodus
1
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12
But the more the Israelites were oppressed, the more they increased in number and spread out. The Egyptians couldn't stand them [any longer].
(GWT)
Exodus
1
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13
So they forced the Israelites to work hard as slaves.
(GWT)
Exodus
1
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14
They made their lives bitter with back-breaking work in mortar and bricks and every kind of work in the fields. All the jobs the Egyptians gave them were brutally hard.
(GWT)
Exodus
1
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15
Then the king of Egypt told the Hebrew midwives, whose names were Shiphrah and Puah,
(GWT)
Exodus
1
:
16
"When you help the Hebrew women in childbirth, look at the child when you deliver it. If it's a boy, kill it, but if it's a girl, let it live."
(GWT)
Exodus
1
:
17
However, the midwives feared God and didn't obey the king of Egypt's orders. They let the boys live.
(GWT)
Exodus
1
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18
So the king of Egypt called for the midwives. He asked them, "Why have you done this? Why have you let the boys live?"
(GWT)
Exodus
1
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19
The midwives answered Pharaoh, "Hebrew women are not like Egyptian women. They are so healthy that they have their babies before a midwife arrives."
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Exodus
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20
God was good to the midwives. So the people increased in number and became very strong.
(GWT)
Exodus
1
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21
Because the midwives feared God, he gave them families of their own.
(GWT)
Exodus
1
:
22
Then Pharaoh commanded all his people to throw into the Nile every [Hebrew] boy that was born, but to let every girl live.