1Now these are the names of the children of Israel, which came into Egypt; every man and his household came with Jacob. 2Reuben, Simeon, Levi, and Judah, 3Issachar, Zebulun, and Benjamin, 4Dan, and Naphtali, Gad, and Asher. 5And all the souls that came out of the loins of Jacob were seventy souls: for Joseph was in Egypt already.1.5 loins: Heb. thigh 6And 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.
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.1.12 But…: Heb. And as they afflicted them, so they multiplied, etc 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.
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: 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? 19And 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. 20Therefore God dealt well with the midwives: and the people multiplied, and waxed very mighty. 21And it came to pass, because the midwives feared God, that he made them houses. 22And Pharaoh charged all his people, saying, Every son that is born ye shall cast into the river, and every daughter ye shall save alive.
Israelitternes slavetilværelse i Egypten
1Her er navnene på Jakobs sønner, som fulgte ham til Egypten sammen med deres familier: 2Ruben, Simeon, Levi og Juda, 3Issakar, Zebulon og Benjamin, 4Dan og Naftali, Gad og Asher. 5Josef var allerede i Egypten. I alt bestod Jakobs familie af 70 personer.1,5 Det vil sige Jakob selv, hans 12 sønner, Dina og hans sønnesønner, hvoraf to var døde i Kana’an.
6Som årene gik, døde Josef og hans brødre og hele deres generation. 7Men deres efterkommere fik mange børn og børnebørn, og de blev med tiden så mange, at de fyldte hele det område, de boede i.
8Der var nu en ny konge i Egypten, og han kendte ikke noget til Josef eller til, hvad han havde udrettet. 9„De israelitter er efterhånden så talrige og stærke, at de er ved at blive en trussel imod os,” sagde kongen til sine embedsmænd. 10„Det må vi få sat en stopper for, ellers risikerer vi, at de i krigstilfælde slutter sig til vores fjender og flygter ud af landet.”
11Så gjorde egypterne dem til slaver og satte brutale slavefogeder over dem, som skulle udmatte dem med hårdt arbejde. De tvang dem til at bygge to nye forsyningscentre for Farao—byerne Pitom og Ramses. 12Men jo mere egypterne mishandlede og undertrykte israelitterne, jo flere blev de. Egypterne blev bange for dem, 13og derfor lod de dem arbejde endnu hårdere. 14De var skånselsløse i deres krav og tvang dem til at lave mursten og mørtel til de egyptiske byggeprojekter foruden al slags hårdt markarbejde og drev i det hele taget rovdrift på deres arbejdskraft. 15Faraos næste påfund var at give følgende ordre til de hebræiske jordemødre Shifra og Pua: 16„Når I hjælper hebræerkvinderne med at føde, skal I dræbe alle drengebørnene. Lad kun pigerne leve.” 17Jordemødrene frygtede imidlertid Gud mere end kongen, og derfor nægtede de at gøre, som han sagde. De lod drengene leve.
18Da kaldte kongen dem til sig og sagde: „I lader jo drengene leve! Hvorfor gør I ikke, som jeg har sagt?”
19„Herre,” sagde de. „De hebræiske kvinder er ikke som de egyptiske. De føder så hurtigt, at vi simpelt hen ikke kan nå frem i tide!”
20-21Gud velsignede jordemødrene på grund af deres gudsfrygt, så de ikke selv havde problemer med at få børn, og han var stadig med israelitterne, så de blev endnu mere talrige og mægtige. 22Så gav Farao den egyptiske befolkning følgende ordre: „Kast alle nyfødte hebræiske drenge i Nilen! Pigerne kan få lov at leve.”
