New Revised Standard NRS
The Message Bible MSG
1 These are the names of the sons of Israel who came to Egypt with Jacob, each with his household:
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These are the names of the Israelites who went to Egypt with Jacob, each bringing his family members:
2 Reuben, Simeon, Levi, and Judah,
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Reuben, Simeon, Levi, and Judah,
3 Issachar, Zebulun, and Benjamin,
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Issachar, Zebulun, and Benjamin,
4 Dan and Naphtali, Gad and Asher.
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Dan and Naphtali, Gad and Asher.
5 The total number of people born to Jacob was seventy. Joseph was already in Egypt.
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Seventy persons in all generated by Jacob's seed. Joseph was already in Egypt.
6 Then Joseph died, and all his brothers, and that whole generation.
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Then Joseph died, and all his brothers - that whole generation.
7 But the Israelites were fruitful and prolific; they multiplied and grew exceedingly strong, so that the land was filled with them.
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But the children of Israel kept on reproducing. They were very prolific - a population explosion in their own right - and the land was filled with them. "A New King . . . Who Didn't Know Joseph"
8 Now a new king arose over Egypt, who did not know Joseph.
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A new king came to power in Egypt who didn't know Joseph.
9 He said to his people, "Look, the Israelite people are more numerous and more powerful than we.
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He spoke to his people in alarm, "There are way too many of these Israelites for us to handle.
10 Come, let us deal shrewdly with them, or they will increase and, in the event of war, join our enemies and fight against us and escape from the land."
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We've got to do something: Let's devise a plan to contain them, lest if there's a war they should join our enemies, or just walk off and leave us."
11 Therefore they set taskmasters over them to oppress them with forced labor. They built supply cities, Pithom and Rameses, for Pharaoh.
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So they organized them into work-gangs and put them to hard labor under gang-foremen. They built the storage cities Pithom and Rameses for Pharaoh.
12 But the more they were oppressed, the more they multiplied and spread, so that the Egyptians came to dread the Israelites.
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But the harder the Egyptians worked them the more children the Israelites had - children everywhere! The Egyptians got so they couldn't stand the Israelites
13 The Egyptians became ruthless in imposing tasks on the Israelites,
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and treated them worse than ever, crushing them with slave labor.
14 and made their lives bitter with hard service in mortar and brick and in every kind of field labor. They were ruthless in all the tasks that they imposed on them.
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They made them miserable with hard labor - making bricks and mortar and back-breaking work in the fields. They piled on the work, crushing them under the cruel workload.
15 The king of Egypt said to the Hebrew midwives, one of whom was named Shiphrah and the other Puah,
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The king of Egypt had a talk with the two Hebrew midwives; one was named Shiphrah and the other Puah.
16 "When you act as midwives to the Hebrew women, and see them on the birthstool, if it is a boy, kill him; but if it is a girl, she shall live."
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He said, "When you deliver the Hebrew women, look at the sex of the baby. If it's a boy, kill him; if it's a girl, let her live."
17 But the midwives feared God; they did not do as the king of Egypt commanded them, but they let the boys live.
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But the midwives had far too much respect for God and didn't do what the king of Egypt ordered; they let the boy babies live.
18 So the king of Egypt summoned the midwives and said to them, "Why have you done this, and allowed the boys to live?"
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The king of Egypt called in the midwives. "Why didn't you obey my orders? You've let those babies live!"
19 The midwives said to Pharaoh, "Because the Hebrew women are not like the Egyptian women; for they are vigorous and give birth before the midwife comes to them."
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The midwives answered Pharaoh, "The Hebrew women aren't like the Egyptian women; they're vigorous. Before the midwife can get there, they've already had the baby."
20 So God dealt well with the midwives; and the people multiplied and became very strong.
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God was pleased with the midwives. The people continued to increase in number - a very strong people.
21 And because the midwives feared God, he gave them families.
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And because the midwives honored God, God gave them families of their own.
22 Then Pharaoh commanded all his people, "Every boy that is born to the Hebrews you shall throw into the Nile, but you shall let every girl live."
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So Pharaoh issued a general order to all his people: "Every boy that is born, drown him in the Nile. But let the girls live."
New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright 1989, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Published by permission. Originally published by NavPress in English as THE MESSAGE: The Bible in Contemporary Language copyright 2002 by Eugene Peterson. All rights reserved.