שמות 1

1 ואלה שמות בני ישראל הבאים מצרימה את יעקב איש וביתו באו׃

The sons of Jacob who went to Egypt with him along with their families were

2 ראובן שמעון לוי ויהודה׃

Reuben, Simeon, Levi, Judah,

3 יששכר זבולן ובנימן׃

Issachar, Zebulun, Benjamin,

4 דן ונפתלי גד ואשר׃

Dan, Naphtali, Gad, and Asher.

5 ויהי כל נפש יצאי ירך יעקב שבעים נפש ויוסף היה במצרים׃

Altogether there were 70 people [who went with] Jacob. That included his [sons, his grandsons, and two great-grandsons]. [His son] Joseph was already in Egypt.

6 וימת יוסף וכל אחיו וכל הדור ההוא׃

[Eventually] Joseph and his [older and younger] brothers and everyone [else in their family who lived] (in that generation/at that time) died.

7 ובני ישראל פרו וישרצו וירבו ויעצמו במאד מאד ותמלא הארץ אתם׃

But Jacob’s descendants kept giving birth to many children [IDM]. The number [of his descendants] kept becoming larger and larger. As a result, there were so many of them that they were everywhere in Egypt (OR, that they [became a threat] to the Egyptians).

8 ויקם מלך חדש על מצרים אשר לא ידע את יוסף׃

Then [several hundred years later], a new king began to rule [MTY] in Egypt. He did not know [what] Joseph [had done for the people of Egypt long ago].

9 ויאמר אל עמו הנה עם בני ישראל רב ועצום ממנו׃

He said to his people, “Look [at what has happened]! The Israeli people have become so numerous and so powerful that they [now might conquer] us!

10 הבה נתחכמה לו פן ירבה והיה כי תקראנה מלחמה ונוסף גם הוא על שנאינו ונלחם בנו ועלה מן הארץ׃

We must find a way to control them! If we do not do that, their population will continue to grow. Then, if enemies [PRS] attack us, they will join with our enemies and fight against us, and they will escape from [our] land.”

11 וישימו עליו שרי מסים למען ענתו בסבלתם ויבן ערי מסכנות לפרעה את פתם ואת רעמסס׃

So [the king and his officials] put supervisors over the Israeli people to cause them to suffer very much by [forcing them] to work very hard. They forced [the Israeli people to] build [two] cities, Pithom and Ramses, in which to store [supplies for the king/government].

12 וכאשר יענו אתו כן ירבה וכן יפרץ ויקצו מפני בני ישראל׃

But the more cruelly they treated the [Israeli people], the bigger the Israeli [population] grew, and they became more numerous all over [the land]. So the Egyptian people began to be afraid of the Israeli people.

13 ויעבדו מצרים את בני ישראל בפרך׃

They forced the Israeli people to work very hard,

14 וימררו את חייהם בעבדה קשה בחמר ובלבנים ובכל עבדה בשדה את כל עבדתם אשר עבדו בהם בפרך׃

and by making them slaves, they made their lives miserable. They [forced them] to [build many buildings with] mortar and bricks. [They also forced them to do] other work in the fields. [In making them do all this work, the Egyptian officials treated them] ruthlessly/cruelly.

15 ויאמר מלך מצרים למילדת העברית אשר שם האחת שפרה ושם השנית פועה׃

There were two Hebrew (midwives/women who helped the women when they were giving birth). [Hebrew means the same as Israeli.] The names of the women were Shiphrah and Puah. The king of Egypt said to [those two women],

16 ויאמר בילדכן את העבריות וראיתן על האבנים אם בן הוא והמתן אתו ואם בת היא וחיה׃

“When you help the Hebrew women when they are giving birth [MTY], if [the baby that is born] is a boy, you must kill it. If [the baby] is a girl, you (may let it live/do not have to kill them).”

17 ותיראן המילדת את האלהים ולא עשו כאשר דבר אליהן מלך מצרים ותחיין את הילדים׃

But the midwives feared/revered God. So they did not do what the king told them to do. They allowed the baby boys to live.

18 ויקרא מלך מצרים למילדת ויאמר להן מדוע עשיתן הדבר הזה ותחיין את הילדים׃

So the king summoned the [two] midwives and said to them, “Why are you doing this? Why are you letting the baby boys live?”

19 ותאמרן המילדת אל פרעה כי לא כנשים המצרית העברית כי חיות הנה בטרם תבוא אלהן המילדת וילדו׃

[One of] the midwives replied to the king, “[You need to realize that] the Hebrew women are not like the Egyptian women. The Hebrew women are very strong/healthy. They give birth [to their babies] before we can get to them [to help them].”

20 וייטב אלהים למילדת וירב העם ויעצמו מאד׃

So God acted kindly toward the midwives, and the [Hebrew] people became even more numerous and strong.

21 ויהי כי יראו המילדת את האלהים ויעש להם בתים׃

Furthermore, because the midwives feared/revered God, he enabled them also to give birth to children.

22 ויצו פרעה לכל עמו לאמר כל הבן הילוד היארה תשליכהו וכל הבת תחיון׃

Then the king commanded all (the [Egyptian] people/his [advisors]): “You must throw into the Nile [River] every baby boy born that the [Hebrew women] give birth to! But you can allow the baby girls to live.”