Exodus 1

1 These were the names of the sons of Israel (Jacob) who came with him to Egypt along with their families:

以色列的眾子，各帶家眷，和雅各一同來到埃及。他們的名字記在下面。

2 Reuben, Simeon, Levi, and Judah;

有呂便、西緬、利未、猶大、

3 Issachar, Zebulun, and Benjamin;

以薩迦、西布倫、便雅憫、

4 Dan and Naphtali, Gad and Asher.

但、拿弗他利、迦得、亞設。

5 Jacob had 70 descendants there, including Joseph who was already in Egypt.

凡從雅各而生的，共有七十人。約瑟已經在埃及。

6 Eventually Joseph and all his brothers and all that generation died.

約瑟和他的弟兄，並那一代的人，都死了。

7 However, the Israelites had many children and their numbers increased rapidly. In fact there were so many of them that they became very powerful—the country was full of them.

以色列人生養眾多，並且繁茂，極其強盛，滿了那地。

8 Then a new king came to power who didn't know anything about Joseph.

有不認識約瑟的新王起來，治理埃及，

9 He conferred with his fellow Egyptians and said, “Look at these Israelites—there are more than them than us, and they're more powerful than us.

對他的百姓說：「看哪，這以色列民比我們還多，又比我們強盛。

10 We've got to make plan to deal with them before they become so many that if there's a war they'll side with our enemies and fight us, and flee the country.”

來吧，我們不如用巧計待他們，恐怕他們多起來，日後若遇甚麼爭戰的事，就連合我們的仇敵攻擊我們，離開這地去了。」

11 So the Egyptians made them do forced labor and put taskmasters in charge of them. They used them to build the storage towns of Pithom and Rameses.

於是埃及人派督工的轄制他們，加重擔苦害他們。他們為法老建造兩座積貨城，就是比東和蘭塞。

12 But the more the Israelites were mistreated, the more they grew in numbers and spread out—and the more the Egyptians detested them.

只是越發苦害他們，他們越發多起來，越發蔓延；埃及人就因以色列人愁煩。

13 The Egyptians worked the Israelites brutally,

埃及人嚴嚴地使以色列人做工，

14 making their lives a misery. They made them do hard labor, building with mortar and brick, and all kind of heavy work in the fields. In all of this hard labor they treated them brutally.

使他們因做苦工覺得命苦；無論是和泥，是做磚，是做田間各樣的工，在一切的工上都嚴嚴地待他們。

15 Then the king gave orders to the Hebrew midwives, Shiphrah and Puah.

有希伯來的兩個收生婆，一名施弗拉，一名普阿；埃及王對她們說：

16 He told them, “When you assist the Hebrew women during childbirth, if you see it's a boy, kill him; but if it's a girl, let her live.”

「你們為希伯來婦人收生，看她們臨盆的時候，若是男孩，就把他殺了；若是女孩，就留她存活。」

17 But because the midwives revered God, they didn't do what the king of Egypt had ordered. They let the boys live as well.

但是收生婆敬畏上帝，不照埃及王的吩咐行，竟存留男孩的性命。

18 The king of Egypt called the midwives in and demanded to know, “Why have you done this— letting the male children live?”

埃及王召了收生婆來，說：「你們為甚麼做這事，存留男孩的性命呢？」

19 “Hebrew women aren't like Egyptian women,” the midwives told Pharaoh. “They give birth more easily—they have them before we midwives arrive.”

收生婆對法老說：「因為希伯來婦人與埃及婦人不同；希伯來婦人本是健壯的，收生婆還沒有到，她們已經生產了。」

20 God treated the midwives well, and the people increased in number so there were even more of them.

上帝厚待收生婆。以色列人多起來，極其強盛。

21 Because the midwives revered God, he gave them families of their own.

收生婆因為敬畏上帝，上帝便叫她們成立家室。

22 Then Pharaoh issued this order to all his people: “Throw every Hebrew boy that's born into the Nile, but let every girl live.”

法老吩咐他的眾民說：「以色列人所生的男孩，你們都要丟在河裏；一切的女孩，你們要存留她的性命。」