Exodus 1
1 The sons of Jacob who went to Egypt with him along with their families were
| ואלה שמות בני ישראל הבאים מצרימה את יעקב איש וביתו באו |
2 Reuben, Simeon, Levi, Judah,
| ראובן שמעון לוי ויהודה |
3 Issachar, Zebulun, Benjamin,
| יששכר זבולן ובנימן |
4 Dan, Naphtali, Gad, and Asher.
| דן ונפתלי גד ואשר |
5 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.
| ויהי כל נפש יצאי ירך יעקב--שבעים נפש ויוסף היה במצרים |
6 [Eventually] Joseph and his [older and younger] brothers and everyone [else in their family who lived] (in that generation/at that time) died.
| וימת יוסף וכל אחיו וכל הדור ההוא |
7 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).
| ובני ישראל פרו וישרצו וירבו ויעצמו--במאד מאד ותמלא הארץ אתם |
8 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].
| ויקם מלך חדש על מצרים אשר לא ידע את יוסף |
9 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!
| ויאמר אל עמו הנה עם בני ישראל--רב ועצום ממנו |
10 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.”
| הבה נתחכמה לו פן ירבה והיה כי תקראנה מלחמה ונוסף גם הוא על שנאינו ונלחם בנו ועלה מן הארץ |
11 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].
| וישימו עליו שרי מסים למען ענתו בסבלתם ויבן ערי מסכנות לפרעה--את פתם ואת רעמסס |
12 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.
| וכאשר יענו אתו כן ירבה וכן יפרץ ויקצו מפני בני ישראל |
13 They forced the Israeli people to work very hard,
| ויעבדו מצרים את בני ישראל בפרך |
14 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.
| וימררו את חייהם בעבדה קשה בחמר ובלבנים ובכל עבדה בשדה--את כל עבדתם אשר עבדו בהם בפרך |
15 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],
| ויאמר מלך מצרים למילדת העברית אשר שם האחת שפרה ושם השנית פועה |
16 “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).”
| ויאמר בילדכן את העבריות וראיתן על האבנים אם בן הוא והמתן אתו ואם בת הוא וחיה |
17 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.
| ותיראן המילדת את האלהים ולא עשו כאשר דבר אליהן מלך מצרים ותחיין את הילדים |
18 So the king summoned the [two] midwives and said to them, “Why are you doing this? Why are you letting the baby boys live?”
| ויקרא מלך מצרים למילדת ויאמר להן מדוע עשיתן הדבר הזה ותחיין את הילדים |
19 [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].”
| ותאמרן המילדת אל פרעה כי לא כנשים המצרית העברית כי חיות הנה בטרם תבוא אלהן המילדת וילדו |
20 So God acted kindly toward the midwives, and the [Hebrew] people became even more numerous and strong.
| וייטב אלהים למילדת וירב העם ויעצמו מאד |
21 Furthermore, because the midwives feared/revered God, he enabled them also to give birth to children.
| ויהי כי יראו המילדת את האלהים ויעש להם בתים |
22 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.”
| ויצו פרעה לכל עמו לאמר כל הבן הילוד היארה תשליכהו וכל הבת תחיון |
