Exodus 1:1–14
1 These are the names of the sons of Israel who came to Egypt with Jacob; each came with his family: a
2 Reuben, Simeon, Levi, and Judah;
3 Issachar, Zebulun, and Benjamin;
4 Dan and Naphtali; Gad and Asher.
5 The total number of Jacob’s descendants b was 70; c d Joseph was already in Egypt.
6 Then Joseph and all his brothers and all that generation died. e 7 But the Israelites were fruitful, increased rapidly, multiplied, and became extremely numerous f so that the land was filled with them.
8 A new king, who had not known Joseph, came to power in Egypt. 9 He said to his people, “Look, the Israelite people are more numerous and powerful than we are. g 10 Let us deal shrewdly with them; otherwise they will multiply further, and if war breaks out, they may join our enemies, fight against us, and leave the country.” h 11 So the Egyptians assigned taskmasters over the Israelites to oppress them with forced labor. i They built Pithom and Rameses as supply cities j for Pharaoh. 12 But the more they oppressed them, the more they multiplied and spread so that the Egyptians came to dread k the Israelites. 13 They worked the Israelites ruthlessly l 14 and made their lives bitter with difficult labor in brick and mortar and in all kinds of fieldwork. They ruthlessly imposed all this work on them. m