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Exodus 1:2–10

Reuben, Simeon, Levi and Judah; Issachar, Zebulun and Benjamin; Dan and Naphtali; Gad and Asher.b The descendants of Jacob numbered seventya in all;c Joseph was already in Egypt.

Now Joseph and all his brothers and all that generation died,d but the Israelites were exceedingly fruitful; they multiplied greatly, increased in numberse and became so numerous that the land was filled with them.

Then a new king, to whom Joseph meant nothing, came to power in Egypt.f “Look,” he said to his people, “the Israelites have become far too numerousg for us.h 10 Come, we must deal shrewdlyi with them or they will become even more numerous and, if war breaks out, will join our enemies, fight against us and leave the country.”j

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Exodus 1:2–10 — English Standard Version (ESV)

Reuben, Simeon, Levi, and Judah, Issachar, Zebulun, and Benjamin, Dan and Naphtali, Gad and Asher. All the descendants of Jacob were seventy persons; Joseph was already in Egypt. Then Joseph died, and all his brothers and all that generation. But the people of Israel were fruitful and increased greatly; they multiplied and grew exceedingly strong, so that the land was filled with them.

Now there arose a new king over Egypt, who did not know Joseph. And he said to his people, “Behold, the people of Israel are too many and too mighty for us. 10 Come, let us deal shrewdly with them, lest they multiply, and, if war breaks out, they join our enemies and fight against us and escape from the land.”

Exodus 1:2–10 — King James Version (KJV 1900)

Reuben, Simeon, Levi, and Judah, Issachar, Zebulun, and Benjamin, Dan, and Naphtali, Gad, and Asher. And all the souls that came out of the loins of Jacob were seventy souls: for Joseph was in Egypt already. And Joseph died, and all his brethren, and all that generation.

And the children of Israel were fruitful, and increased abundantly, and multiplied, and waxed exceeding mighty; and the land was filled with them. Now there arose up a new king over Egypt, which knew not Joseph. And he said unto his people, Behold, the people of the children of Israel are more and mightier than we: 10 Come on, let us deal wisely with them; lest they multiply, and it come to pass, that, when there falleth out any war, they join also unto our enemies, and fight against us, and so get them up out of the land.

Exodus 1:2–10 — New Living Translation (NLT)

Reuben, Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar, Zebulun, Benjamin, Dan, Naphtali, Gad, and Asher. In all, Jacob had seventy descendants in Egypt, including Joseph, who was already there.

In time, Joseph and all of his brothers died, ending that entire generation. But their descendants, the Israelites, had many children and grandchildren. In fact, they multiplied so greatly that they became extremely powerful and filled the land.

Eventually, a new king came to power in Egypt who knew nothing about Joseph or what he had done. He said to his people, “Look, the people of Israel now outnumber us and are stronger than we are. 10 We must make a plan to keep them from growing even more. If we don’t, and if war breaks out, they will join our enemies and fight against us. Then they will escape from the country.”

Exodus 1:2–10 — The New King James Version (NKJV)

Reuben, Simeon, Levi, and Judah; Issachar, Zebulun, and Benjamin; Dan, Naphtali, Gad, and Asher. All those who were descendants of Jacob were seventy persons (for Joseph was in Egypt already). And Joseph died, all his brothers, and all that generation. But the children of Israel were fruitful and increased abundantly, multiplied and grew exceedingly mighty; and the land was filled with them.

Now there arose a new king over Egypt, who did not know Joseph. And he said to his people, “Look, the people of the children of Israel are more and mightier than we; 10 come, let us deal shrewdly with them, lest they multiply, and it happen, in the event of war, that they also join our enemies and fight against us, and so go up out of the land.”

Exodus 1:2–10 — New Century Version (NCV)

Reuben, Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar, Zebulun, Benjamin, Dan, Naphtali, Gad, and Asher. There was a total of seventy people who were descendants of Jacob. Jacob’s son Joseph was already in Egypt.

Some time later, Joseph and his brothers died, along with all the people who had lived at that same time. But the people of Israel had many children, and their number grew greatly. They became very strong, and the country of Egypt was filled with them.

Then a new king began to rule Egypt, who did not know who Joseph was. This king said to his people, “Look! The people of Israel are too many and too strong for us to handle! 10 If we don’t make plans against them, the number of their people will grow even more. Then if there is a war, they might join our enemies and fight us and escape from the country!”

Exodus 1:2–10 — American Standard Version (ASV)

Reuben, Simeon, Levi, and Judah, Issachar, Zebulun, and Benjamin, Dan and Naphtali, Gad and Asher. And all the souls that came out of the loins of Jacob were seventy souls: and Joseph was in Egypt already. And Joseph died, and all his brethren, and all that generation. And the children of Israel were fruitful, and increased abundantly, and multiplied, and waxed exceeding mighty; and the land was filled with them.

Now there arose a new king over Egypt, who knew not Joseph. And he said unto his people, Behold, the people of the children of Israel are more and mightier than we: 10 come, let us deal wisely with them, lest they multiply, and it come to pass, that, when there falleth out any war, they also join themselves unto our enemies, and fight against us, and get them up out of the land.

Exodus 1:2–10 — 1890 Darby Bible (DARBY)

Reuben, Simeon, Levi, and Judah; Issachar, Zebulun, and Benjamin; Dan and Naphtali; Gad and Asher. And all the souls that had come out of the loins of Jacob were seventy souls; and Joseph was in Egypt. And Joseph died, and all his brethren, and all that generation. And the children of Israel were fruitful, and swarmed and multiplied, and became exceeding strong; and the land was full of them.

And there arose a new king over Egypt, who did not know Joseph. And he said to his people, Behold, the people of the children of Israel are more numerous and stronger than we. 10 Come on, let us deal wisely with them, lest they multiply, and it come to pass that, if war occur, they take side with our enemies and fight against us, and go up out of the land.

Exodus 1:2–10 — GOD’S WORD Translation (GW)

Reuben, Simeon, Levi, and Judah; Issachar, Zebulun, and Benjamin; Dan and Naphtali; Gad and Asher. Joseph was already in Egypt. The total number of Jacob’s descendants was 70. 

Eventually, Joseph, all his brothers, and that entire generation died. But the descendants of Israel had many children. They became so numerous and strong that the land was filled with them. 

Then a new king, who knew nothing about Joseph, began to rule in Egypt. He said to his people, “There are too many Israelites, and they are stronger than we are. 10 We have to outsmart them, or they’ll increase in number. Then, if war breaks out, they will join our enemies, fight against us, and leave the country.” 

Exodus 1:2–10 — The Holman Christian Standard Bible (HCSB)

Reuben, Simeon, Levi, and Judah;

Issachar, Zebulun, and Benjamin;

Dan and Naphtali; Gad and Asher.

The total number of Jacob’s descendants was 70; Joseph was already in Egypt.

Then Joseph and all his brothers and all that generation died. But the Israelites were fruitful, increased rapidly, multiplied, and became extremely numerous so that the land was filled with them.

A new king, who had not known Joseph, came to power in Egypt. He said to his people, “Look, the Israelite people are more numerous and powerful than we are. 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.”

Exodus 1:2–10 — The New Revised Standard Version (NRSV)

Reuben, Simeon, Levi, and Judah, Issachar, Zebulun, and Benjamin, Dan and Naphtali, Gad and Asher. The total number of people born to Jacob was seventy. Joseph was already in Egypt. Then Joseph died, and all his brothers, and that whole generation. But the Israelites were fruitful and prolific; they multiplied and grew exceedingly strong, so that the land was filled with them.

Now a new king arose over Egypt, who did not know Joseph. He said to his people, “Look, the Israelite people are more numerous and more powerful than we. 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.”

Exodus 1:2–10 — The Lexham English Bible (LEB)

Reuben, Simeon, Levi, and Judah; Issachar, Zebulun, and Benjamin; Dan and Naphtali, Gad and Asher. And all those who descended from Jacob were seventy individuals, and Joseph was in Egypt. And Joseph died and all of his brothers and all of that generation. And the Israelites were fruitful and multiplied and were many and were very, very numerous, and the land was filled with them.

And a new king rose over Egypt who did not know Joseph. And he said to his people, “Look, the people of the Israelites are greater and more numerous than us. 10 Come, we must deal shrewdly with them, lest they become many, and when war happens, they also will join our enemies and will fight against us and go up from the land.”

Exodus 1:2–10 — New International Reader’s Version (1998) (NIrV)

Jacob’s sons were Reuben, Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar, Zebulun, Benjamin, Dan, Naphtali, Gad and Asher. The total number of Jacob’s children and grandchildren was 70. Joseph was already in Egypt.

Joseph and all of his brothers died. So did all of their children.

The people of Israel had many children. They greatly increased their numbers. There were so many of them that they filled the land.

Then a new king came to power in Egypt. He didn’t know anything about Joseph.

“Look,” he said to his people. “The Israelites are far too many for us. 10 Come. We must deal with them carefully. If we don’t, they will increase their numbers even more. Then if war breaks out, they’ll join our enemies. They’ll fight against us and leave the country.”

Exodus 1:2–10 — New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update (NASB95)

Reuben, Simeon, Levi and Judah;

Issachar, Zebulun and Benjamin;

Dan and Naphtali, Gad and Asher.

All the persons who came from the loins of Jacob were seventy in number, but Joseph was already in Egypt.

Joseph died, and all his brothers and all that generation.

But the sons of Israel were fruitful and increased greatly, and multiplied, and became exceedingly mighty, so that the land was filled with them.

Now a new king arose over Egypt, who did not know Joseph.

He said to his people, “Behold, the people of the sons of Israel are more and mightier than we.

10 Come, let us deal wisely with them, or else they will multiply and in the event of war, they will also join themselves to those who hate us, and fight against us and depart from the land.”


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