Exodus 1:1–14

¹And these are the names of the sons of Israel who had come into Egypt; with Jacob had they come, each with his household: ²Reuben, Simeon, Levi, and Judah; ³Issachar, Zebulun, and Benjamin; ⁴Dan and Naphtali; Gad and Asher. ⁵And all the souls that had come out of the loins of Jacob were seventy souls; and Joseph was in Egypt. ⁶And Joseph died, and all his brethren, and all that generation. ⁷And the children of Israel were fruitful, and swarmed and multiplied, and became exceeding strong; and the land was full of them.

⁸And there arose a new king over Egypt, who did not know Joseph. ⁹And he said to his people, Behold, the people of the children of Israel are more numerous and stronger than we. ¹⁰Come 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. ¹¹And they set over them service-masters to oppress them with their burdens. And they built store-cities for Pharaoh, Pithom and Rameses. ¹²But the more they afflicted them, the more they multiplied and spread; and they were distressed because of the children of Israel. ¹³And the Egyptians made the children of Israel serve with harshness; ¹⁴and they embittered their life with hard labour in clay and bricks, and in all manner of labour in the field: all their labour with which they made them serve was with harshness.