Font Size
Exodus 1:7-14
Contemporary English Version
Exodus 1:7-14
Contemporary English Version
7 (A) the people of Israel became so numerous that the whole region of Goshen was full of them.
8 (B) Many years later a new king came to power. He did not know what Joseph had done for Egypt, 9 and he told the Egyptians:
There are too many of those Israelites in our country, and they are becoming more powerful than we are. 10 (C) If we don't outsmart them, their families will keep growing larger. And if our country goes to war, they could easily fight on the side of our enemies and escape from Egypt.
11 The Egyptians put slave bosses in charge of the people of Israel and tried to wear them down with hard work. Those bosses forced them to build the cities of Pithom and Rameses,[a] where the king[b] could store his supplies. 12 But even though the Israelites were mistreated, their families grew larger, and they took over more land. Because of this, the Egyptians feared them worse than before 13 and made them work so hard 14 that their lives were miserable. The Egyptians were cruel to the people of Israel and forced them to make bricks and to mix mortar and to work in the fields.
Read full chapterFootnotes
- 1.11 Pithom and Rameses: This is the only mention of Pithom in the Bible; its exact location is unknown, though it was probably in the northern Delta of Egypt. Rameses is the famous Delta city that was the home of Rameses II; its exact location is also unknown.
- 1.11 the king: The Hebrew text has “Pharaoh,” a Hebrew word sometimes used for the title of the king of Egypt.
Exodus 1:7-14
New International Version
Exodus 1:7-14
New International Version
7 but the Israelites were exceedingly fruitful; they multiplied greatly, increased in numbers(A) and became so numerous that the land was filled with them.
8 Then a new king, to whom Joseph meant nothing, came to power in Egypt.(B) 9 “Look,” he said to his people, “the Israelites have become far too numerous(C) for us.(D) 10 Come, we must deal shrewdly(E) 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.”(F)
11 So they put slave masters(G) over them to oppress them with forced labor,(H) and they built Pithom and Rameses(I) as store cities(J) for Pharaoh. 12 But the more they were oppressed, the more they multiplied and spread; so the Egyptians came to dread the Israelites 13 and worked them ruthlessly.(K) 14 They made their lives bitter with harsh labor(L) in brick(M) and mortar and with all kinds of work in the fields; in all their harsh labor the Egyptians worked them ruthlessly.(N)
Contemporary English Version (CEV) 
Copyright © 1995 by American Bible Society For more information about CEV, visit www.bibles.com and www.cev.bible.
New International Version (NIV) 
Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
NIV Reverse Interlinear Bible: English to Hebrew and English to Greek. Copyright © 2019 by Zondervan.