1 Dette er navnene på Israels sønner som kom til Egypt; hver mann med sin familie kom med Jakob.

Now these are the names of the sons of Israel who came into Egypt; every man and his family came with Jacob.

2 Ruben, Simeon, Levi og Juda;

Reuben, Simeon, Levi, and Judah;

3 Issakar, Sebulon og Benjamin;

Issachar, Zebulun, and Benjamin;

4 Dan og Naftali, Gad og Asjer.

Dan and Naphtali, Gad and Asher.

5 Alle Jakobs etterkommere var sytti personer: og Josef hadde kommet til Egypt før dem.

All the offspring of Jacob were seventy persons: and Joseph had come to Egypt before them.

6 Så døde Josef, og alle hans brødre, og hele den generasjonen.

Then Joseph came to his end, and all his brothers, and all that generation.

7 Men Israels barn var fruktbare, de økte sterkt i antall og makt; og landet var fullt av dem.

And the children of Israel were fertile, increasing very greatly in numbers and in power; and the land was full of them.

8 Så kom det en ny konge til makten i Egypt, som ikke kjente til Josef.

Now a new king came to power in Egypt, who had no knowledge of Joseph.

9 Han sa til sitt folk: Se, Israels folk er større og sterkere enn vi er.

And he said to his people, See, the people of Israel are greater in number and in power than we are:

10 La oss være varsomme, så ikke deres antall blir enda større, og hvis det blir krig, kan de alliere seg med fiendene våre, angripe oss og forlate landet.

Let us take care for fear that their numbers may become even greater, and if there is a war, they may be joined with those who are against us, and make an attack on us, and go up out of the land.

11 Så satte de arbeidsformenn over dem for å svekke dem med tunge arbeidsbyrder. Og de bygget forrådsbyer for Farao: Pitom og Ramses.

So they put overseers of forced work over them, in order to make their strength less by the weight of their work. And they made store-towns for Pharaoh, Pithom and Raamses.

12 Men desto mer de plaget dem, desto mer økte de i antall, slik at hele landet ble fullt av dem. Og egypterne hatet Israels barn.

But the more cruel they were to them, the more their number increased, till all the land was full of them. And the children of Israel were hated by the Egyptians.

13 De påla Israels barn enda hardere arbeid.

And they gave the children of Israel even harder work to do:

14 Og gjorde deres liv bitre med hardt arbeid, med å lage byggematerialer og murstein, og med alle slags oppgaver i markene under de hardeste forhold.

And made their lives bitter with hard work, making building-material and bricks, and doing all sorts of work in the fields under the hardest conditions.

15 Og Egypts konge sa til de hebraiske jordmødrene (den ene het Sjifra, den andre Pua):

And the king of Egypt said to the Hebrew women who gave help at the time of childbirth (the name of the one was Shiphrah and the name of the other Puah),

16 Når dere hjelper de hebraiske kvinnene ved fødsel, hvis det er en sønn, skal dere drepe ham; men hvis det er en datter, kan hun leve.

When you are looking after the Hebrew women in childbirth, if it is a son you are to put him to death; but if it is a daughter, she may go on living.

17 Men kvinnene fryktet Gud, og gjorde ikke som Egypts konge sa, men lot guttebarna leve.

But the women had the fear of God, and did not do as the king of Egypt said, but let the male children go on living.

18 Da kalte Egypts konge på kvinnene og sa til dem: Hvorfor har dere gjort dette og latt guttebarna leve?

And the king of Egypt sent for the women, and said to them, Why have you done this, and let the male children go on living?

19 Og de sa til Farao: Fordi de hebraiske kvinnene ikke er som de egyptiske, de er sterke, og føder før vi kommer til dem.

And they said to Pharaoh, Because the Hebrew women are not like the Egyptian women, for they are strong, and the birth takes place before we come to them.

20 Og Gud velsignet disse kvinnene: og folket økte i antall og ble veldig sterkt.

And the blessing of God was on these women: and the people were increased in number and became very strong.

21 Og fordi jordmødrene fryktet Gud, ga han dem familier.

And because the women who took care of the Hebrew mothers had the fear of God, he gave them families.

22 Og Farao ga ordre til hele sitt folk: Hver sønn som blir født, skal kastes i elven, men hver datter kan leve videre.

And Pharaoh gave orders to all his people, saying, Every son who comes to birth is to be put into the river, but every daughter may go on living.