Chapter summary

The descendants of Jacob who entered Egypt numbered seventy persons, and after Joseph and his generation died, the Israelites multiplied rapidly and filled the land. A new Egyptian king, fearing their growing power, subjected them to harsh forced labor under taskmasters to build the store cities of Pithom and Rameses. Despite this ruthless oppression, the Israelites continued to multiply, prompting Pharaoh to command the Hebrew midwives, Shiphrah and Puah, to kill all newborn Hebrew boys. Because the midwives feared God and spared the boys, explaining to Pharaoh that Hebrew women give birth too quickly, God blessed the midwives with families of their own. Finally, Pharaoh issued a public decree ordering all his people to throw every newborn Hebrew son into the Nile while letting the daughters live.

Summary automatically generated from the Bible text.