Exodus 1:8-14

New Life Version

⁸ Then a new king came into power over Egypt. He did not know Joseph. ⁹ He said to his people, “See, the people of Israel are too many and too powerful for us. ¹⁰ Come, let us be wise in how we act towards them, or they will become more in number. If there is a war, they might join with those who hate us. They might fight against us and then leave the land.”

¹¹ So they put men in power over them to make them work hard. And they built the store-cities Pithom and Raamses for Pharaoh the king. ¹² But the more the Egyptians made them suffer, the more they became until they spread throughout the land. So the Egyptians were afraid of the people of Israel. ¹³ The Egyptians made the people of Israel work very hard. ¹⁴ They made their lives bitter with hard work building with stones and with all kinds of work in the field. They made them work very hard.