Exodus 1:9-11

Expanded Bible

⁹ ·This king [^LHe] said to his people, “Look! The people of Israel are too many and ·too strong for us to handle [^Lstronger than us]! ¹⁰ If we don’t ·make plans against [deal wisely/shrewdly with] them, the number of their people will grow even more. Then if there is a war, they might join ·our enemies [^Lthose who hate us] and fight us and ·escape [^Lgo up] from the country!”

¹¹ So ·the Egyptians made life hard for the Israelites [^Lthey afflicted/oppressed them with hard labor]. They put slave masters over them, who forced the Israelites to build the cities Pithom and Rameses as ·supply centers [storage cities] for ·the king [^LPharaoh].