Exodus 1:9-14
1:9 He said
to his people, “Look at
the Israelite people, more numerous and stronger than we are!
1:10 Come, let’s deal wisely
with them. Otherwise
they will continue to multiply,
and if
a war breaks out, they will ally themselves with
our enemies and fight against us and leave
the country.”
1:11 So they put foremen over the Israelites to oppress them with hard labor. As a result they built Pithom and Rameses as store cities for Pharaoh.
1:12 But the more the Egyptians oppressed them, the more they multiplied and spread. As a result the Egyptians loathed the Israelites,
1:13 and they made the Israelites serve rigorously.
1:14 They made their lives bitter by hard service with mortar and bricks and by all kinds of service in the fields. Every kind of service the Israelites were required to give was rigorous.