And it came to pass after many days, in the year one hundred and two after the descent of Israel to Egypt [this is year 2340], that Pharaoh king of Egypt died, and Malul his son reigned in his place. And all that generation and the mighty men of Egypt who knew Yosef died in those days. Malul was twenty-six years old when he reigned, and he reigned for ninety-four years, and they called his name Pharaoh according to custom. [The Bechaye wrote regarding "And there arose a new king who did not know Yosef" - it appears that this king was born when Yosef was in prison, and this is what "the birthday of Pharaoh" means (Bereishit 40), meaning the day on which Pharaoh was born, for the king named his son after himself.

And it would be as if a truly new king arose, as mentioned. And this is what "who did not know Yosef" means, for he did not know him and did not recognize him at all, for he was the son of the first elderly king, etc. And it is also possible to explain "he did not know Yosef" that he did not recognize him, for even though the new king was born when Yosef was in prison, nevertheless Yosef ruled over Egypt for eighty years - how could he not have recognized him?

But these words are hidden from what Sefer HaYashar says - this king who arose after the death of Yosef was twenty-six years old, and according to the Bechaye who says that the birthday of Pharaoh is when this new king was born, who reigned after the death of Yosef, he would have been eighty years old when he reigned, for Yosef stood before Pharaoh when he came out of prison at age thirty, as is explicit in the verse, and Yosef died at one hundred and ten years old. So from the day he left prison on the day of the birth of the new king until he reigned after the death of Yosef was eighty years, and this is clear.] And from that day they began to embitter the lives of the children of Israel and to afflict them with all manner of hard labor.

At that time the troops of Angias king of Africa went out to raid the land of Kittim as usual to take plunder, and Tzepho struck them by the sword, leaving no survivor, and not one of them returned to their lord Africa. And Angias sent to Lukash his brother, and he came with all his army, a very great army. And Tzepho also sent to the land of Edom, to Hadad son of Bedad king of Edom and to the children of Esav, that they should come and help him.

But they replied that they could not fight against Angias, for there was a covenant of peace between them from the days of Bela son of Beor the first. And Angias and Lukash his brother arrayed their army of about eight hundred thousand men. And Tzepho son of Elifaz went out to meet them in fear and trembling with about three thousand men. And the children of Kittim said to Tzepho, "Pray for us to the God of your fathers - perhaps He will save us from the hand of Angias and his army, for we have heard that He is a great God and that He saves all who trust in Him." And Tzepho sought HaShem and said, "HaShem, God of Avraham and Yitzchak, today it is known that You are the true God and all the gods of the nations are vanity and emptiness.

Remember today Your covenant with Avraham our father, which our fathers told us, and do kindness with me today for the sake of Avraham and Yitzchak our fathers, and save me and the children of Kittim from the hand of the king of Africa." And HaShem heard the voice of Tzepho and answered him for the sake of Avraham and Yitzchak. And HaShem saved Tzepho and the children of Kittim, and HaShem gave all the men of Angias and Lukash his brother into the hands of the children of Kittim.

And about four hundred thousand men fell from them by evening. And Angias saw that all his men had died, and he wrote to Africa that all who were found in Africa should come to him, from ten years old and up, and whoever did not come would be put to death, and all that he had and all his household the king would take. And about three hundred thousand men came, lads from twelve years old and up. And it came to pass after twelve days that Angias again arranged battle against Tzepho and the children of Kittim.

And Tzepho struck from the army of Angias and Lukash his brother many casualties in the land, thousands of men. And Sosipater the general of Angias's army fell, and Angias and Lukash his brother and all his troops fled. And Tzepho and the children of Kittim pursued after them and struck another two hundred and twenty men of them on the way. And Bilam son of Beor was at that time with Angias in the war, and he fled and came to Kittim.

And Tzepho and the children of Kittim received him with great honor and gave him many gifts. And from the army of Tzepho not a man was missing. And Tzepho rejoiced, but Tzepho did not remember HaShem and did not know that HaShem helped him in the war, but he continued to walk in the ways of Kittim and the children of Esav to worship other gods, etc. And Tzepho took counsel with the children of Kittim to go to Egypt to fight against the children of Yaakov and Pharaoh - to take vengeance for his brothers the children of Esav whom Yosef and his brothers subdued at the burial of Yaakov in Chevron.

And Tzepho sent to Hadad son of Bedad king of Edom to come with him, and he also sent to the children of Kedem and to all the children of Yishmael, and they all gathered. And the whole camp was very large, about a three days' journey, with a multitude like the sand of the sea, and they camped in the valley of Pathros. And all the men of Egypt and the cities gathered, about three hundred thousand men.

And they also took from the children of Israel who were in Goshen about one hundred and fifty men, but the Egyptians did not trust in Israel to go with them in their camps together to war, for they said, "Perhaps the children of Israel will deliver us into the hands of the children of Esav and Yishmael, for they are their brothers." And they said to the children of Israel, "Stand together in your place, and we will go and fight against the children of Esav and Yishmael. And if they prevail over us, then come and help us," etc.

And Tzepho said to Bilam, "Divine for us who will prevail in the war." And he tried to know but the divination did not work, and the craft was spoiled. And he tried again and it did not work, for from HaShem this was so, in order that Tzepho and his people would fall into the hands of Israel who trusted in the God of their fathers in their war, etc. And the Egyptians fought with the kings, and one hundred and eighty men of the Egyptians fell, and thirty men of the men of the kings fell.

And the Egyptians fled, and the children of Esav and Yishmael pursued the Egyptians, smiting and striking until the place where the camp of the children of Israel was. And the Egyptians cried out, "Hurry to us and help us!" And the children of Israel ran from their place, one hundred and fifty men as mentioned, to the camps of the kings. And the children of Israel cried out to HaShem to save them, and HaShem heard.

And the children of Israel struck the men of the kings - forty thousand men. And when Egypt saw that the children of Israel fought with the kings and that the battle was very fierce between them, the Egyptians were very afraid and fled, each man hiding from the battle formations, and they abandoned Israel to fight. And HaShem put a great confusion in the camps of the kings, and the fear of the children of Israel fell upon them, and they fled.

And the children of Israel pursued after them, smiting and striking until the border of the land of Cush, and they slew another thousands of men. And from the children of Israel not one fell. And Israel knew what the Egyptians had done to them by fleeing from the war and abandoning them to fight. And they dealt with them craftily when they returned from the war.

They found some of the Egyptians on the way and killed them, saying to them, "Why did you abandon us, a few men, to fight against these kings and flee to save yourselves?" And whoever the children of Israel found on the way, they said to each other, "Strike, strike, for he is a Yishmaelite" or "an Edomite" or "from the children of Kittim," and they stood over him and killed him, knowing that he was an Egyptian. And the children of Israel killed about two hundred men of the Egyptians on the way.

And the men of Egypt saw the evil that the children of Israel did to them, and the Egyptians were very afraid of the children of Israel, for they saw their great might and that not one of them fell. And the children of Israel returned in joy to Goshen, and the Egyptians returned each man to his place. And it came to pass afterwards that the counselors of Pharaoh and the elders of Egypt gathered and bowed to the king and said, "Behold, the people of the children of Israel are numerous and mighty, and you know the evil they did to us on the way when we returned from the war.

You saw their great might and that the strength of their fathers is with them, for a few men stood against a multitude like the sand of the sea and struck them by the sword, and not one of them fell. Come, let us take counsel what to do to them to destroy them little by little, lest they multiply against us and it will be that when war occurs, they will join our enemies against us with their might along with our enemies and destroy us from the land and go up from it." And the king answered, "This is the counsel: Behold, Pithom and Rameses are cities not fortified for war for us or for them to build and strengthen.

Now come and act with cunning and proclaim in Egypt and Goshen and Pathros that the king has commanded to build Pithom and Rameses. Whoever among you from all Egypt and from the children of Israel will come to build with you will be given his wages day by day, and you will go first and act with cunning. And when you build and the sons of the children of Israel come to build with you, you will give them their wages day by day for a certain number of days.

Then you will withdraw from them day by day in secret, and you will rise up and become taskmasters and officers over them. Then you will leave them afterwards to build without wages, and if they refuse, you will strengthen yourselves over them to build by force. And from the toil of the building and the labor, the children of Israel will diminish, for you will wear them out from childbearing." And they did so and proclaimed in the places mentioned, "You have seen what the children of Esav and Yishmael did to us when they came against us to war, and they sought to destroy us.

Now the king has commanded to fortify the land by building the cities of Pithom and Rameses and to strengthen them for war when they come against us. Whoever among you from all Egypt and the children of Israel will come to build with us will be given his wages day by day from the king," etc. And the Egyptians and all the children of Israel came to build with the servants of Pharaoh, but all the children of Levi did not come with Israel their brothers to build, for the children of Levi knew that the Egyptians spoke these words to Israel with deceit.

And the servants of Pharaoh built with Israel for a month of days and gave them their wages. And it came to pass after a month of days that all the servants of Pharaoh began to flee from the children of Israel one by one, day by day, and Israel still did their work but still took their wages. And it came to pass after days and four months that all the Egyptians fled from the children of Israel, and the children of Israel remained alone doing the work.

And they returned and became taskmasters and officers over them, and some of them became over the children of Israel as tax collectors to take from them all that had been given to them as their wages. And it came to pass when any man of Israel refused to work, they struck him with severe blows. And they did the work for many days and years. But all the children of Levi - the Egyptians did not turn their faces toward them, since they were not with their brothers from the beginning.

And the Egyptians embittered the lives of the children of Israel with hard labor, etc. And the children of Israel called Malul king of Egypt "Maror king of Egypt," for in his days the Egyptians embittered their lives. [It is written in Sefer Na'aM"ach, Parshat Noach, that Pharaoh's intention with Pithom and Rameses was to build a city and a tower. Nimrod said, "Let us build a city," and Pharaoh said, "Let us deal wisely, let us build a savior through the power of the Names." And just as a third of the tower was swallowed up, so Pithom - "the mouth of the abyss" - swallowed it.

And just as a third fell, so Rameses - "the first, first, collapses" (see year 2319).]