Bible Verses About Persecution: Pharaoh &c

Now there arose a new king over Egypt. He knew nothing about Yosef

but said to his people, "Look, the descendants of Isra'el have become a people too numerous and powerful for us.

Come, let's use wisdom in dealing with them. Otherwise, they'll continue to multiply; and in the event of war they might ally themselves with our enemies, fight against us and leave the land altogether."

So they put slavemasters over them to oppress them with forced labor, and they built for Pharaoh the storage cities of Pitom and Ra'amses.

But the more the Egyptians oppressed them, the more they multiplied and expanded, until the Egyptians came to dread the people of Isra'el

and worked them relentlessly,

making their lives bitter with hard labor -digging clay, making bricks, all kinds of field work; and in all this toil they were shown no mercy.