8 Now there arose a new king over Egypt, who did not know Joseph.
9 And he said to his people, "Behold, the people of Israel are too many and too mighty for us.
Israel grows in the number of people over many years until they are perceived as a threat to Egypt by the new Pharaoh. Pharaoh sets out to remove this threat through awful methods.
Initially, mere oppression is the means by which Pharaoh attempts to overcome the Hebrews (Hebrew is another name for an Israelite/Jew). Heavy burdens of hard work in slavery were inflicted upon them. Unfortunately for Pharaoh, this caused them to multiply even more!
Getting desperate, Pharaoh commands the Hebrew midwives to kill all male newborns. The heroic midwives defy this command by saying that the Hebrew women give birth too fast and the male children are born before they can get there to carry out Pharaohs instruction.
Pharaoh then commands all of his people to cast any male Hebrew newborn into the Nile river! God has plans for one newborn (Moses) to grow up and rescue Israel from this oppression so he protects baby Moses when his mother puts him in a basket to float in the Nile. Pharaoh's daughter finds Moses and brings him up as her own, which places Moses in a position of authority in Egypt. Again, God has worked to control events for the salvation of his people!