Exodus 1:15-17

Revised Standard Version Catholic Edition

¹⁵ Then the king of Egypt said to the Hebrew midwives, one of whom was named Shiph′rah and the other Pu′ah, ¹⁶ “When you serve as midwife to the Hebrew women, and see them upon the birthstool, if it is a son, you shall kill him; but if it is a daughter, she shall live.” ¹⁷ But the midwives feared God, and did not do as the king of Egypt commanded them, but let the male children live.