Exodus 1:15-22

GOD’S WORD Translation

Pharaoh Tells the Midwives to Kill All Hebrew Baby Boys

¹⁵ Then the king of Egypt told the Hebrew midwives, whose names were Shiphrah and Puah, ¹⁶ “When you help the Hebrew women in childbirth, look at the child when you deliver it. If it’s a boy, kill it, but if it’s a girl, let it live.”

¹⁷ However, the midwives feared God and didn’t obey the king of Egypt’s orders. They let the boys live. ¹⁸ So the king of Egypt called for the midwives. He asked them, “Why have you done this? Why have you let the boys live?”

¹⁹ The midwives answered Pharaoh, “Hebrew women are not like Egyptian women. They are so healthy that they have their babies before a midwife arrives.”

²⁰ God was good to the midwives. So the people increased in number and became very strong. ²¹ Because the midwives feared God, he gave them families of their own.

²² Then Pharaoh commanded all his people to throw into the Nile every ⌞Hebrew⌟ boy that was born, but to let every girl live.