Exodus 1:16-22

Christian Standard Bible

¹⁶ “When you help the Hebrew women give birth, observe them as they deliver. If the child is a son, kill him, but if it’s a daughter, she may live.” ¹⁷ The midwives, however, feared God^(A) and did not do as the king of Egypt had told them;^(B) they let the boys live. ¹⁸ So the king of Egypt summoned the midwives and asked them, “Why have you done this and let the boys live?”

¹⁹ The midwives said to Pharaoh, “The Hebrew women are not like the Egyptian women, for they are vigorous and give birth before the midwife can get to them.”^(C)

²⁰ So God was good to the midwives,^(D) and the people multiplied and became very numerous. ²¹ Since the midwives feared God, he gave them families.^{(E) 22} Pharaoh then commanded all his people, “You must throw every son born to the Hebrews into the Nile, but let every daughter live.”^(F)