Exodus 1:16-18

International Standard Version

¹⁶ “When you help the Hebrew women give birth,” he said, “watch them as they deliver.^[a] If it’s a son, kill him; but if it’s a daughter, let her live.” ¹⁷ But the midwives feared God and didn’t do what the king of Egypt told them. Instead,^[b] they let the boys live.

¹⁸ When the king of Egypt called for the midwives, he asked them, “Why have you done this^[c] and allowed the boys to live?”