Exodus 1:15-22

Holman Christian Standard Bible

¹⁵ Then the king of Egypt said to the Hebrew midwives, one of whom was named Shiphrah and the other Puah, ¹⁶ “When you help the Hebrew women give birth, observe them as they deliver.^[a] If the child is a son, kill him, but if it’s a daughter, she may live.” ¹⁷ The Hebrew 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 a 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^[b] into the Nile, but let every daughter live.”^(F)