¹⁸ Then the king of Egypt called the two women to come to him. He asked them, ‘Why have you done this? Why have you let the boys live?’ ¹⁹ The two women said to Pharaoh, ‘Israelite women are not like Egyptian women. Israelite women are very strong. They give birth to their babies very quickly, before we arrive at the house.’

²⁰ Because the two women respected God, he was kind to them. The Israelite people continued to grow in number. They became very strong.