¹⁵ Two Hebrew ·nurses [midwives] named Shiphrah and Puah were told by the king [^Cnot the Pharaoh of 1:8; perhaps fifteenth or thirteenth century bc—if the latter, probably Rameses], ¹⁶ “When you ·are helping the Hebrew women give birth to their babies [act as midwives for the Hebrew women], ·watch [observe them on the birthstool; or look at the stones; ^Ca euphemism for testicles]! If the baby is a girl, let her live, but if it is a boy, kill him!” ¹⁷ But the ·nurses [midwives] feared God, so they did not do as the king [^Lof Egypt] told them; they let all the boy babies live. ¹⁸ Then the king of Egypt sent for the ·nurses [midwives] and said, “Why did you do this? Why did you let the boys live?”

¹⁹ The ·nurses [midwives] said to ·him [^LPharaoh], “The Hebrew women are ·much stronger than [^Lnot like] the Egyptian women. They are ·strong [vigorous; hardy]. They give birth to their babies before we can get there.” ²⁰ God ·was good [showed favor] to the ·nurses [midwives]. And the Hebrew people continued to grow in number, so they became even stronger. ²¹ Because the ·nurses [midwives] feared God [Prov. 1:7], he gave them families of their own.

²² So ·the king [^LPharaoh] commanded all his people, “Every time a boy is born to the Hebrews, you must throw him into the Nile River, but let all the girl babies live.”