¹⁵ And the king of Egypt said to the Hebrew midwives—of whom the name of the one was Shiphrah and the name of the second was Puah— ¹⁶ and he said, “When you help the Hebrews give birth, you will look upon the pairs of testicles; if he is a son, you will put him to death, and if she is a daughter, she will live.” ¹⁷ But the midwives feared God, and they did not do as the king of Egypt had said to them. They let the boys live. ¹⁸ And the king of Egypt summoned the midwives, and he said to them, “Why have you done this thing and let the boys live?” ¹⁹ And the midwives said to Pharaoh, “Because the Hebrew women are not like the Egyptian women, because they are vigorous; before the midwife comes to them, they have given birth.” ²⁰ And God did the midwives good, and the Israelite people became many and were very numerous. ²¹ And so^[a] because the midwives feared God, he gave them families.^{[b] 22} And Pharaoh commanded all his people, saying, “Every son who is born you will throw into the Nile, and every daughter you will let live.”