¹⁵ The king of Egypt spoke to the Hebrew midwives, of whom the name of the one was Shiphrah, and the name of the other Puah, ¹⁶ and he said, “When you perform the duty of a midwife to the Hebrew women, and see them on the birth stool, if it is a son, then you shall kill him; but if it is a daughter, then she shall live.” ¹⁷ But the midwives feared God,^[a] and didn’t do what the king of Egypt commanded them, but saved the baby boys alive. ¹⁸ The king of Egypt called for the midwives, and said to them, “Why have you done this thing and saved the boys alive?”

¹⁹ The midwives said to Pharaoh, “Because the Hebrew women aren’t like the Egyptian women; for they are vigorous and give birth before the midwife comes to them.”

²⁰ God dealt well with the midwives, and the people multiplied, and grew very mighty. ²¹ Because the midwives feared God, he gave them families. ²² Pharaoh commanded all his people, saying, “You shall cast every son who is born into the river, and every daughter you shall save alive.”