13The Egyptians ruthlessly made the children of Israel serve,
14and they made their lives bitter with hard service, in mortar and in brick, and in all manner of service in the field, all their service, in which they ruthlessly made them serve.
15The king of Egypt spoke to the Hebrew midwives, of whom the name of the one was Shiphrah, and the name of the other Puah,
16and 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."
17But the midwives feared God, and didn`t do what the king of Egypt commanded them, but saved the baby boys alive.
18The king of Egypt called for the midwives, and said to them, "Why have you done this thing, and have saved the men-children alive?"
19The 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."
