16. “When you help the Hebrew women give birth,” he said to them, “kill the baby if it is a boy; but if it is a girl, let it live.”
17. But the midwives feared God and so did not obey the king; instead, they let the boys live.
18. So the king sent for the midwives and asked them, “Why are you doing this? Why are you letting the boys live?”
19. They answered, “The Hebrew women are not like Egyptian women; they give birth easily, and their babies are born before either of us gets there.”
20-21. Because the midwives feared God, he was good to them and gave them families of their own. And the Israelites continued to increase and become strong.
22. Finally the king issued a command to all his people: “Take every newborn Hebrew boy and throw him into the Nile, but let all the girls live.”