Bible Verses

The king summoned the midwives and asked: “Why have you acted like that and let the children live?”

But the midwives feared God and did not follow the king of Egypt’s command; instead, they let the children live.

that when they assisted Hebrew women on the birthing stool and observed that it was a boy, they were to kill it, but if it was a girl, they were to let it live.

Then the king of Egypt ordered the Hebrew midwives—one of whom was named Shiphrah and the other Puah:

They made life hard for them with demanding labor involving bricks, mortar, and all sorts of outdoor work. In all their toil, the Egyptians treated them harshly.

and became cruel in forcing them to work.

But the more they oppressed the Hebrews, the more they increased and spread until the Egyptians feared the Israelites

So they appointed taskmasters over them to oppress them with forced labor. In this way, they built the storage towns of Pithom and Raamses.

Let us deal warily with them lest they increase still more and, in case of war, side with our enemy, fight against us, and escape from the land.”

and said to his people: “The Israelites are more numerous and stronger than we are.