14 The Egyptians made life hard for the Israelites. They forced the Israelites to work very hard making bricks and mortar. They also forced them to do all kinds of hard work in the fields. The Egyptians were not merciful to them in all their hard work.
15 There were two Hebrew nurses named Shiphrah and Puah. These nurses helped the Israelite women give birth to their babies. The king of Egypt said to the nurses,
16 “When you are helping the Hebrew women give birth to their babies, watch! If the baby is a girl, let the baby live. But if it is a boy, kill it!”
17 But the nurses feared God. So they did not do as the king told them. They let all the boy babies live.
18 Then the king of Egypt sent for the nurses. He said, “Why did you do this? Why did you let the boys live?”
19 The nurses said to him, “The Hebrew women are much stronger than the Egyptian women. They give birth to their babies before we can get there.”
20 God was good to the nurses. And the Hebrew people continued to grow in number. So they became even stronger.