Bible verse

Exodus 1:16

“When you help the Hebrew women give birth, observe them on the birthstools. If the child is a son, kill him; but if it is a daughter, let her live.”

Exodus 1:16 · BSB

Exodus 1:16 in context

The verses around it, from Exodus 1.

12 But the more they were oppressed, the more they multiplied and flourished; so the Egyptians came to dread the Israelites.

13 They worked the Israelites ruthlessly

14 and made their lives bitter with hard labor in brick and mortar, and with all kinds of work in the fields. Every service they imposed was harsh.

15 Then the king of Egypt said to the Hebrew midwives, whose names were Shiphrah and Puah,

16 “When you help the Hebrew women give birth, observe them on the birthstools. If the child is a son, kill him; but if it is a daughter, let her live.”

17 The midwives, however, feared God and did not do as the king of Egypt had instructed; they let the boys live.

18 So the king of Egypt summoned the midwives and asked them, “Why have you done this? Why have you let the boys live?”

19 The midwives answered Pharaoh, “The Hebrew women are not like the Egyptian women, for they are vigorous and give birth before a midwife arrives.”

20 So God was good to the midwives, and the people multiplied and became even more numerous.

Read all of Exodus 1

Exodus 1:16 in other translations

KJV

And he said, When ye do the office of a midwife to the Hebrew women, and see [them] upon the stools; if it [be] a son, then ye shall kill him: but if it [be] a daughter, then she shall live.

ASV

and he said, When ye do the office of a midwife to the Hebrew women, and see them upon the birth-stool; if it be a son, then ye shall kill him; but if it be a daughter, then she shall live.

ERV

and he said, When ye do the office of a midwife to the Hebrew women, and see them upon the birthstool; if it be a son, then ye shall kill him; but if it be a daughter, then she shall live.

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Scripture quotations are from the Berean Standard Bible, which is free of copyright restrictions for use on websites. Read the full Bible on Great Faith.