13. So the Egyptians enslaved the Israelites.
14. They made their lives miserable with hard labor, making mortar and bricks, doing field work, and by forcing them to do all kinds of other cruel work.
15. The king of Egypt spoke to two Hebrew midwives named Shiphrah and Puah:
16. "When you are helping the Hebrew women give birth and you see the baby being born, if it’s a boy, kill him. But if it’s a girl, you can let her live."
17. Now the two midwives respected God so they didn’t obey the Egyptian king’s order. Instead, they let the baby boys live.