The Bible › Bible in Basic English › Exodus 1
Exodus 1:16
When you are looking after the Hebrew women in childbirth, if it is a son you are to put him to death; but if it is a daughter, she may go on living.
Exodus 1:16 · Bible in Basic English
Exodus 1:16 in other translations
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.
“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.”
and he said, “When you perform the duty of a midwife to the Hebrew women, and see them on the birth stool, if it is a son, then you shall kill him; but if it is a daughter, then she shall live.”
Every translation above is public domain and free to share. Other versions — NIV · ESV · NKJV · NLT · NASB · CSB · AMP — are copyrighted and open on their publishers’ partner site.
In context
13 And they gave the children of Israel even harder work to do:
14 And made their lives bitter with hard work, making building-material and bricks, and doing all sorts of work in the fields under the hardest conditions.
15 And the king of Egypt said to the Hebrew women who gave help at the time of childbirth (the name of the one was Shiphrah and the name of the other Puah),
16 When you are looking after the Hebrew women in childbirth, if it is a son you are to put him to death; but if it is a daughter, she may go on living.
17 But the women had the fear of God, and did not do as the king of Egypt said, but let the male children go on living.
18 And the king of Egypt sent for the women, and said to them, Why have you done this, and let the male children go on living?
19 And they said to Pharaoh, Because the Hebrew women are not like the Egyptian women, for they are strong, and the birth takes place before we come to them.
Read Exodus 1 in the app The whole chapter