Scripture · Old Testament
Exodus 1:16
Exodus 1:16 is verse 16 of Exodus chapter 1, shown here in the Berean Standard Bible.
Berean Standard Bible
“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.”
King James Version
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.
World English Bible
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.”
Read in context
Exodus 1:14–18 · Berean Standard Bible
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?”
Read all of Exodus 1Hebrew words
Data created by STEPBible.org based on work at Tyndale House Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).
Study Exodus 1:16
Cross-references
The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge lists these related verses. Scripture text comes from the Berean Standard Bible.
Exodus 1:22Then Pharaoh commanded all his people: “Every son born to the Hebrews you must throw into the Nile, but every daughter you may allow to live.”
Matthew 21:38But when the tenants saw the son, they said to one another, ‘This is the heir. Come, let us kill him and take his inheritance.’
Revelation 12:4His tail swept a third of the stars from the sky, tossing them to the earth. And the dragon stood before the woman who was about to give birth, ready to devour her child as soon as she gave birth.