¹⁰ Come, we must deal shrewdly^(A) with them or they will become even more numerous and, if war breaks out, will join our enemies, fight against us and leave the country.”^(B)

¹¹ So they put slave masters^(C) over them to oppress them with forced labor,^(D) and they built Pithom and Rameses^(E) as store cities^(F) for Pharaoh. ¹² But the more they were oppressed, the more they multiplied and spread; so the Egyptians came to dread the Israelites ¹³ and worked them ruthlessly.^{(G) 14} They made their lives bitter with harsh labor^(H) in brick^(I) and mortar and with all kinds of work in the fields; in all their harsh labor the Egyptians worked them ruthlessly.^(J)

¹⁵ The king of Egypt said to the Hebrew midwives,^(K) whose names were Shiphrah and Puah, ¹⁶ “When you are helping the Hebrew women during childbirth on the delivery stool, if you see that the baby is a boy, kill him; but if it is a girl, let her live.”^{(L) 17} The midwives, however, feared^(M) God and did not do what the king of Egypt had told them to do;^(N) they let the boys live. ¹⁸ Then 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, “Hebrew women are not like Egyptian women; they are vigorous and give birth before the midwives arrive.”^(O)

²⁰ So God was kind to the midwives^(P) and the people increased and became even more numerous. ²¹ And because the midwives feared^(Q) God, he gave them families^(R) of their own.

²² Then Pharaoh gave this order to all his people: “Every Hebrew boy that is born you must throw into the Nile,^(S) but let every girl live.”^(T)

⁷ “You are no longer to supply the people with straw for making bricks;^(A) let them go and gather their own straw. ⁸ But require them to make the same number of bricks as before; don’t reduce the quota.^(B) They are lazy;^(C) that is why they are crying out, ‘Let us go and sacrifice to our God.’^{(D) 9} Make the work harder for the people so that they keep working and pay no attention to lies.”

¹⁰ Then the slave drivers^(E) and the overseers went out and said to the people, “This is what Pharaoh says: ‘I will not give you any more straw. ¹¹ Go and get your own straw wherever you can find it, but your work will not be reduced^(F) at all.’” ¹² So the people scattered all over Egypt to gather stubble to use for straw. ¹³ The slave drivers kept pressing them, saying, “Complete the work required of you for each day, just as when you had straw.” ¹⁴ And Pharaoh’s slave drivers beat the Israelite overseers they had appointed,^(G) demanding, “Why haven’t you met your quota of bricks yesterday or today, as before?”

¹² be careful that you do not forget^(A) the Lord, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery.

²¹ tell him: “We were slaves of Pharaoh in Egypt, but the Lord brought us out of Egypt with a mighty hand.^(A)