¹⁴ The Israelites became very upset because of all the difficult work. They had to build houses with bricks and mortar.^[a] They also did many different kinds of work in the fields. The Egyptians made the Israelites do all this difficult work.

¹⁵ There were two Israelite women who helped the other women when they were giving birth. These two women were called Shiphrah and Puah. The king of Egypt said to them, ¹⁶ ‘When you help the Israelite women at the birth of their children, this is what you must do. If she gives birth to a son, kill him. But if the child is a daughter, you may let her live.’