17 Yet the midwives feared God, so they did not do as the king of Egypt commanded them, but let the boys live.

18 So the king of Egypt summoned the midwives and said to them, “Why have you done this — let the boys live?”

19 The midwives told Pharaoh, “Because the Hebrew women are not like Egyptian women. They are like animals, [1] and give birth before the midwife comes to them.”