¹¹ So they put slave masters^(A) over them to oppress them with forced labor,^(B) and they built Pithom and Rameses^(C) as store cities^(D) 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.^{(E) 14} They made their lives bitter with harsh labor^(F) in brick^(G) and mortar and with all kinds of work in the fields; in all their harsh labor the Egyptians worked them ruthlessly.^(H)

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.”^(A)

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

⁶ That same day Pharaoh gave this order to the slave drivers^(A) and overseers in charge of the people: ⁷ “You are no longer to supply the people with straw for making bricks;^(B) 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.^(C) They are lazy;^(D) that is why they are crying out, ‘Let us go and sacrifice to our God.’^{(E) 9} Make the work harder for the people so that they keep working and pay no attention to lies.”