Exodus 5:7–19

⁷“Don’t continue to supply the people with straw for making bricks, as before. They must go and gather straw for themselves. ⁸But require the same quota of bricks from them as they were making before; do not reduce it. For they are slackers—that is why they are crying out,^j ‘Let us go and sacrifice to our God.’ ⁹Impose heavier work on the men. Then they will be occupied with it and not pay attention to deceptive words.”

¹⁰So the overseers and foremen of the people went out and said to them, “This is what Pharaoh says:^k ‘I am not giving you straw. ¹¹Go get straw yourselves wherever you can find it, but there will be no reduction at all in your workload.’ ” ¹²So the people scattered throughout the land of Egypt to gather stubble for straw. ¹³The overseers insisted, “Finish your assigned work each day, just as you did when straw was provided.” ¹⁴Then the Israelite foremen, whom Pharaoh’s slave drivers had set over the people, were beaten^l and asked, “Why haven’t you finished making your prescribed number of bricks yesterday or today, as you did before?”

¹⁵So the Israelite foremen went in and cried for help to Pharaoh: “Why are you treating your servants this way? ¹⁶No straw has been given to your servants, yet they say to us, ‘Make bricks!’ Look, your servants are being beaten, but it is your own people who are at fault.”

¹⁷But he said, “You are slackers. Slackers! That is why you are saying, ‘Let us go sacrifice to the Lord.’ ¹⁸Now get to work. No straw will be given to you, but you must produce the same quantity of bricks.”

¹⁹The Israelite foremen saw that they were in trouble when they were told, “You cannot reduce your daily quota of bricks.”