^10:8So Moses and Aaron were brought back to Pharaoh, and he said to them, “Go, serve the Lord your God. Exactly who is going with you?”²⁸^10:9Moses said, “We will go with our young and our old, with our sons and our daughters, and with our sheep and our cattle we will go, because we are to hold²⁹ a pilgrim feast for the Lord.”

^10:10He said to them, “The Lord will need to be with you³⁰ if I release you and your dependents!³¹ Watch out!³² Trouble is right in front of you!³³

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Footnotes

28 The question is literally “who and who are the ones going?” (מִי וָמִי הַהֹלְכִים, mi vami haholékhim). Pharaoh’s answer to Moses includes this rude question, which was intended to say that Pharaoh would control who went. The participle in this clause, then, refers to the future journey.
29 Heb “we have a pilgrim feast (חַג, khag) to Yahweh.”
30 Pharaoh is by no means offering a blessing on them in the name of Yahweh. The meaning of his “wish” is connected to the next clause—as he is releasing them, may God help them. S. R. Driver says that in Pharaoh’s scornful challenge Yahweh is as likely to protect them as Pharaoh is likely to let them go—not at all (Exodus, ). He is planning to keep the women and children as hostages to force the men to return. U. Cassuto (Exodus, ) paraphrases it this way: “May the help of your God be as far from you as I am from giving you permission to go forth with your little ones.” The real irony, Cassuto observes, is that in the final analysis he will let them go, and Yahweh will be with them.
31 The context of Moses’ list of young and old, sons and daughters, and the contrast with the word for strong “men” in v. 11 indicates that טַפְּכֶם (tappékhem), often translated “little ones” or “children,” refers to dependent people, noncombatants in general.
32 Heb “see.”
33 Heb “before your face.” The “trouble” or “evil” that is before them could refer to the evil that they are devising—the attempt to escape from Egypt. But that does not make much sense in the sentence—why would he tell them to take heed or look out about that? U. Cassuto (Exodus, ) makes a better suggestion. He argues that Pharaoh is saying, “Don’t push me too far.” The evil, then, would be what Pharaoh was going to do if these men kept making demands on him. This fits the fact that he had them driven out of his court immediately. There could also be here an allusion to Pharaoh’s god Re’, the sun-deity and head of the pantheon; he would be saying that the power of his god would confront them.

In other versions

ESVEnglish Standard Version

So Moses and Aaron were brought back to Pharaoh. And he said to them, “Go, serve the Lord your God. But which ones are to go?” Moses said, “We will go with our young and our old. We will go with our sons and daughters and with our flocks and herds, for we must hold a feast to the Lord.” But he said to them, “The Lord be with you, if ever I let you and your little ones go! Look, you have some evil purpose in mind.

NIVNew International Version (2011)

Then Moses and Aaron were brought back to Pharaoh. “Go, worship the Lord your God,” he said. “But tell me who will be going.”

Moses answered, “We will go with our young and our old, with our sons and our daughters, and with our flocks and herds, because we are to celebrate a festival to the Lord.”

Pharaoh said, “The Lord be with you—if I let you go, along with your women and children! Clearly you are bent on evil.

CSBChristian Standard Bible

So Moses and Aaron were brought back to Pharaoh. “Go, worship the Lord your God,” Pharaoh said. “But exactly who will be going?”

Moses replied, “We will go with our young and with our old; we will go with our sons and with our daughters, with our flocks and with our herds because we must hold the Lord’s festival.”

He said to them, “The LORD would have to be with you if I would ever let you and your families go! Look out—you’re heading for trouble.

NLTNew Living Translation

So Moses and Aaron were brought back to Pharaoh. “All right,” he told them, “go and worship the Lord your God. But who exactly will be going with you?”

Moses replied, “We will all go—young and old, our sons and daughters, and our flocks and herds. We must all join together in celebrating a festival to the Lord.”

Pharaoh retorted, “The Lord will certainly need to be with you if I let you take your little ones! I can see through your evil plan.

LEBThe Lexham English Bible

And Moses and Aaron were brought back to Pharaoh, and he said to them, “Serve Yahweh your God. Who are the ones going? And Moses said, “With our young and with our old we will go; with our sons and with our daughters, with our sheep and goats and with our cattle we will go because it is the feast of Yahweh for us.” And he said to them, “Let Yahweh be thus with you as soon as I release you and your dependents. See that evil is before your faces.

KJV 1900King James Version

And Moses and Aaron were brought again unto Pharaoh: and he said unto them, Go, serve the Lord your God: but who are they that shall go? And Moses said, We will go with our young and with our old, with our sons and with our daughters, with our flocks and with our herds will we go; for we must hold a feast unto the Lord. And he said unto them, Let the Lord be so with you, as I will let you go, and your little ones: look to it; for evil is before you.

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