Exodus 5

CHAPTER 5

Pharaoh Will Not Let the People Go

¹And afterward Moses and Aaron came and said to Pharaoh, “^aThus says Yahweh, the God of Israel, ‘^bLet My people go that they may celebrate a feast to Me in the wilderness.’”

²But Pharaoh said, “^aWho is Yahweh that I should listen to His voice to let Israel go? I do not know Yahweh, and also, ^bI will not let Israel go.”

³Then they said, “^aThe God of the Hebrews has met with us. Please, let us go a three days’ journey into the wilderness that we may sacrifice to Yahweh our God, lest He confront us with pestilence or with the sword.”

⁴But the king of Egypt said to them, “Moses and Aaron, why do you ¹draw the people away from their ²work? Get back to your ^3ahard labors!”

⁵And Pharaoh said, “Look, ^athe people of the land are now many, and you would have them cease from their hard labors!”

⁶So on that day Pharaoh commanded ^athe taskmasters over the people and their ^bforemen, saying,

⁷“You are no longer to give the people straw to make brick as previously; let them go and gather straw for themselves.

⁸“But the quota of bricks which they were making previously, you shall set upon them; you are not to reduce any of it. Because they are ^alazy, therefore they are crying out, ‘¹Let us go and sacrifice to our God.’

⁹“Let their slavery be hard on the men, and let them work at it so that they will have no regard for false words.”

¹⁰So ^athe taskmasters of the people and their foremen went out and spoke to the people, saying, “Thus says Pharaoh, ‘I am not going to give you any straw.

¹¹‘You go and get straw for yourselves wherever you can find it, but no amount of your slave labor will be reduced.’”

¹²So the people scattered through all the land of Egypt to gather stubble for straw.

¹³And the taskmasters were pressing them, saying, “Complete your ¹work quota, ²the daily amount, just as when there was straw.”

¹⁴Moreover, ^athe foremen of the sons of Israel, whom Pharaoh’s taskmasters had set over them, ^bwere beaten ¹and were asked, “Why have you not completed your required amount either yesterday or today in making brick as previously?”

¹⁵Then the foremen of the sons of Israel came and cried out to Pharaoh, saying, “Why do you deal this way with your slaves?

¹⁶“There is no straw given to your slaves, yet they keep saying to us, ‘Make bricks!’ And behold, your slaves are being beaten; but it is the ¹sin of your own people.”

¹⁷But he said, “You are ^alazy—lazy! Therefore you say, ‘Let us go and sacrifice to Yahweh.’

¹⁸“So now, go and labor; but straw will not be given to you, yet you must deliver the quota of bricks.”

¹⁹Then the foremen of the sons of Israel saw that they were in trouble ¹because they were told, “You must not reduce ²your daily amount of bricks.”

²⁰When they left Pharaoh’s presence, they confronted Moses and Aaron, ¹standing there to meet them.

^21aAnd they said to them, “^bMay Yahweh look upon you and judge, for you have ^cmade ¹us a foul smell in Pharaoh’s sight and in the sight of his servants, to put a sword in their hand to kill us.”

²²Then Moses returned to Yahweh and said, “^aO Lord, why have You brought harm to this people? Why did You ever send me?

²³“Ever since I came to Pharaoh to speak in Your name, he has done harm to this people, ^aand You have not delivered Your people at all.”