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Exodus 5:4–10

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

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

6 So the same 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 impose on them; you are not to reduce any of it. Because they are alazy, therefore they cry out, ‘1Let us go and sacrifice to our God.’

9 “Let the labor be heavier on the men, and let them work at it so that they will pay no attention to false words.”

10 So 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.

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Exodus 5:4–10 — The New International Version (NIV)

But the king of Egypt said, “Moses and Aaron, why are you taking the people away from their labor? Get back to your work!” Then Pharaoh said, “Look, the people of the land are now numerous, and you are stopping them from working.”

That same day Pharaoh gave this order to the slave drivers and overseers in charge of the people: “You are no longer to supply the people with straw for making bricks; let them go and gather their own straw. But require them to make the same number of bricks as before; don’t reduce the quota. They are lazy; that is why they are crying out, ‘Let us go and sacrifice to our God.’ Make the work harder for the people so that they keep working and pay no attention to lies.”

10 Then the slave drivers and the overseers went out and said to the people, “This is what Pharaoh says: ‘I will not give you any more straw.

Exodus 5:4–10 — English Standard Version (ESV)

But the king of Egypt said to them, “Moses and Aaron, why do you take the people away from their work? Get back to your burdens.” And Pharaoh said, “Behold, the people of the land are now many, and you make them rest from their burdens!” The same day Pharaoh commanded the taskmasters of the people and their foremen, “You shall no longer give the people straw to make bricks, as in the past; let them go and gather straw for themselves. But the number of bricks that they made in the past you shall impose on them, you shall by no means reduce it, for they are idle. Therefore they cry, ‘Let us go and offer sacrifice to our God.’ Let heavier work be laid on the men that they may labor at it and pay no regard to lying words.”

10 So the taskmasters and the foremen of the people went out and said to the people, “Thus says Pharaoh, ‘I will not give you straw.

Exodus 5:4–10 — King James Version (KJV 1900)

And the king of Egypt said unto them, Wherefore do ye, Moses and Aaron, let the people from their works? get you unto your burdens. And Pharaoh said, Behold, the people of the land now are many, and ye make them rest from their burdens. And Pharaoh commanded the same day the taskmasters of the people, and their officers, saying, Ye shall no more give the people straw to make brick, as heretofore: let them go and gather straw for themselves. And the tale of the bricks, which they did make heretofore, ye shall lay upon them; ye shall not diminish ought thereof: for they be idle; therefore they cry, saying, Let us go and sacrifice to our God. Let there more work be laid upon the men, that they may labour therein; and let them not regard vain words. 10 And the taskmasters of the people went out, and their officers, and they spake to the people, saying, Thus saith Pharaoh, I will not give you straw.

Exodus 5:4–10 — New Living Translation (NLT)

Pharaoh replied, “Moses and Aaron, why are you distracting the people from their tasks? Get back to work! Look, there are many of your people in the land, and you are stopping them from their work.”

That same day Pharaoh sent this order to the Egyptian slave drivers and the Israelite foremen: “Do not supply any more straw for making bricks. Make the people get it themselves! But still require them to make the same number of bricks as before. Don’t reduce the quota. They are lazy. That’s why they are crying out, ‘Let us go and offer sacrifices to our God.’ Load them down with more work. Make them sweat! That will teach them to listen to lies!”

10 So the slave drivers and foremen went out and told the people: “This is what Pharaoh says: I will not provide any more straw for you.

Exodus 5:4–10 — The New King James Version (NKJV)

Then the king of Egypt said to them, “Moses and Aaron, why do you take the people from their work? Get back to your labor.” And Pharaoh said, “Look, the people of the land are many now, and you make them rest from their labor!”

So the same day Pharaoh commanded the taskmasters of the people and their officers, saying, “You shall no longer give the people straw to make brick as before. Let them go and gather straw for themselves. And you shall lay on them the quota of bricks which they made before. You shall not reduce it. For they are idle; therefore they cry out, saying, ‘Let us go and sacrifice to our God.’ Let more work be laid on the men, that they may labor in it, and let them not regard false words.”

10 And the taskmasters of the people and their officers went out and spoke to the people, saying, “Thus says Pharaoh: ‘I will not give you straw.

Exodus 5:4–10 — New Century Version (NCV)

But the king said to them, “Moses and Aaron, why are you taking the people away from their work? Go back to your jobs! There are very many Hebrews, and now you want them to quit working!”

That same day the king gave a command to the slave masters and foremen. He said, “Don’t give the people straw to make bricks as you used to do. Let them gather their own straw. But they must still make the same number of bricks as they did before. Do not accept fewer. They have become lazy, and that is why they are asking me, ‘Let us go to offer sacrifices to our God.’ Make these people work harder and keep them busy; then they will not have time to listen to the lies of Moses.”

10 So the slave masters and foremen went to the Israelites and said, “This is what the king says: I will no longer give you straw.

Exodus 5:4–10 — American Standard Version (ASV)

And the king of Egypt said unto them, Wherefore do ye, Moses and Aaron, loose the people from their works? get you unto your burdens. And Pharaoh said, Behold, the people of the land are now many, and ye make them rest from their burdens. And the same day Pharaoh commanded the taskmasters of the people, and their officers, saying, Ye shall no more give the people straw to make brick, as heretofore: let them go and gather straw for themselves. And the number of the bricks, which they did make heretofore, ye shall lay upon them; ye shall not diminish aught thereof: for they are idle; therefore they cry, saying, Let us go and sacrifice to our God. Let heavier work be laid upon the men, that they may labor therein; and let them not regard lying words.

10 And the taskmasters of the people went out, and their officers, and they spake to the people, saying, Thus saith Pharaoh, I will not give you straw.

Exodus 5:4–10 — 1890 Darby Bible (DARBY)

And the king of Egypt said to them, Why do ye, Moses and Aaron, wish to have the people go off from their works? Away, to your burdens! And Pharaoh said, Behold the people of the land are now many, and ye wish to make them rest from their burdens. And Pharaoh commanded the same day the taskmasters of the people, and their officers, saying, Ye shall no more give the people straw to make brick, as heretofore: let them go and gather straw for themselves. And the number of the bricks they have made heretofore shall ye lay upon them: ye shall not diminish any of it, for they are idle; therefore they cry, saying, Let us go and sacrifice to our God. Let them put heavier labour on the men, that they may be taken up with it, and not regard vain words.

10 And the taskmasters of the people and their officers went out and spoke to the people, saying, Thus says Pharaoh: I will not give you straw:

Exodus 5:4–10 — GOD’S WORD Translation (GW)

The king of Egypt said to them, “Moses and Aaron, why are you distracting the people from their work? Get back to work!” Then Pharaoh added, “Look how many people there are in the land! Do you want them to quit working?” 

That same day Pharaoh gave these orders to the slave drivers and foremen: “Don’t give the people any more straw to make bricks as you have been doing. Let them gather their own straw, but insist that they make the same number of bricks they were making before. Making fewer bricks will not be acceptable. They’re lazy! That’s why they’re crying, ‘Let us go offer sacrifices to our God.’ Make the work harder for these people so that they will be too busy to listen to lies.” 

10 The slave drivers and foreman went out and said to them, “This is what Pharaoh says: I’m no longer giving you straw.

Exodus 5:4–10 — The Holman Christian Standard Bible (HCSB)

The king of Egypt said to them, “Moses and Aaron, why are you causing the people to neglect their work? Get to your work!” Pharaoh also said, “Look, the people of the land are so numerous, and you would stop them from working.”

That day Pharaoh commanded the overseers of the people as well as their foremen: “Don’t continue to supply the people with straw for making bricks, as before. They must go and gather straw for themselves. But 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, ‘Let us go and sacrifice to our God.’ Impose heavier work on the men. Then they will be occupied with it and not pay attention to deceptive words.”

10 So the overseers and foremen of the people went out and said to them, “This is what Pharaoh says: ‘I am not giving you straw.

Exodus 5:4–10 — The New Revised Standard Version (NRSV)

But the king of Egypt said to them, “Moses and Aaron, why are you taking the people away from their work? Get to your labors!” Pharaoh continued, “Now they are more numerous than the people of the land and yet you want them to stop working!” That same day Pharaoh commanded the taskmasters of the people, as well as their supervisors, “You shall no longer give the people straw to make bricks, as before; let them go and gather straw for themselves. But you shall require of them the same quantity of bricks as they have made previously; do not diminish it, for they are lazy; that is why they cry, ‘Let us go and offer sacrifice to our God.’ Let heavier work be laid on them; then they will labor at it and pay no attention to deceptive words.”

10 So the taskmasters and the supervisors of the people went out and said to the people, “Thus says Pharaoh, ‘I will not give you straw.

Exodus 5:4–10 — The Lexham English Bible (LEB)

And the king of Egypt said, “Why, Moses and Aaron, do you take the people from their work? Go to your forced labor!” And Pharaoh said, “Look, the people of the land are now many, and you want to stop them from their forced labor.”

And on that day Pharaoh commanded the slave drivers over the people and his foremen, saying, “You must no longer give straw to the people to make the bricks like before. Let them go and gather straw for themselves. But the quota of the bricks that they were making before you must require of them. You must not reduce from it, because they are lazy. Therefore they are crying out, saying, ‘Let us go and sacrifice to our God.’ Let the work be heavier on the men so that they will do it and not pay attention to words of deception.”

10 And the slave drivers of the people and their foremen went out, and they spoke to the people, saying, “Thus says Pharaoh, ‘I am not giving you straw.

Exodus 5:4–10 — New International Reader’s Version (1998) (NIrV)

But the king of Egypt said, “Moses and Aaron, why are you taking the people away from their work? Get back to work!” Pharaoh continued, “There are large numbers of your people in the land. But you are stopping them from working.”

That same day Pharaoh gave orders to the slave drivers and the others who were in charge of the people. He said, “Don’t give the people any more straw to make bricks. Let them go and get their own straw. But require them to make the same number of bricks as before. Don’t lower the number they have to make. They don’t want to work. That’s why they are crying out, ‘Let us go. We want to offer sacrifices to our God.’ Make them work harder. Then they will be too busy to pay attention to lies.”

10 The slave drivers and the others who were in charge left. They said to the people, “Pharaoh says, ‘I won’t give you any more straw.


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