Exodus 5–12

Chapter 5

Israel’s Labor Increased

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

²But Pharaoh said, “^aWho is the Lord that I should obey His voice to let Israel go? I do not know the Lord, and besides, ^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 the Lord our God, otherwise He will fall upon 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 ^3alabors!”

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

⁶So 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.”

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 none of your labor will be reduced.’ ”

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

¹³The taskmasters pressed them, saying, “Complete your ¹work quota, ²your daily amount, just as when ³you had 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 servants?

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

¹⁷But he said, “You are ^alazy, very lazy; therefore you say, ‘Let us go and sacrifice to the Lord.’

¹⁸“So go now and work; for you will be given no straw, yet you must deliver the quota of bricks.”

¹⁹The 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 met Moses and Aaron as they were ¹waiting for them.

^21aThey said to them, “^bMay the Lord look upon you and judge you, for you have ^cmade ¹us odious 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 the Lord 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.”

Chapter 6

God Promises Action

¹Then the Lord said to Moses, “Now you shall see what I will do to Pharaoh; for ^1aunder compulsion he will let them go, and under compulsion he will drive them out of his land.”

²God spoke further to Moses and said to him, “I am ^athe Lord;

³and I appeared to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, as ^1aGod Almighty, but by ^bMy name, ²Lord, I did not make Myself known to them.

⁴“I also established ^aMy covenant with them, to give them the land of Canaan, the ¹land in which they sojourned.

⁵“Furthermore I have ^aheard the groaning of the sons of Israel, because the Egyptians are holding them in bondage, and I have remembered My covenant.

⁶“Say, therefore, to the sons of Israel, ‘^aI am the Lord, and ^bI will bring you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians, and I will deliver you from their bondage. I will also ^credeem you with ^dan outstretched arm and with great judgments.

⁷‘Then I will take you ^1afor My people, and ^bI will be ²your God; and ^cyou shall know that I am the Lord your God, who brought you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians.

⁸‘I will bring you to the land which ^aI ¹swore to give to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and ^bI will give it to you for a possession; ^cI am the Lord.’ ”

⁹So Moses spoke thus to the sons of Israel, but they did not listen to Moses on ^aaccount of their ¹despondency and cruel bondage.

¹⁰Now the Lord spoke to Moses, saying,

¹¹“^aGo, ¹tell Pharaoh king of Egypt ²to let the sons of Israel go out of his land.”

¹²But Moses spoke before the Lord, saying, “Behold, the sons of Israel have not listened to me; ^ahow then will Pharaoh listen to me, for I am ^1bunskilled in speech?”

¹³Then the Lord spoke to Moses and to Aaron, and gave them a charge to the sons of Israel and to Pharaoh king of Egypt, to bring the sons of Israel out of the land of Egypt.

The Heads of Israel

¹⁴These are the heads of their fathers’ households. ^aThe sons of Reuben, Israel’s firstborn: Hanoch and Pallu, Hezron and Carmi; these are the families of Reuben.

¹⁵The ^asons of Simeon: Jemuel and Jamin and Ohad and Jachin and Zohar and Shaul the son of a Canaanite woman; these are the families of Simeon.

¹⁶These are the names of ^athe sons of Levi according to their generations: Gershon and Kohath and Merari; and the ¹length of Levi’s life was one hundred and thirty-seven years.

^17aThe sons of Gershon: ¹Libni and Shimei, according to their families.

^18aThe sons of Kohath: Amram and Izhar and Hebron and Uzziel; and the ¹length of Kohath’s life was one hundred and thirty-three years.

^19aThe sons of Merari: Mahli and Mushi. These are the families of the Levites according to their generations.

^20aAmram ¹married his father’s sister Jochebed, and she bore him Aaron and Moses; and the ²length of Amram’s life was one hundred and thirty-seven years.

^21aThe sons of Izhar: Korah and Nepheg and Zichri.

^22aThe sons of Uzziel: Mishael and ¹Elzaphan and Sithri.

²³Aaron ¹married Elisheba, the daughter of ^aAmminadab, the sister of ^bNahshon, and she bore him ^cNadab and Abihu, Eleazar and Ithamar.

²⁴The ^asons of Korah: Assir and Elkanah and ¹Abiasaph; these are the families of the Korahites.

²⁵Aaron’s son ^aEleazar ¹married one of the daughters of Putiel, and she bore him ^bPhinehas. These are the heads of the fathers’ households of the Levites according to their families.

²⁶It was the same Aaron and Moses to whom the Lord said, “^aBring out the sons of Israel from the land of Egypt according to their ^bhosts.”

²⁷They were the ones ^awho spoke to Pharaoh king of Egypt ¹about bringing out the sons of Israel from Egypt; it was the same Moses and Aaron.

²⁸Now it came about on the day when the Lord spoke to Moses in the land of Egypt,

²⁹that the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, “^aI am the Lord; ^bspeak to Pharaoh king of Egypt all that I speak to you.”

³⁰But Moses said before the Lord, “Behold, I am ^1aunskilled in speech; how then will Pharaoh listen to me?”

Chapter 7

“I Will Stretch Out My Hand”

¹Then the Lord said to Moses, “^aSee, I make you as God to Pharaoh, and your brother Aaron shall be your prophet.

²“You shall speak all that I command you, and your brother ^aAaron shall speak to Pharaoh that he let the sons of Israel go out of his land.

³“But ^aI will harden Pharaoh’s heart that I may ^bmultiply My signs and My wonders in the land of Egypt.

⁴“When ^aPharaoh does not listen to you, then I will lay My hand on Egypt and ^bbring out My hosts, My people the sons of Israel, from the land of Egypt by ^cgreat judgments.

⁵“^aThe Egyptians shall know that I am the Lord, when I ^bstretch out My hand on Egypt and bring out the sons of Israel from their midst.”

⁶So Moses and Aaron did it; ^aas the Lord commanded them, thus they did.

⁷Moses was ^aeighty years old and Aaron ¹eighty-three, when they spoke to Pharaoh.

Aaron’s Rod Becomes a Serpent

⁸Now the Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron, saying,

⁹“When Pharaoh speaks to you, saying, ‘^1aWork a miracle,’ then you shall say to Aaron, ‘^bTake your staff and throw it down before Pharaoh, that it may become a serpent.’ ”

¹⁰So Moses and Aaron came to Pharaoh, and thus they did just as the Lord had commanded; and Aaron threw his staff down before Pharaoh and ¹his servants, and it ^abecame a serpent.

¹¹Then Pharaoh also ^acalled for the wise men and the sorcerers, and they also, the ^1bmagicians of Egypt, did ²the same with ^ctheir secret arts.

¹²For each one threw down his staff and they turned into serpents. But Aaron’s staff swallowed up their staffs.

¹³Yet ^aPharaoh’s heart was ¹hardened, and he did not listen to them, as the Lord had said.

Water Is Turned to Blood

¹⁴Then the Lord said to Moses, “Pharaoh’s heart is ¹stubborn; he refuses to let the people go.

¹⁵“Go to Pharaoh in the morning ¹as ^ahe is going out to the water, and station yourself to meet him on the bank of the Nile; and you shall take in your hand ^bthe staff that was turned into a serpent.

¹⁶“^aYou shall say to him, ‘The Lord, the God of the Hebrews, sent me to you, saying, “^bLet My people go, that they may serve Me in the wilderness. But behold, you have not listened until now.”

¹⁷‘Thus says the Lord, “^aBy this you shall know that I am the Lord: behold, I will strike ¹the water that is in the Nile with the staff that is in my hand, and ^bit will be turned to blood.

¹⁸“^aThe fish that are in the Nile will die, and the Nile will ¹become foul, and the Egyptians will ^2bfind difficulty in drinking water from the Nile.” ’ ”

¹⁹Then the Lord said to Moses, “Say to Aaron, ‘Take your staff and ^astretch out your hand over the waters of Egypt, over their rivers, over their ¹streams, and over their pools, and over all their reservoirs of water, that they may become blood; and there will be blood throughout all the land of Egypt, both in vessels of wood and in vessels of stone.’ ” …