Exodus 5:1–9
5 Afterward Moses and Aaron went to Pharaoh and said, “This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: ‘Let my people go,j so that they may hold a festivalk to me in the wilderness.’ ”
2 Pharaoh said, “Who is the Lord,l that I should obey him and let Israel go? I do not know the Lord and I will not let Israel go.”m
3 Then they said, “The God of the Hebrews has met with us. Now let us take a three-day journeyn into the wilderness to offer sacrifices to the Lord our God, or he may strike us with plagueso or with the sword.”
4 But the king of Egypt said, “Moses and Aaron, why are you taking the people away from their labor?p Get back to your work!” 5 Then Pharaoh said, “Look, the people of the land are now numerous,q and you are stopping them from working.”
6 That same day Pharaoh gave this order to the slave driversr and overseers in charge of the people: 7 “You are no longer to supply the people with straw for making bricks;s let them go and gather their own straw. 8 But require them to make the same number of bricks as before; don’t reduce the quota.t They are lazy;u that is why they are crying out, ‘Let us go and sacrifice to our God.’v 9 Make the work harder for the people so that they keep working and pay no attention to lies.”