Exodus 5

Bricks Without Straw

5Afterward 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 festival^k to me in the wilderness.’ ”

²Pharaoh 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

³Then 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 plagues^o or with the sword.”

⁴But the king of Egypt said, “Moses and Aaron, why are you taking the people away from their labor?^p Get back to your work!” ⁵Then Pharaoh said, “Look, the people of the land are now numerous,^q and you are stopping them from working.”

⁶That same day Pharaoh gave this order to the slave drivers^r 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. ⁸But 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.”

¹⁰Then the slave drivers^w and the overseers went out and said to the people, “This is what Pharaoh says: ‘I will not give you any more straw. ¹¹Go and get your own straw wherever you can find it, but your work will not be reduced^x at all.’ ” ¹²So the people scattered all over Egypt to gather stubble to use for straw. ¹³The slave drivers kept pressing them, saying, “Complete the work required of you for each day, just as when you had straw.” ¹⁴And Pharaoh’s slave drivers beat the Israelite overseers they had appointed,^y demanding, “Why haven’t you met your quota of bricks yesterday or today, as before?”

¹⁵Then the Israelite overseers went and appealed to Pharaoh: “Why have you treated your servants this way? ¹⁶Your servants are given no straw, yet we are told, ‘Make bricks!’ Your servants are being beaten, but the fault is with your own people.”

¹⁷Pharaoh said, “Lazy, that’s what you are—lazy!^z That is why you keep saying, ‘Let us go and sacrifice to the Lord.’ ¹⁸Now get to work.^a You will not be given any straw, yet you must produce your full quota of bricks.”

¹⁹The Israelite overseers realized they were in trouble when they were told, “You are not to reduce the number of bricks required of you for each day.” ²⁰When they left Pharaoh, they found Moses and Aaron waiting to meet them, ²¹and they said, “May the Lord look on you and judge^b you! You have made us obnoxious^c to Pharaoh and his officials and have put a sword^d in their hand to kill us.”^e

God Promises Deliverance

²²Moses returned to the Lord and said, “Why, Lord, why have you brought trouble on this people?^f Is this why you sent me? ²³Ever since I went to Pharaoh to speak in your name, he has brought trouble on this people, and you have not rescued^g your people at all.”