Exodus 5:6–14

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?”