Exodus 5

¹And afterward Moses and Aaron went in and they said to Pharaoh, “Thus says YHWH, God of Israel: ‘Send out My people, that they may hold a feast to Me in the wilderness.’”

²And Pharaoh said, “Who is YHWH, that I should listen to His voice to send out Israel? I do not know YHWH, and moreover Israel I will not send out.”

³And they said, “The God of the Hebrews has met with us. Let us go, please, a journey of three days into the wilderness, and let us sacrifice to YHWH our God, lest He meet us with the pestilence or with the sword.”

⁴And the king of Egypt said to them, “Why, Moses and Aaron, do you loosen the people from their works? Go to your burdens.”

⁵And Pharaoh said, “Behold, the people of the land are many now, and you make them rest from their burdens.”

⁶And that day Pharaoh commanded the taskmasters of the people, and their officers, saying,

⁷“You shall not continue to give straw to the people for the making of the bricks as yesterday and the day before yesterday. They shall go and gather straw for themselves.

⁸And the quota of bricks that they were making yesterday and the day before yesterday you shall set on them. You shall not diminish from it, for they are idle. Upon thus, they cry out, saying, ‘Let us go, let us sacrifice to our God.’

⁹Let the service be heavy on the men, and let them be occupied with it. And let them not pay attention to lying words.”

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

¹¹You go, get straw for yourselves from wherever you can find it; for nothing is diminishing from your service.’”

¹²And the people were scattered throughout all the land of Egypt to gather stubble for straw.

¹³And the taskmasters kept pressing them, saying, “Fulfill your works, the matter of a day in its day, as when there was the straw.”

¹⁴And the officers of the sons of Israel, whom the taskmasters of Pharaoh had set over them, were beaten saying, “Why have you not fulfilled your quota for making bricks as yesterday and the day before yesterday, both yesterday and today?”

¹⁵And the officers of the sons of Israel came and cried out to Pharaoh, saying, “Why are you doing this to your servants?

¹⁶Straw is not being given to your servants, and they are saying to us, ‘Make bricks!’ And behold, your servants are beaten, and the fault is in your people.”

¹⁷And he said, “You are idle—idle! Upon thus you are saying, ‘Let us go, let us sacrifice to YHWH.’

¹⁸And now, go—work! And straw shall not be given to you, and the quota of bricks you shall deliver.”

¹⁹And the officers of the sons of Israel saw themselves in trouble, in saying, “You shall not diminish from your bricks, the matter of a day in its day.”

²⁰And they met Moses and Aaron, who were standing to meet them as they came out from Pharaoh.

²¹And they said to them, “May YHWH look on you and judge, because you have made our scent stink in the eyes of Pharaoh and in the eyes of his servants, to put a sword in their hand to kill us.”

²²And Moses returned to YHWH and said, “My Lord, why have You done evil to this people? Is this why You have sent me?

²³And since I came to Pharaoh to speak in Your name, he has done evil to this people; and deliver—You have not delivered—Your people.”