Exodus 5

¹Afterward Moses and Aaron went and said to Pharaoh , Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel , Let my people go , that they may hold a feast to me in the wilderness .

²But Pharaoh said , Who is the Lord, that I should obey his voice and let Israel go ? I do not know the Lord, and moreover , I will not let Israel go .

³Then they said , The 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 , lest he fall upon us with pestilence or with the sword .

⁴But the king of Egypt said to them, Moses and Aaron , why do you take the people away from their work ? Get back to your burdens .

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

⁶The same day Pharaoh commanded the taskmasters of the people and their foremen ,

⁷You shall no longer give the people straw to make bricks , as in the past ; let them go and gather straw for themselves.

⁸But the number of bricks that they made in the past you shall impose on them, you shall by no means reduce it, for they are idle . Therefore they cry , Let us go and offer sacrifice to our God .

⁹Let heavier work be laid on the men that they may labor at it and pay no regard to lying words .

¹⁰So the taskmasters and the foremen of the people went out and said to the people , Thus says Pharaoh , I will not give you straw .

¹¹Go and get your straw yourselves wherever you can find it, but your work will not be reduced in the least .

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

¹³The taskmasters were urgent , saying , Complete your work , your daily task each day , as when there was straw .

¹⁴And the foremen of the people of Israel , whom Pharaoh’s taskmasters had set over them, were beaten and were asked , Why have you not done all your task of making bricks today and yesterday , as in the past ?

¹⁵Then the foremen of the people of Israel came and cried to Pharaoh , Why do you treat your servants like this?

¹⁶No straw is given to your servants , yet they say to us, Make bricks ! And behold, your servants are beaten ; but the fault is in your own people .

¹⁷But he said , You are idle , you are idle ; that is why you say , Let us go and sacrifice to the Lord.

¹⁸Go now and work . No straw will be given you, but you must still deliver the same number of bricks .

¹⁹The foremen of the people of Israel saw that they were in trouble when they said , You shall by no means reduce your number of bricks , your daily task each day .

²⁰They met Moses and Aaron , who were waiting for them , as they came out from Pharaoh ;

²¹and they said to them, The Lord look on you and judge , because you have made us stink in the sight of Pharaoh and his servants , and have put a sword in their hand to kill us.

²²Then Moses turned to the Lord and said , O Lord , why have you done evil to this people ? Why did you ever send me?

²³For since I came to Pharaoh to speak in your name , he has done evil to this people , and you have not delivered your people at all .