Exodus 5

1 And afterward Moses and Aaron came, and said unto Pharaoh, Thus saith Jehovah, the God of Israel, Let my people go, that they may hold a feast unto me in the wilderness.2 And Pharaoh said, Who is Jehovah, that I should hearken unto his voice to let Israel go? I know not Jehovah, and moreover I will not let Israel go.3 And they said, The God of the Hebrews hath met with us: let us go, we pray thee, three days’ journey into the wilderness, and sacrifice unto Jehovah our God, lest he fall upon us with pestilence, or with the sword.4 And the king of Egypt said unto them, Wherefore do ye, Moses and Aaron, loose the people from their works? get you unto your burdens.5 And Pharaoh said, Behold, the people of the land are now many, and ye make them rest from their burdens.6 And the same day Pharaoh commanded the taskmasters of the people, and their officers, saying,7 Ye shall no more give the people straw to make brick, as heretofore: let them go and gather straw for themselves.8 And the number of the bricks, which they did make heretofore, ye shall lay upon them; ye shall not diminish aught thereof: for they are idle; therefore they cry, saying, Let us go and sacrifice to our God.9 Let heavier work be laid upon the men, that they may labor therein; and let them not regard lying words.

10 And the taskmasters of the people went out, and their officers, and they spake to the people, saying, Thus saith Pharaoh, I will not give you straw.11 Go yourselves, get you straw where ye can find it: for nought of your work shall be diminished.12 So the people were scattered abroad throughout all the land of Egypt to gather stubble for straw.13 And the taskmasters were urgent saying, Fulfil your works, your daily tasks, as when there was straw.14 And the officers of the children of Israel, whom Pharaoh’s taskmasters had set over them, were beaten, and demanded, Wherefore have ye not fulfilled your task both yesterday and to-day, in making brick as heretofore?

15 Then the officers of the children of Israel came and cried unto Pharaoh, saying, Wherefore dealest thou thus with thy servants?16 There is no straw given unto thy servants, and they say to us, Make brick: and, behold, thy servants are beaten; but the fault it in thine own people.17 But he said, Ye are idle, ye are idle: therefore ye say, Let us go and sacrifice to Jehovah.18 Go therefore now, and work; for there shall no straw be given you, yet shall ye deliver the number of bricks.19 And the officers of the children of Israel did see that they were in evil case, when it was said, Ye shall not diminish aught from your bricks, your daily tasks.20 And they met Moses and Aaron, who stood in the way, as they came forth from Pharaoh:21 and they said unto them, Jehovah look upon you, and judge: because ye have made our savor to be abhorred in the eyes of Pharaoh, and in the eyes of his servants, to put a sword in their hand to slay us.

22 And Moses returned unto Jehovah, and said, Lord, wherefore hast thou dealt ill with this people? why is it that thou hast sent me?23 For since I came to Pharaoh to speak in thy name, he hath dealt ill with this people; neither hast thou delivered thy people at all.

EXODUS 5

Moses and Aaron Go //to the King of Egypt

1 Moses and Aaron went to the kingt of Egypt and told him, “The [Lord] God says, ‘Let my people go into the desert, so they can honor me with a celebration there.’ ”

2 “Who is this [Lord] and why should I obey him?” the king replied. “I refuse to let you and your people go!”

3 They answered, “The [Lord] God of the Hebrews, has appeared to us. Please let us walk three days into the desert where we can offer sacrifices to him. If you don't, he may strike us down with terrible troubles or with war.”

4-5 The king said, “Moses and Aaron, why are you keeping these people from working? Look how many you are keeping from doing their work. Now everyone get back to work!”

6 That same day the king gave orders to his Egyptian slave bosses and to the Israelite men directly in charge of the Israelite slaves. He told them:
7 Don't give the slaves any more strawt to put in their bricks. Force them to find their own straw wherever they can, 8 but they must make the same number of bricks as before. They are lazy, or else they would not beg me to let them go and sacrifice to their God.

9 Make them work so hard that they won't have time to listen to these lies.
10 The slave bosses and the men in charge of the slaves went out and told them, “The king says he will not give you any more straw.

11 Go and find your own straw wherever you can, but you must still make as many bricks as before.”
12 The slaves went all over Egypt, looking for straw. 13 But the slave bosses were hard on them and kept saying, “Each day you have to make as many bricks as you did when you were given straw.”

14 The bosses beat the men in charge of the slaves and said, “Why didn't you force the slaves to make as many bricks yesterday and today as they did before?”
15 Finally, the men in charge of the slaves went to the king and said, “Why are you treating us like this?

16 No one brings us any straw, but we are still ordered to make the same number of bricks. We are beaten with whips, and your own people are to blame.”
17 The king replied, “You are lazy—nothing but lazy! That's why you keep asking me to let you go and sacrifice to your [Lord].

18 Get back to work! You won't be given straw, but you must still make the same number of bricks.”
19 The men knew they were in deep trouble when they were ordered to make the same number of bricks each day. 20 After they left the king, they went to see Moses and Aaron, who had been waiting for them.

21 Then the men said, “We hope the [Lord] will punish both of you for making the king and his officials hate us. Now they even have an excuse to kill us.”

The [Lord]'s Promise //to Moses