Exodus 5
New American Standard Bible
Israel’s Labor Increased
5 And afterward Moses and Aaron came and said to Pharaoh, “(A)This is what the Lord, the God of Israel says: ‘(B)Let My people go so that they may celebrate a feast to Me in the wilderness.’” 2 But Pharaoh said, “(C)Who is the Lord that I should obey His voice to let Israel go? I do not know the Lord, and besides, (D)I will not let Israel go.” 3 Then they said, “(E)The God of the Hebrews has met with us. Please, let us go a three days’ journey into the wilderness so that we may sacrifice to the Lord our God, otherwise He will strike us with plague or with the sword.” 4 But the king of Egypt said to them, “Moses and Aaron, why do you let the people neglect their [a]work? Get back to your (F)labors!” 5 Again Pharaoh said, “Look, (G)the people of the land are now many, and you would have them cease from their labors!” 6 So the same day Pharaoh commanded (H)the taskmasters over the people and their (I)foremen, saying, 7 “You are no longer to give the people straw to make bricks as previously; have them go and gather straw for themselves. 8 But you shall impose on them the quota of bricks which they were making before; you are not to reduce any of it. Because they are (J)lazy, for that reason they cry [b]out, ‘Let us go and sacrifice to our God.’ 9 Let the labor be heavier on the men, and have them work at it so that they will pay no attention to false words.”
10 So (K)the taskmasters of the people and their foremen went out and spoke to the people, saying, “This is what Pharaoh says: ‘I am not going to give you any straw. 11 You go, get straw for yourselves wherever you can find it; but none of your labor will be reduced.’” 12 So the people scattered through all the land of Egypt to gather stubble for straw. 13 And the taskmasters pressed them, saying, “Complete your [c]work quota, [d]your daily amount, just as when [e]you had straw.” 14 Moreover, (L)the foremen of the sons of Israel, whom Pharaoh’s taskmasters had set over them, (M)were beaten [f]and asked, “Why have you not completed your required task of making bricks either yesterday or today, as before?”
15 Then the foremen of the sons of Israel came and cried out to Pharaoh, saying, “Why do you deal this way with your servants? 16 There is no straw given to your servants, yet they keep saying to us, ‘Make bricks!’ And behold, your servants are being beaten; but it is the fault of your own people.” 17 But he said, “You are (N)lazy, very lazy; for that reason you say, ‘Let us go and sacrifice to the Lord.’ 18 So go now and work; for you will be given no straw, but you must deliver the quota of bricks.” 19 The foremen of the sons of Israel saw that they were in trouble, [g]since they were told, “You must not reduce [h]your daily amount of bricks.” 20 When they left Pharaoh’s presence, they met Moses and Aaron as they were [i]waiting for them. 21 And (O)they said to them, “(P)May the Lord look upon you and judge you, because you have (Q)made [j]us repulsive in Pharaoh’s sight and in the sight of his servants, to put a sword in their hand to kill us!”
22 Then Moses returned to the Lord and said, “(R)Lord, why have You brought harm to this people? Why did You ever send me? 23 Ever since I came to Pharaoh to speak in Your name, he has done harm to this people, (S)and You have not rescued Your people at all.”
Footnotes
- Exodus 5:4 Lit works
- Exodus 5:8 Lit out, saying,
- Exodus 5:13 Lit works
- Exodus 5:13 Lit the matter of a day in its day
- Exodus 5:13 Lit there was
- Exodus 5:14 Lit saying
- Exodus 5:19 Lit saying
- Exodus 5:19 Lit from your bricks the matter of a day in its day
- Exodus 5:20 Lit standing to meet
- Exodus 5:21 Lit our odor stink
Exodus 5
The Message
Moses and Aaron and Pharaoh
5 After that Moses and Aaron approached Pharaoh. They said, “God, the God of Israel, says, ‘Free my people so that they can hold a festival for me in the wilderness.’”
2 Pharaoh said, “And who is God that I should listen to him and send Israel off? I know nothing of this so-called ‘God’ and I’m certainly not going to send Israel off.”
3 They said, “The God of the Hebrews has met with us. Let us take a three-day journey into the wilderness so we can worship our God lest he strike us with either disease or death.”
4-5 But the king of Egypt said, “Why on earth, Moses and Aaron, would you suggest the people be given a holiday? Back to work!” Pharaoh went on, “Look, I’ve got all these people freeloading, and now you want to reward them with time off?”
6-9 Pharaoh took immediate action. He sent down orders to the slave-drivers and their underlings: “Don’t provide straw for the people for making bricks as you have been doing. Make them get their own straw. And make them produce the same number of bricks—no reduction in their daily quotas! They’re getting lazy. They’re going around saying, ‘Give us time off so we can worship our God.’ Crack down on them. That’ll cure them of their whining, their god-fantasies.”
10-12 The slave-drivers and their underlings went out to the people with their new instructions. “Pharaoh’s orders: No more straw provided. Get your own straw wherever you can find it. And not one brick less in your daily work quota!” The people scattered all over Egypt scrambling for straw.
13 The slave-drivers were merciless, saying, “Complete your daily quota of bricks—the same number as when you were given straw.”
14 The Israelite foremen whom the slave-drivers had appointed were beaten and badgered. “Why didn’t you finish your quota of bricks yesterday or the day before—and now again today?”
15-16 The Israelite foremen came to Pharaoh and cried out for relief: “Why are you treating your servants like this? Nobody gives us any straw and they tell us, ‘Make bricks!’ Look at us—we’re being beaten. And it’s not our fault.”
17-18 But Pharaoh said, “Lazy! That’s what you are! Lazy! That’s why you whine, ‘Let us go so we can worship God.’ Well then, go—go back to work. Nobody’s going to give you straw, and at the end of the day you better bring in your full quota of bricks.”
19 The Israelite foremen saw that they were in a bad way, having to go back and tell their workers, “Not one brick short in your daily quota.”
20-21 As they left Pharaoh, they found Moses and Aaron waiting to meet them. The foremen said to them, “May God see what you’ve done and judge you—you’ve made us stink before Pharaoh and his servants! You’ve put a weapon in his hand that’s going to kill us!”
22-23 Moses went back to God and said, “My Master, why are you treating this people so badly? And why did you ever send me? From the moment I came to Pharaoh to speak in your name, things have only gotten worse for this people. And rescue? Does this look like rescue to you?”
New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. All rights reserved.
Copyright © 1993, 2002, 2018 by Eugene H. Peterson