Exodus 5:10-14

Expanded Bible

Moses Complains to God

¹⁰ So the slave masters [^Lof the people] and ·foremen [supervisors] went ·to the Israelites [^Lout] and said [^Lto the people], “This is what ·the king [^LPharaoh] says: I will no longer give you straw. ¹¹ Go and get your own straw wherever you can find it. But ·you must make as many bricks as you made before [^Lyour work will not dimish at all].” ¹² So the people ·went everywhere in [^Lscattered throughout] Egypt ·looking for dry stalks [^Lgathering stubble] to use for straw. ¹³ The slave masters ·kept forcing the people to work harder [^Lwere urgent]. They said, “You must ·make just as many bricks [^Lfinish your work, the same daily assignment] as you did when you were given straw.” ¹⁴ ·The king’s [^LPharaoh’s] slave masters had made the Israelite ·foremen [supervisors] responsible for the work the people did. The Egyptian slave masters beat these men and asked them, “Why ·aren’t you making as many bricks as you made in the past [^Ldid you not complete the number of bricks yesterday and today, as you did before]?”