Exodus 5
Legacy Standard Bible
Pharaoh Will Not Let the People Go
5 And afterward Moses and Aaron came and said to Pharaoh, “(A)Thus says Yahweh, the God of Israel, ‘(B)Let My people go that they may celebrate a feast to Me in the wilderness.’” 2 But Pharaoh said, “(C)Who is Yahweh that I should listen to His voice to let Israel go? I do not know Yahweh, and also, (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 that we may sacrifice to Yahweh our God, lest He confront us with pestilence or with the sword.” 4 But the king of Egypt said to them, “Moses and Aaron, why do you [a]draw the people away from their [b]work? Get back to your [c](F)hard labors!” 5 And Pharaoh said, “Look, (G)the people of the land are now many, and you would have them cease from their hard labors!” 6 So on that 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 brick as previously; let them go and gather straw for themselves. 8 But the quota of bricks which they were making previously, you shall set upon them; you are not to reduce any of it. Because they are (J)lazy, therefore they are crying out, ‘[d]Let us go and sacrifice to our God.’ 9 Let their slavery be hard on the men, and let them work at it so that they will have no regard for false words.”
10 So (K)the taskmasters of the people and their foremen went out and spoke to the people, saying, “Thus says Pharaoh, ‘I am not going to give you any straw. 11 You go and get straw for yourselves wherever you can find it, but no amount of your slave labor will be reduced.’” 12 So the people scattered through all the land of Egypt to gather stubble for straw. 13 And the taskmasters were pressing them, saying, “Complete your [e]work quota, [f]the daily amount, just as when there was straw.” 14 Moreover, (L)the foremen of the sons of Israel, whom Pharaoh’s taskmasters had set over them, (M)were beaten [g]and were asked, “Why have you not completed your required amount either yesterday or today in making brick as previously?”
15 Then the foremen of the sons of Israel came and cried out to Pharaoh, saying, “Why do you deal this way with your slaves? 16 There is no straw given to your slaves, yet they keep saying to us, ‘Make bricks!’ And behold, your slaves are being beaten; but it is the [h]sin of your own people.” 17 But he said, “You are (N)lazy—lazy! Therefore you say, ‘Let us go and sacrifice to Yahweh.’ 18 So now, go and labor; but straw will not be given to you, yet you must deliver the quota of bricks.” 19 Then the foremen of the sons of Israel saw that they were in trouble [i]because they were told, “You must not reduce [j]your daily amount of bricks.” 20 When they left Pharaoh’s presence, they confronted Moses and Aaron, [k]standing there to meet them. 21 (O)And they said to them, “(P)May Yahweh look upon you and judge, for you have (Q)made [l]us a foul smell 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 Yahweh and said, “(R)O 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 delivered Your people at all.”
Footnotes
- Exodus 5:4 Lit loose
- Exodus 5:4 Lit works
- Exodus 5:4 Lit burdens
- Exodus 5:8 Lit saying, ‘Let
- Exodus 5:13 Lit works
- Exodus 5:13 Lit the matter of a day in its day
- Exodus 5:14 Lit saying
- Exodus 5:16 Or fault
- Exodus 5:19 Lit saying
- Exodus 5:19 Lit from your bricks the matter of a day in its day
- Exodus 5:20 Lit taking their stand
- Exodus 5:21 Lit our savor to stink
Exodus 5
New Catholic Bible
Chapter 5[a]
First Audience of Moses with Pharaoh. 1 Afterward, Moses and Aaron went to Pharaoh and proclaimed to him, “Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel: ‘Let my people go so that they might celebrate a feast in the desert.’ ” 2 Pharaoh answered, “Who is the Lord that I should listen to his voice and let Israel leave? I do not know the Lord, and I will not let Israel leave.” 3 They said, “The God of the Hebrews has appeared to us. Let us leave for a journey of three days into the desert to celebrate a sacrifice to the Lord, our God, lest he punish us with plague or the sword.”
4 The king of Egypt said to them, “Why, Moses and Aaron, do you take the people away from their work? Return to your work.” 5 Pharaoh added, “Behold how numerous the people of the land are. Would you have them rest from their labors?”
6 On that day, Pharaoh gave this order to the taskmasters of the people and to his overseers:[b] 7 “Do not give any more straw[c] for making bricks to the people as you previously have. Let them get their own straw. 8 But you must demand that they make the same number of bricks as before, without any reduction. They are lazy. That is why they are protesting, ‘We wish to leave, we must sacrifice to our God.’ 9 Let more work be laid upon them so that they keep busy and not pay attention to lies.”
10 The taskmasters of the people and the overseers went out and spoke to the people: “Pharaoh has ordered, ‘I will not give you straw. 11 You can go and gather it for yourselves wherever you can find it, but your work must not decline.’ ”
12 The people scattered all throughout Egypt to gather stubble for straw. 13 But the taskmasters urged them on saying, “Finish your work, your daily quota, just as when you were given straw.”
14 Complaint of the Overseers. The overseers of the children of Israel, whom the taskmasters of Pharaoh had placed over them, beat them saying, “Why have you not finished your number of bricks today and yesterday like you did before?”
15 The overseers of the children of Israel came to Pharaoh and appealed to him saying, “Why do you treat your servants like this? 16 You have not given straw to your servants, but you tell them to make bricks. Your servants are beaten and it is the fault of your own people.” 17 He answered, “You are lazy, lazy! This is why you say, ‘We want to leave; we must sacrifice to the Lord.’ 18 Now go, work! You will not be given straw, but you will produce the same number of bricks.”
19 The overseers of the children of Israel saw that they were in trouble when they were told, “Do not lower the daily number of bricks.” 20 Upon leaving Pharaoh, they met Moses and Aaron who were waiting for them. 21 They said, “The Lord look upon you and judge, for you have made us hateful to Pharaoh and his ministers. You placed the sword in their hands to kill us.”
22 Renewal of God’s Promise. Moses turned again to the Lord and said, “My Lord, why have you treated this people so badly? Why did you send me? 23 From the time that I went to Pharaoh to speak to him in your name, he has treated this people harshly and you have not done anything to free your people.”
Footnotes
- Exodus 5:1 The first meeting with Pharaoh results in a worsening of conditions for the enslaved Israelites. This result might seem to be a failure of the divine plan, but several interventions will be needed to advance the plan.
- Exodus 5:6 Taskmasters . . . overseers: the former were Egyptians with authority over the Israelites; the latter were most likely appointed by the Israelites themselves.
- Exodus 5:7 Straw was mixed with clay to give greater cohesiveness to the unbaked bricks.
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