^27 (A)Now the Lord said to Aaron, “Go to meet Moses in the wilderness.” So he went and met him at the ^(B)mountain of God and kissed him. ^28 (C)Moses told Aaron all the words of the Lord with which He had sent him, and ^(D)all the signs that He had commanded him to do. ²⁹ Then Moses and Aaron went and ^(E)assembled all the elders of the sons of Israel; ³⁰ and ^(F)Aaron spoke all the words which the Lord had spoken to Moses. He then performed the ^(G)signs in the sight of the people. ³¹ So ^(H)the people believed; and when they heard that the Lord ^[a](I)was concerned about the sons of Israel and that He had seen their affliction, ^(J)they bowed low and worshiped.

Israel’s Labor Increased

5 And afterward Moses and Aaron came and said to Pharaoh, “^(K)This is what the Lord, the God of Israel says: ‘^(L)Let My people go so that they may celebrate a feast to Me in the wilderness.’” ² But Pharaoh said, “^(M)Who is the Lord that I should obey His voice to let Israel go? I do not know the Lord, and besides, ^(N)I will not let Israel go.” ³ Then they said, “^(O)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 ^[b]work? Get back to your ^(P)labors!” ⁵ Again Pharaoh said, “Look, ^(Q)the people of the land are now many, and you would have them cease from their labors!” ⁶ So the same day Pharaoh commanded ^(R)the taskmasters over the people and their ^(S)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 ^(T)lazy, for that reason they cry ^[c]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 ^(U)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 ^[d]work quota, ^[e]your daily amount, just as when ^[f]you had straw.” ¹⁴ Moreover, ^(V)the foremen of the sons of Israel, whom Pharaoh’s taskmasters had set over them, ^(W)were beaten ^[g]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 ^(X)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, ^[h]since they were told, “You must not reduce ^[i]your daily amount of bricks.”