Exodus 5
Contemporary English Version
Moses and Aaron Go to the King of Egypt
5 Moses and Aaron went to the king[a] 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 straw[b] 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
22 Moses left them and prayed, “Our Lord, why have you brought so much trouble on your people? Is that why you sent me here? 23 Ever since you told me to speak to the king,[c] he has caused nothing but trouble for these people. And you haven't done a thing to help.”
Exodus 5
Lexham English Bible
Pharaoh Rejects Yahweh’s Authority and Makes Israel’s Troubles Worse
5 And afterward, Moses and Aaron went, and they said to Pharaoh, “Thus says Yahweh the God of Israel, ‘Release my people so that they may hold a festival for me in the desert.’” 2 And Pharaoh said, “Who is Yahweh that I should listen to his voice to release Israel? I do not know Yahweh, and also I will not release Israel.”
3 And they said, “The God of the Hebrews has met with us. Please let us go on a three-day journey into the desert, and let us sacrifice to Yahweh our God, lest he strike us with plague or with sword.” 4 And the king of Egypt said, “Why, Moses and Aaron, do you take[a] the people from their work? Go to your forced labor!”[b] 5 And Pharaoh said, “Look, the people of the land are now many, and you want to stop them from their forced labor.”[c]
6 And on that day Pharaoh commanded the slave drivers over the people and his foremen, saying, 7 “You must no longer give straw to the people to make the bricks like before.[d] Let them go and gather straw for themselves. 8 But the quota of the bricks that they were making before[e] you must require of them.[f] You must not reduce from it, because they are lazy. Therefore they are crying out, saying, ‘Let us go and sacrifice to our God.’ 9 Let the work be heavier on the men so that they will do it and not pay attention to words of deception.”
10 And the slave drivers of the people and their foremen went out, and they spoke to the people, saying, “Thus says Pharaoh, ‘I am not giving you straw. 11 You go, get straw for yourselves from whatever you find because not a thing is being reduced from your work.’” 12 And the people spread out in all the land of Egypt to gather stubble for the straw. 13 And the slave drivers were insisting, saying, “Finish your work for each day[g] on its day, as when there was straw.”[h] 14 And the foremen of the Israelites,[i] whom Pharaoh’s slave drivers had appointed over them, were beaten by men who were saying, “Why have you not completed your portion of brickmaking as before, both yesterday and today?”[j]
The Foremen Complain to Pharaoh and Moses, and Moses Complains to Yahweh
15 And the foremen of the Israelites[k] came and cried out to Pharaoh, saying, “Why do you treat your servants like this? 16 Straw is not being given to your servants, but they are saying to us, ‘Make bricks!’ and, look, your servants are being beaten, but it is the fault of[l] your people.” 17 And he said, “You are lazy, lazy! Therefore you are saying, ‘Let us go; let us sacrifice to Yahweh.’ 18 And now go, work, but straw will not be given to you, and you must give the full quota of bricks.”
19 And the foremen of the Israelites[m] saw they were in trouble with the saying,[n] “You will not reduce from your bricks for each day[o] on its day.” 20 And they met Moses and Aaron, who were waiting to meet them when they were going out from Pharaoh. 21 And they said to them, “May Yahweh look upon you and judge because you have caused our fragrance to stink in the eyes of Pharaoh and in the eyes of his servants so as to put a sword into their hand to kill us.” 22 And Moses returned to Yahweh and said, “Lord, why have you brought trouble to this people? Why ever did you send me? 23 And from the time I came to Pharaoh to speak in your name, he has brought trouble to this people, and you have certainly not delivered your people.”
Footnotes
- Exodus 5:4 Or “let loose,” “let run wild” (compare 32:25)
- Exodus 5:4 Literally “burdens” or “burdensome labor”
- Exodus 5:5 Literally “burdens” or “burdensome labor”
- Exodus 5:7 Literally “yesterday three days ago”
- Exodus 5:8 Literally “yesterday three days ago”
- Exodus 5:8 Literally “you will put on them”
- Exodus 5:13 Literally “a thing of a day”
- Exodus 5:13 Literally “in the being of the straw”
- Exodus 5:14 Literally “sons/children of Israel”
- Exodus 5:14 Literally “as yesterday three days ago also yesterday also the day”
- Exodus 5:15 Literally “sons/children of Israel”
- Exodus 5:16 The expression is difficult. The word translated “fault” or “sin” has pointing for a second-person feminine singular subject (“you sinned”), which does not go well with either “Pharaoh” or “your people” as a subject; but the noun translated “sin of” has the same consonants, leading to the possibility that the word should be understood as a noun
- Exodus 5:19 Literally “sons/children of Israel”
- Exodus 5:19 Literally “saying”
- Exodus 5:19 Literally “a thing of a day”
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