Exodus 5-7

Amplified Bible, Classic Edition

5 Afterward Moses and Aaron went in and told Pharaoh, Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, Let My people go, that they may hold a feast to Me in the wilderness.

² But Pharaoh said, Who is the Lord, that I should obey His voice to let Israel go? I know not the Lord, neither will I let Israel go.

³ And they said, The God of the Hebrews has met with us; let us go, we pray you, three days’ journey into the desert and sacrifice to the Lord our God, lest He fall upon us with pestilence or with the sword.

⁴ The king of Egypt said to Moses and Aaron, Why do you take the people from their jobs? Get to your burdens!

⁵ Pharaoh said, Behold, the people of the land now are many, and you make them rest from their burdens!

⁶ The very same day Pharaoh commanded the taskmasters of the people and their officers,

⁷ You shall no more give the people straw to make brick; let them go and gather straw for themselves.

⁸ But the number of the bricks which they made before you shall still require of them; you shall not diminish it in the least. For they are idle; that is why they cry, Let us go and sacrifice to our God.

⁹ Let heavier work be laid upon the men that they may labor at it and pay no attention to lying words.

¹⁰ The taskmasters of the people went out, and their officers, and they said to the people, Thus says Pharaoh, I will not give you straw.

¹¹ Go, get ^[a]straw where you can find it; but your work shall not be diminished in the least.

¹² So the people were scattered through all the land of Egypt to gather the short stubble instead of straw.

¹³ And the taskmasters were urgent, saying, Finish your work, your daily quotas, as when there was straw.

¹⁴ And the Hebrew foremen, whom Pharaoh’s taskmasters had set over them, were beaten and were asked, Why have you not fulfilled all your quota of making bricks yesterday and today, as before?

¹⁵ Then the Hebrew foremen came to Pharaoh and cried, Why do you deal like this with your servants?

¹⁶ No straw is given to your servants, yet they say to us, Make bricks! And behold, your servants are beaten, but the fault is in your own people.

¹⁷ But [Pharaoh] said, You are idle, lazy and idle! That is why you say, Let us go and sacrifice to the Lord.

¹⁸ Get out now and get to work; for no straw shall be given you, yet you shall deliver the full quota of bricks.

¹⁹ And the Hebrew foremen saw that they were in an evil situation when it was said, You shall not diminish in the least your full daily quota of bricks.

²⁰ And the foremen met Moses and Aaron, who were standing in the way as they came forth from Pharaoh.

²¹ And the foremen said to them, The Lord look upon you and judge, because you have made us a rotten stench to be detested by Pharaoh and his servants and have put a sword in their hand to slay us.

²² Then Moses turned again to the Lord and said, O Lord, why have You dealt evil to this people? Why did You ever send me?

²³ For since I came to Pharaoh to speak in Your name, he has done evil to this people, neither have You delivered Your people at all.

6 Then the Lord said to Moses, Now you shall see what I will do to Pharaoh; for [compelled] by a strong hand he will [not only] let them go, but he will drive them out of his land with a strong hand.

² And God said to Moses, I am the Lord.

³ I appeared to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob as God Almighty [El-Shaddai], but by My ^[b]name the Lord [Yahweh—the redemptive name of God] I did not make Myself known to them [in acts and great miracles].^(A)

⁴ I have also established My covenant with them to give them the land of Canaan, the land of their temporary residence in which they were strangers.

⁵ I have also heard the groaning of the Israelites whom the Egyptians have enslaved; and I have [earnestly] remembered My covenant [with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob].

⁶ Accordingly, say to the Israelites, I am the Lord, and I will bring you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians, and I will free you from their bondage, and I will rescue you with an outstretched arm [with special and vigorous action] and by mighty acts of judgment.

⁷ And I will take you to Me for a people, and I will be to you a God; and you shall know that it is I, the Lord your God, Who brings you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians.

⁸ And I will bring you into the land concerning which I lifted up My hand and swore that I would give it to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob; and I will give it to you for a heritage. I am the Lord [you have the pledge of My changeless omnipotence and faithfulness].

⁹ Moses told this to the Israelites, but they refused to listen to Moses because of their impatience and anguish of spirit and because of their cruel bondage.

¹⁰ The Lord said to Moses,

¹¹ Go in, tell Pharaoh king of Egypt to let the Israelites go out of his land.

¹² But Moses said to the Lord, Behold, [my own people] the Israelites have not listened to me; how then shall Pharaoh give heed to me, who am of deficient and impeded speech?

¹³ But the Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron, and gave them a command for the Israelites and for Pharaoh king of Egypt, to bring the Israelites out of the land of Egypt.

¹⁴ These are the heads of their clans. The sons of Reuben, Israel’s firstborn: Hanoch, Pallu, Hezron, and Carmi; these are the families of Reuben.

¹⁵ The sons of Simeon: Jemuel, Jamin, Ohad, Jachin, Zohar, and Shaul the son of a Canaanite woman; these are the families of Simeon.

¹⁶ These are the names of the sons of Levi according to their births: Gershon, Kohath, and Merari; and Levi lived 137 years.

¹⁷ The sons of Gershon: Libni and Shimi, by their families.

¹⁸ The sons of Kohath: Amram, Izhar, Hebron, and Uzziel; and Kohath lived 133 years.

¹⁹ The sons of Merari: Mahli and Mushi. These are the families of Levi according to their generations.

²⁰ Amram took Jochebed his father’s sister as wife, and she bore him Aaron and Moses; and Amram lived 137 years.

²¹ The sons of Izhar: Korah, Nepheg, and Zichri.

²² The sons of Uzziel: Mishael, Elzaphan, and Sithri.

²³ Aaron took Elisheba, daughter of Amminadab and sister of Nahshon, as wife; she bore him Nadab, Abihu, Eleazar, and Ithamar.

²⁴ The sons of Korah: Assir, Elkanah, and Abiasaph. These are the families of the Korahites.

²⁵ Eleazar, Aaron’s son, took one of the daughters of Putiel as wife; and she bore him Phinehas. These are the heads of the fathers’ houses of the Levites by their families.

²⁶ These are the [same] Aaron and Moses to whom the Lord said, Bring out the Israelites from the land of Egypt by their hosts,

²⁷ And who spoke to [the] Pharaoh king of Egypt about bringing the Israelites out of Egypt; these are that Moses and Aaron.

²⁸ On the day when the Lord spoke to Moses in Egypt,

²⁹ The Lord said to Moses, I am the Lord; tell Pharaoh king of Egypt all that I say to you.

³⁰ But Moses said to the Lord, Behold, I am of deficient and impeded speech; how then shall Pharaoh listen to me?

7 The Lord said to Moses, Behold, I make you as God to Pharaoh [to declare My will and purpose to him]; and Aaron your brother shall be your prophet.

² You shall speak all that I command you, and Aaron your brother shall tell Pharaoh to let the Israelites go out of his land.

³ And I will make Pharaoh’s heart stubborn and hard, and multiply My signs, My wonders, and miracles in the land of Egypt.

⁴ But Pharaoh will not listen to you, and I will lay My hand upon Egypt and bring forth My hosts, My people the Israelites, out of the land of Egypt by great acts of judgment.

⁵ The Egyptians shall know that I am the Lord when I stretch forth My hand upon Egypt and bring out the Israelites from among them.

⁶ And Moses and Aaron did so, as the Lord commanded them.

⁷ Now Moses was 80 years old and Aaron 83 years old when they spoke to Pharaoh.

⁸ And the Lord said to Moses and Aaron,

⁹ When Pharaoh says to you, Prove [your authority] by a miracle, then tell Aaron, Throw your rod down before Pharaoh, that it may become a serpent.

¹⁰ So Moses and Aaron went to Pharaoh and did as the Lord had commanded; Aaron threw down his rod before Pharaoh and his servants, and it became a serpent.

¹¹ Then Pharaoh called for the wise men [skilled in magic and divination] and the sorcerers (wizards and jugglers). And they also, these magicians of Egypt, did similar things with their enchantments and secret arts.

¹² For they cast down every man his rod and they became serpents; but Aaron’s rod swallowed up their rods.

¹³ But Pharaoh’s heart was hardened and stubborn and he would not listen to them, just as the Lord had said.

¹⁴ Then the Lord said to Moses, Pharaoh’s heart is hard and stubborn; he refuses to let the people go.

¹⁵ Go to Pharaoh in the morning; he will be going out to the water; wait for him by the river’s brink; and the rod which was turned to a serpent you shall take in your hand.

¹⁶ And say to him, The Lord, the God of the Hebrews has sent me to you, saying, Let My people go, that they may serve Me in the wilderness; and behold, heretofore you have not listened.

¹⁷ Thus says the Lord, In this you shall know, recognize, and understand that I am the Lord: behold, I will smite with the rod in my hand the waters in the [Nile] River, and they shall be turned to blood.

¹⁸ The fish in the river shall die, the river shall become foul smelling, and the Egyptians shall loathe to drink from it.

¹⁹ And the Lord said to Moses, Say to Aaron, Take your rod and stretch out your hand over the waters of Egypt, over their streams, rivers, pools, and ponds of water, that they may become blood; and there shall be blood throughout all the land of Egypt, in containers both of wood and of stone.

²⁰ Moses and Aaron did as the Lord commanded; [Aaron] lifted up the rod and smote the waters in the river in the sight of Pharaoh and his servants, and all the waters in the river were turned to blood.

²¹ And the fish in the river died; and the river became foul smelling, and the Egyptians could not drink its water, and there was blood throughout all the land of Egypt.

²² But the magicians of Egypt did the same by their enchantments and secret arts; and Pharaoh’s heart was made hard and obstinate, and he did not listen to Moses and Aaron, just as the Lord had said.

²³ And Pharaoh turned and went into his house; neither did he take even this to heart.

²⁴ And all the Egyptians dug round about the river for water to drink, for they could not drink the water of the [Nile].

²⁵ Seven days passed after the Lord had smitten the river.