Making Bricks Without Straw

Afterward Moses and Aaron went and said to Pharaoh, “Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, ‘Let my people go, that they may hold (A)a feast to me in the wilderness.’” But Pharaoh said, (B)“Who is the Lord, that I should obey his voice and let Israel go? I do not know the Lord, and moreover, (C)I will not let Israel go.” Then they said, “The (D)God of the Hebrews has met with us. Please let us go a three days' journey into the wilderness that we may sacrifice to the Lord our God, lest he fall upon us with pestilence or with the sword.” But the king of Egypt said to them, “Moses and Aaron, why do you take the people away from their work? Get back to your (E)burdens.” And Pharaoh said, “Behold, (F)the people of the land are now many,[a] and you make them rest from their burdens!”

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Footnotes

  1. Exodus 5:5 Samaritan they are now more numerous than the people of the land

Pharaoh Rejects Yahweh’s Authority and Makes Israel’s Troubles Worse

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.’” 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.”

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.” 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] And Pharaoh said, “Look, the people of the land are now many, and you want to stop them from their forced labor.”[c]

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Footnotes

  1. Exodus 5:4 Or “let loose,” “let run wild” (compare 32:25)
  2. Exodus 5:4 Literally “burdens” or “burdensome labor”
  3. Exodus 5:5 Literally “burdens” or “burdensome labor”