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Pharaoh Will Not Let the People Go

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.’” 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.” 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.” 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!” And Pharaoh said, “Look, (G)the people of the land are now many, and you would have them cease from their hard labors!”

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Footnotes

  1. Exodus 5:4 Lit loose
  2. Exodus 5:4 Lit works
  3. Exodus 5:4 Lit burdens

Moses Confronts Pharaoh

Later, Moses and Aaron went in and said to Pharaoh, “This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: Let my people go, so that they may hold a festival for me in the wilderness.”(A)

But Pharaoh responded, “Who is the Lord that I should obey him by letting Israel go?(B) I don’t know[a] the Lord, and besides, I will not let Israel go.”(C)

They answered, “The God of the Hebrews has met with us. Please let us go on a three-day trip into the wilderness so that we may sacrifice to the Lord our God, or else he may strike us with plague or sword.”

The king of Egypt said to them, “Moses and Aaron, why are you causing the people to neglect their work? Get to your labor!” Pharaoh also said, “Look, the people of the land are so numerous, and you would stop them from their labor.”(D)

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Footnotes

  1. 5:2 Or recognize