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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

Pharaoh Refuses to Let the People Go

After Moses and Aaron arrived, they told Pharaoh, “This is what the Lord God of Israel says: ‘Let my people go so they may make a pilgrimage for me in the desert.’”

Pharaoh said, “Who is the Lord that I should listen to[a] him and let Israel go? I don’t know about[b] the Lord, nor will I let Israel go!”

Then they said, “The God of the Hebrews has met with us. Please let us go a three-day journey into the desert to offer sacrifices to the Lord our God so he does not strike us with pestilence or sword.”[c]

The king of Egypt replied to them, “Moses and Aaron, why are you keeping the people from their labor? Go back to your work!”[d] Then Pharaoh said, “Look, the people in the land are now numerous, and you are stopping them from working.”[e]

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Footnotes

  1. Exodus 5:2 Or obey
  2. Exodus 5:2 The Heb. lacks about
  3. Exodus 5:3 I.e. invasions by foreign armies
  4. Exodus 5:4 Lit. burdens
  5. Exodus 5:5 Lit. from their burdens