Exodus 5:1-14
Holman Christian Standard Bible
Moses Confronts Pharaoh
5 Later, Moses and Aaron went in and said to Pharaoh, “This is what Yahweh, the God of Israel, says: Let My people go, so that they may hold a festival for Me in the wilderness.”(A)
2 But Pharaoh responded, “Who is Yahweh that I should obey Him by letting Israel go? I do not know anything about Yahweh, and besides, I will not let Israel go.”(B)
3 Then 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 Yahweh our God, or else He may strike us with plague or sword.”
4 The king of Egypt said to them, “Moses and Aaron, why are you causing the people to neglect their work? Get to your work!” 5 Pharaoh also said, “Look, the people of the land are so numerous, and you would stop them from working.”(C)
Further Oppression of Israel
6 That day Pharaoh commanded the overseers(D) of the people as well as their foremen: 7 “Don’t continue to supply the people with straw for making bricks, as before. They must go and gather straw for themselves. 8 But require the same quota of bricks from them as they were making before; do not reduce it. For they are slackers—that is why they are crying out,(E) ‘Let us go and sacrifice to our God.’ 9 Impose heavier work on the men. Then they will be occupied with it and not pay attention to deceptive words.”
10 So the overseers and foremen of the people went out and said to them, “This is what Pharaoh says:(F) ‘I am not giving you straw. 11 Go get straw yourselves wherever you can find it, but there will be no reduction at all in your workload.’” 12 So the people scattered throughout the land of Egypt to gather stubble for straw. 13 The overseers insisted, “Finish your assigned work each day, just as you did when straw was provided.” 14 Then the Israelite foremen, whom Pharaoh’s slave drivers had set over the people, were beaten(G) and asked, “Why haven’t you finished making your prescribed number of bricks yesterday or today, as you did before?”
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