Israel’s Labor Increased

5 And afterward Moses and Aaron came and said to Pharaoh, “^(A)This is what the Lord, the God of Israel says: ‘^(B)Let My people go so that they may celebrate a feast to Me in the wilderness.’” ² But Pharaoh said, “^(C)Who is the Lord that I should obey His voice to let Israel go? I do not know the Lord, and besides, ^(D)I will not let Israel go.” ³ Then they said, “^(E)The God of the Hebrews has met with us. Please, let us go a three days’ journey into the wilderness so that we may sacrifice to the Lord our God, otherwise He will strike us with plague or with the sword.” ⁴ But the king of Egypt said to them, “Moses and Aaron, why do you let the people neglect their ^[a]work? Get back to your ^(F)labors!” ⁵ Again Pharaoh said, “Look, ^(G)the people of the land are now many, and you would have them cease from their labors!” ⁶ So the same day Pharaoh commanded ^(H)the taskmasters over the people and their ^(I)foremen, saying, ⁷ “You are no longer to give the people straw to make bricks as previously; have them go and gather straw for themselves. ⁸ But you shall impose on them the quota of bricks which they were making before; you are not to reduce any of it. Because they are ^(J)lazy, for that reason they cry ^[b]out, ‘Let us go and sacrifice to our God.’ ⁹ Let the labor be heavier on the men, and have them work at it so that they will pay no attention to false words.”

¹⁰ So ^(K)the taskmasters of the people and their foremen went out and spoke to the people, saying, “This is what Pharaoh says: ‘I am not going to give you any straw. ¹¹ You go, get straw for yourselves wherever you can find it; but none of your labor will be reduced.’” ¹² So the people scattered through all the land of Egypt to gather stubble for straw. ¹³ And the taskmasters pressed them, saying, “Complete your ^[c]work quota, ^[d]your daily amount, just as when ^[e]you had straw.” ¹⁴ Moreover, ^(L)the foremen of the sons of Israel, whom Pharaoh’s taskmasters had set over them, ^(M)were beaten ^[f]and asked, “Why have you not completed your required task of making bricks either yesterday or today, as before?”

¹⁵ Then the foremen of the sons of Israel came and cried out to Pharaoh, saying, “Why do you deal this way with your servants? ¹⁶ There is no straw given to your servants, yet they keep saying to us, ‘Make bricks!’ And behold, your servants are being beaten; but it is the fault of your own people.” ¹⁷ But he said, “You are ^(N)lazy, very lazy; for that reason you say, ‘Let us go and sacrifice to the Lord.’ ¹⁸ So go now and work; for you will be given no straw, but you must deliver the quota of bricks.” ¹⁹ The foremen of the sons of Israel saw that they were in trouble, ^[g]since they were told, “You must not reduce ^[h]your daily amount of bricks.” ²⁰ When they left Pharaoh’s presence, they met Moses and Aaron as they were ^[i]waiting for them. ²¹ And ^(O)they said to them, “^(P)May the Lord look upon you and judge you, because you have ^(Q)made ^[j]us repulsive in Pharaoh’s sight and in the sight of his servants, to put a sword in their hand to kill us!”

²² Then Moses returned to the Lord and said, “^(R)Lord, why have You brought harm to this people? Why did You ever send me? ²³ Ever since I came to Pharaoh to speak in Your name, he has done harm to this people, ^(S)and You have not rescued Your people at all.”

God Promises Action

6 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Now you shall see what I will do to Pharaoh; for ^[k](T)under compulsion he will let them go, and ^[l]under compulsion he will drive them out of his land.”

² God spoke further to Moses and said to him, “I am ^(U)the Lord; ³ and I appeared to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob as ^[m](V)God Almighty, but by ^(W)My name, ^[n]Lord, I did not make Myself known to them. ⁴ I also established ^(X)My covenant with them, to give them the land of Canaan, the ^[o]land in which they lived as strangers. ⁵ Furthermore I have ^(Y)heard the groaning of the sons of Israel, because the Egyptians are holding them in bondage, and I have remembered My covenant. ⁶ Say, therefore, to the sons of Israel, ‘^(Z)I am the Lord, and ^(AA)I will bring you out from under the labors of the Egyptians, and I will rescue you from their bondage. I will also ^(AB)redeem you with ^(AC)an outstretched arm, and with great judgments. ⁷ Then I will take you ^[p](AD)as My people, and ^(AE)I will be ^[q]your God; and ^(AF)you shall know that I am the Lord your God, who brought you out from under the labors of the Egyptians. ⁸ I will bring you to the land which ^(AG)I ^[r]swore to give to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and ^(AH)I will give it to you as a possession; ^(AI)I am the Lord.’” ⁹ So Moses said this to the sons of Israel, but they did not listen to Moses on ^(AJ)account of their ^[s]despondency and cruel bondage.

¹⁰ Now the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, ¹¹ “^(AK)Go, ^[t]tell Pharaoh king of Egypt ^[u]to let the sons of Israel go out of his land.” ¹² But Moses spoke before the Lord, saying, “Behold, the sons of Israel have not listened to me; ^(AL)how then will Pharaoh listen to me, as I am ^[v](AM)unskilled in speech?” ¹³ Nevertheless, the Lord spoke to Moses and to Aaron and gave them a command concerning the sons of Israel and Pharaoh king of Egypt, to bring the sons of Israel out of the land of Egypt.

The Heads of Israel

¹⁴ These are the heads of their fathers’ households. ^(AN)The sons of Reuben, Israel’s firstborn: Hanoch and Pallu, Hezron and Carmi; these are the families of Reuben. ¹⁵ And the ^(AO)sons of Simeon: ^[w]Jemuel, Jamin, Ohad, Jachin, Zohar, and Shaul the son of a Canaanite woman; these are the families of Simeon. ¹⁶ And these are the names of ^(AP)the sons of Levi according to their generations: Gershon, Kohath, and Merari; and the ^[x]length of Levi’s life was 137 years. ^17 (AQ)The sons of Gershon: ^[y]Libni and Shimei, according to their families. ¹⁸ And ^(AR)the sons of Kohath: Amram, Izhar, Hebron, and Uzziel; and the ^[z]length of Kohath’s life was 133 years. ¹⁹ And ^(AS)the sons of Merari: Mahli and Mushi. These are the families of the Levites according to their generations. ²⁰ Now ^(AT)Amram ^[aa]married his father’s sister Jochebed, and she bore him Aaron and Moses; and the ^[ab]length of Amram’s life was 137 years. ²¹ And ^(AU)the sons of Izhar: Korah, Nepheg, and Zichri. ²² And ^(AV)the sons of Uzziel: Mishael, ^[ac]Elzaphan, and Sithri. ²³ Aaron ^[ad]married Elisheba, the daughter of ^(AW)Amminadab, the sister of ^(AX)Nahshon, and she bore him ^(AY)Nadab and Abihu, Eleazar and Ithamar. ²⁴ And the ^(AZ)sons of Korah: Assir, Elkanah, and ^[ae]Abiasaph; these are the families of the Korahites. ²⁵ Now Aaron’s son ^(BA)Eleazar ^[af]married one of the daughters of Putiel, and she bore him ^(BB)Phinehas. These are the heads of the fathers’ households of the Levites according to their families. ²⁶ It was the same Aaron and Moses to whom the Lord said, “^(BC)Bring out the sons of Israel from the land of Egypt according to their ^[ag](BD)multitudes.” ²⁷ They were the ones ^(BE)who spoke to Pharaoh king of Egypt ^[ah]about bringing out the sons of Israel from Egypt; it was the same Moses and Aaron.

²⁸ Now it came about on the day when the Lord spoke to Moses in the land of Egypt, ²⁹ that the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, “^(BF)I am the Lord; ^(BG)say to Pharaoh king of Egypt all that I say to you.” ³⁰ But Moses said before the Lord, “Behold, I am ^[ai](BH)unskilled in speech; how then will Pharaoh listen to me?”

I Will Extend My Hand

7 Then the Lord said to Moses, “^(BI)See, I have made you as God to Pharaoh, and your brother Aaron shall be your prophet. ² As for you, you shall speak all that I command you, and your brother ^(BJ)Aaron shall speak to Pharaoh that he let the sons of Israel go out of his land. ³ But ^(BK)I will harden Pharaoh’s heart, so that I may ^(BL)multiply My signs and My wonders in the land of Egypt. ⁴ When ^(BM)Pharaoh does not listen to you, I will lay My hand on Egypt and ^(BN)bring out My armies, My people the sons of Israel, from the land of Egypt by ^(BO)great judgments. ⁵ Then ^(BP)the Egyptians shall know that I am the Lord, when I ^(BQ)extend My hand over Egypt and bring out the sons of Israel from their midst.” ⁶ So Moses and Aaron did this; ^(BR)as the Lord commanded them, so they did. ⁷ And Moses was ^(BS)eighty years old and Aaron ^[aj]eighty-three, when they spoke to Pharaoh.

Aaron’s Staff Turns into a Serpent

⁸ Now the Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron, saying, ⁹ “When Pharaoh speaks to you, saying, ‘^[ak](BT)Work a miracle,’ then you shall say to Aaron, ‘^(BU)Take your staff and throw it down before Pharaoh, so that it may turn into a serpent.’” ¹⁰ So Moses and Aaron came to Pharaoh, and so they did, just as the Lord had commanded; and Aaron threw his staff down before Pharaoh and ^[al]his servants, and it ^(BV)turned into a serpent. ¹¹ Then Pharaoh also ^(BW)called for the wise men and the sorcerers, and they too, the ^(BX)soothsayer priests of Egypt, did the same with ^(BY)their secret arts. ¹² For each one threw down his staff, and they turned into serpents. But Aaron’s staff swallowed their staffs. ¹³ Yet ^(BZ)Pharaoh’s heart was ^[am]hardened, and he did not listen to them, just as the Lord had said.

Water Turned into Blood

¹⁴ Then the Lord said to Moses, “Pharaoh’s heart is ^[an]stubborn; he refuses to let the people go. ¹⁵ Go to Pharaoh in the morning ^[ao]just as ^(CA)he is going out to the water, and position yourself to meet him on the bank of the Nile; and you shall take in your hand ^(CB)the staff that was turned into a serpent. ¹⁶ And ^(CC)you shall say to him, ‘The Lord, the God of the Hebrews, sent me to you, saying, “^(CD)Let My people go, so that they may serve Me in the wilderness. But behold, you have not listened up to now.” ¹⁷ This is what the Lord says: “^(CE)By this you shall know that I am the Lord: behold, I am going to strike ^[ap]the water that is in the Nile with the staff that is in my hand, and ^(CF)it will be turned into blood. ¹⁸ Then ^(CG)the fish that are in the Nile will die, the Nile will stink, and the Egyptians will ^[aq](CH)no longer be able to drink water from the Nile.”’” ¹⁹ Then the Lord said to Moses, “Say to Aaron, ‘Take your staff and ^(CI)extend your hand over the waters of Egypt, over their rivers, over their ^[ar]streams, over their pools, and over all their reservoirs of water, so that they may become blood; and there will be blood through all the land of Egypt, both in containers of wood and in containers of stone.’”

²⁰ So Moses and Aaron did just as the Lord had commanded. And he lifted up ^[as](CJ)the staff and struck the water that was in the Nile in the sight of Pharaoh and in the sight of his servants; and ^(CK)all the water that was in the Nile was turned into blood. ²¹ Then the fish that were in the Nile died, and the Nile stank, so that the Egyptians could not drink water from the Nile. And the blood was through all the land of Egypt. ^22 (CL)But the soothsayer priests of Egypt did the same with their secret arts; and Pharaoh’s heart was ^[at]hardened, and he did not listen to them, just as the Lord had said. ²³ Then Pharaoh turned and went into his house ^[au]with no concern even for this. ²⁴ So all the Egyptians dug around the Nile for water to drink, because they could not drink from the water of the Nile. ²⁵ Seven days ^[av]passed after the Lord had struck the Nile.

The Lord Provides Manna

16 Then they set out from Elim, and all the congregation of the sons of Israel came to the wilderness of ^(A)Sin, which is between Elim and Sinai, on ^(B)the fifteenth day of the second month after their departure from the land of Egypt. ² But the whole congregation of the sons of Israel ^(C)grumbled against Moses and Aaron in the wilderness. ³ The sons of Israel said to them, “^(D)If only we had died by the Lord’s hand in the land of Egypt, ^(E)when we sat by the pots of meat, when we ate bread until we were full; for you have brought us out into this wilderness to kill this entire assembly with hunger!”

⁴ Then the Lord said to Moses, “Behold, ^(F)I will rain bread from heaven for you; and the people shall go out and gather a day’s portion every day, so that I may ^(G)test them, whether or not they will walk in My ^[a]instruction. ^5 (H)On the sixth day, when they prepare what they bring in, it will be twice as much as they gather daily.” ⁶ So Moses and Aaron said to all the sons of Israel, “At evening ^[b](I)you will know that the Lord has brought you out of the land of Egypt; ⁷ and in the morning ^[c]you will see ^(J)the glory of the Lord, for ^(K)He hears your grumblings against the Lord; and ^(L)what are we, that you grumble against us?”

The Lord Provides Meat

⁸ And Moses said, “This will happen when the Lord gives you meat to eat in the evening, and bread to the full in the morning; for the Lord hears your grumblings which you grumble against Him. And what are we? Your grumblings are ^(M)not against us but against the Lord.”

⁹ Then Moses said to Aaron, “Say to all the congregation of the sons of Israel, ‘^(N)Come forward before the Lord, for He has heard your grumblings.’” ¹⁰ And it came about, as Aaron spoke to the entire congregation of the sons of Israel, that they ^[d]looked toward the wilderness, and behold, ^(O)the glory of the Lord appeared in the cloud. ¹¹ And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, ¹² “^(P)I have heard the grumblings of the sons of Israel; speak to them, saying, ‘^[e]At twilight you shall eat meat, and in the morning you shall be filled with bread; and ^(Q)you shall know that I am the Lord your God.’”

¹³ So it came about at evening that ^(R)the quails came up and covered the camp, and in the morning ^(S)there was a layer of dew around the camp. ^14 (T)When the layer of dew ^[f]evaporated, behold, on the ^[g]surface of the wilderness ^(U)there was a fine flake-like thing, fine as the frost on the ground. ¹⁵ When the sons of Israel saw it, they said to one another, “^[h]What is it?” For they did not know what it was. And Moses said to them, “^(V)It is the bread which the Lord has given you to eat. ¹⁶ This is ^[i]what the Lord has commanded: ‘Everyone gather ^[j]as much as he will eat; you shall take ^[k](W)an omer apiece according to the number of people each of you has in his tent.’” ¹⁷ The sons of Israel did so, and some gathered much and some little. ¹⁸ When they measured it by the ^[l]omer, ^(X)the one who had gathered much did not have too much, and the one who had gathered little did not have too little; everyone gathered ^[m]as much as he would eat. ¹⁹ Moses said to them, “^(Y)No one is to leave any of it until morning.” ²⁰ But they did not listen to Moses, and some left part of it until morning, and it bred worms and stank; and Moses was angry with them. ²¹ They gathered it morning by morning, everyone ^[n]as much as he would eat; but when the sun became hot, it would melt.

The Sabbath

^22 (Z)Now on the sixth day they gathered twice as much bread, ^[o]two omers for each one. When all the ^(AA)leaders of the congregation came and told Moses, ²³ then he said to them, “This is what the Lord ^[p]meant: ^(AB)Tomorrow is a Sabbath observance, a holy Sabbath to the Lord. Bake what you will bake and boil what you will boil, and ^(AC)all that is left over ^[q]put aside to be kept until morning.” ²⁴ So they put it aside until morning, as Moses had ordered, and ^(AD)it did not stink nor was there a maggot in it. ²⁵ Then Moses said, “Eat it today, for today is a Sabbath to the Lord; today you will not find it in the field. ^26 (AE)Six days you shall gather it, but on the seventh day, the Sabbath, there will be ^[r]none.”

²⁷ Yet it came about on the seventh day that some of the people went out to gather, but they found none. ²⁸ Then the Lord said to Moses, “^(AF)How long do you refuse to keep My commandments and My ^[s]instructions? ²⁹ See, ^[t]the Lord has given you the Sabbath; for that reason He gives you bread for two days on the sixth day. Remain, everyone, in his place; no one is to leave his place on the seventh day.” ³⁰ So the people rested on the seventh day.

³¹ And the house of ^(AG)Israel named the bread ^[u]manna, and it was like ^(AH)coriander seed, white, and its taste was like wafers with honey. ³² Then Moses said, “This is ^[v]what the Lord has commanded: ‘A ^[w]full omer of it is to be kept safe throughout your generations, so that they may see the bread that I fed you in the wilderness, when I brought you out of the land of Egypt.’” ³³ And Moses said to Aaron, “^(AI)Take a jar and put a ^[x]full omer of manna in it, and place it before the Lord to be kept safe throughout your generations.” ³⁴ As the Lord commanded Moses, so Aaron placed it before ^(AJ)the Testimony, to be kept. ³⁵ And ^(AK)the sons of Israel ate the manna for forty years, until they came to an inhabited land; they ate the manna until they came to the border of the land of Canaan. ³⁶ (Now ^(AL)an ^[y]omer is a tenth of an ephah.)

Moses’ Face Shines

²⁹ And it came about, when Moses was coming down from Mount Sinai (and the ^(A)two tablets of the testimony were in Moses’ hand as he was coming down from the mountain), that Moses did not know that ^(B)the skin of his face shone because of his speaking with Him. ³⁰ So when Aaron and all the sons of Israel saw Moses, behold, the skin of his face shone, and ^(C)they were afraid to approach him. ³¹ Then Moses called to them, and Aaron and all the rulers in the congregation returned to him; and Moses spoke to them. ³² Afterward all the sons of Israel came near, and he commanded them to do everything that the Lord had spoken ^[a]to him on Mount Sinai. ³³ When Moses had finished speaking with them, ^(D)he put a veil over his face. ³⁴ But whenever Moses went in before the Lord to speak with Him, ^(E)he would take off the veil until he came out; and whenever he came out and spoke to the sons of Israel what he had been commanded, ^35 (F)the sons of Israel would see the face of Moses, that the skin of Moses’ face shone. So Moses would put the veil back over his face until he went in to speak with Him.