Exodus 5
5
1Afterward Moses and Aaron went to Pharaoh and said, “Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, ‘Let my people go, that they may hold a feast to me in the wilderness.’ ” 2But Pharaoh said, “Who is the Lord, that I should heed his voice and let Israel go? I do not know the Lord, and moreover I will not let Israel go.” 3Then they said, “The God of the Hebrews has met with us; let us go, we pray, a three days' journey into the wilderness, and sacrifice to the Lord our God, lest he fall upon us with pestilence or with the sword.” 4But the king of Egypt said to them, “Moses and Aaron, why do you take the people away from their work? Get to your burdens.” 5And Pharaoh said, “Behold, the people of the land are now many and you make them rest from their burdens!” 6The same day Pharaoh commanded the taskmasters of the people and their foremen, 7“You shall no longer give the people straw to make bricks, as heretofore; let them go and gather straw for themselves. 8But the number of bricks which they made heretofore you shall lay upon them, you shall by no means lessen it; for they are idle; therefore they cry, ‘Let us go and offer sacrifice to our God.’ 9Let heavier work be laid upon the men that they may labor at it and pay no regard to lying words.”
10So the taskmasters and the foremen of the people went out and said to the people, “Thus says Pharaoh, ‘I will not give you straw. 11Go yourselves, get your straw wherever you can find it; but your work will not be lessened in the least.’ ” 12So the people were scattered abroad throughout all the land of Egypt, to gather stubble for straw. 13The taskmasters were urgent, saying, “Complete your work, your daily task, as when there was straw.” 14And the foremen of the people of Israel, whom Pharaoh's taskmasters had set over them, were beaten, and were asked, “Why have you not done all your task of making bricks today, as hitherto?”
15Then the foremen of the people of Israel came and cried to Pharaoh, “Why do you deal thus with your servants? 16No straw is given to your servants, yet they say to us, ‘Make bricks!’ And behold, your servants are beaten; but the fault is in your own people.” 17But he said, “You are idle, you are idle; therefore you say, ‘Let us go and sacrifice to the Lord.’ 18Go now, and work; for no straw shall be given you, yet you shall deliver the same number of bricks.” 19The foremen of the people of Israel saw that they were in evil plight, when they said, “You shall by no means lessen your daily number of bricks.” 20They met Moses and Aaron, who were waiting for them, as they came forth from Pharaoh; 21and they said to them, “The Lord look upon you and judge, because you have made us offensive in the sight of Pharaoh and his servants, and have put a sword in their hand to kill us.”
22Then Moses turned again to the Lord and said, “O Lord, why hast thou done evil to this people? Why didst thou ever send me? 23For since I came to Pharaoh to speak in thy name, he has done evil to this people, and thou hast not delivered thy people at all.”
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Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America
Exodus 5
5
Moses and Aaron before the King of Egypt
1Then Moses and Aaron went to the king of Egypt and said, “The LORD, the God of Israel, says, ‘Let my people go, so that they can hold a festival in the desert to honour me.’ ”
2“Who is the LORD?” the king demanded. “Why should I listen to him and let Israel go? I do not know the LORD; and I will not let Israel go.”
3Moses and Aaron replied, “The God of the Hebrews has revealed himself to us. Allow us to travel for three days into the desert to offer sacrifices to the LORD our God. If we don't do so, he will kill us with disease or by war.”
4The king said to Moses and Aaron, “What do you mean by making the people neglect their work? Get those slaves back to work! 5You people have become more numerous than the Egyptians. And now you want to stop working!”
6That same day the king commanded the Egyptian slave-drivers and the Israelite foremen: 7“Stop giving the people straw for making bricks. Make them go and find it for themselves. 8But still require them to make the same number of bricks as before, not one brick less. They haven't enough work to do, and that is why they keep asking me to let them go and offer sacrifices to their God! 9Make these people work harder and keep them busy, so that they won't have time to listen to a pack of lies.”
10The slave-drivers and the Israelite foremen went out and said to the Israelites, “The king has said that he will not supply you with any more straw. 11He says that you must go and get it for yourselves wherever you can find it, but you must still make the same number of bricks.” 12So the people went all over Egypt looking for straw. 13The slave-drivers kept trying to force them to make the same number of bricks every day as they had made when they were given straw. 14The Egyptian slave-drivers beat the Israelite foremen, whom they had put in charge of the work. They demanded, “Why aren't you people making the same number of bricks as you made before?”
15Then the foremen went to the king and complained, “Why do you do this to us, Your Majesty? 16We are given no straw, but we are still ordered to make bricks! And now we are being beaten. It is your people that are at fault.”
17The king answered, “You are lazy and don't want to work, and that is why you ask me to let you go and offer sacrifices to the LORD. 18Now get back to work! You will not be given any straw, but you must still make the same number of bricks.” 19The foremen realized that they were in trouble when they were told that they had to make the same number of bricks every day as they had made before.
20As they were leaving, they met Moses and Aaron, who were waiting for them. 21They said to Moses and Aaron, “The LORD has seen what you have done and will punish you for making the king and his officers hate us. You have given them an excuse to kill us.”
Moses Complains to the LORD
22Then Moses turned to the LORD again and said, “Lord, why do you ill-treat your people? Why did you send me here? 23Ever since I went to the king to speak for you, he has treated them cruelly. And you have done nothing to help them!”
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Good News Bible. Scripture taken from the Good News Bible (r) (Today's English Version Second Edition, UK/British Edition). Copyright © 1992 British & Foreign Bible Society. Used by permission.