Exodus 5
5
Moses and Aaron Go to the King of Egypt
1Moses and Aaron went to the king#5.1 the king: See the note at 1.11. of Egypt and told him, “The Lord God says, ‘Let my people go into the desert, so they can honor me with a celebration there.’ ”
2“Who is this Lord and why should I obey him?” the king replied. “I refuse to let you and your people go!”
3They answered, “The Lord God of the Hebrews has appeared to us. Please let us walk three days into the desert where we can offer sacrifices to him. If you don't, he may strike us down with terrible troubles or with war.”
4-5The king said, “Moses and Aaron, why are you keeping these people from working? Look how many you are keeping from doing their work. Now everyone get back to work!”
6That same day the king gave orders to his Egyptian slave bosses and to the Israelite men directly in charge of the Israelite slaves. He told them:
7Don't give the slaves any more straw#5.7 straw: The straw made the mud bricks stronger and kept them from shrinking, cracking, or losing their shape. to put in their bricks. Force them to find their own straw wherever they can, 8but they must make the same number of bricks as before. They are lazy, or else they would not beg me to let them go and sacrifice to their God. 9Make them work so hard that they won't have time to listen to these lies.
10The slave bosses and the men in charge of the slaves went out and told them, “The king says he will not give you any more straw. 11Go and find your own straw wherever you can, but you must still make as many bricks as before.”
12The slaves went all over Egypt, looking for straw. 13But the slave bosses were hard on them and kept saying, “Each day you have to make as many bricks as you did when you were given straw.” 14The bosses beat the men in charge of the slaves and said, “Why didn't you force the slaves to make as many bricks yesterday and today as they did before?”
15Finally, the men in charge of the slaves went to the king and said, “Why are you treating us like this? 16No one brings us any straw, but we are still ordered to make the same number of bricks. We are beaten with whips, and your own people are to blame.”
17The king replied, “You are lazy—nothing but lazy! That's why you keep asking me to let you go and sacrifice to your Lord. 18Get back to work! You won't be given straw, but you must still make the same number of bricks.”
19The men knew they were in deep trouble when they were ordered to make the same number of bricks each day. 20After they left the king, they went to see Moses and Aaron, who had been waiting for them. 21Then the men said, “We hope the Lord will punish both of you for making the king and his officials hate us. Now they even have an excuse to kill us.”
The Lord's Promise to Moses
22Moses left them and prayed, “Our Lord, why have you brought so much trouble on your people? Is that why you sent me here? 23Ever since you told me to speak to the king,#5.23 the king: See the note at 1.11. he has caused nothing but trouble for these people. And you haven't done a thing to help.”
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Exodus 5: CEVDCI
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Contemporary English Version, Second Edition (CEV®)
© 2006 American Bible Society. All rights reserved.
Exodus 5
5
Bricks Without Straw
1Later on, Moses and Aaron went to Pharaoh. They said, “The Lord is the God of Israel. He says, ‘Let my people go. Then they will be able to hold a feast to honor me in the desert.’ ”
2Pharaoh said, “Who is the Lord? Why should I obey him? Why should I let Israel go? I don’t even know the Lord. And I won’t let Israel go.”
3Then Moses and Aaron said, “The God of the Hebrews has met with us. Now let us take a journey that lasts about three days. We want to go into the desert to offer sacrifices to the Lord our God. If we don’t, he might strike us with plagues. Or he might let us be killed by swords.”
4But the king of Egypt said, “Moses and Aaron, why are you taking the people away from their work? Get back to work!” 5Pharaoh continued, “There are large numbers of your people in the land. But you are stopping them from working.”
6That same day Pharaoh gave orders to the slave drivers and the overseers in charge of the people. 7He said, “Don’t give the people any more straw to make bricks. Let them go and get their own straw. 8But require them to make the same number of bricks as before. Don’t lower the number they have to make. They are lazy. That’s why they are crying out, ‘Let us go. We want to offer sacrifices to our God.’ 9Make them work harder. Then they will be too busy to pay attention to lies.”
10The slave drivers and the overseers left. They said to the people, “Pharaoh says, ‘I won’t give you any more straw. 11Go and get your own straw anywhere you can find it. But you still have to make the same number of bricks.’ ” 12So the people scattered all over Egypt. They went to gather any pieces of straw left in the fields. 13Pharaoh’s slave drivers kept making the people work hard. They said, “Finish the work you are required to do each day. Make the same number of bricks you made when you had straw.” 14The slave drivers whipped the Israelite overseers they had appointed. The slave drivers asked, “Why haven’t you made the same number of bricks yesterday or today, just as before?”
15Then the Israelite overseers appealed to Pharaoh. They asked, “Why have you treated us like this? 16You didn’t give us any straw. But you told us, ‘Make bricks!’ We are being whipped. But it’s the fault of your own people.”
17Pharaoh said, “You are lazy! That’s why you keep saying, ‘Let us go. We want to offer sacrifices to the Lord.’ 18Now get to work. We won’t give you any straw. But you still have to make the same number of bricks.”
19The Israelite overseers realized they were in trouble. They knew it when they were told, “Don’t reduce the number of bricks you are required to make each day.” 20When they left Pharaoh, they found Moses and Aaron waiting to meet them. 21They said to Moses and Aaron, “We want the Lord to look at what you have done! We want him to judge you for it! We are like a very bad smell to Pharaoh and his officials. You have given them an excuse to kill us with their swords.”
The Lord Promises to Save the Israelites
22Moses returned to talk to the Lord. He said to him, “Why, Lord? Why have you brought trouble on these people? Is this why you sent me? 23I went to Pharaoh to speak to him in your name. Ever since then, he has brought nothing but trouble on these people. And you haven’t saved your people at all.”
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