Shemoth (Exodus) 5
5
1And afterwards Mosheh and Aharon went in and said to Pharaoh, “Thus said יהוה Elohim of Yisra’ĕl, ‘Let My people go, so that they celebrate a festival to Me in the wilderness.’ ”
2And Pharaoh said, “Who is יהוה, that I should obey His voice to let Yisra’ĕl go? I do not know יהוה, nor am I going to let Yisra’ĕl go.”
3And they said, “The Elohim of the Hebrews has met with us. Please, let us go three days’ journey into the wilderness and slaughter to יהוה our Elohim, lest He fall upon us with pestilence or with the sword.”
4But the sovereign of Mitsrayim said to them, “Mosheh and Aharon, why do you take the people from their work? Get back to your burdens.”
5And Pharaoh said, “See, the people of the land are many now, and you make them cease from their burdens!”
6And the same day Pharaoh commanded the slave-drivers of the people and their foremen, saying,
7“You are no longer to give the people straw to make bricks as before. Let them go and gather straw for themselves.
8And lay on them the required amount of bricks which they made before, do not diminish it. For they are idle, that is why they cry out, saying, ‘Let us go and slaughter to our Elohim.’ ”
9Let more work be laid on the men, so that they labour in it, and not pay attention to words of falsehood.
10And the slave-drivers of the people and their foremen went out and spoke to the people, saying, “Thus said Pharaoh, ‘I do not give you straw.
11‘Go, take straw for yourselves, where ever you find it, for your work shall not be diminished.’ ”
12And the people were scattered in all the land of Mitsrayim – to gather stubble for straw.
13And the slave-drivers were hurrying them on, saying, “Fulfill your actions, your daily matters, as when there was straw.”
14Also the foremen of the children of Yisra’ĕl, whom Pharaoh’s slave-drivers had set over them, were struck and were asked, “Why have you not fulfilled your law in making bricks both yesterday and today, as before?”
15And the foremen of the children of Yisra’ĕl came and cried out to Pharaoh, saying, “Why do you treat your servants this way?
16There is no straw given to your servants, and they say to us, ‘Make bricks!’ And see, your servants are struck, but your own people are at fault.
17But he said, “You are idle! You are idle! That is why you say, ‘Let us go and slaughter to יהוה.’
18So now go, work. And straw is not given to you, but deliver the amount of bricks.
19And the foremen of the children of Yisra’ĕl saw that they were in trouble after it was said, “You are not to diminish your daily amount of bricks.”
20And when they came out from Pharaoh, they met Mosheh and Aharon who stood there to meet them.
21And they said to them, “Let יהוה look on you and judge, because you have made us loathsome in the eyes of Pharaoh and in the eyes of his servants, to give a sword in their hand to kill us.”
22And Mosheh returned to יהוה and said, “יהוה, why have You done evil to this people? Why did You send me?
23For ever since I came to Pharaoh to speak in Your Name, he has done evil to this people. And You have not delivered Your people at all.
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Shemoth (Exodus) 5: TS2009
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Copyright© 1993 – 2015 by the Institute for Scripture Research (ISR). 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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