Exodus 5
5
Moses and Aaron Confront Pharaoh
1Later Moses and Aaron went to Pharaoh and said, “This is what the Lord God of Israel says: Let my people go into the desert to celebrate a festival in my honor.”
2Pharaoh asked, “Who is the Lord? Why should I obey him and let Israel go? I don’t know the Lord, and I won’t let Israel go.”
3They replied, “The God of the Hebrews has met with us. Please let us travel three days into the desert to offer sacrifices to the Lord our God. If we don’t go, he may kill us with a plague or a war.”
4The king of Egypt said to them, “Moses and Aaron, why are you distracting the people from their work? Get back to work!” 5Then Pharaoh added, “Look how many people there are in the land! Do you want them to quit working?”
Pharaoh Increases the Israelites’ Labor
6That same day Pharaoh gave these orders to the slave drivers and foremen: 7“Don’t give the people any more straw to make bricks as you have been doing. Let them gather their own straw, 8but insist that they make the same number of bricks they were making before. Making fewer bricks will not be acceptable. They’re lazy! That’s why they’re crying, ‘Let us go offer sacrifices to our God.’ 9Make the work harder for these people so that they will be too busy to listen to lies.”
10The slave drivers and foreman went out and said to them, “This is what Pharaoh says: I’m no longer giving you straw. 11Get your own straw wherever you can find it, but your work load will not be reduced one bit.”
12So the people scattered all over Egypt to gather stubble for straw. 13The slave drivers kept hurrying them. They said, “Finish the same amount of work each day, just as when you had straw.”
14Pharaoh’s slave drivers had placed Israelite foremen in charge of the people. The slave drivers beat the foremen and said, “You didn’t finish all the bricks you were ordered to make yesterday or today. Why didn’t you make as many as you used to?”
15Then the Israelite foremen complained to Pharaoh. They asked, “Why are you treating us this way? 16We’re given no straw, and yet we’re told to make bricks. We’re being beaten, but your men are at fault.”
17“You’re lazy! ⌞Just plain⌟ lazy!” Pharaoh answered. “That’s why you keep saying, ‘Let us go offer sacrifices to the Lord.’ 18Now get back to work! You won’t be given any straw, but you must still make the same number of bricks.”
19The Israelite foremen realized they were in trouble when they were told, “Don’t make fewer bricks each day than you’re supposed to.”
20As they left Pharaoh, they found Moses and Aaron waiting for them. 21So they said, “May the Lord see what you have done and judge you! You have made Pharaoh and his officials hate us. You have given them an excuse to kill us.”
22Moses went back to the Lord and asked, “Why have you brought this trouble on your people? Why did you send me? 23Ever since I went to Pharaoh to speak for you, he has treated your people cruelly, and you have done nothing at all to rescue your people.”
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Exodus 5: GW
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GOD'S WORD® Translation ©1995, 2003, 2013, 2014, 2019, 2020 by God's Word to the Nations Mission 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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