And afterward Moses and Aaron came and said to Pharaoh, “^aThus says the LORD, the God of Israel, ‘^bLet My people go that they may celebrate a feast to Me in the wilderness.’” 2 But Pharaoh said, “^aWho is the LORD that I should obey His voice to let Israel go? I do not know the LORD, and besides, ^bI will not let Israel go.” 3 Then they said, “^aThe God of the Hebrews has met with us. Please, let us go a three days’ journey into the wilderness that we may sacrifice to the LORD our God, otherwise He will fall upon us with pestilence or with the sword.” 4 But the king of Egypt said to them, “Moses and Aaron, why do you ¹draw the people away from their ²work? Get back to your ^3alabors!” 5 Again Pharaoh said, “Look, ^athe people of the land are now many, and you would have them cease from their labors!” 6 So the same day Pharaoh commanded ^athe taskmasters over the people and their ^bforemen, saying, 7 “You are no longer to give the people straw to make brick as previously; let them go and gather straw for themselves. 8 But the quota of bricks which they were making previously, you shall impose on them; you are not to reduce any of it. Because they are ^alazy, therefore they cry out, ‘¹Let us go and sacrifice to our God.’ 9 Let the labor be heavier on the men, and let them work at it so that they will pay no attention to false words.”

10 So ^athe taskmasters of the people and their foremen went out and spoke to the people, saying, “Thus says Pharaoh, ‘I am not going to give you any straw. 11 You go and 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 The taskmasters pressed them, saying, “Complete your ¹work quota, ²your daily amount, just as when ³you had straw.” 14 Moreover, ^athe foremen of the sons of Israel, whom Pharaoh’s taskmasters had set over them, ^bwere beaten ¹and were asked, “Why have you not completed your required amount either yesterday or today in making brick as previously?”

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 ^alazy, very lazy; therefore you say, ‘Let us go and sacrifice to the LORD.’ 18 So go now and work; for you will be given no straw, yet you must deliver the quota of bricks.” 19 The foremen of the sons of Israel saw that they were in trouble ¹because they were told, “You must not reduce ²your daily amount of bricks.” 20 When they left Pharaoh’s presence, they met Moses and Aaron as they were ¹waiting for them. 21 ^aThey said to them, “^bMay the LORD look upon you and judge you, for you have ^cmade ¹us odious 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, “^aO 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, ^aand You have not delivered Your people at all.”

And afterward Moses and Aaron came and said to Pharaoh, “^aThus says Yahweh, the God of Israel, ‘^bLet My people go that they may celebrate a feast to Me in the wilderness.’” 2 But Pharaoh said, “^aWho is Yahweh that I should listen to His voice to let Israel go? I do not know Yahweh, and also, ^bI will not let Israel go.” 3 Then they said, “^aThe God of the Hebrews has met with us. Please, let us go a three days’ journey into the wilderness that we may sacrifice to Yahweh our God, lest He confront us with pestilence or with the sword.” 4 But the king of Egypt said to them, “Moses and Aaron, why do you ¹draw the people away from their ²work? Get back to your ^3ahard labors!” 5 And Pharaoh said, “Look, ^athe people of the land are now many, and you would have them cease from their hard labors!” 6 So on that day Pharaoh commanded ^athe taskmasters over the people and their ^bforemen, saying, 7 “You are no longer to give the people straw to make brick as previously; let them go and gather straw for themselves. 8 But the quota of bricks which they were making previously, you shall set upon them; you are not to reduce any of it. Because they are ^alazy, therefore they are crying out, ‘¹Let us go and sacrifice to our God.’ 9 Let their slavery be hard on the men, and let them work at it so that they will have no regard for false words.”

10 So ^athe taskmasters of the people and their foremen went out and spoke to the people, saying, “Thus says Pharaoh, ‘I am not going to give you any straw. 11 You go and get straw for yourselves wherever you can find it, but no amount of your slave labor will be reduced.’” 12 So the people scattered through all the land of Egypt to gather stubble for straw. 13 And the taskmasters were pressing them, saying, “Complete your ¹work quota, ²the daily amount, just as when there was straw.” 14 Moreover, ^athe foremen of the sons of Israel, whom Pharaoh’s taskmasters had set over them, ^bwere beaten ¹and were asked, “Why have you not completed your required amount either yesterday or today in making brick as previously?”

15 Then the foremen of the sons of Israel came and cried out to Pharaoh, saying, “Why do you deal this way with your slaves? 16 There is no straw given to your slaves, yet they keep saying to us, ‘Make bricks!’ And behold, your slaves are being beaten; but it is the ¹sin of your own people.” 17 But he said, “You are ^alazy—lazy! Therefore you say, ‘Let us go and sacrifice to Yahweh.’ 18 So now, go and labor; but straw will not be given to you, yet you must deliver the quota of bricks.” 19 Then the foremen of the sons of Israel saw that they were in trouble ¹because they were told, “You must not reduce ²your daily amount of bricks.” 20 When they left Pharaoh’s presence, they confronted Moses and Aaron, ¹standing there to meet them. 21 ^aAnd they said to them, “^bMay Yahweh look upon you and judge, for you have ^cmade ¹us a foul smell 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 Yahweh and said, “^aO 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, ^aand You have not delivered Your people at all.”

Afterward Moses and Aaron came and said to Pharaoh, “^aThus says the LORD, the God of Israel, ‘^bLet My people go, so that they may celebrate a feast to Me in the wilderness.’” 2 But Pharaoh said, “^aWho is the LORD that I should obey His voice to let Israel go? I do not know the LORD, ^bnor will I let Israel go.” 3 Then they said, “^aThe God of the Hebrews has met with us. Please, let us go on a three days’ journey into the wilderness and sacrifice to the LORD our God, so that He does not discipline us with pestilence or with the sword.” 4 But the king of Egypt said to Moses and Aaron, “Why do you take the people away from their work? Get back to your ^aburdens!” 5 Pharaoh said, “Look, ^athe people of the land are now many, and you would have them stop their work!” 6 The very same day Pharaoh gave orders to ^athe Egyptian taskmasters in charge of the people and their Hebrew ^bforemen, saying, 7 “You will no longer give the people ¹straw to make brick as before; let them go and gather straw for themselves. 8 But the number of bricks which they were making before, you shall still require of them; you are not to reduce it in the least. For they are ^aidle and lazy; that is why they cry, ‘Let us go and sacrifice to our God.’ 9 Let labor be heavier on the men, and let them work hard at it so that they will pay no attention to their God’s lying words.”

10 ^aThen the Egyptian taskmasters in charge of the people and their Hebrew foremen went out and said to the people, “Thus says Pharaoh, ‘I will not give you any straw. 11 Go, get straw for yourselves wherever you can find it, but your work quota will not be reduced in the least.’” 12 So the people were scattered throughout the land of Egypt to gather stubble to use for straw. 13 And the taskmasters pressured them, saying, “Finish your work, fulfill your daily quotas, just as when there was straw given to you.” 14 And ^athe Hebrew foremen, whom Pharaoh’s taskmasters had set over them, ^bwere beaten and were asked, “Why have you not fulfilled your required quota of making bricks yesterday and today, as before?”

15 Then the Hebrew foremen came to Pharaoh and cried, “Why do you deal like this with your servants? 16 No straw is given to your servants, yet they say to us, ‘Make bricks!’ And look, your servants are being beaten, but it is the fault of your own people.” 17 But Pharaoh said, “You are ^alazy, very lazy and idle! That is why you say, ‘Let us go and sacrifice to the LORD.’ 18 Get out now and get to work; for no straw will be given to you, yet you are to deliver the same quota of bricks.” 19 The Hebrew foremen saw that they were in a bad situation because they were told, “You must not reduce in the least your daily quota of bricks.” 20 When they left Pharaoh’s presence, the foremen met Moses and Aaron, who were waiting for them. 21 And the ^aforemen said to them, “^bMay the LORD look upon you and judge you, because you have ^cmade us odious (something hated) in the sight of Pharaoh and his servants, and you have put a sword in their hand to kill us.”

22 Then Moses turned again to the LORD and said, “^aO Lord, why have You brought harm and oppression to this people? Why did You ever send me? I cannot understand Your purpose! 23 Ever since I came to Pharaoh to speak in Your name, he has harmed and oppressed this people, ^aand You have done nothing at all to rescue Your people.”