Exodus 5 | King James Version

King James Version

1 And afterward Moses and Aaron went in, and told Pharaoh, Thus saith the LORD God of Israel, Let my people go, that they may hold a feast unto me in the wilderness. 2 And Pharaoh said, Who is the LORD, that I should obey his voice to let Israel go? I know not the LORD, neither will I let Israel go. 3 And they said, The God of the Hebrews hath met with us: let us go, we pray thee, three days'journey into the desert, and sacrifice unto the LORD our God; lest he fall upon us with pestilence, or with the sword. 4 And the king of Egypt said unto them, Wherefore do ye, Moses and Aaron, let the people from their works? get you unto your burdens. 5 And Pharaoh said, Behold, the people of the land now are many, and ye make them rest from their burdens. 6 And Pharaoh commanded the same day the taskmasters of the people, and their officers, saying, 7 Ye shall no more give the people straw to make brick, as heretofore: let them go and gather straw for themselves. 8 And the tale of the bricks, which they did make heretofore, ye shall lay upon them; ye shall not diminish ought thereof: for they be idle; therefore they cry, saying, Let us go and sacrifice to our God. 9 Let there more work be laid upon the men, that they may labour therein; and let them not regard vain words. 10 And the taskmasters of the people went out, and their officers, and they spake to the people, saying, Thus saith Pharaoh, I will not give you straw. 11 Go ye, get you straw where ye can find it: yet not ought of your work shall be diminished. 12 So the people were scattered abroad throughout all the land of Egypt to gather stubble instead of straw. 13 And the taskmasters hasted them , saying, Fulfil your works, your daily tasks, as when there was straw. 14 And the officers of the children of Israel, which Pharaoh' taskmasters had set over them, were beaten, and demanded, Wherefore have ye not fulfilled your task in making brick both yesterday and to day, as heretofore? 15 Then the officers of the children of Israel came and cried unto Pharaoh, saying, Wherefore dealest thou thus with thy servants? 16 There is no straw given unto thy servants, and they say to us, Make brick: and, behold, thy servants are beaten; but the fault is in thine own people. 17 But he said, Ye are idle, ye are idle: therefore ye say, Let us go and do sacrifice to the LORD. 18 Go therefore now, and work; for there shall no straw be given you, yet shall ye deliver the tale of bricks. 19 And the officers of the children of Israel did see that they were in evil case , after it was said, Ye shall not minish ought from your bricks of your daily task. 20 And they met Moses and Aaron, who stood in the way, as they came forth from Pharaoh: 21 And they said unto them, The LORD look upon you, and judge; because ye have made our savour to be abhorred in the eyes of Pharaoh, and in the eyes of his servants, to put a sword in their hand to slay us. 22 And Moses returned unto the LORD, and said, Lord, wherefore hast thou so evil entreated this people? why is it that thou hast sent me? 23 For since I came to Pharaoh to speak in thy name, he hath done evil to this people; neither hast thou delivered thy people at all.

New International Reader’s Version

Bricks without straw

1 Later 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 honour me in the desert.” ’ 2 Pharaoh 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.’ 3 Then 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.’ 4 But the king of Egypt said, ‘Moses and Aaron, why are you taking the people away from their work? Get back to work!’ 5 Pharaoh continued, ‘There are large numbers of your people in the land. But you are stopping them from working.’ 6 That same day Pharaoh gave orders to the slave drivers and the overseers in charge of the people. 7 He said, ‘Don’t give the people any more straw to make bricks. Let them go and get their own straw. 8 But 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.” 9 Make them work harder. Then they will be too busy to pay attention to lies.’ 10 The slave drivers and the overseers left. They said to the people, ‘Pharaoh says, “I won’t give you any more straw. 11 Go and get your own straw anywhere you can find it. But you still have to make the same number of bricks.” ’ 12 So the people scattered all over Egypt. They went to gather any pieces of straw left in the fields. 13 Pharaoh’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.’ 14 The 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?’ 15 Then the Israelite overseers appealed to Pharaoh. They asked, ‘Why have you treated us like this? 16 You 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.’ 17 Pharaoh said, ‘You are lazy! That’s why you keep saying, “Let us go. We want to offer sacrifices to the LORD.” 18 Now get to work. We won’t give you any straw. But you still have to make the same number of bricks.’ 19 The Israelite overseers realised 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.’ 20 When they left Pharaoh, they found Moses and Aaron waiting to meet them. 21 They 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

22 Moses 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? 23 I 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.’