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And afterwards have Moses and Aaron entered, and they say unto Pharaoh, `Thus said Jehovah, God of Israel, Send My people away, and they keep a feast to Me in the wilderness;'

and Pharaoh saith, `Who [is] Jehovah, that I hearken to His voice, to send Israel away? I have not known Jehovah, and Israel also I do not send away.'

And they say, `The God of the Hebrews hath met with us, let us go, we pray thee, a journey of three days into the wilderness, and we sacrifice to Jehovah our God, lest He meet us with pestilence or with sword.'

And the king of Egypt saith unto them, `Why, Moses and Aaron, do ye free the people from its works? go to your burdens.'

Pharaoh also saith, `Lo, numerous now [is] the people of the land, and ye have caused them to cease from their burdens!'

And Pharaoh commandeth, on that day, the exactors among the people and its authorities, saying,

`Ye do not add to give straw to the people for the making of the bricks, as heretofore -- they go and have gathered straw for themselves;

and the proper quantity of the bricks which they are making heretofore ye do put on them, ye do not diminish from it, for they are remiss, therefore they are crying, saying, Let us go, let us sacrifice to our God;

let the service be heavy on the men, and let them work at it, and not be dazzled by lying words.'

10 And the exactors of the people, and its authorities, go out, and speak unto the people, saying, `Thus said Pharaoh, I do not give you straw,

11 ye -- go ye, take for yourselves straw where ye find [it], for there is nothing of your service diminished.'

12 And the people is scattered over all the land of Egypt, to gather stubble for straw,

13 and the exactors are making haste, saying, `Complete your works, the matter of a day in its day, as when there is straw.'

14 And the authorities of the sons of Israel, whom the exactors of Pharaoh have placed over them, are beaten, saying, `Wherefore have ye not completed your portion in making brick as heretofore, both yesterday and to-day?'

15 And the authorities of the sons of Israel come in and cry unto Pharaoh, saying, `Why dost thou thus to thy servants?

16 Straw is not given to thy servants, and they are saying to us, Make bricks, and lo, thy servants are smitten -- and thy people hath sinned.'

17 And he saith, `Remiss -- ye are remiss, therefore ye are saying, Let us go, let us sacrifice to Jehovah;

18 and now, go, serve; and straw is not given to you, and the measure of bricks ye do give.'

19 And the authorities of the sons of Israel see them in affliction, saying, `Ye do not diminish from your bricks; the matter of a day in its day.'

20 And they meet Moses and Aaron standing to meet them, in their coming out from Pharaoh,

21 and say unto them, `Jehovah look upon you, and judge, because ye have caused our fragrance to stink in the eyes of Pharaoh, and in the eyes of his servants -- to give a sword into their hand to slay us.'

22 And Moses turneth back unto Jehovah, and saith, `Lord, why hast Thou done evil to this people? why [is] this? -- Thou hast sent me!

23 and since I have come unto Pharaoh, to speak in Thy name, he hath done evil to this people, and Thou hast not at all delivered Thy people.'

Bricks Without Straw

Afterward Moses and Aaron went to Pharaoh and said, “This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: ‘Let my people go,(A) so that they may hold a festival(B) to me in the wilderness.’”

Pharaoh said, “Who is the Lord,(C) that I should obey him and let Israel go? I do not know the Lord and I will not let Israel go.”(D)

Then they said, “The God of the Hebrews has met with us. Now let us take a three-day journey(E) into the wilderness to offer sacrifices to the Lord our God, or he may strike us with plagues(F) or with the sword.”

But the king of Egypt said, “Moses and Aaron, why are you taking the people away from their labor?(G) Get back to your work!” Then Pharaoh said, “Look, the people of the land are now numerous,(H) and you are stopping them from working.”

That same day Pharaoh gave this order to the slave drivers(I) and overseers in charge of the people: “You are no longer to supply the people with straw for making bricks;(J) let them go and gather their own straw. But require them to make the same number of bricks as before; don’t reduce the quota.(K) They are lazy;(L) that is why they are crying out, ‘Let us go and sacrifice to our God.’(M) Make the work harder for the people so that they keep working and pay no attention to lies.”

10 Then the slave drivers(N) and the overseers went out and said to the people, “This is what Pharaoh says: ‘I will not give you any more straw. 11 Go and get your own straw wherever you can find it, but your work will not be reduced(O) at all.’” 12 So the people scattered all over Egypt to gather stubble to use for straw. 13 The slave drivers kept pressing them, saying, “Complete the work required of you for each day, just as when you had straw.” 14 And Pharaoh’s slave drivers beat the Israelite overseers they had appointed,(P) demanding, “Why haven’t you met your quota of bricks yesterday or today, as before?”

15 Then the Israelite overseers went and appealed to Pharaoh: “Why have you treated your servants this way? 16 Your servants are given no straw, yet we are told, ‘Make bricks!’ Your servants are being beaten, but the fault is with your own people.”

17 Pharaoh said, “Lazy, that’s what you are—lazy!(Q) That is why you keep saying, ‘Let us go and sacrifice to the Lord.’ 18 Now get to work.(R) You will not be given any straw, yet you must produce your full quota of bricks.”

19 The Israelite overseers realized they were in trouble when they were told, “You are not to reduce the number of bricks required of you for each day.” 20 When they left Pharaoh, they found Moses and Aaron waiting to meet them, 21 and they said, “May the Lord look on you and judge(S) you! You have made us obnoxious(T) to Pharaoh and his officials and have put a sword(U) in their hand to kill us.”(V)

God Promises Deliverance

22 Moses returned to the Lord and said, “Why, Lord, why have you brought trouble on this people?(W) Is this why you sent me? 23 Ever since I went to Pharaoh to speak in your name, he has brought trouble on this people, and you have not rescued(X) your people at all.”