Pharaoh’s First Refusal 1 UST Then Moses and Aaron went to the king. They said to him,“The God{ named} Yahweh, whom we Israelites worship, says this to you:‘Let my people go to the desert so that they may have a feast to honor me!’” BSB BSB: After that, Moses and Aaron went to Pharaoh and said, “This is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: ‘Let My people go, so that they may hold a feast to Me in the wilderness.’”
2 UST But the king said,“Who is Yahweh? I have never heard of him, so why should I obey what he demands? I will certainly not let the Israelites go!” BSB BSB: But Pharaoh replied, “Who is the LORD that I should obey His voice and let Israel go? I do not know the LORD, and I will not let Israel go.”
3 UST Moses and Aaron replied,“The God we Hebrews worship has made a special visit to us. Please allow us to travel for a few days to a place in the wilderness in order that there we may offer sacrifices to Yahweh, our God. If we do not do that, he will cause us to die from diseases or from attacks by our enemies.” BSB BSB: “The God of the Hebrews has met with us,” they answered. “Please let us go on a three-day journey into the wilderness to sacrifice to the LORD our God, or He may strike us with plagues or with the sword.”
4 UST But the king of Egypt said to them,“Moses and Aaron, it is pointless for you to distract the Israelites from their work. Get back to work, all of you!” BSB BSB: But the king of Egypt said to them, “Moses and Aaron, why do you draw the people away from their work? Get back to your labor!”
5 UST Then the king said,“Look, there are too many Israelites in Egypt for you to encourage them to just stop working.” BSB BSB: Pharaoh also said, “Look, the people of the land are now numerous, and you would be stopping them from their labor.”
Bricks and Straw 6 UST That same day the king commanded the Egyptian slave drivers and the Israelite bosses who directed the slaves, BSB BSB: That same day Pharaoh commanded the taskmasters of the people and their foremen:
8 UST However, still force them to make the same number of bricks that they did before. Do not lower the number at all. They do not want to work. That is why they are asking me to let them go{ into the wilderness} to worship their god. BSB BSB: But require of them the same quota of bricks as before; do not reduce it. For they are lazy; that is why they are crying out, ‘Let us go and sacrifice to our God.’
9 UST Make the men work harder so that they will be too busy to listen to lies{ from their leaders}!” BSB BSB: Make the work harder on the men so they will be occupied and pay no attention to these lies.”
10 UST So the slave drivers and Israelite bosses went to where the Israelites were and said to them,“The king has said that he will no longer give you any straw. BSB BSB: So the taskmasters and foremen of the people went out and said to them, “This is what Pharaoh says: ‘I am no longer giving you straw.
11 UST So you must go yourselves and get straw where you can find it. But you must keep working to make the same number of bricks.” BSB BSB: Go and get your own straw wherever you can find it; but your workload will in no way be reduced.’”
12 UST So the Israelites scattered all over Egypt to collect leftover grain stalks to use for straw. BSB BSB: So the people scattered all over the land of Egypt to gather stubble for straw.
13 UST As for the slave bosses, they kept harassing them by saying,“Do all the work we assign to you each day. Make the same number of bricks as you did before, when we gave you straw!” BSB BSB: The taskmasters kept pressing them, saying, “Fulfill your quota each day, just as you did when straw was provided.”
14 UST { When they were not able to make enough bricks,} the king’ s slave drivers beat the bosses they had put in charge of the Israelites. They told them,“This is because your work teams have not been able to make the same number of bricks in the last couple of days as they did before.” BSB BSB: Then the Israelite foremen, whom Pharaoh’s taskmasters had set over the people, were beaten and asked, “Why have you not fulfilled your quota of bricks yesterday or today, as you did before?”
The Cry of the Israelites 15 UST Then the Israelite bosses went in{ to the palace} and complained to the king,“Why are you treating us this way? BSB BSB: So the Israelite foremen went and appealed to Pharaoh: “Why are you treating your servants this way?
16 UST Your slave drivers are not giving us any straw for making bricks, but they keep telling us,‘Make the same number of bricks!’ They are even beating us. But it is your own slave drivers that are keeping us from making enough bricks.” BSB BSB: No straw has been given to your servants, yet we are told, ‘Make bricks!’ Look, your servants are being beaten, but the fault is with your own people.”
17 UST But the king said,“You are lazy and do not want to work! That is why you keep saying,‘Allow us to go{ to the desert} to worship Yahweh.’ BSB BSB: “You are slackers!” Pharaoh replied. “Slackers! That is why you keep saying, ‘Let us go and sacrifice to the LORD.’
18 UST Get back to work right now! We are not going to give you any straw, but you must keep making the same number of bricks!” BSB BSB: Now get to work. You will be given no straw, yet you must deliver the full quota of bricks.”
19 UST When{ the king} said,“You must not make fewer bricks each day,” the Israelite bosses understood how bad their life was. BSB BSB: The Israelite foremen realized they were in trouble when they were told, “You must not reduce your daily quota of bricks.”
20 UST As they left their meeting with the king, they met Aaron and Moses, who were waiting for them. BSB BSB: When they left Pharaoh, they confronted Moses and Aaron, who stood waiting to meet them.
21 UST They said to Aaron and Moses,“We hope Yahweh notices that you have made the king and his officials hate us. We hope he punishes you two! You have made them think they should kill us!” BSB BSB: “May the LORD look upon you and judge you,” the foremen said, “for you have made us a stench before Pharaoh and his officials; you have placed in their hand a sword to kill us!”
22 UST Moses left them and prayed to Yahweh again,“My Lord, why have you caused all these evil things to happen to your people? You sent me to help them, not hurt them. BSB BSB: So Moses returned to the LORD and asked, “Lord, why have You brought trouble upon this people? Is this why You sent me?
23 UST Ever since I went to the king and told him what you told me to say, he has treated your people very badly, and you have not done anything to help them!” BSB BSB: Ever since I went to Pharaoh to speak in Your name, he has brought trouble on this people, and You have not delivered Your people in any way.”