Israel’s Labor Increased

¹And afterward Moses and Aaron came and said to Pharaoh, “Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, ‘Let My people go that they may celebrate a feast to Me in the wilderness.’” ² But Pharaoh said, “Who is the Lord that I should obey His voice to let Israel go? I do not know the Lord, and besides, I will not let Israel go.” ³ Then they said, “The 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 ^[a]draw the people away from their ^[b]work? Get back to your ^[c]labors!” ⁵ Again Pharaoh said, “Look, the people of the land are now many, and you would have them cease from their labors!” ⁶ So the same day Pharaoh commanded the taskmasters over the people and their foremen, 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 lazy, therefore they cry out, ‘^[d]Let 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 the 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 ^[e]work quota, ^[f]your daily amount, just as when ^[g]you had straw.” ¹⁴ Moreover, the foremen of the sons of Israel, whom Pharaoh’s taskmasters had set over them, were beaten ^[h]and 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 lazy, 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 ^[i]because they were told, “You must not reduce ^[j]your daily amount of bricks.” ²⁰ When they left Pharaoh’s presence, they met Moses and Aaron as they were ^[k]waiting for them. ²¹ They said to them, “May the Lord look upon you and judge you, for you have made ^[l]us 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, “O 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, and You have not delivered Your people at all.”