Exodus 5:1-8 ▼

1 And afterward Moses and Aaron went in and they said to Pharaoh, “Thus says YHWH, God of Israel: ‘Send out My people, that they may hold a feast to Me in the wilderness.’”

2 And Pharaoh said, “Who is YHWH, that I should listen to His voice to send out Israel? I do not know YHWH, and moreover Israel I will not send out.”

3 And they said, “The God of the Hebrews has met with us. Let us go, please, a journey of three days into the wilderness, and let us sacrifice to YHWH our God, lest He meet us with the pestilence or with the sword.”

4 And the king of Egypt said to them, “Why, Moses and Aaron, do you⁺ loosen the people from their works? Go to your⁺ burdens.”

5 And Pharaoh said, “Behold, the people of the land are many now, and you⁺ make them rest from their burdens.”

6 And that day Pharaoh commanded the taskmasters of the people, and their officers, saying,

7 “You⁺ shall not continue to give straw to the people for the making of the bricks as yesterday and the day before yesterday. They shall go and gather straw for themselves.

8 And the quota of bricks that they were making yesterday and the day before yesterday you⁺ shall set on them. You⁺ shall not diminish from it, for they are idle. Upon thus, they cry out, saying, ‘Let us go, let us sacrifice to our God.’