Exodus 5:10-14 ▼

10 Then the [Egyptian] taskmasters [in charge] of the people and their [Hebrew] foremen went out and said to the people, “Thus says Pharaoh, ‘I will not give you any straw.

11 Go, get straw for yourselves wherever you can find it, but your work [quota] will not be reduced in the least.’”

12 So the people were scattered throughout the land of Egypt to gather stubble to use for straw.

13 And the taskmasters pressured them, saying, “Finish your work, [fulfill] your daily quotas, just as when there was straw [given to you].”

14 And the Hebrew foremen, whom Pharaoh’s taskmasters had set over them, were beaten and were asked, “Why have you not fulfilled your required quota of making bricks yesterday and today, as before?”