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Exodus 5:1-21 — Bricks Without Straw

Exod.5.1-21

¹Afterward Moses and Aaron went in and said to Pharaoh, “This is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: Let my people go, so that they may hold a festival to me in the wilderness.” ²But Pharaoh said, “Who is the LORD, that I should listen to his voice and let Israel go? I do not know the LORD, and I will not let Israel go.” ³They said, “The God of the Hebrews has met with us. Please let us go a three-day journey into the wilderness and sacrifice to the LORD our God, or he may strike us with pestilence or with the sword.” ⁴But the king of Egypt said to them, “Moses and Aaron, why are you taking the people away from their work? Go back to your burdens.” ⁵Pharaoh said, “Look, the people of the land are now many, and you are making them stop from their burdens.” ⁶That same day Pharaoh commanded the taskmasters of the people and their foremen: ⁷“You shall no longer give the people straw for making bricks as before. Let them go and gather straw for themselves.” ⁸“But you shall impose on them the same quota of bricks that they were making before. Do not reduce any of it, because they are slack. That is why they are crying out, 'Let us go and sacrifice to our God.'” ⁹“Let the work be made heavier for the men, so that they may labor at it and not pay attention to lying words.” ¹⁰So the taskmasters of the people and their foremen went out and said to the people, “This is what Pharaoh says: I am not giving you straw.” ¹¹“You yourselves, go get straw wherever you can find it, but none of your work will be reduced.” ¹²So the people scattered throughout all the land of Egypt to gather stubble for straw . ¹³And the taskmasters kept pressing them, saying, “Finish your work, each day's quota in its day, just as when there was straw.” ¹⁴And the Israelite foremen, whom Pharaoh's taskmasters had set over them, were beaten and asked, “Why have you not finished your prescribed amount in making bricks as before, both yesterday and today?” ¹⁵Then the Israelite foremen came and cried out to Pharaoh, saying, “Why are you doing this to your servants?” ¹⁶“No straw is given to your servants, yet they keep saying to us, 'Make bricks!' Look, your servants are being beaten, but the fault is with your own people.” ¹⁷But he said, “You are slack, slack. That is why you are saying, 'Let us go and sacrifice to the LORD.'” ¹⁸“Now go, work. No straw will be given to you, yet you must deliver the quota of bricks.” ¹⁹The Israelite foremen saw that they were in trouble when they were told, “You must not reduce your daily number of bricks.” ²⁰As they came out from Pharaoh, they met Moses and Aaron, who were standing there to meet them. ²¹And they said to them, “May the LORD look on you and judge , because you have made us stink in the eyes of Pharaoh and in the eyes of his servants, putting a sword in their hand to kill us.”

Translation Notes

4/11/2026

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