Chapter 5[a]
First Audience of Moses with Pharaoh. 1 Afterward, Moses and Aaron went to Pharaoh and proclaimed to him, “Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel: ‘Let my people go so that they might celebrate a feast in the desert.’ ” 2 Pharaoh answered, “Who is the Lord that I should listen to his voice and let Israel leave? I do not know the Lord, and I will not let Israel leave.” 3 They said, “The God of the Hebrews has appeared to us. Let us leave for a journey of three days into the desert to celebrate a sacrifice to the Lord, our God, lest he punish us with plague or the sword.”
4 The king of Egypt said to them, “Why, Moses and Aaron, do you take the people away from their work? Return to your work.” 5 Pharaoh added, “Behold how numerous the people of the land are. Would you have them rest from their labors?”
6 On that day, Pharaoh gave this order to the taskmasters of the people and to his overseers:[b] 7 “Do not give any more straw[c] for making bricks to the people as you previously have. Let them get their own straw. 8 But you must demand that they make the same number of bricks as before, without any reduction. They are lazy. That is why they are protesting, ‘We wish to leave, we must sacrifice to our God.’ 9 Let more work be laid upon them so that they keep busy and not pay attention to lies.”
10 The taskmasters of the people and the overseers went out and spoke to the people: “Pharaoh has ordered, ‘I will not give you straw. 11 You can go and gather it for yourselves wherever you can find it, but your work must not decline.’ ”
12 The people scattered all throughout Egypt to gather stubble for straw. 13 But the taskmasters urged them on saying, “Finish your work, your daily quota, just as when you were given straw.”
14 Complaint of the Overseers. The overseers of the children of Israel, whom the taskmasters of Pharaoh had placed over them, beat them saying, “Why have you not finished your number of bricks today and yesterday like you did before?”
15 The overseers of the children of Israel came to Pharaoh and appealed to him saying, “Why do you treat your servants like this? 16 You have not given straw to your servants, but you tell them to make bricks. Your servants are beaten and it is the fault of your own people.” 17 He answered, “You are lazy, lazy! This is why you say, ‘We want to leave; we must sacrifice to the Lord.’ 18 Now go, work! You will not be given straw, but you will produce the same number of bricks.”
19 The overseers of the children of Israel saw that they were in trouble when they were told, “Do not lower the daily number of bricks.” 20 Upon leaving Pharaoh, they met Moses and Aaron who were waiting for them. 21 They said, “The Lord look upon you and judge, for you have made us hateful to Pharaoh and his ministers. You placed the sword in their hands to kill us.”
22 Renewal of God’s Promise. Moses turned again to the Lord and said, “My Lord, why have you treated this people so badly? Why did you send me? 23 From the time that I went to Pharaoh to speak to him in your name, he has treated this people harshly and you have not done anything to free your people.”
Footnotes
- Exodus 5:1 The first meeting with Pharaoh results in a worsening of conditions for the enslaved Israelites. This result might seem to be a failure of the divine plan, but several interventions will be needed to advance the plan.
- Exodus 5:6 Taskmasters . . . overseers: the former were Egyptians with authority over the Israelites; the latter were most likely appointed by the Israelites themselves.
- Exodus 5:7 Straw was mixed with clay to give greater cohesiveness to the unbaked bricks.