Exodus 5-6

Revised Standard Version

Bricks without Straw

5 Afterward Moses and Aaron went to Pharaoh and said, “Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, ‘Let my people go, that they may hold a feast to me in the wilderness.’” ² But Pharaoh said, “Who is the Lord, that I should heed his voice and let Israel go? I do not know the Lord, and moreover I will not let Israel go.” ³ Then they said, “The God of the Hebrews has met with us; let us go, we pray, a three days’ journey into the wilderness, and sacrifice to the Lord our God, lest he fall upon us with pestilence or with the sword.” ⁴ But the king of Egypt said to them, “Moses and Aaron, why do you take the people away from their work? Get to your burdens.” ⁵ And Pharaoh said, “Behold, the people of the land are now many and you make them rest from their burdens!” ⁶ The same day Pharaoh commanded the taskmasters of the people and their foremen, ⁷ “You shall no longer give the people straw to make bricks, as heretofore; let them go and gather straw for themselves. ⁸ But the number of bricks which they made heretofore you shall lay upon them, you shall by no means lessen it; for they are idle; therefore they cry, ‘Let us go and offer sacrifice to our God.’ ⁹ Let heavier work be laid upon the men that they may labor at it and pay no regard to lying words.”

¹⁰ So the taskmasters and the foremen of the people went out and said to the people, “Thus says Pharaoh, ‘I will not give you straw. ¹¹ Go yourselves, get your straw wherever you can find it; but your work will not be lessened in the least.’” ¹² So the people were scattered abroad throughout all the land of Egypt, to gather stubble for straw. ¹³ The taskmasters were urgent, saying, “Complete your work, your daily task, as when there was straw.” ¹⁴ And the foremen of the people of Israel, whom Pharaoh’s taskmasters had set over them, were beaten, and were asked, “Why have you not done all your task of making bricks today, as hitherto?”

¹⁵ Then the foremen of the people of Israel came and cried to Pharaoh, “Why do you deal thus with your servants? ¹⁶ No straw is given to your servants, yet they say to us, ‘Make bricks!’ And behold, your servants are beaten; but the fault is in your own people.” ¹⁷ But he said, “You are idle, you are idle; therefore you say, ‘Let us go and sacrifice to the Lord.’ ¹⁸ Go now, and work; for no straw shall be given you, yet you shall deliver the same number of bricks.” ¹⁹ The foremen of the people of Israel saw that they were in evil plight, when they said, “You shall by no means lessen your daily number of bricks.” ²⁰ They met Moses and Aaron, who were waiting for them, as they came forth from Pharaoh; ²¹ and they said to them, “The Lord look upon you and judge, because you have made us offensive in the sight of Pharaoh and his servants, and have put a sword in their hand to kill us.”

Israel’s Deliverance Assured

²² Then Moses turned again to the Lord and said, “O Lord, why hast thou done evil to this people? Why didst thou ever send me? ²³ For since I came to Pharaoh to speak in thy name, he has done evil to this people, and thou hast not delivered thy people at all.” 6 ¹ But the Lord said to Moses, “Now you shall see what I will do to Pharaoh; for with a strong hand he will send them out, yea, with a strong hand he will drive them out of his land.”

² And God said to Moses, “I am the Lord. ³ I appeared to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, as God Almighty,^[a] but by my name the Lord I did not make myself known to them. ⁴ I also established my covenant with them, to give them the land of Canaan, the land in which they dwelt as sojourners. ⁵ Moreover I have heard the groaning of the people of Israel whom the Egyptians hold in bondage and I have remembered my covenant. ⁶ Say therefore to the people of Israel, ‘I am the Lord, and I will bring you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians, and I will deliver you from their bondage, and I will redeem you with an outstretched arm and with great acts of judgment, ⁷ and I will take you for my people, and I will be your God; and you shall know that I am the Lord your God, who has brought you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians. ⁸ And I will bring you into the land which I swore to give to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob; I will give it to you for a possession. I am the Lord.’” ⁹ Moses spoke thus to the people of Israel; but they did not listen to Moses, because of their broken spirit and their cruel bondage.

¹⁰ And the Lord said to Moses, ¹¹ “Go in, tell Pharaoh king of Egypt to let the people of Israel go out of his land.” ¹² But Moses said to the Lord, “Behold, the people of Israel have not listened to me; how then shall Pharaoh listen to me, who am a man of uncircumcised lips?” ¹³ But the Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron, and gave them a charge to the people of Israel and to Pharaoh king of Egypt to bring the people of Israel out of the land of Egypt.

The Genealogy of Moses and Aaron

¹⁴ These are the heads of their fathers’ houses: the sons of Reuben, the first-born of Israel: Hanoch, Pallu, Hezron, and Carmi; these are the families of Reuben. ¹⁵ The sons of Simeon: Jemu′el, Jamin, Ohad, Jachin, Zohar, and Shaul, the son of a Canaanite woman; these are the families of Simeon. ¹⁶ These are the names of the sons of Levi according to their generations: Gershon, Kohath, and Merar′i, the years of the life of Levi being a hundred and thirty-seven years. ¹⁷ The sons of Gershon: Libni and Shim′e-i, by their families. ¹⁸ The sons of Kohath: Amram, Izhar, Hebron, and Uz′ziel, the years of the life of Kohath being a hundred and thirty-three years. ¹⁹ The sons of Merar′i: Mahli and Mushi. These are the families of the Levites according to their generations. ²⁰ Amram took to wife Joch′ebed his father’s sister and she bore him Aaron and Moses, the years of the life of Amram being one hundred and thirty-seven years. ²¹ The sons of Izhar: Korah, Nepheg, and Zichri. ²² And the sons of Uz′ziel: Mi′sha-el, Elza′phan, and Sithri. ²³ Aaron took to wife Eli′sheba, the daughter of Ammin′adab and the sister of Nahshon; and she bore him Nadab, Abi′hu, Elea′zar, and Ith′amar. ²⁴ The sons of Korah: Assir, Elka′nah, and Abi′asaph; these are the families of the Ko′rahites. ²⁵ Elea′zar, Aaron’s son, took to wife one of the daughters of Pu′ti-el; and she bore him Phin′ehas. These are the heads of the fathers’ houses of the Levites by their families.

²⁶ These are the Aaron and Moses to whom the Lord said: “Bring out the people of Israel from the land of Egypt by their hosts.” ²⁷ It was they who spoke to Pharaoh king of Egypt about bringing out the people of Israel from Egypt, this Moses and this Aaron.

Moses and Aaron Obey God’s Commands

²⁸ On the day when the Lord spoke to Moses in the land of Egypt, ²⁹ the Lord said to Moses, “I am the Lord; tell Pharaoh king of Egypt all that I say to you.” ³⁰ But Moses said to the Lord, “Behold, I am of uncircumcised lips; how then shall Pharaoh listen to me?”