²³ After a long time, the king of Egypt died. The Israelites groaned because of their difficult labour, they cried out,^(A) and their cry for help because of the difficult labour ascended to God.

⁷ Then the Lord said, ‘I have observed the misery of my people in Egypt, and have heard them crying out^(A) because of their oppressors. I know about their sufferings,

¹⁵ So the Israelite foremen went in and cried for help to Pharaoh: ‘Why are you treating your servants this way?