Exodus 5
1 And afterward Moses and Aaron have entered, and they say to Pharaoh, “Thus said YHWH, God of Israel: Send My people away, and they keep a celebration for Me in the wilderness”;
Then Aaron and Moses/I went to the king and [one of them/us] said, “Yahweh God, whom [we] Israeli people [worship], says this [to you]: ‘Let my people go to the desert, in order that they may have a feast to [honor] me!’”
2 and Pharaoh says, “Who [is] YHWH, that I listen to His voice to send Israel away? I have not known YHWH, and I also do not send Israel away.”
But the king said, “Who is Yahweh? Why should I pay attention to what he says and let the Israeli [people] [MTY] go? I do not know Yahweh! And furthermore, I will not let the Israeli [people] go!”
3 And they say, “The God of the Hebrews has met with us; please let us go a journey of three days into the wilderness, and we sacrifice to our God YHWH, lest He meet us with pestilence or with sword.”
They/we replied, “Yahweh God, the one we Hebrews [worship], has (revealed himself/appeared) to us [and told us what to tell you]. So we ask you to [please] let us go on a three day journey into the desert. We must offer sacrifices to Yahweh God [there]. [If we do] not do that, he will cause us to die [IDM] from diseases or from attacks [by our enemies] [MTY].”
4 And the king of Egypt says to them, “Why, Moses and Aaron, do you free the people from its works? Go to your burdens.”
But the king of Egypt said to them/us, “Moses and Aaron, (stop trying to keep the Israeli people from working/why are you preventing the Israeli people from working?) [RHQ] [Tell those slaves] to return to work!”
5 Pharaoh also says, “Behold, the people of the land [are] numerous now, and you have caused them to cease from their burdens!”
The king also said, “Listen [to me! You] people [who now live] in this land are now [more] numerous, and you want them [to stop working and] rest!”
6 And on that day Pharaoh commands the exactors among the people and its authorities, saying,
That same day the king commanded the Egyptian slave bosses and the [Israeli] men supervising the slaves,
7 “You do not add to give straw to the people for the making of the bricks as before—they go and have gathered straw for themselves;
“Do not continue to give the [Israeli] people straw for making bricks, as you have done previously. Make them go [into the fields] and gather straw for themselves.
8 and you put on them the proper quantity of the bricks which they are making before, you do not diminish from it, for they are remiss, therefore they are crying, saying, Let us go, let us sacrifice to our God;
But require them to make the same number of bricks that they did before. Do not decrease the number at all. They (are lazy/do not have enough work to do). That is the reason they are asking me to let them go [into the desert] to offer sacrifices to their god.
9 let the service be heavy on the men, and let them work at it, and not be dazzled by lying words.”
Force the men to work harder, so that they will not [have time] to listen to lies [from their leaders]!”
10 And the exactors of the people, and its authorities, go out, and speak to the people, saying, “Thus said Pharaoh: I do not give you straw,
So the slave bosses and supervisors of the slaves went to where the [Israeli] people were and said to them, “The king has said that he will no longer give you any straw.
11 you—go, take straw for yourselves where you can find [it], for there is nothing diminished of your service.”
[So] you yourselves must go and get straw wherever you can find it. But you must still keep working to make the same number of bricks as before.” [LIT]
12 And the people are scattered over all the land of Egypt, to gather stubble for straw,
So the Israeli people went all over Egypt to find straw.
13 and the exactors are making haste, saying, “Complete your works, the matter of a day in its day, as when there is straw.”
The slave bosses kept telling them insistently, “Finish the work you are required to do each day, [making the same amount of bricks] as you did [before, when we gave you] straw!”
14 And the authorities of the sons of Israel, whom the exactors of Pharaoh have placed over them, are beaten, saying, “Why have you not completed your portion in making brick as before, both yesterday and today?”
[When they were not able to do that], the slave bosses had the [Israeli supervisors] beaten [with sticks], and they asked them, “Why have [all the men you are supervising] not been able to make [the same number] of bricks today/now as [they did] before [RHQ]?”
15 And the authorities of the sons of Israel come in and cry to Pharaoh, saying, “Why do you do thus to your servants?
Then the Israeli supervisors went to the king and complained, saying “[Your Majesty], why are you treating us this way?
16 Straw is not given to your servants, and they are saying to us, Make bricks, and behold, your servants are struck—and your people have sinned.”
[Now] they are not giving us any straw [for making bricks], but they keep commanding us to make bricks. And now sometimes they beat us. But it is the fault of your own slave bosses [that we cannot make as many bricks as before]!”
17 And he says, “Remiss—you are remiss, therefore you are saying, Let us go, let us sacrifice to YHWH;
But the king said, “You are lazy and do not [want to] work! That is why you keep saying, ‘Allow us to go [to the desert] and offer sacrifices to Yahweh.’
18 and now, go, serve; and straw is not given to you, and you give the [required] measure of bricks.”
So go and get back to work! [We] are not going to give you any straw, but you must keep making the same number of bricks!”
19 And the authorities of the sons of Israel see them in affliction, saying, “You do not diminish from your bricks; the matter of a day in its day.”
The Israeli supervisors realized that they were in a difficult situation, because they had been told, “We are not going to decrease the number of bricks [you must make] each day.”
20 And they meet Moses and Aaron standing to meet them in their coming out from Pharaoh,
As they left the king’s [palace], they met Aaron and Moses/me, who were waiting for them [there].
21 and say to them, “YHWH look on you, and judge, because you have caused our fragrance to stink in the eyes of Pharaoh, and in the eyes of his servants—to give a sword into their hand to slay us.”
They said to Aaron and Moses/me, “Yahweh has seen [what] you two [have done] He will punish you [MTY], because you have caused the king and his officials to despise us! You have given them an excuse [MTY] to kill us!”
22 And Moses turns back to YHWH and says, “Lord, why have You done evil to this people? Why [is] this [that] You have sent me?
Moses/I left them and prayed to Yahweh again, saying, “O Yahweh, why have you caused all these evil things to happen to your people [RHQ]? And why did you send me [here] [RHQ]?
23 And since I have come to Pharaoh to speak in Your Name, he has done evil to this people, and You have not delivered Your people at all.”
Ever since I went to the king and told him what you told me to say [MTY], he has treated your people very cruelly, and you have not done anything to help/rescue them!”
