Ἔξοδος 5
1 καὶ μετὰ ταῦτα εἰσῆλθεν Μωυσῆς καὶ Ααρων πρὸς Φαραω καὶ εἶπαν αὐτῷ τάδε λέγει κύριος ὁ θεὸς Ισραηλ ἐξαπόστειλον τὸν λαόν μου ἵνα μοι ἑορτάσωσιν ἐν τῇ ἐρήμῳ
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 καὶ εἶπεν Φαραω τίς ἐστιν οὗ εἰσακούσομαι τῆς φωνῆς αὐτοῦ ὥστε ἐξαποστεῖλαι τοὺς υἱοὺς Ισραηλ οὐκ οἶδα τὸν κύριον καὶ τὸν Ισραηλ οὐκ ἐξαποστέλλω
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 καὶ λέγουσιν αὐτῷ ὁ θεὸς τῶν Εβραίων προσκέκληται ἡμᾶς πορευσόμεθα οὖν ὁδὸν τριῶν ἡμερῶν εἰς τὴν ἔρημον ὅπως θύσωμεν τῷ θεῷ ἡμῶν μήποτε συναντήσῃ ἡμῖν θάνατος ἢ φόνος
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 καὶ εἶπεν αὐτοῖς ὁ βασιλεὺς Αἰγύπτου ἵνα τί Μωυσῆ καὶ Ααρων διαστρέφετε τὸν λαόν μου ἀπὸ τῶν ἔργων ἀπέλθατε ἕκαστος ὑμῶν πρὸς τὰ ἔργα αὐτοῦ
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 καὶ εἶπεν Φαραω ἰδοὺ νῦν πολυπληθεῖ ὁ λαός μὴ οὖν καταπαύσωμεν αὐτοὺς ἀπὸ τῶν ἔργων
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 συνέταξεν δὲ Φαραω τοῖς ἐργοδιώκταις τοῦ λαοῦ καὶ τοῖς γραμματεῦσιν λέγων
That same day the king commanded the Egyptian slave bosses and the [Israeli] men supervising the slaves,
7 οὐκέτι προστεθήσεται διδόναι ἄχυρον τῷ λαῷ εἰς τὴν πλινθουργίαν καθάπερ ἐχθὲς καὶ τρίτην ἡμέραν αὐτοὶ πορευέσθωσαν καὶ συναγαγέτωσαν ἑαυτοῖς ἄχυρα
“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 καὶ τὴν σύνταξιν τῆς πλινθείας ἧς αὐτοὶ ποιοῦσιν καθ’ ἑκάστην ἡμέραν ἐπιβαλεῖς αὐτοῖς οὐκ ἀφελεῖς οὐδέν σχολάζουσιν γάρ διὰ τοῦτο κεκράγασιν λέγοντες πορευθῶμεν καὶ θύσωμεν τῷ θεῷ ἡμῶν
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 βαρυνέσθω τὰ ἔργα τῶν ἀνθρώπων τούτων καὶ μεριμνάτωσαν ταῦτα καὶ μὴ μεριμνάτωσαν ἐν λόγοις κενοῖς
Force the men to work harder, so that they will not [have time] to listen to lies [from their leaders]!”
10 κατέσπευδον δὲ αὐτοὺς οἱ ἐργοδιῶκται καὶ οἱ γραμματεῖς καὶ ἔλεγον πρὸς τὸν λαὸν λέγοντες τάδε λέγει Φαραω οὐκέτι δίδωμι ὑμῖν ἄχυρα
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 αὐτοὶ ὑμεῖς πορευόμενοι συλλέγετε ἑαυτοῖς ἄχυρα ὅθεν ἐὰν εὕρητε οὐ γὰρ ἀφαιρεῖται ἀπὸ τῆς συντάξεως ὑμῶν οὐθέν
[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 καὶ διεσπάρη ὁ λαὸς ἐν ὅλῃ Αἰγύπτῳ συναγαγεῖν καλάμην εἰς ἄχυρα
So the Israeli people went all over Egypt to find straw.
13 οἱ δὲ ἐργοδιῶκται κατέσπευδον αὐτοὺς λέγοντες συντελεῖτε τὰ ἔργα τὰ καθήκοντα καθ’ ἡμέραν καθάπερ καὶ ὅτε τὸ ἄχυρον ἐδίδοτο ὑμῖν
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 καὶ ἐμαστιγώθησαν οἱ γραμματεῖς τοῦ γένους τῶν υἱῶν Ισραηλ οἱ κατασταθέντες ἐπ’ αὐτοὺς ὑπὸ τῶν ἐπιστατῶν τοῦ Φαραω λέγοντες διὰ τί οὐ συνετελέσατε τὰς συντάξεις ὑμῶν τῆς πλινθείας καθάπερ ἐχθὲς καὶ τρίτην ἡμέραν καὶ τὸ τῆς σήμερον
[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 εἰσελθόντες δὲ οἱ γραμματεῖς τῶν υἱῶν Ισραηλ κατεβόησαν πρὸς Φαραω λέγοντες ἵνα τί οὕτως ποιεῖς τοῖς σοῖς οἰκέταις
Then the Israeli supervisors went to the king and complained, saying “[Your Majesty], why are you treating us this way?
16 ἄχυρον οὐ δίδοται τοῖς οἰκέταις σου καὶ τὴν πλίνθον ἡμῖν λέγουσιν ποιεῖν καὶ ἰδοὺ οἱ παῖδές σου μεμαστίγωνται ἀδικήσεις οὖν τὸν λαόν σου
[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 καὶ εἶπεν αὐτοῖς σχολάζετε σχολασταί ἐστε διὰ τοῦτο λέγετε πορευθῶμεν θύσωμεν τῷ θεῷ ἡμῶν
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 νῦν οὖν πορευθέντες ἐργάζεσθε τὸ γὰρ ἄχυρον οὐ δοθήσεται ὑμῖν καὶ τὴν σύνταξιν τῆς πλινθείας ἀποδώσετε
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 ἑώρων δὲ οἱ γραμματεῖς τῶν υἱῶν Ισραηλ ἑαυτοὺς ἐν κακοῖς λέγοντες οὐκ ἀπολείψετε τῆς πλινθείας τὸ καθῆκον τῇ ἡμέρᾳ
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 συνήντησαν δὲ Μωυσῇ καὶ Ααρων ἐρχομένοις εἰς συνάντησιν αὐτοῖς ἐκπορευομένων αὐτῶν ἀπὸ Φαραω
As they left the king’s [palace], they met Aaron and Moses/me, who were waiting for them [there].
21 καὶ εἶπαν αὐτοῖς ἴδοι ὁ θεὸς ὑμᾶς καὶ κρίναι ὅτι ἐβδελύξατε τὴν ὀσμὴν ἡμῶν ἐναντίον Φαραω καὶ ἐναντίον τῶν θεραπόντων αὐτοῦ δοῦναι ῥομφαίαν εἰς τὰς χεῖρας αὐτοῦ ἀποκτεῖναι ἡμᾶς
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 ἐπέστρεψεν δὲ Μωυσῆς πρὸς κύριον καὶ εἶπεν κύριε διὰ τί ἐκάκωσας τὸν λαὸν τοῦτον καὶ ἵνα τί ἀπέσταλκάς με
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 καὶ ἀφ’ οὗ πεπόρευμαι πρὸς Φαραω λαλῆσαι ἐπὶ τῷ σῷ ὀνόματι ἐκάκωσεν τὸν λαὸν τοῦτον καὶ οὐκ ἐρρύσω τὸν λαόν σου
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!”
