Exodus · Bible in Basic English
Exodus 5 Bible in Basic English
Audio: World English Bible (WEB), read by Winfred W. Henson · About the recordings
1 And after that, Moses and Aaron came to Pharaoh, and said, The Lord, the God of Israel, says, Let my people go so that they may keep a feast to me in the waste land.
1 Afterward Moses and Aaron came, and said to Pharaoh, “This is what Yahweh, the God of Israel, says, ‘Let my people go, that they may hold a feast to me in the wilderness.’”
2 And Pharaoh said, Who is the Lord, to whose voice I am to give ear and let Israel go? I have no knowledge of the Lord and I will not let Israel go.
2 Pharaoh said, “Who is Yahweh, that I should listen to his voice to let Israel go? I don’t know Yahweh, and moreover I will not let Israel go.”
3 And they said, The God of the Hebrews has come to us: let us then go three days' journey into the waste land to make an offering to the Lord our God, so that he may not send death on us by disease or the sword.
3 They said, “The God of the Hebrews has met with us. Please let us go three days’ journey into the wilderness, and sacrifice to Yahweh, our God, lest he fall on us with pestilence, or with the sword.”
4 And the king of Egypt said to them, Why do you, Moses and Aaron, take the people away from their work? get back to your work.
4 The king of Egypt said to them, “Why do you, Moses and Aaron, take the people from their work? Get back to your burdens!”
5 And Pharaoh said, Truly, the people of the land are increasing in number, and you are keeping them back from their work.
5 Pharaoh said, “Behold, the people of the land are now many, and you make them rest from their burdens.”
6 The same day Pharaoh gave orders to the overseers and those who were responsible for the work, saying,
6 The same day Pharaoh commanded the taskmasters of the people and their officers, saying,
7 Give these men no more dry stems for their brick-making as you have been doing; let them go and get the material for themselves.
7 “You shall no longer give the people straw to make brick, as before. Let them go and gather straw for themselves.
8 But see that they make the same number of bricks as before, and no less: for they have no love for work; and so they are crying out and saying, Let us go and make an offering to our God.
8 You shall require from them the number of the bricks which they made before. You shall not diminish anything of it, for they are idle. Therefore they cry, saying, ‘Let’s go and sacrifice to our God.’
9 Give the men harder work, and see that they do it; let them not give attention to false words.
9 Let heavier work be laid on the men, that they may labor in it. Don’t let them pay any attention to lying words.”
10 And the overseers of the people and their responsible men went out and said to the people, Pharaoh says, I will give you no more dry stems.
10 The taskmasters of the people went out with their officers, and they spoke to the people, saying, “This is what Pharaoh says: ‘I will not give you straw.
11 Go yourselves and get dry stems wherever you are able; for your work is not to be any less.
11 Go yourselves, get straw where you can find it, for nothing of your work shall be diminished.’”
12 So the people were sent in all directions through the land of Egypt to get dry grass for stems.
12 So the people were scattered abroad throughout all the land of Egypt to gather stubble for straw.
13 And the overseers went on driving them and saying, Do your full day's work as before when there were dry stems for you.
13 The taskmasters were urgent saying, “Fulfill your work quota daily, as when there was straw!”
14 And the responsible men of the children of Israel, whom Pharaoh's overseers had put over them, were given blows, and they said to them, Why have you not done your regular work, in making bricks as before?
14 The officers of the children of Israel, whom Pharaoh’s taskmasters had set over them, were beaten, and were asked, “Why haven’t you fulfilled your quota both yesterday and today, in making brick as before?”
15 Then the responsible men of the children of Israel came to Pharaoh, protesting and saying, Why are you acting in this way to your servants?
15 Then the officers of the children of Israel came and cried to Pharaoh, saying, “Why do you deal this way with your servants?
16 They give us no dry stems and they say to us, Make bricks: and they give your servants blows; but it is your people who are in the wrong.
16 No straw is given to your servants, and they tell us, ‘Make brick!’ and behold, your servants are beaten; but the fault is in your own people.”
17 But he said, You have no love for work: that is why you say, Let us go and make an offering to the Lord.
17 But Pharaoh said, “You are idle! You are idle! Therefore you say, ‘Let’s go and sacrifice to Yahweh.’
18 Go now, get back to your work; no dry stems will be given to you, but you are to make the full number of bricks.
18 Go therefore now, and work; for no straw shall be given to you; yet you shall deliver the same number of bricks!”
19 Then the responsible men of the children of Israel saw that they were purposing evil when they said, The number of bricks which you have to make every day will be no less than before.
19 The officers of the children of Israel saw that they were in trouble when it was said, “You shall not diminish anything from your daily quota of bricks!”
20 And they came face to face with Moses and Aaron, who were in their way when they came out from Pharaoh:
20 They met Moses and Aaron, who stood along the way, as they came out from Pharaoh.
21 And they said to them, May the Lord take note of you and be your judge; for you have given Pharaoh and his servants a bad opinion of us, putting a sword in their hands for our destruction.
21 They said to them, “May Yahweh look at you and judge, because you have made us a stench to be abhorred in the eyes of Pharaoh, and in the eyes of his servants, to put a sword in their hand to kill us!”
22 And Moses went back to the Lord and said, Lord, why have you done evil to this people? why have you sent me?
22 Moses returned to Yahweh, and said, “Lord, why have you brought trouble on this people? Why is it that you have sent me?
23 For from the time when I came to Pharaoh to put your words before him, he has done evil to this people, and you have given them no help.
23 For since I came to Pharaoh to speak in your name, he has brought trouble on this people. You have not rescued your people at all!”
People & places in this chapter
From this site's family tree and Bible maps, only where those guides cite this chapter.
People
Aaron
Moses' brother and spokesman, Israel's first high priest.
Cited in the guide: Exodus 4–40; Leviticus 8–10
Moses
Drawn from the Nile, he led Israel out of Egypt and received God's Law.
Cited in the guide: Exodus 2–Deuteronomy 34
Cross references (19)
Related passages for each verse, from the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge as collected and ranked by readers at OpenBible.info.
- 1 Exodus 10:9; Acts 4:29; 1 Corinthians 5:8; Ezekiel 2:6; Matthew 10:28
- 2 Exodus 3:19; Job 21:15; 2 Kings 18:35; 2 Thessalonians 1:8; Romans 1:28
- 3 Exodus 3:18; 2 Kings 17:25; 2 Chronicles 30:8; Deuteronomy 28:21; Zechariah 14:16–19
- 4 Exodus 1:11; Amos 7:10; Acts 24:5; Luke 23:2; Jeremiah 38:4
- 5 Proverbs 14:28; Exodus 1:7–11
- 6 Exodus 5:19; Exodus 5:10; Joshua 8:33; 2 Chronicles 26:11; Joshua 24:4
- 7 Genesis 24:25; Judges 19:19
- 8 Psalm 106:41
- 9 Ephesians 5:6; Malachi 3:14; Zechariah 1:6; 2 Kings 18:20; Job 16:3
- 10 Exodus 1:11; Proverbs 29:12; Exodus 3:7
- 11 Exodus 5:13–14
- 12 Obadiah 18; Nahum 1:10; Exodus 15:7; 1 Corinthians 3:12; Joel 2:5
- 14 Isaiah 10:24
- 17 Exodus 5:8; John 6:27; Matthew 26:8; 2 Thessalonians 3:10–11
- 18 Daniel 2:9–13; Ezekiel 18:18
- 19 Ecclesiastes 5:8; Ecclesiastes 4:1; Deuteronomy 32:36
- 21 Genesis 34:30; 2 Samuel 10:6; Exodus 6:9; Genesis 16:5; 1 Samuel 27:12
- 22 Jeremiah 20:7; 1 Kings 19:10; Numbers 11:14–15; 1 Kings 19:4; Numbers 11:11
- 23 Jeremiah 11:21; Psalm 118:26; Hebrews 10:36–37; Isaiah 26:17–18; Isaiah 28:16
Cross references: OpenBible.info (CC BY), drawn mainly from the public-domain Treasury of Scripture Knowledge. · Sources & licences
What the Fathers said
Passages from the Church Fathers that expound or quote this chapter, verbatim from the public-domain Schaff edition (19th-century English translations).
How these were chosen
“Commentary” is the opening of a homily or exposition on this chapter (John Chrysostom’s homilies, Augustine’s tractates, sermons and expositions of the Psalms). “Quotes” are sentences where the edition’s own footnotes identify a quotation of a verse here, kept only when the wording matches the verse. Only works whose authorship is not in doubt are used. Psalms follow the Hebrew/English numbering (Augustine numbers them as the Septuagint does: his Psalm 50 is Psalm 51 here).
This abased Pharaoh. For, "I know not," he saith, "the Lord," and he became inferior to flies and frogs, and the locusts, and after that with his very arms and horses was he drowned in the sea.
Read in context · Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, series 1, vol. 10 (1888)