Exodus 5 Free Bible Version
Audio: World English Bible (WEB), read by Winfred W. Henson · About the recordings
1 After this Moses and Aaron went to Pharaoh and told him, “This is what the Lord, the God of Israel says, ‘Let my people go so they can hold a religious festival for me in the desert.’”
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 “Who is this ‘Lord’ that I should listen to his request to let Israel go?” Pharaoh replied. “I don't know the Lord and I certainly won't let Israel leave!”
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 “The God of the Hebrews came to us,” they added. “Please allow us to go a three-day journey into the desert and offer sacrifices to the Lord our God. Otherwise he'll kill us by disease or by 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 “Moses and Aaron, why are you trying to take people away from their assigned labor?” Pharaoh asked. “Get back to work!” he ordered.
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 “Look here,” he went on. “There are many of your people here in our country and you are preventing them from doing their assigned labor.”
5 Pharaoh said, “Behold, the people of the land are now many, and you make them rest from their burdens.”
6 That very day he ordered the slave drivers and those in charge of the people:
6 The same day Pharaoh commanded the taskmasters of the people and their officers, saying,
7 “Don't give them any more straw to make bricks like before. Have them go and collect the straw 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 still make them produce the same quantity of bricks as before. They're lazy people—that's why they're calling out, asking, ‘Please let us go and offer sacrifices 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 Make their work harder so they can get on with it and not pay any attention to all these lies!”
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 So the slave drivers and those in charge went out and told the people, “This is what Pharaoh has ordered: ‘I won't give you any more straw.
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 and get straw for yourselves wherever you can find it, because your work quota won't be reduced.’”
11 Go yourselves, get straw where you can find it, for nothing of your work shall be diminished.’”
12 So the people went all over Egypt collecting stubble for straw.
12 So the people were scattered abroad throughout all the land of Egypt to gather stubble for straw.
13 The slave drivers kept on forcing them, saying, “You still have to do the same work as you did when you had straw provided!”
13 The taskmasters were urgent saying, “Fulfill your work quota daily, as when there was straw!”
14 They beat the Israelite supervisors they had put in charge, shouting at them, “Why haven't you met your quota of bricks as you did 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 The Israelite supervisors went to Pharaoh to complain, saying, “Why are you treating us your servants like this?
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 You don't give us any straw but your slave drivers demand that we make bricks, and they beat us! Your people are treating us badly!”
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 “No, you're just lazy, lazy people!” Pharaoh replied. “That's why you keep on asking, ‘Please let us go and offer sacrifices to the Lord.’
17 But Pharaoh said, “You are idle! You are idle! Therefore you say, ‘Let’s go and sacrifice to Yahweh.’
18 Now get out of here and go back to work! You won't be given any straw but you'll still have to produce the full quota 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 The Israelite supervisors realized they were in trouble when they were told, “You must not reduce the daily production of bricks.”
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 They went over to Moses and Aaron who were waiting for them after their meeting with Pharaoh,
20 They met Moses and Aaron, who stood along the way, as they came out from Pharaoh.
21 and said, “May the Lord see what you have done and judge you accordingly! You have made us like a bad smell to Pharaoh and his officials. You have put a sword in their hands to kill us!”
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 Moses went back to the Lord and complained, “Why have you caused all this trouble for your own people, Lord? Was this why 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 Ever since I went to Pharaoh to speak for you, he has been even harder on your people, and you haven't done anything to save them!”
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)