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”; 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.” 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.” 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.” 5 Pharaoh also says, “Behold, the people of the land [are] numerous now, and you have caused them to cease from their burdens!” 6 And on that day Pharaoh commands the exactors among the people and its authorities, saying, 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; 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; 9 let the service be heavy on the men, and let them work at it, and not be dazzled by lying words.” 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, 11 you—go, take straw for yourselves where you can find [it], for there is nothing diminished of your service.” 12 And the people are scattered over all the land of Egypt, to gather stubble for 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.” 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?” 15 And the authorities of the sons of Israel come in and cry to Pharaoh, saying, “Why do you do thus to your servants? 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.” 17 And he says, “Remiss—you are remiss, therefore you are saying, Let us go, let us sacrifice to YHWH; 18 and now, go, serve; and straw is not given to you, and you give the [required] measure 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.” 20 And they meet Moses and Aaron standing to meet them in their coming out from Pharaoh, 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.” 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? 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.”
Exodus · Literal Standard Version
Exodus 5 Literal Standard Version
Audio: World English Bible (WEB), read by Winfred W. Henson · About the recordings
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)