¹And afterward Moses and Aaron went and said to Pharaoh, This is what Yahweh, the God of Israel, says, Let my people go, so that they may hold a festival for me in the wilderness.

²And Pharaoh said, Who is Yahweh, that I should listen to his voice, so as to let Israel go? I do not know Yahweh, and Israel too I will not let go.

³And they said, The God of the Eberites has met with us; please let us go a journey of three days into the wilderness, and let us sacrifice to Yahweh our God, lest he fall on us with pestilence or with the sword.

⁴And the king of Egypt said to them, Why, Moses and Aaron, are you making the people refrain from their work. Go to your burdens.

⁵And Pharaoh said, Look, the people of the land are many now, and you have made them cease from their burdens.

⁶And Pharaoh commanded on that day the taskmasters over the people and its officers, saying:

⁷You shall not continue to give straw to the people for making the bricks as yesterday and the day before; let them go and gather straw for themselves.

⁸And the quota of the bricks that they have been making yesterday and the day before you shall lay on them; you shall not reduce any of it; for they are idle, therefore they are crying out, saying, Let us go, let us sacrifice to our God.

⁹Let the labor be heavy on the men, and let them do it, and let them not gaze at words of falsehood.

¹⁰And the taskmasters of the people went out, and its officers, and said to the people, saying, This is what Pharaoh says: I am not giving you straw.

¹¹You, go and take straw for yourselves from wherever you find it; for not a word is reduced from your labor.

¹²And the people scattered in all the land of Egypt, to gather stubble for the straw.

¹³And the taskmasters were pressing, saying, Complete your works, the word of a day in its day, just as when there was straw.

¹⁴And the officers of the children of Israel, whom Pharaoh's taskmasters had appointed over them, were struck, and it was said, Why have you not completed your prescribed portion, to make bricks as yesterday and the day before, neither yesterday nor today?

¹⁵And the officers of the children of Israel came and cried out to Pharaoh, saying, Why are you doing like this to your slaves?

¹⁶No straw is given to your slaves, yet they are saying to us, Make bricks! And look, your slaves are being struck, and the sin is your people's.

¹⁷He said, You are idle, idle! That is why you keep saying, Let us go, let us sacrifice to Yahweh.

¹⁸And now go, work! Straw will not be given to you, yet you will give the set quantity of bricks.

¹⁹And the officers of the children of Israel saw themselves in a bad way, as it was said, You will not reduce your bricks, the word of each day on its day.

²⁰And they came upon Moses and Aaron, who were standing to meet them as they came out from Pharaoh.

²¹They said to them, May Yahweh look upon you and judge, because you have made our scent stink in the eyes of Pharaoh and in the eyes of his slaves, putting a sword in their hand to kill us.

²²And Moses went back to Yahweh and said, O Lord, why have you hurt this people? Why is it that you sent me?

²³From the time I came to Pharaoh to speak in your name, he has hurt this people, and you have not rescued your people at all.