Exodus 5:1-14 - Pharaoh Rejects Yahweh's Authority

¹ And afterward Moses and Aaron came, and said unto Pharaoh, Thus saith Jehovah, the God of Israel, Let my people go, that they may hold a feast unto me in the wilderness.

² And Pharaoh said, Who is Jehovah, that I should hearken unto his voice to let Israel go? I know not Jehovah, and moreover I will not let Israel go.

³ And they said, The God of the Hebrews hath met with us: let us go, we pray thee, three days journey into the wilderness, and sacrifice unto Jehovah our God, lest he fall upon us with pestilence, or with the sword. ⁴ And the king of Egypt said unto them, Wherefore do ye, Moses and Aaron, loose the people from their works? get you unto your burdens. ⁵ And Pharaoh said, Behold, the people of the land are now many, and ye make them rest from their burdens.

⁶ And the same day Pharaoh commanded the taskmasters of the people, and their officers, saying, ⁷ Ye shall no more give the people straw to make brick, as heretofore: let them go and gather straw for themselves. ⁸ And the number of the bricks, which they did make heretofore, ye shall lay upon them; ye shall not diminish aught thereof: for they are idle; therefore they cry, saying, Let us go and sacrifice to our God. ⁹ Let heavier work be laid upon the men, that they may labor therein; and let them not regard lying words.

¹⁰ And the taskmasters of the people went out, and their officers, and they spake to the people, saying, Thus saith Pharaoh, I will not give you straw. ¹¹ Go yourselves, get you straw where ye can find it: for nought of your work shall be diminished. ¹² So the people were scattered abroad throughout all the land of Egypt to gather stubble for straw. ¹³ And the taskmasters were urgent saying, Fulfil your works, your daily tasks, as when there was straw. ¹⁴ And the officers of the children of Israel, whom Pharaoh's taskmasters had set over them, were beaten, and demanded, Wherefore have ye not fulfilled your task both yesterday and to-day, in making brick as heretofore?