5
1 And afterward Moshe and Aharon went in, and told Pharaoh, Thus saith Hashem Elohei Yisroel, Let My people go, that they may hold a chag (feast) unto Me in the midbar. 2 And Pharaoh said, Who is Hashem, that I should obey His voice to let Yisroel go? I know not Hashem, neither will I let Yisroel go. 3 And they said, Elohei HaIvrim hath met with us; let us go, now, derech shloshet yamim into the midbar, and sacrifice unto Hashem Eloheinu; lest He fall upon us with dever (cattle disease), or with the cherev. 4 And Melech Mitzrayim said unto them, Why do ye, Moshe and Aharon, disturb the people from their works? Get you back unto your own sevalot (burdens). 5 And Pharaoh said, Hinei, the Am HaAretz now are many, and ye make them rest from their sevalot.
6 And Pharaoh commanded the same day the nogesim of the people, and their foremen, saying, 7 Ye shall no more give HaAm straw to make brick, as heretofore; let them go and gather straw for themselves. 8 And the matkonet (quota) of the bricks, which they did make heretofore, ye shall lay upon them; ye shall not diminish ought thereof; for they are idle; therefore they cry out, saying, Let us go and sacrifice to Eloheinu. 9 Let there more avodah be laid upon the anashim, that they may labor therein; and let them not regard divrei sheker. 10 And the nogesim of HaAm went out, and their foremen; they spoke to HaAm, saying, Thus saith Pharaoh, I will not give you straw. 11 Go ye, get you straw where ye can find it; yet not ought of your avodah shall be diminished.
12 So HaAm were scattered abroad throughout kol Eretz Mitzrayim to gather stubble instead of straw. 13 And the nogesim pressed them, saying, Fulfil your ma'asim, your daily tasks, as when there was straw. 14 And the foremen of the Bnei Yisroel, which Pharaohʼs nogesim had set over them, were beaten, and were asked, Why have ye not fulfilled your task in making brick both yesterday and today, as heretofore?
15 Then the foremen of the Bnei Yisroel came and cried unto Pharaoh, saying, Why dealest thou thus with thy avadim? 16 There is no straw given unto thy avadim, and they say to us, Make brick. And, hinei, thy avadim are beaten; but the fault is in thine own people. 17 But he said, Ye are idle, ye are idle: therefore ye say, Let us go and do sacrifice to Hashem. 18 Go therefore now, and work; for there shall no straw be given you, yet shall ye deliver the tokhen (full measure) of bricks.
19 And the foremen of the Bnei Yisroel did see that they were in rah (trouble), after it was said, Ye shall not reduce ought from your bricks of your daily task. 20 And they went to meet Moshe and Aharon, who stood waiting to meet them, as they came forth from Pharaoh: 21 And they said unto them, Hashem look upon you, and judge; because ye have made us stench to be abhorred in the eyes of Pharaoh, and in the eyes of his avadim, to put a cherev in their yad to slay us.
22 And Moshe returned unto Hashem, and said, Adonoi, why hast Thou brought evil upon this people? why is it that Thou hast sent me? 23 For since I came to Pharaoh to speak in Thy Shem, he hath done evil to this people; neither hast Thou delivered Thy people at all.*
* 5:23 Genesis offers the promise of land and life but ends with nearly everyone being swept into a tomb (see Gn 49:29-33), with the body of Yosef going back to that tomb in a 400 year long trek (Gn 50:24-26; Ex 13:19). But a victory over, and a defeat of, that tomb will occur when “the 70” (Ex 1:5) burst forth from the tomb of Egypt in a great exodus of “600,000”. This death and resurrection of Yisroel was possible because of midwives who didn't believe in abortion (1:17), who did believe instead in the G-d of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob as the G-d of the living. This awesome G-d commissions Moses while he is a shepherd in Midian on Mt. Sinai (Chorev) to deliver His people with the Matteh HaElohim (the Rod of G-d) performing signs and wonders (this word “wonder,” mofet in Ex 7:3, we will see again in a key Messianic passage in Zech 3:8 which references Zech 6:11-12 where the Moshiachʼs personal name is revealed). The G-d of Israel reveals to Moses His personal covenant Name, that He is the G-d who always is (Ex 3:14), the eternally self-existent true G-d. This one true G-d is the author of salvation (Ex 6:1-8).