Ἔξοδος 5
1 καὶ μετὰ ταῦτα εἰσῆλθεν Μωυσῆς καὶ Ααρων πρὸς Φαραω καὶ εἶπαν αὐτῷ τάδε λέγει κύριος ὁ θεὸς Ισραηλ ἐξαπόστειλον τὸν λαόν μου ἵνα μοι ἑορτάσωσιν ἐν τῇ ἐρήμῳ
After these things happened, Moses and Aaron went to Pharaoh and said, “This is what Yahweh, the God of Israel, says: 'Let my people go, so they can have a festival for me in the wilderness.'”
2 καὶ εἶπεν Φαραω τίς ἐστιν οὗ εἰσακούσομαι τῆς φωνῆς αὐτοῦ ὥστε ἐξαποστεῖλαι τοὺς υἱοὺς Ισραηλ οὐκ οἶδα τὸν κύριον καὶ τὸν Ισραηλ οὐκ ἐξαποστέλλω
Pharaoh said, “Who is Yahweh? Why should I listen to his voice and let Israel go? I do not know Yahweh; moreover, I will not let Israel go.”
3 καὶ λέγουσιν αὐτῷ ὁ θεὸς τῶν Εβραίων προσκέκληται ἡμᾶς πορευσόμεθα οὖν ὁδὸν τριῶν ἡμερῶν εἰς τὴν ἔρημον ὅπως θύσωμεν τῷ θεῷ ἡμῶν μήποτε συναντήσῃ ἡμῖν θάνατος ἢ φόνος
They said, “The God of the Hebrews has met with us. Let us go on a three-day journey into the wilderness and sacrifice to Yahweh our God so that he does not attack us with plague or with the sword.”
4 καὶ εἶπεν αὐτοῖς ὁ βασιλεὺς Αἰγύπτου ἵνα τί Μωυσῆ καὶ Ααρων διαστρέφετε τὸν λαόν μου ἀπὸ τῶν ἔργων ἀπέλθατε ἕκαστος ὑμῶν πρὸς τὰ ἔργα αὐτοῦ
But the king of Egypt said to them, “Moses and Aaron, why are you taking the people from their work? Go back to your work.”
5 καὶ εἶπεν Φαραω ἰδοὺ νῦν πολυπληθεῖ ὁ λαός μὴ οὖν καταπαύσωμεν αὐτοὺς ἀπὸ τῶν ἔργων
He also said, “There are now many people in our land, and you are making them stop their work.”
6 συνέταξεν δὲ Φαραω τοῖς ἐργοδιώκταις τοῦ λαοῦ καὶ τοῖς γραμματεῦσιν λέγων
On that same day, Pharaoh gave a command to the people's taskmasters and foremen. He said,
7 οὐκέτι προστεθήσεται διδόναι ἄχυρον τῷ λαῷ εἰς τὴν πλινθουργίαν καθάπερ ἐχθὲς καὶ τρίτην ἡμέραν αὐτοὶ πορευέσθωσαν καὶ συναγαγέτωσαν ἑαυτοῖς ἄχυρα
“Unlike before, you must no longer give the people straw to make bricks. Let them go and gather straw for themselves.
8 καὶ τὴν σύνταξιν τῆς πλινθείας ἧς αὐτοὶ ποιοῦσιν καθ’ ἑκάστην ἡμέραν ἐπιβαλεῖς αὐτοῖς οὐκ ἀφελεῖς οὐδέν σχολάζουσιν γάρ διὰ τοῦτο κεκράγασιν λέγοντες πορευθῶμεν καὶ θύσωμεν τῷ θεῷ ἡμῶν
However, you must still demand from them the same number of bricks as they made before. Do not accept any fewer, because they are lazy. That is why they are calling out and saying, 'Allow us to go and sacrifice to our God.'
9 βαρυνέσθω τὰ ἔργα τῶν ἀνθρώπων τούτων καὶ μεριμνάτωσαν ταῦτα καὶ μὴ μεριμνάτωσαν ἐν λόγοις κενοῖς
Increase the workload for the men so that they keep at it and pay no more attention to deceptive words.”
10 κατέσπευδον δὲ αὐτοὺς οἱ ἐργοδιῶκται καὶ οἱ γραμματεῖς καὶ ἔλεγον πρὸς τὸν λαὸν λέγοντες τάδε λέγει Φαραω οὐκέτι δίδωμι ὑμῖν ἄχυρα
So the people's taskmasters and foremen went out and informed the people. They said, “This is what Pharaoh says: 'I will no longer give you any straw.
11 αὐτοὶ ὑμεῖς πορευόμενοι συλλέγετε ἑαυτοῖς ἄχυρα ὅθεν ἐὰν εὕρητε οὐ γὰρ ἀφαιρεῖται ἀπὸ τῆς συντάξεως ὑμῶν οὐθέν
You yourselves must go and get straw wherever you can find it, but your workload will not be reduced.'”
12 καὶ διεσπάρη ὁ λαὸς ἐν ὅλῃ Αἰγύπτῳ συναγαγεῖν καλάμην εἰς ἄχυρα
So the people scattered throughout all the land of Egypt to gather stubble for straw.
13 οἱ δὲ ἐργοδιῶκται κατέσπευδον αὐτοὺς λέγοντες συντελεῖτε τὰ ἔργα τὰ καθήκοντα καθ’ ἡμέραν καθάπερ καὶ ὅτε τὸ ἄχυρον ἐδίδοτο ὑμῖν
The taskmasters kept urging them and saying, “Finish your work, just as when straw was given to you.”
14 καὶ ἐμαστιγώθησαν οἱ γραμματεῖς τοῦ γένους τῶν υἱῶν Ισραηλ οἱ κατασταθέντες ἐπ’ αὐτοὺς ὑπὸ τῶν ἐπιστατῶν τοῦ Φαραω λέγοντες διὰ τί οὐ συνετελέσατε τὰς συντάξεις ὑμῶν τῆς πλινθείας καθάπερ ἐχθὲς καὶ τρίτην ἡμέραν καὶ τὸ τῆς σήμερον
Pharaoh's taskmasters beat the Israelite foremen, those same men whom they had put in charge of the workers. The taskmasters kept asking them, “Why have you not produced all the bricks required of you, either yesterday and today, as you used to do in the past?”
15 εἰσελθόντες δὲ οἱ γραμματεῖς τῶν υἱῶν Ισραηλ κατεβόησαν πρὸς Φαραω λέγοντες ἵνα τί οὕτως ποιεῖς τοῖς σοῖς οἰκέταις
So the Israelite foremen came to Pharaoh and cried out to him. They said, “Why are you treating your servants this way?
16 ἄχυρον οὐ δίδοται τοῖς οἰκέταις σου καὶ τὴν πλίνθον ἡμῖν λέγουσιν ποιεῖν καὶ ἰδοὺ οἱ παῖδές σου μεμαστίγωνται ἀδικήσεις οὖν τὸν λαόν σου
No straw is being given to your servants anymore, but they are still telling us, 'Make bricks!' We, your servants, are even beaten now, but it is the fault of your own people.”
17 καὶ εἶπεν αὐτοῖς σχολάζετε σχολασταί ἐστε διὰ τοῦτο λέγετε πορευθῶμεν θύσωμεν τῷ θεῷ ἡμῶν
But Pharaoh said, “You are lazy! You are lazy! You say, 'Allow us to go sacrifice to Yahweh.'
18 νῦν οὖν πορευθέντες ἐργάζεσθε τὸ γὰρ ἄχυρον οὐ δοθήσεται ὑμῖν καὶ τὴν σύνταξιν τῆς πλινθείας ἀποδώσετε
So now go back to work. No more straw will be given to you, but you must still make the same number of bricks.”
19 ἑώρων δὲ οἱ γραμματεῖς τῶν υἱῶν Ισραηλ ἑαυτοὺς ἐν κακοῖς λέγοντες οὐκ ἀπολείψετε τῆς πλινθείας τὸ καθῆκον τῇ ἡμέρᾳ
The Israelite foremen saw that they were in trouble when they were told, “You must not reduce the daily number of bricks.”
20 συνήντησαν δὲ Μωυσῇ καὶ Ααρων ἐρχομένοις εἰς συνάντησιν αὐτοῖς ἐκπορευομένων αὐτῶν ἀπὸ Φαραω
They met Moses and Aaron, who were standing outside the palace, as they went away from Pharaoh.
21 καὶ εἶπαν αὐτοῖς ἴδοι ὁ θεὸς ὑμᾶς καὶ κρίναι ὅτι ἐβδελύξατε τὴν ὀσμὴν ἡμῶν ἐναντίον Φαραω καὶ ἐναντίον τῶν θεραπόντων αὐτοῦ δοῦναι ῥομφαίαν εἰς τὰς χεῖρας αὐτοῦ ἀποκτεῖναι ἡμᾶς
They said to Moses and Aaron, “May Yahweh look at you and punish you, because you have made us offensive in the sight of Pharaoh and his servants. You have put a sword in their hand to kill us.”
22 ἐπέστρεψεν δὲ Μωυσῆς πρὸς κύριον καὶ εἶπεν κύριε διὰ τί ἐκάκωσας τὸν λαὸν τοῦτον καὶ ἵνα τί ἀπέσταλκάς με
Moses went back to Yahweh and said, “Lord, why have you caused trouble for this people? Why did you send me in the first place?
23 καὶ ἀφ’ οὗ πεπόρευμαι πρὸς Φαραω λαλῆσαι ἐπὶ τῷ σῷ ὀνόματι ἐκάκωσεν τὸν λαὸν τοῦτον καὶ οὐκ ἐρρύσω τὸν λαόν σου
Ever since I came to Pharaoh to speak to him in your name, he has caused trouble for this people, and you have not set your people free at all.”
