Exodus 5:10-18

¹⁰So the taskmasters of the people and their foremen went out and spoke to the people, saying, “This is what Pharaoh says: ‘I am not going to give you any straw. ¹¹You go, get straw for yourselves wherever you can find it; but none of your labor will be reduced.’ ” ¹²So the people scattered through all the land of Egypt to gather stubble for straw. ¹³And the taskmasters pressed them, saying, “Complete your work quota, your daily amount, just as when you had straw.” ¹⁴Moreover, the foremen of the sons of Israel, whom Pharaoh’s taskmasters had set over them, were beaten and asked, “Why have you not completed your required task of making bricks either yesterday or today, as before?”

¹⁵Then the foremen of the sons of Israel came and cried out to Pharaoh, saying, “Why do you deal this way with your servants? ¹⁶There is no straw given to your servants, yet they keep saying to us, ‘Make bricks!’ And behold, your servants are being beaten; but it is the fault of your own people.” ¹⁷But he said, “You are lazy, very lazy; for that reason you say, ‘Let us go and sacrifice to the Lord.’ ¹⁸So go now and work; for you will be given no straw, but you must deliver the quota of bricks.”