1 And afterward, Moses and Aaron went, and they said to Pharaoh, “Thus says Yahweh the God of Israel, ‘Release my people so that they may hold a festival for me in the desert.’ ”
2 And Pharaoh said, “Who is Yahweh that I should listen to his voice to release Israel? I do not know Yahweh, and also I will not release Israel.”
3 And they said, “The God of the Hebrews has met with us. Please let us go on a three-day journey into the desert, and let us sacrifice to Yahweh our God, lest he strike us with plague or with sword.”
4 And the king of Egypt said, “Why, Moses and Aaron, do you take the people from their work? Go to your forced labor!”
5 And Pharaoh said, “Look, the people of the land are now many, and you want to stop them from their forced labor.”
6 And on that day Pharaoh commanded the slave drivers over the people and his foremen, saying,
7 “You must no longer give straw to the people to make the bricks like before. Let them go and gather straw for themselves.