And the tale of the bricks, which they did make heretofore, ye shall lay upon them; ye shall not diminish ought thereof: for they be idle; therefore they cry, saying, Let us go and sacrifice to our God.
But you must still require them to make the same number of bricks as before—don't reduce the quota at all. They are lazy, and that's why they're crying out, 'Let us go and sacrifice to our God.'
Pharaoh is demanding the Israelites maintain their impossible brick production while falsely claiming their desire to worship God comes from laziness.
📚 Historical Context
This verse comes from Pharaoh's angry response after Moses and Aaron asked him to let the Israelites go worship in the wilderness. Pharaoh not only refused but made their labor conditions harsher by forcing them to gather their own straw while maintaining the same brick quotas. He deliberately mischaracterized their legitimate religious request as an excuse to avoid work.
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