Exo 5:5-9 | ESV | STEP | And Pharaoh said , Behold , the people of the land are now many , and you make them rest from their burdens !

Exodus 5:5-9

5 And Pharaoh said, “Behold, ^athe people of the land are now many, ^{▼▼Samaritan they are now more numerous than the people of the land} and you make them rest from their burdens!” 6 The same day Pharaoh commanded the ^ctaskmasters of the people and their ^dforemen, 7 “You shall no longer give the people straw to make bricks, as in the past; let them go and gather straw for themselves. 8 But the number of bricks that they made in the past you shall impose on them, you shall by no means reduce it, for they are idle. Therefore they cry, ‘Let us go and offer sacrifice to our God.’ 9 Let heavier work be laid on the men that they may labor at it and pay no regard to lying words.”