¹ And after that, Moses and Aaron came to Pharaoh, and said, The Lord, the God of Israel, says, Let my people go so that they may keep a feast to me in the waste land.

² And Pharaoh said, Who is the Lord, to whose voice I am to give ear and let Israel go? I have no knowledge of the Lord and I will not let Israel go.

³ And they said, The God of the Hebrews has come to us: let us then go three days' journey into the waste land to make an offering to the Lord our God, so that he may not send death on us by disease or the sword.

⁴ And the king of Egypt said to them, Why do you, Moses and Aaron, take the people away from their work? get back to your work.

⁵ And Pharaoh said, Truly, the people of the land are increasing in number, and you are keeping them back from their work.

⁶ The same day Pharaoh gave orders to the overseers and those who were responsible for the work, saying,

⁷ Give these men no more dry stems for their brick-making as you have been doing; let them go and get the material for themselves.

⁸ But see that they make the same number of bricks as before, and no less: for they have no love for work; and so they are crying out and saying, Let us go and make an offering to our God.

⁹ Give the men harder work, and see that they do it; let them not give attention to false words.

¹⁰ And the overseers of the people and their responsible men went out and said to the people, Pharaoh says, I will give you no more dry stems.

¹¹ Go yourselves and get dry stems wherever you are able; for your work is not to be any less.

¹² So the people were sent in all directions through the land of Egypt to get dry grass for stems.

¹³ And the overseers went on driving them and saying, Do your full day's work as before when there were dry stems for you.

¹⁴ And the responsible men of the children of Israel, whom Pharaoh's overseers had put over them, were given blows, and they said to them, Why have you not done your regular work, in making bricks as before?

¹⁵ Then the responsible men of the children of Israel came to Pharaoh, protesting and saying, Why are you acting in this way to your servants?

¹⁶ They give us no dry stems and they say to us, Make bricks: and they give your servants blows; but it is your people who are in the wrong.

¹⁷ But he said, You have no love for work: that is why you say, Let us go and make an offering to the Lord.

¹⁸ Go now, get back to your work; no dry stems will be given to you, but you are to make the full number of bricks.

¹⁹ Then the responsible men of the children of Israel saw that they were purposing evil when they said, The number of bricks which you have to make every day will be no less than before.

²⁰ And they came face to face with Moses and Aaron, who were in their way when they came out from Pharaoh:

²¹ And they said to them, May the Lord take note of you and be your judge; for you have given Pharaoh and his servants a bad opinion of us, putting a sword in their hands for our destruction.

²² And Moses went back to the Lord and said, Lord, why have you done evil to this people? why have you sent me?

²³ For from the time when I came to Pharaoh to put your words before him, he has done evil to this people, and you have given them no help.

¹ Behold, Yahweh makes the earth empty, makes it waste, turns it upside down, and scatters its inhabitants.

² It will be as with the people, so with the priest; as with the servant, so with his master; as with the maid, so with her mistress; as with the buyer, so with the seller; as with the creditor, so with the debtor; as with the taker of interest, so with the giver of interest.

³ The earth will be utterly emptied and utterly laid waste; for Yahweh has spoken this word.

⁴ The earth mourns and fades away. The world languishes and fades away. The lofty people of the earth languish.

⁵ The earth also is polluted under its inhabitants, because they have transgressed the laws, violated the statutes, and broken the everlasting covenant.

⁶ Therefore the curse has devoured the earth, and those who dwell therein are found guilty. Therefore the inhabitants of the earth are burned, and few men left.

⁷ The new wine mourns. The vine languishes. All the merry-hearted sigh.

⁸ The mirth of tambourines ceases. The sound of those who rejoice ends. The joy of the harp ceases.

⁹ They will not drink wine with a song. Strong drink will be bitter to those who drink it.

¹⁰ The confused city is broken down. Every house is shut up, that no man may come in.

¹¹ There is a crying in the streets because of the wine. All joy is darkened. The mirth of the land is gone.

¹² The city is left in desolation, and the gate is struck with destruction.

¹³ For it will be so in the midst of the earth among the peoples, as the shaking of an olive tree, as the gleanings when the vintage is done.

¹⁴ These shall lift up their voice. They will shout for the majesty of Yahweh. They cry aloud from the sea.

¹⁵ Therefore glorify Yahweh in the east, even the name of Yahweh, the God of Israel, in the islands of the sea!

¹⁶ From the uttermost part of the earth have we heard songs. Glory to the righteous! But I said, "I pine away! I pine away! woe is me!" The treacherous have dealt treacherously. Yes, the treacherous have dealt very treacherously.

¹⁷ Fear, the pit, and the snare, are on you who inhabitant the earth.

¹⁸ It will happen that he who flees from the noise of the fear will fall into the pit; and he who comes up out of the midst of the pit will be taken in the snare; for the windows on high are opened, and the foundations of the earth tremble.

¹⁹ The earth is utterly broken. The earth is torn apart. The earth is shaken violently.

²⁰ The earth will stagger like a drunken man, and will sway back and forth like a hammock. Its disobedience will be heavy on it, and it will fall and not rise again.

²¹ It shall happen in that day that Yahweh will punish the army of the high ones on high, and the kings of the earth on the earth.

²² They shall be gathered together, as prisoners are gathered in the pit, and shall be shut up in the prison; and after many days shall they be visited.

²³ Then the moon shall be confounded, and the sun ashamed; for Yahweh of Armies will reign on Mount Zion, and in Jerusalem; and before his elders will be glory.