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Easy-to-Read Version

Exodus 1:14

They made life hard for the Israelites. They forced the Israelites to work hard at making bricks and mortar and to work hard in the fields. The Egyptians showed no mercy in all the hard work they made the Israelites do!

Bible Study Resources

Concordances:

- Nave's Topical Bible - Bondage;   Brick;   House;   Israel;   Mortar;   Oppression;   Servant;   Usurpation;   Scofield Reference Index - Faith;   Thompson Chain Reference - Bricks;   Hard Labour;   Kindness-Cruelty;   Labour;   Mortar;   Nation, the;   Oppression;   Punishments;   Slime;   Torrey's Topical Textbook - Bondage, Spiritual;   Cities;   Egypt;   Houses;   Masters;   Persecution;  

Dictionaries:

- American Tract Society Bible Dictionary - Blood-Avenger;   Exodus;   Pots;   Bridgeway Bible Dictionary - Pharaoh;   Easton Bible Dictionary - Bitter;   Bricks;   Mason;   Mortar;   Moses;   Pharaoh;   Fausset Bible Dictionary - Pentateuch;   Holman Bible Dictionary - Exodus, Book of;   Herbs, Bitter;   History;   Life;   Lot;   Mortar;   Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible - Moses;   Morrish Bible Dictionary - Morter;   People's Dictionary of the Bible - Brick;   Egypt;   Smith Bible Dictionary - Brick;   Ex'odus;   Mortar;   Watson's Biblical & Theological Dictionary - Law;  

Encyclopedias:

- Condensed Biblical Cyclopedia - Enslavement, the;   Exodus, the;   Encampment at Sinai;   International Standard Bible Encyclopedia - Bitter;   Bondage;   Brick;   Exodus, the;   Exodus, the Book of;   Hard;   Service;   Kitto Biblical Cyclopedia - Bitter;   Bricks;   The Jewish Encyclopedia - Miriam;   Sidra;  

Parallel Translations

Hebrew Names Version
and they made their lives bitter with hard service, in mortar and in brick, and in all manner of service in the field, all their service, in which they ruthlessly made them serve.
King James Version
And they made their lives bitter with hard bondage, in morter, and in brick, and in all manner of service in the field: all their service, wherein they made them serve, was with rigour.
Lexham English Bible
And they made their lives bitter with hard work with mortar and with bricks and with all sorts of work in the field—with all their work in which they ruthlessly enslaved them.
New Century Version
They made their lives bitter. They forced the Israelites to work hard to make bricks and mortar and to do all kinds of work in the fields. The Egyptians were not merciful to them in all their painful work.
New English Translation
They made their lives bitter by hard service with mortar and bricks and by all kinds of service in the fields. Every kind of service the Israelites were required to give was rigorous.
Amplified Bible
They made their lives bitter with hard labor in mortar, brick, and all kinds of field work. All their labor was harsh and severe.
New American Standard Bible
and they made their lives bitter with hard labor in mortar and bricks and at all kinds of labor in the field, all their labors which they violently had them perform as slaves.
Geneva Bible (1587)
Thus they made them weary of their liues by sore labour in clay & in bricke, & in al worke in the fielde, with all maner of bondage, which they layde vpon them most cruelly.
Legacy Standard Bible
and they made their lives bitter with hard slave labor in mortar and bricks and in all kinds of slave labor in the field, all their slave labor which they brutally compelled them to do.
Contemporary English Version
that their lives were miserable. The Egyptians were cruel to the people of Israel and forced them to make bricks and to mix mortar and to work in the fields.
Complete Jewish Bible
making their lives bitter with hard labor — digging clay, making bricks, all kinds of field work; and in all this toil they were shown no mercy.
Darby Translation
and they embittered their life with hard labour in clay and bricks, and in all manner of labour in the field: all their labour with which they made them serve was with harshness.
English Standard Version
and made their lives bitter with hard service, in mortar and brick, and in all kinds of work in the field. In all their work they ruthlessly made them work as slaves.
George Lamsa Translation
And they made their lives bitter with hard labor, in mortar and in bricks and in all manner of work in the field; all their service wherein they made them serve was with rigor.
Christian Standard Bible®
and made their lives bitter with difficult labor in brick and mortar and in all kinds of fieldwork. They ruthlessly imposed all this work on them.
Literal Translation
And they made their lives bitter by hard service, in clay, and in bricks, and in all work in the field; all their work which they made them do with harshness.
Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
and made their lyues bytter vnto them with greuous laboure in claye and brycke, and with allmaner of bondage in ye felde, and with allmaner of laboure, which they layed vpon them without mercy.
American Standard Version
and they made their lives bitter with hard service, in mortar and in brick, and in all manner of service in the field, all their service, wherein they made them serve with rigor.
Bible in Basic English
And made their lives bitter with hard work, making building-material and bricks, and doing all sorts of work in the fields under the hardest conditions.
Bishop's Bible (1568)
And they made their lyues bytter vnto them in that cruell bondage, in claye, and bricke, and all maner of worke in the fielde: for all their bondage wherein they serued them was ful of tirannie.
JPS Old Testament (1917)
And they made their lives bitter with hard service, in mortar and in brick, and in all manner of service in the field; in all their service, wherein they made them serve with rigour.
King James Version (1611)
And they made their liues bitter, with hard bondage, in morter and in bricke, and in all maner of seruice in the fielde: all their seruice wherein they made them serue, was with rigour.
Brenton's Septuagint (LXX)
And they embittered their life by hard labours, in the clay and in brick-making, and all the works in the plains, according to all the works, wherein they caused them to serve with violence.
English Revised Version
and they made their lives bitter with hard service, in mortar and in brick, and in all manner of service in the field, all their service, wherein they made them serve with rigour.
Berean Standard Bible
and made their lives bitter with hard labor in brick and mortar, and with all kinds of work in the fields. Every service they imposed was harsh.
Wycliffe Bible (1395)
and brouyten her lijf to bitternesse bi hard werkis of cley and to tijl stoon, and bi al seruage, bi which thei weren oppressid in the werkis of erthe.
Young's Literal Translation
and make their lives bitter in hard service, in clay, and in brick, and in every [kind] of service in the field; all their service in which they have served [is] with rigour.
Update Bible Version
and they made their lives bitter with hard service, in mortar and in bricks, and in all manner of service in the field, all their service, wherein they made them serve with rigor.
Webster's Bible Translation
And they made their lives bitter with hard bondage, in mortar, and in brick, and in all manner of service in the field: all their service in which they made them serve, [was] with rigor.
World English Bible
and they made their lives bitter with hard service, in mortar and in brick, and in all manner of service in the field, all their service, in which they ruthlessly made them serve.
New King James Version
And they made their lives bitter with hard bondage--in mortar, in brick, and in all manner of service in the field. All their service in which they made them serve was with rigor.
New Living Translation
They made their lives bitter, forcing them to mix mortar and make bricks and do all the work in the fields. They were ruthless in all their demands.
New Life Bible
They made their lives bitter with hard work building with stones and with all kinds of work in the field. They made them work very hard.
New Revised Standard
and made their lives bitter with hard service in mortar and brick and in every kind of field labor. They were ruthless in all the tasks that they imposed on them.
J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
and embittered their lives with harsh service, in clay and in bricks, and in all manner of service in the field, - all their service, wherein they rigorously made them serve.
Douay-Rheims Bible
And they made their life bitter with hard works in clay and brick, and with all manner of service, wherewith they were overcharged in the works of the earth.
Revised Standard Version
and made their lives bitter with hard service, in mortar and brick, and in all kinds of work in the field; in all their work they made them serve with rigor.
New American Standard Bible (1995)
and they made their lives bitter with hard labor in mortar and bricks and at all kinds of labor in the field, all their labors which they rigorously imposed on them.

Contextual Overview

8 Then a new king began to rule Egypt. He did not know Joseph. 9 This king said to his people, "Look at the Israelites. There are too many of them, and they are stronger than we are! 10 We must make plans to stop them from growing stronger. If there is a war, they might join our enemies, defeat us, and escape from the land!" 11 The Egyptians decided to make life hard for the Israelites, so they put slave masters over the people. These masters forced the Israelites to build the cities of Pithom and Rameses for the king. The king used these cities to store grain and other things. 12 The Egyptians forced the Israelites to work harder and harder. But the harder they worked, the more they grew and spread, and the more the Egyptians became afraid of them. 13 So the Egyptians made them work even harder. 14 They made life hard for the Israelites. They forced the Israelites to work hard at making bricks and mortar and to work hard in the fields. The Egyptians showed no mercy in all the hard work they made the Israelites do!

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

their lives: Exodus 2:23, Exodus 6:9, Genesis 15:13, Numbers 20:15, Deuteronomy 4:20, Deuteronomy 26:6, Ruth 1:20, Acts 7:19, Acts 7:34

in mortar: Psalms 68:13, Psalms 81:6, Nahum 3:14

was with rigour: Exodus 1:13, Exodus 5:7-21, Exodus 20:2, Leviticus 25:43, Leviticus 25:46, Leviticus 25:53, Isaiah 14:6, Isaiah 51:23, Isaiah 52:5, Isaiah 58:6, Jeremiah 50:33, Jeremiah 50:34, Micah 3:3

Reciprocal: Genesis 11:3 - brick Exodus 3:9 - and I have Exodus 12:8 - with bitter Leviticus 25:39 - compel him to serve as 2 Samuel 7:10 - as beforetime 1 Kings 12:11 - I will add 1 Chronicles 17:9 - as at the 1 Chronicles 20:3 - with saws 2 Chronicles 10:4 - grievous 2 Chronicles 10:11 - I will put Job 24:12 - groan Psalms 107:39 - oppression Proverbs 28:15 - so Ecclesiastes 4:1 - and considered Isaiah 30:6 - into the land Jeremiah 43:9 - in the brickkiln Ezekiel 34:4 - but with John 8:33 - and were Revelation 11:8 - Egypt

Cross-References

Genesis 1:1
God created the sky and the earth. At first,
Genesis 1:2
the earth was completely empty. There was nothing on the earth. Darkness covered the ocean, and God's Spirit moved over the water.
Genesis 1:3
Then God said, "Let there be light!" And light began to shine.
Genesis 1:4
He saw the light, and he knew that it was good. Then he separated the light from the darkness.
Genesis 1:6
Then God said, "Let there be a space to separate the water into two parts!"
Genesis 1:7
So God made the space and separated the water. Some of the water was above it, and some of the water was below it.
Genesis 1:8
God named that space "sky." There was evening, and then there was morning. This was the second day.
Genesis 1:9
Then God said, "Let the water under the sky be gathered together so that the dry land will appear." And it happened.
Genesis 1:12
The earth grew grass and plants that made grain. And it grew trees that made fruit with seeds in it. Every plant made its own kind of seeds. And God saw that this was good.
Genesis 1:14
Then God said, "Let there be lights in the sky. These lights will separate the days from the nights. They will be used for signs to show when special meetings begin and to show the days and years.

Gill's Notes on the Bible

And they made their lives bitter with hard bondage,.... So that they had no ease of body nor peace of mind; they had no comfort of life, their lives and mercies were embittered to them:

in mortar and in brick, and in all manner of service of the field; if Pelusium was one of the cities they built, that had its name from clay, the soil about it being clayish, and where the Israelites might be employed in making brick for the building of that and other cities: Josephus d says, they were ordered to part the river (Nile) into many canals, to build walls about cities, and raise up mounds, lest the water overflowing the banks should stagnate; and to build pyramids, obliging them to learn various arts, and inure themselves to labour: so Philo the Jew says e, some worked in the clay, forming it into bricks, and others in carrying straw: some were appointed to build private houses, others the walls of cities, and to cut ditches and canals in the river, and obliged day and night to carry burdens, so that they had no rest, nor were they suffered to refresh themselves with sleep; and some say that they were not only employed in the fields in ploughing and sowing and the like, but in carrying of dung thither, and all manner of uncleanness: of their being employed in building of pyramids and canals, :-

all their service wherein they made them serve was with rigour; they not only put them to hard work, but used them in a very churlish and barbarous manner, abusing them with their tongues, and beating them with their hands: Philo in the above place says, the king not only compelled them to servile works, but commanded them heavier things than they could bear, heaping labours one upon another; and if any, through weakness, withdrew himself, it was judged a capital crime, and the most merciless and cruel were set over them as taskmasters.

d Antiqu. l. 2. c. 9. sect. 1. e De Vita Mosis, l. 1. p. 608.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

The use of brick, at all times common in Egypt, was especially so under the 18th Dynasty. An exact representation of the whole process of brickmaking is given in a small temple at Thebes, erected by Tothmosis III, the fourth in descent from Amosis. Immense masses of brick are found at Belbeis, the modern capital of Sharkiya, i. e. Goshen, and in the adjoining district.

All manner of service in the field - Not merely agricultural labor, but probably the digging of canals and processes of irrigation which are peculiarly onerous and unhealthy.

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse Exodus 1:14. They made their lives bitter — So that they became weary of life, through the severity of their servitude.

With hard bondage — בעבדה קשה baabodah kashah, with grievous servitude. This was the general character of their life in Egypt; it was a life of the most painful servitude, oppressive enough in itself, but made much more so by the cruel manner of their treatment while performing their tasks.

In mortar, and in brick — First, in digging the clay, kneading, and preparing it, and secondly, forming it into bricks, drying them in the sun, c.

Service in the field — Carrying these materials to the places where they were to be formed into buildings, and serving the builders while employed in those public works. Josephus says "The Egyptians contrived a variety of ways to afflict the Israelites for they enjoined them to cut a great number of channels for the river, and to build walls for their cities and ramparts, that they might restrain the river, and hinder its waters from stagnating upon its overrunning its own banks; they set them also to build pyramids, (πυραμιδας τε ανοικοδομουντες,) and wore them out, and forced them to learn all sorts of mechanic arts, and to accustom themselves to hard labour." - Antiq., lib. ii., cap. ix., sec. 1. Philo bears nearly the same testimony, p. 86, Edit. Mangey.


 
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