Study Desk

Afterward Moses and Aaron went to Pharaoh and said, "Thus says the Lord , the God of Israel, ‘Release my people so that they may hold a pilgrim feast to me in the desert.'"

And they said, "The God of the Hebrews has met with us. Let us go a three-day journey into the desert so that we may sacrifice to the Lord our God, so that he does not strike us with plague or the sword."

But you must require of them the same quota of bricks that they were making before. Do not reduce it, for they are slackers. That is why they are crying, ‘Let us go sacrifice to our God.'

God spoke to Moses and said to him, "I am the Lord .

I appeared to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob as God Almighty, but by my name ‘the Lord ' I was not known to them.

I will take you to myself for a people, and I will be your God. Then you will know that I am the Lord your God, who brought you out from your enslavement to the Egyptians.

So the Lord said to Moses, "See, I have made you like God to Pharaoh, and your brother Aaron will be your prophet.

Tell him, ‘The Lord , the God of the Hebrews, has sent me to you to say, "Release my people, that they may serve me in the desert!" But until now you have not listened.

He said, "Tomorrow." And Moses said, "It will be as you say, so that you may know that there is no one like the Lord our God.

The magicians said to Pharaoh, "It is the finger of God!" But Pharaoh's heart remained hard, and he did not listen to them, just as the Lord had predicted.

Then Pharaoh summoned Moses and Aaron and said, "Go, sacrifice to your God within the land."

But Moses said, "That would not be the right thing to do, for the sacrifices we make to the Lord our God would be an abomination to the Egyptians. If we make sacrifices that are an abomination to the Egyptians right before their eyes, will they not stone us?

We must go on a three-day journey into the desert and sacrifice to the Lord our God, just as he is telling us."

Pharaoh said, "I will release you so that you may sacrifice to the Lord your God in the desert. Only you must not go very far. Do pray for me."

Then the Lord said to Moses, "Go to Pharaoh and tell him, ‘Thus says the Lord , the God of the Hebrews, "Release my people that they may serve me!

The Lord said to Moses, "Get up early in the morning, stand before Pharaoh, and tell him, ‘Thus says the Lord , the God of the Hebrews: "Release my people so that they may serve me!

But as for you and your servants, I know that you do not yet fear the Lord God."

So Moses and Aaron came to Pharaoh and told him, "Thus says the Lord , the God of the Hebrews: ‘How long do you refuse to humble yourself before me? Release my people so that they may serve me!

Pharaoh's servants said to him, "How long will this man be a menace to us? Release the people so that they may serve the Lord their God. Do you not know that Egypt is destroyed?"

So Moses and Aaron were brought back to Pharaoh, and he said to them, "Go, serve the Lord your God. Exactly who is going with you?"