Exodus 5:11
New International Version
Go and get your own straw wherever you can find it, but your work will not be reduced at all.’”

New Living Translation
Go and get it yourselves. Find it wherever you can. But you must produce just as many bricks as before!”

English Standard Version
Go and get your straw yourselves wherever you can find it, but your work will not be reduced in the least.’”

Berean Standard Bible
Go and get your own straw wherever you can find it; but your workload will in no way be reduced.’”

King James Bible
Go ye, get you straw where ye can find it: yet not ought of your work shall be diminished.

New King James Version
Go, get yourselves straw where you can find it; yet none of your work will be reduced.’ ”

New American Standard Bible
You go, get straw for yourselves wherever you can find it; but none of your labor will be reduced.’”

NASB 1995
You go and get straw for yourselves wherever you can find it, but none of your labor will be reduced.’”

NASB 1977
‘You go and get straw for yourselves wherever you can find it; but none of your labor will be reduced.’”

Legacy Standard Bible
You go and get straw for yourselves wherever you can find it, but no amount of your slave labor will be reduced.’”

Amplified Bible
Go, get straw for yourselves wherever you can find it, but your work [quota] will not be reduced in the least.’”

Christian Standard Bible
Go get straw yourselves wherever you can find it, but there will be no reduction at all in your workload.’ ”

Holman Christian Standard Bible
Go get straw yourselves wherever you can find it, but there will be no reduction at all in your workload.’”

American Standard Version
Go yourselves, get you straw where ye can find it: for nought of your work shall be diminished.

Contemporary English Version
Go and find your own straw wherever you can, but you must still make as many bricks as before."

English Revised Version
Go yourselves, get you straw where ye can find it: for nought of your work shall be diminished.

GOD'S WORD® Translation
Get your own straw wherever you can find it, but your work load will not be reduced one bit."

Good News Translation
He says that you must go and get it for yourselves wherever you can find it, but you must still make the same number of bricks."

International Standard Version
Go get straw for yourselves wherever you can find it, but your work quotas won't be reduced at all.'"

Majority Standard Bible
Go and get your own straw wherever you can find it; but your workload will in no way be reduced.’”

NET Bible
You go get straw for yourselves wherever you can find it, because there will be no reduction at all in your workload.'"

New Heart English Bible
Go yourselves, get straw where you can find it, for nothing of your work shall be diminished.'"

Webster's Bible Translation
Go ye, get you straw where ye can find it: yet not aught of your work shall be diminished.

World English Bible
Go yourselves, get straw where you can find it, for nothing of your work shall be diminished.’”
Literal Translations
Literal Standard Version
you—go, take straw for yourselves where you can find [it], for there is nothing diminished of your service.”

Young's Literal Translation
ye -- go ye, take for yourselves straw where ye find it, for there is nothing of your service diminished.'

Smith's Literal Translation
Go ye, take straw for yourselves, from where ye shall find it; for not a word shall be taken away from your works.
Catholic Translations
Douay-Rheims Bible
Go, and gather it where you can find it: neither shall any thing of your work be diminished.

Catholic Public Domain Version
Go, and collect it wherever you are able to find it. Neither will anything of your work be diminished.”

New American Bible
Go and get your own straw from wherever you can find it. But there will not be the slightest reduction in your work.’ ”

New Revised Standard Version
Go and get straw yourselves, wherever you can find it; but your work will not be lessened in the least.’”
Translations from Aramaic
Lamsa Bible
Go, get straw for yourselves wherever you can find it; but your work shall not be reduced.

Peshitta Holy Bible Translated
You go take yourselves straw from where you can and let not a thing be reduced from your work.’”
OT Translations
JPS Tanakh 1917
Go yourselves, get you straw where ye can find it; for nought of your work shall be diminished.'

Brenton Septuagint Translation
Go ye, yourselves, get for yourselves straw whencesoever ye can find it, for nothing is diminished from your rate.

Additional Translations ...
Audio Bible



Context
Bricks and Straw
10So the taskmasters and foremen of the people went out and said to them, “This is what Pharaoh says: ‘I am no longer giving you straw. 11 Go and get your own straw wherever you can find it; but your workload will in no way be reduced.’” 12So the people scattered all over the land of Egypt to gather stubble for straw.…

Cross References
Exodus 1:13-14
They worked the Israelites ruthlessly / 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.

Exodus 2:23
After a long time, the king of Egypt died. The Israelites groaned and cried out under their burden of slavery, and their cry for deliverance from bondage ascended to God.

Exodus 6:6-7
Therefore tell the Israelites: ‘I am the LORD, and I will bring you out from under the yoke of the Egyptians and deliver you from their bondage. I will redeem you with an outstretched arm and with mighty acts of judgment. / I will take you as My own people, and I will be your God. Then you will know that I am the LORD your God, who brought you out from under the yoke of the Egyptians.

Exodus 7:16
Then say to him, ‘The LORD, the God of the Hebrews, has sent me to tell you: Let My people go, so that they may worship Me in the wilderness. But until now you have not listened.

Exodus 8:1
Then the LORD said to Moses, “Go to Pharaoh and tell him that this is what the LORD says: ‘Let My people go, so that they may worship Me.

Exodus 9:1
Then the LORD said to Moses, “Go to Pharaoh and tell him that this is what the LORD, the God of the Hebrews, says: ‘Let My people go, so that they may worship Me.

Exodus 10:3
So Moses and Aaron went to Pharaoh and told him, “This is what the LORD, the God of the Hebrews, says: ‘How long will you refuse to humble yourself before Me? Let My people go, so that they may worship Me.

Exodus 12:31-33
Then Pharaoh summoned Moses and Aaron by night and said, “Get up, leave my people, both you and the Israelites! Go, worship the LORD as you have requested. / Take your flocks and herds as well, just as you have said, and depart! And bless me also.” / And in order to send them out of the land quickly, the Egyptians urged the people on. “For otherwise,” they said, “we are all going to die!”

Exodus 14:12
Did we not say to you in Egypt, ‘Leave us alone so that we may serve the Egyptians’? For it would have been better for us to serve the Egyptians than to die in the wilderness.”

Exodus 23:9
Do not oppress a foreign resident, since you yourselves know how it feels to be foreigners; for you were foreigners in the land of Egypt.

Deuteronomy 26:6-7
But the Egyptians mistreated us and afflicted us, putting us to hard labor. / So we called out to the LORD, the God of our fathers; and the LORD heard our voice and saw our affliction, toil, and oppression.

Nehemiah 9:9-10
You saw the affliction of our fathers in Egypt; You heard their cry at the Red Sea. / You performed signs and wonders against Pharaoh, all his officials, and all the people of his land, for You knew they had acted with arrogance against our fathers. You made a name for Yourself that endures to this day.

Psalm 81:6-7
“I relieved his shoulder of the burden; his hands were freed from the basket. / You called out in distress, and I rescued you; I answered you from the cloud of thunder; I tested you at the waters of Meribah. Selah

Isaiah 14:3-4
On the day that the LORD gives you rest from your pain and torment, and from the hard labor into which you were forced, / you will sing this song of contempt against the king of Babylon: How the oppressor has ceased, and how his fury has ended!

Jeremiah 50:33-34
This is what the LORD of Hosts says: “The sons of Israel are oppressed, and the sons of Judah as well. All their captors hold them fast, refusing to release them. / Their Redeemer is strong; the LORD of Hosts is His name. He will fervently plead their case so that He may bring rest to the earth, but turmoil to those who live in Babylon.


Treasury of Scripture

Go you, get you straw where you can find it: yet not ought of your work shall be diminished.

not ought

Exodus 5:13,14
And the taskmasters hasted them, saying, Fulfil your works, your daily tasks, as when there was straw…

Jump to Previous
Able Aught Diminished Dry Find Labor Nought Ought Reduced Service Stems Straw Wherever Work Yourselves
Jump to Next
Able Aught Diminished Dry Find Labor Nought Ought Reduced Service Stems Straw Wherever Work Yourselves
Exodus 5
1. Pharaoh chides Moses and Aaron for their message.
6. He increases the Israelites' task.
16. He ignores their complaints.
19. They cry out to Moses and Aaron.
22. Moses complains to God.














Go and get your own straw
This phrase marks a significant turning point in the Israelites' bondage in Egypt. The Hebrew word for "go" (לְכוּ, lechu) is a command, indicating the harshness and urgency of Pharaoh's decree. The Israelites are being forced to take initiative in their oppression, highlighting the increasing severity of their servitude. Historically, straw was a crucial component in brick-making, used to bind the clay and prevent cracking. This demand reflects the Egyptians' intent to break the spirit of the Israelites by making their labor even more burdensome.

wherever you can find it
The phrase underscores the desperation and difficulty of the task imposed on the Israelites. The Hebrew root for "find" (מָצָא, matsa) implies a search or quest, suggesting that straw was not readily available. This reflects the Egyptians' strategy to scatter the Israelites' focus and energy, making their work seem endless and their situation hopeless. Theologically, this can be seen as a test of faith, pushing the Israelites to rely more on God amidst their trials.

but your workload will in no way be reduced
This part of the verse emphasizes the unyielding nature of Pharaoh's oppression. The Hebrew word for "workload" (מַעֲשֶׂה, ma'aseh) refers to the labor or tasks assigned, which in this context, are the bricks the Israelites were required to produce. The phrase "in no way be reduced" (לֹא יִגָּרֵעַ, lo yigara) is a firm declaration that their burdens will remain unchanged despite the added difficulty. This reflects the cruelty of Pharaoh's regime and serves as a backdrop for God's impending deliverance. It highlights the contrast between human oppression and divine liberation, setting the stage for God's intervention in the subsequent chapters.

Verse 11. - Get you straw where ye can find it. Straw was not valued in Egypt. Reaping was effected either by gathering the ears, or by cutting the stalks of the corn at a short distance below the heads; and the straw was then left almost entirely upon the ground. Grass was so plentiful that it was not required for fodder, and there was no employment of it as litter in farmyards. Thus abundance of straw could be gathered in the cornfields after harvest; and as there were many harvests, some sort of straw was probably obtainable in the Delta at almost all seasons of the year. To collect it, however, and chop it small, as required in brickmaking, consumed much time, and left too little for the actual making of the bricks.

Parallel Commentaries ...


Hebrew
Go
לְכ֨וּ (lə·ḵū)
Verb - Qal - Imperative - masculine plural
Strong's 1980: To go, come, walk

and get
קְח֤וּ (qə·ḥū)
Verb - Qal - Imperative - masculine plural
Strong's 3947: To take

your own
לָכֶם֙ (lā·ḵem)
Preposition | second person masculine plural
Strong's Hebrew

straw
תֶּ֔בֶן (te·ḇen)
Noun - masculine singular
Strong's 8401: Material, refuse haum, stalks of grain

wherever
מֵאֲשֶׁ֖ר (mê·’ă·šer)
Preposition-m | Pronoun - relative
Strong's 834: Who, which, what, that, when, where, how, because, in order that

you can find it;
תִּמְצָ֑אוּ (tim·ṣā·’ū)
Verb - Qal - Imperfect - second person masculine plural
Strong's 4672: To come forth to, appear, exist, to attain, find, acquire, to occur, meet, be present

but
כִּ֣י (kî)
Conjunction
Strong's 3588: A relative conjunction

your workload
מֵעֲבֹדַתְכֶ֖ם (mê·‘ă·ḇō·ḏaṯ·ḵem)
Preposition-m | Noun - feminine singular construct | second person masculine plural
Strong's 5656: Work of any kind

will in no way
אֵ֥ין (’ên)
Adverb
Strong's 369: A non-entity, a negative particle

be reduced.’”
נִגְרָ֛ע (niḡ·rā‘)
Verb - Nifal - Participle - masculine singular
Strong's 1639: To scrape off, to shave, remove, lessen, withhold


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OT Law: Exodus 5:11 Go yourselves get straw where you can (Exo. Ex)
Exodus 5:10
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