6. That same day the king gave orders to his slave bosses and to the men directly in charge of the Israelite slaves. He told them:
7. Don't give the slaves any more straw to put in their bricks. Force them to find their own straw wherever they can,
8. but they must make the same number of bricks as before. They are lazy, or else they would not beg me to let them go and sacrifice to their God.
9. Make them work so hard that they won't have time to listen to these lies.
10. The slave bosses and the men in charge of the slaves went out and told them, “The king says he will not give you any more straw.
11. Go and find your own straw wherever you can, but you must still make as many bricks as before.”
12. The slaves went all over Egypt, looking for straw.
13. But the slave bosses were hard on them and kept saying, “Each day you have to make as many bricks as you did when you were given straw.”
14. The bosses beat the men in charge of the slaves and said, “Why didn't you force the slaves to make as many bricks yesterday and today as they did before?”