You ¹  go get straw for yourselves wherever you can ²  find it, because there will be no reduction at all in your workload.’”

I will take you to myself for a people, and I will be your God. ¹  Then you will know that I am the Lord your God, who brought you out from your enslavement to ²  the Egyptians.

¹ Moses told this ²  to the Israelites, but they did not listen to him ³  because of their discouragement ⁴  and hard labor.

It is a sign between me and the Israelites forever; for in six days ¹  the Lord made the heavens and the earth, and on the seventh day he rested and was refreshed.’” ² 

“On six days ¹  you may labor, but on the seventh day you must rest; ²  even at the time of plowing and of harvest ³  you are to rest. ⁴ 

“‘No lay person ¹  may eat anything holy. Neither a priest’s lodger ²  nor a hired laborer may eat anything holy,

You may have the Sabbath produce ¹  of the land to eat – you, your male servant, your female servant, your hired worker, the resident foreigner who stays with you, ² 

He must be with you as a hired worker, as a resident foreigner; ¹  he must serve with you until the year of jubilee,

He must be with the one who bought him ¹  like a yearly hired worker. ²  The one who bought him ³  must not rule over him harshly in your sight.

Now you are condemned to perpetual servitude as woodcutters and water carriers for the house of my God.” ¹ 

besides 3,300 ¹  officials who supervised the workers. ² 

Have them hand it over to the construction foremen ¹  assigned to the Lord’s temple. They in turn should pay the temple workers to repair it, ² 

Solomon did not assign Israelites to these work crews; ¹  the Israelites served as his soldiers, officers, charioteers, and commanders of his chariot forces. ² 

Is it good for you ¹  to oppress, ²  to ³  despise the work of your hands, while ⁴  you smile ⁵  on the schemes of the wicked?

Look away from him and let him desist, ¹  until he fulfills ²  his time like a hired man.

Like ¹  wild donkeys in the desert they ²  go out to their labor, ³  seeking diligently for food; the wasteland provides ⁴  food for them and for their children.

He provides grass ¹  for the cattle, and crops for people to cultivate, ²  so they can produce food from the ground, ³ 

It is vain for you to rise early, come home late, and work so hard for your food. ¹  Yes, ²  he can provide for those whom he loves even when they sleep. ³ 

A person will be satisfied with good from the fruit of his words, ¹  and the work of his hands ²  will be rendered to ³  him.

All this ¹  monotony ²  is tiresome; no one can bear ³  to describe it: ⁴  The eye is never satisfied with seeing, nor is the ear ever content ⁵  with hearing.