They traveled on from Bethel, and when Ephrath was still some distance away, ¹  Rachel went into labor ²  – and her labor was hard.

So they put foremen ¹  over the Israelites ²  to oppress ³  them with hard labor. As a result ⁴  they built Pithom and Rameses ⁵  as store cities for Pharaoh.

So Pharaoh’s heart remained hard, ¹  and he did not release the Israelites, as the Lord had predicted through Moses.

They had worn-out, patched sandals on their feet and dressed in worn-out clothes. All their bread ¹  was dry and hard. ² 

This bread of ours was warm when we packed it in our homes the day we started out to meet you, ¹  but now it is dry and hard. ² 

The Ephraimites ¹  did not conquer the Canaanites living in Gezer. The Canaanites live among the Ephraimites to this very day and do hard labor as their servants.

The men of Zebulun did not conquer the people living in Kitron and Nahalol. ¹  The Canaanites lived among them and were forced to do hard labor.

The Amorites managed ¹  to remain in Har Heres, ²  Aijalon, and Shaalbim. Whenever the tribe of Joseph was strong militarily, ³  the Amorites were forced to do hard labor.

The men of Israel realized they had a problem because their army was hard pressed. So the army hid in caves, thickets, cliffs, strongholds, ¹  and cisterns.

If a man dies, will he live again? ¹  All the days of my hard service ²  I will wait ³  until my release comes. ⁴ 

Their arrows are sharpened, and all their bows are prepared. ¹  The hooves of their horses are hard as flint, ²  and their chariot wheels are like a windstorm. ³ 

When the Lord gives you relief from your suffering and anxiety, ¹  and from the hard labor which you were made to perform,

I reported, ¹  “All of them are the most stubborn of rebels! ²  They are as hard as bronze or iron. They go about telling lies. They all deal corruptly.

‘Oh, Lord God, ¹  you did indeed ²  make heaven and earth by your mighty power and great strength. ³  Nothing is too hard for you!

The people ¹  to whom I am sending you are obstinate and hard-hearted, ²  and you must say to them, ‘This is what the sovereign Lord says.’ ³ 

Let me take my wives and my children whom I have acquired by working for you. ¹  Then I’ll depart, ²  because you know how hard I’ve worked for you.” ³ 

They made their lives bitter ¹  by ²  hard service with mortar and bricks and by all kinds of service ³  in the fields. Every kind of service the Israelites were required to give was rigorous. ⁴ 

¹ In those days, ²  when ³  Moses had grown up, he went out to his people ⁴  and observed ⁵  their hard labor, and he saw an Egyptian man attacking ⁶  a Hebrew man, one of his own people. ⁷ 

But the magicians of Egypt did the same ¹  by their secret arts, and so ²  Pharaoh’s heart remained hard, ³  and he refused to listen to Moses and Aaron ⁴  – just as the Lord had predicted.

The magicians said ¹  to Pharaoh, “It is the finger ²  of God!” But Pharaoh’s heart remained hard, ³  and he did not listen to them, just as the Lord had predicted.