Exodus 5:5-9

5Then Pharaoh added, “Look how many people there are in the land! Do you want them to quit working?”

6That same day Pharaoh gave these orders to the slave drivers and foremen:

7“Don’t give the people any more straw to make bricks as you have been doing. Let them gather their own straw,

8but insist that they make the same number of bricks they were making before. Making fewer bricks will not be acceptable. They’re lazy! That’s why they’re crying, ‘Let us go offer sacrifices to our God.’

9Make the work harder for these people so that they will be too busy to listen to lies.”