After this presentation, to Israel’s leaders, Moses and Aaron went and spoke to Pharaoh. They told him, “This is what the Lord, the God of Israel says: Let my people to so they may hold a festival in My honor in the wilderness.”
“Is that so?” retorted Pharaoh. “And who is the Lord? Why should I listen to Him and let Israel go? I don’t know the Lord, and I will not let Israel go.”
But Moses and Aaron persisted. “The God of the Hebrews has met with us,” they declared. “So let us take the three-day journey into the wilderness so we can offer sacrifices to the Lord our God. If we don’t He will kill us with the plague or with the sword.”
Pharaoh replied, “Moses and Aaron, why are you distracting the people from their tasks? Get back to work! Look, there of so many of your people in the land, and you are stopping them from their work.” (vv. 1-5, NLT)