But the Egyptians mistreated us and afflicted us, putting us to hard labor.
Parallel translations
- WEB The Egyptians mistreated us, afflicted us, and imposed hard labor on us.
- KJV And the Egyptians evil entreated us, and afflicted us, and laid upon us hard bondage:
- ESV And the Egyptians treated us harshly and humiliated us and laid on us hard labor.
- NKJV But the Egyptians mistreated us, afflicted us, and laid hard bondage on us.
- NASB And the Egyptians treated us badly and oppressed us, and imposed hard labor on us.
- NLT When the Egyptians oppressed and humiliated us by making us their slaves,
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Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
The recital continues: the Egyptians oppressed and enslaved Israel with harsh labor. Remembering bondage magnifies the deliverance that followed.
Overview
The worshiper recalls the affliction of slavery, setting the dark backdrop against which God's redemption shines. Acknowledging past suffering and bondage deepens gratitude for rescue. This mirrors the gospel pattern, where recognizing our slavery to sin makes the liberty Christ purchased all the more precious (Romans 6:17-18).
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 8
- Exod 1:11So the Egyptians appointed taskmasters over the Israelites to oppress them with forced labor. As a result, they built Pithom and Rameses as store cities for Pharaoh.
- Exod 1:14and made their lives bitter with hard labor in brick and mortar, and with all kinds of work in the fields. Every service they imposed was harsh.
- Deut 4:20Yet the LORD has taken you and brought you out of the iron furnace, out of Egypt, to be the people of His inheritance, as you are today.
- Exod 1:16“When you help the Hebrew women give birth, observe them on the birthstools. If the child is a son, kill him; but if it is a daughter, let her live.”
- Exod 5:9Make the work harder on the men so they will be occupied and pay no attention to these lies.”
- Exod 1:22Then Pharaoh commanded all his people: “Every son born to the Hebrews you must throw into the Nile, but every daughter you may allow to live.”
- Exod 5:23Ever since I went to Pharaoh to speak in Your name, he has brought trouble on this people, and You have not delivered Your people in any way.”
- Exod 5:19The Israelite foremen realized they were in trouble when they were told, “You must not reduce your daily quota of bricks.”
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Christ at the center
Moses promised a Prophet like himself to whom Israel must listen (18:15); Jesus is that Prophet, the one who keeps the covenant we broke and becomes the curse for us by hanging on a tree (Gal 3:13).
How Deuteronomy 26:6 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.