That same day Pharaoh commanded the slave masters and foremen who were over the people:

The Israelite foremen went and cried out to Pharaoh, “Why are you treating your servants this way?

So the slave masters of the people and their foremen went to the Israelites and said, “Thus says Pharaoh: ‘I am not giving you straw.

The Israelite foremen saw that they were in trouble when they were told, “You must not reduce the daily quota of your bricks.”

The Israelite foremen whom Pharaoh’s slave masters had set over them were beaten and were asked, “Why did you not complete your requirement for brickmaking as in the past – both yesterday and today?”