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Exodus 5:3
ESV Then they said, "The God of the Hebrews has met with us. Please let us go a three days ' journey into the wilderness that we may sacrifice to the Lord our God, lest he fall upon us with pestilence or with the sword."
NIV Then they said, "The God of the Hebrews has met with us. Now let us take a three-day journey into the wilderness to offer sacrifices to the Lord our God, or he may strike us with plagues or with the sword."
NASB Then they said, 'The God of the Hebrews has met with us. Please, let us go a three days’ journey into the wilderness so that we may sacrifice to the Lord our God, otherwise He will strike us with plague or with the sword.'
CSB They answered, "The God of the Hebrews has met with us. Please let us go on a three-day trip into the wilderness so that we may sacrifice to the Lord our God, or else he may strike us with plague or sword."
NLT But Aaron and Moses persisted. 'The God of the Hebrews has met with us,' they declared. 'So let us take a 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 a plague or with the sword.'
KJV And they said, The God of the Hebrews hath met with us: let us go, we pray thee, three days' journey into the desert, and sacrifice unto the Lord our God; lest he fall upon us with pestilence, or with the sword.
NKJV So they said, “The God of the Hebrews has met with us. Please, let us go three days’ journey into the desert and sacrifice to the Lord our God, lest He fall upon us with pestilence or with the sword.”

What does Exodus 5:3 mean?

Moses and Aaron answered Pharaoh's rejection (Exodus 5:1–2) with a second plea. This again appeals to a command from God. Since Pharaoh worships Egyptian deities, the second request describes the Lord as "God of the Hebrews." Using this phrase—which only seems to appear when directed to Pharaoh (Exodus 7:16; 9:1, 13; 10:3)—emphasized a distinction between the Lord and pagan idols.

For now, no threats are made against Egypt. In fact, the message suggests that the Hebrews are the ones at risk. Yet Pharaoh will refuse and spitefully make the Israelite slaves (Exodus 1:13–14) work even harder (Exodus 5:6–9). This stubbornness establishes a pattern for the next few chapters. Soon, God will demonstrate His power in a series of escalating plagues. None of these will convince Egypt's king to free the people until his own son is killed (Exodus 4:22–23; 12:30–31).

Although the goal is Israel's liberation (Exodus 3:10), so far Moses and Aaron have only asked for temporary leave (Exodus 5:1). This is not a trick (Exodus 3:18); it's more likely that Pharaoh's refusal of a lesser request is proof that he would never have considered giving the Hebrews complete freedom (Exodus 3:19–20).
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