haraoh said, "Lazy, that's what you are - lazy! That is why you keep saying, 'Let us go and sacrifice to the Lord.'"

Moses' original request was not to set the slaves free but for a "three-day journey into the desert to offer sacrifices to the Lord our God." Alas, Pharaoh, like all people who base their life on selfishness, could see only his own interest. Of course, the delicious irony of the situation is that listening to Moses was in his best interest. Moses later recorded the moment in his classic poem "I Shot the Pharaoh (But I did not break the Ten Commandments)":

                Pharaoh said to me,
                "Hey, boy, whatcha doin'?
                "I got a cushy kingdom
                "And you start a fuckin' union!"