Exodus 5:19
And the officers of the children of Israel did see that they were in evil case, after it was said, Ye shall not minish ought from your bricks of your daily task. And the officers of the children of Israel did see that they were in evil case, after it was said, Ye shall not minish ought from your bricks of your daily task.
The officers appealed to Pharaoh for relief, but he refused to ease the demand, and their hardship was left worse than before. The evil case was their recognition that they were in a desperate situation when the full daily number of bricks was still required of them though straw was withheld. To cope with the lack, the people had to scatter to search for stubble to use in place of straw. When the quota still could not be met, both the workers and the officers over them were beaten.
Coming out from Pharaoh's presence, the officers met Moses and Aaron waiting in the way. They charged all their suffering upon them, calling on God to judge them for making Israel hated by Pharaoh and his servants. They accused them of putting occasion into Pharaoh's hands to kill them. Greatly distressed by this blame, Moses turned back to God to ask why trouble had come upon the people and why he had been sent. He pleaded that from the time he had spoken in God's name Pharaoh had harmed the people, and deliverance had not yet come.
At that time Israel was not yet prepared to be delivered, having little faith. They were unwilling to patiently suffer and perseveringly endure affliction until God worked a glorious deliverance for them. Moses himself felt almost like complaining at the delay. The same hardship is echoed in the expression about making bricks without straw. It describes being required to keep producing the same number of bricks while denied straw. It is applied to work made especially difficult by lack of resources.