The Israelites ask this question to emphasize that this is what they had told Moses. This rhetorical question can be translated as a statement. Alternate translation: "This is exactly what we told you while we were in Egypt." (See: [[rc://en/ta/man/jit/figs-rquestion]])
This can be stated as an indirect quote. Alternate translation: "We told you to leave us alone, so we could work for the Egyptians." (See: [[rc://en/ta/man/jit/figs-quotations]])