God Promises Action

Then the Lord said to Moses, “Now you shall see what I will do to Pharaoh; for [a](A)under compulsion he will let them go, and [b]under compulsion he will drive them out of his land.”

God spoke further to Moses and said to him, “I am (B)the Lord; and I appeared to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob as [c](C)God Almighty, but by (D)My name, [d]Lord, I did not make Myself known to them. I also established (E)My covenant with them, to give them the land of Canaan, the [e]land in which they lived as strangers. Furthermore I have (F)heard the groaning of the sons of Israel, because the Egyptians are holding them in bondage, and I have remembered My covenant. Say, therefore, to the sons of Israel, ‘(G)I am the Lord, and (H)I will bring you out from under the labors of the Egyptians, and I will rescue you from their bondage. I will also (I)redeem you with (J)an outstretched arm, and with great judgments. Then I will take you [f](K)as My people, and (L)I will be [g]your God; and (M)you shall know that I am the Lord your God, who brought you out from under the labors of the Egyptians. I will bring you to the land which (N)I [h]swore to give to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and (O)I will give it to you as a possession; (P)I am the Lord.’” So Moses said this to the sons of Israel, but they did not listen to Moses on (Q)account of their [i]despondency and cruel bondage.

10 Now the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 11 (R)Go, [j]tell Pharaoh king of Egypt [k]to let the sons of Israel go out of his land.” 12 But Moses spoke before the Lord, saying, “Behold, the sons of Israel have not listened to me; (S)how then will Pharaoh listen to me, as I am [l](T)unskilled in speech?” 13 Nevertheless, the Lord spoke to Moses and to Aaron and gave them a command concerning the sons of Israel and Pharaoh king of Egypt, to bring the sons of Israel out of the land of Egypt.

The Heads of Israel

14 These are the heads of their fathers’ households. (U)The sons of Reuben, Israel’s firstborn: Hanoch and Pallu, Hezron and Carmi; these are the families of Reuben. 15 And the (V)sons of Simeon: [m]Jemuel, Jamin, Ohad, Jachin, Zohar, and Shaul the son of a Canaanite woman; these are the families of Simeon. 16 And these are the names of (W)the sons of Levi according to their generations: Gershon, Kohath, and Merari; and the [n]length of Levi’s life was 137 years. 17 (X)The sons of Gershon: [o]Libni and Shimei, according to their families. 18 And (Y)the sons of Kohath: Amram, Izhar, Hebron, and Uzziel; and the [p]length of Kohath’s life was 133 years. 19 And (Z)the sons of Merari: Mahli and Mushi. These are the families of the Levites according to their generations. 20 Now (AA)Amram [q]married his father’s sister Jochebed, and she bore him Aaron and Moses; and the [r]length of Amram’s life was 137 years. 21 And (AB)the sons of Izhar: Korah, Nepheg, and Zichri. 22 And (AC)the sons of Uzziel: Mishael, [s]Elzaphan, and Sithri. 23 Aaron [t]married Elisheba, the daughter of (AD)Amminadab, the sister of (AE)Nahshon, and she bore him (AF)Nadab and Abihu, Eleazar and Ithamar. 24 And the (AG)sons of Korah: Assir, Elkanah, and [u]Abiasaph; these are the families of the Korahites. 25 Now Aaron’s son (AH)Eleazar [v]married one of the daughters of Putiel, and she bore him (AI)Phinehas. These are the heads of the fathers’ households of the Levites according to their families. 26 It was the same Aaron and Moses to whom the Lord said, “(AJ)Bring out the sons of Israel from the land of Egypt according to their [w](AK)multitudes.” 27 They were the ones (AL)who spoke to Pharaoh king of Egypt [x]about bringing out the sons of Israel from Egypt; it was the same Moses and Aaron.

28 Now it came about on the day when the Lord spoke to Moses in the land of Egypt, 29 that the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, “(AM)I am the Lord; (AN)say to Pharaoh king of Egypt all that I say to you.” 30 But Moses said before the Lord, “Behold, I am [y](AO)unskilled in speech; how then will Pharaoh listen to me?”

Footnotes

  1. Exodus 6:1 Lit by a strong hand
  2. Exodus 6:1 Lit by a strong hand
  3. Exodus 6:3 Heb El Shaddai
  4. Exodus 6:3 Heb YHWH, usually rendered Lord
  5. Exodus 6:4 Lit land of their sojournings in which...
  6. Exodus 6:7 Lit to Me for a people
  7. Exodus 6:7 Lit to you for a God
  8. Exodus 6:8 Lit lifted up My hand
  9. Exodus 6:9 Or impatience
  10. Exodus 6:11 Lit speak to
  11. Exodus 6:11 Lit that he let
  12. Exodus 6:12 Lit uncircumcised of lips
  13. Exodus 6:15 In Num 26:12 and 1 Chr 4:24, Nemuel
  14. Exodus 6:16 Lit years
  15. Exodus 6:17 In 1 Chr 23:7, Ladan
  16. Exodus 6:18 Lit years
  17. Exodus 6:20 Lit took to him as a wife
  18. Exodus 6:20 Lit years
  19. Exodus 6:22 In Num 3:30, Elizaphan
  20. Exodus 6:23 Lit took to him as a wife
  21. Exodus 6:24 In 1 Chr 6:23 and 9:19, Ebiasaph
  22. Exodus 6:25 Lit took to him as a wife
  23. Exodus 6:26 I.e., multitudes in battle formation
  24. Exodus 6:27 Lit to bring out
  25. Exodus 6:30 Lit uncircumcised of lips

Then the Lord said to Moses, “Now you will see what I will do to Pharaoh: Because of my mighty hand(A) he will let them go;(B) because of my mighty hand he will drive them out of his country.”(C)

God also said to Moses, “I am the Lord.(D) I appeared to Abraham, to Isaac and to Jacob as God Almighty,[a](E) but by my name(F) the Lord[b](G) I did not make myself fully known to them. I also established my covenant(H) with them to give them the land(I) of Canaan, where they resided as foreigners.(J) Moreover, I have heard the groaning(K) of the Israelites, whom the Egyptians are enslaving, and I have remembered my covenant.(L)

“Therefore, say to the Israelites: ‘I am the Lord, and I will bring you out from under the yoke of the Egyptians.(M) I will free you from being slaves to them, and I will redeem(N) you with an outstretched arm(O) and with mighty acts of judgment.(P) I will take you as my own people, and I will be your God.(Q) Then you will know(R) that I am the Lord your God, who brought you out from under the yoke of the Egyptians. And I will bring you to the land(S) I swore(T) with uplifted hand(U) to give to Abraham, to Isaac and to Jacob.(V) I will give it to you as a possession. I am the Lord.’”(W)

Moses reported this to the Israelites, but they did not listen to him because of their discouragement and harsh labor.(X)

10 Then the Lord said to Moses, 11 “Go, tell(Y) Pharaoh king of Egypt to let the Israelites go out of his country.”(Z)

12 But Moses said to the Lord, “If the Israelites will not listen(AA) to me, why would Pharaoh listen to me, since I speak with faltering lips[c]?”(AB)

Family Record of Moses and Aaron

13 Now the Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron about the Israelites and Pharaoh king of Egypt, and he commanded them to bring the Israelites out of Egypt.(AC)

14 These were the heads of their families[d]:(AD)

The sons of Reuben(AE) the firstborn son of Israel were Hanok and Pallu, Hezron and Karmi. These were the clans of Reuben.

15 The sons of Simeon(AF) were Jemuel, Jamin, Ohad, Jakin, Zohar and Shaul the son of a Canaanite woman. These were the clans of Simeon.

16 These were the names of the sons of Levi(AG) according to their records: Gershon,(AH) Kohath and Merari.(AI) Levi lived 137 years.

17 The sons of Gershon, by clans, were Libni and Shimei.(AJ)

18 The sons of Kohath(AK) were Amram, Izhar, Hebron and Uzziel.(AL) Kohath lived 133 years.

19 The sons of Merari were Mahli and Mushi.(AM)

These were the clans of Levi according to their records.

20 Amram(AN) married his father’s sister Jochebed, who bore him Aaron and Moses.(AO) Amram lived 137 years.

21 The sons of Izhar(AP) were Korah, Nepheg and Zikri.

22 The sons of Uzziel were Mishael, Elzaphan(AQ) and Sithri.

23 Aaron married Elisheba, daughter of Amminadab(AR) and sister of Nahshon,(AS) and she bore him Nadab and Abihu,(AT) Eleazar(AU) and Ithamar.(AV)

24 The sons of Korah(AW) were Assir, Elkanah and Abiasaph. These were the Korahite clans.

25 Eleazar son of Aaron married one of the daughters of Putiel, and she bore him Phinehas.(AX)

These were the heads of the Levite families, clan by clan.

26 It was this Aaron and Moses to whom the Lord said, “Bring the Israelites out of Egypt(AY) by their divisions.”(AZ) 27 They were the ones who spoke to Pharaoh(BA) king of Egypt about bringing the Israelites out of Egypt—this same Moses and Aaron.(BB)

Aaron to Speak for Moses

28 Now when the Lord spoke to Moses in Egypt, 29 he said to him, “I am the Lord.(BC) Tell Pharaoh king of Egypt everything I tell you.”

30 But Moses said to the Lord, “Since I speak with faltering lips,(BD) why would Pharaoh listen to me?”

Footnotes

  1. Exodus 6:3 Hebrew El-Shaddai
  2. Exodus 6:3 See note at 3:15.
  3. Exodus 6:12 Hebrew I am uncircumcised of lips; also in verse 30
  4. Exodus 6:14 The Hebrew for families here and in verse 25 refers to units larger than clans.