¹⁴ and they made ^(A)their lives bitter with hard labor in mortar and bricks and at all kinds of labor in the field, all their labors which they violently had them perform as slaves.

¹¹ Now it came about in those days, ^(A)when Moses had grown up, that he went out to his ^[a]fellow Hebrews and looked at their ^[b](B)hard labors; and ^(C)he saw an Egyptian beating a Hebrew, one of his ^[c]fellow Hebrews.

⁴ But the king of Egypt said to them, “Moses and Aaron, why do you let the people neglect their ^[a]work? Get back to your ^(A)labors!” ⁵ Again Pharaoh said, “Look, ^(B)the people of the land are now many, and you would have them cease from their labors!” ⁶ So the same day Pharaoh commanded ^(C)the taskmasters over the people and their ^(D)foremen, saying, ⁷ “You are no longer to give the people straw to make bricks as previously; have them go and gather straw for themselves. ⁸ But you shall impose on them the quota of bricks which they were making before; you are not to reduce any of it. Because they are ^(E)lazy, for that reason they cry ^[b]out, ‘Let us go and sacrifice to our God.’ ⁹ Let the labor be heavier on the men, and have them work at it so that they will pay no attention to false words.”

⁶ Say, therefore, to the sons of Israel, ‘^(A)I am the Lord, and ^(B)I will bring you out from under the labors of the Egyptians, and I will rescue you from their bondage. I will also ^(C)redeem you with ^(D)an outstretched arm, and with great judgments. ⁷ Then I will take you ^[a](E)as My people, and ^(F)I will be ^[b]your God; and ^(G)you shall know that I am the Lord your God, who brought you out from under the labors of the Egyptians. ⁸ I will bring you to the land which ^(H)I ^[c]swore to give to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and ^(I)I will give it to you as a possession; ^(J)I am the Lord.’” ⁹ So Moses said this to the sons of Israel, but they did not listen to Moses on ^(K)account of their ^[d]despondency and cruel bondage.

¹⁰ Now the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, ¹¹ “^(L)Go, ^[e]tell Pharaoh king of Egypt ^[f]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; ^(M)how then will Pharaoh listen to me, as I am ^[g](N)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. ^(O)The sons of Reuben, Israel’s firstborn: Hanoch and Pallu, Hezron and Carmi; these are the families of Reuben. ¹⁵ And the ^(P)sons of Simeon: ^[h]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 ^(Q)the sons of Levi according to their generations: Gershon, Kohath, and Merari; and the ^[i]length of Levi’s life was 137 years. ^17 (R)The sons of Gershon: ^[j]Libni and Shimei, according to their families. ¹⁸ And ^(S)the sons of Kohath: Amram, Izhar, Hebron, and Uzziel; and the ^[k]length of Kohath’s life was 133 years. ¹⁹ And ^(T)the sons of Merari: Mahli and Mushi. These are the families of the Levites according to their generations. ²⁰ Now ^(U)Amram ^[l]married his father’s sister Jochebed, and she bore him Aaron and Moses; and the ^[m]length of Amram’s life was 137 years. ²¹ And ^(V)the sons of Izhar: Korah, Nepheg, and Zichri. ²² And ^(W)the sons of Uzziel: Mishael, ^[n]Elzaphan, and Sithri. ²³ Aaron ^[o]married Elisheba, the daughter of ^(X)Amminadab, the sister of ^(Y)Nahshon, and she bore him ^(Z)Nadab and Abihu, Eleazar and Ithamar. ²⁴ And the ^(AA)sons of Korah: Assir, Elkanah, and ^[p]Abiasaph; these are the families of the Korahites. ²⁵ Now Aaron’s son ^(AB)Eleazar ^[q]married one of the daughters of Putiel, and she bore him ^(AC)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, “^(AD)Bring out the sons of Israel from the land of Egypt according to their ^[r](AE)multitudes.” ²⁷ They were the ones ^(AF)who spoke to Pharaoh king of Egypt ^[s]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, “^(AG)I am the Lord; ^(AH)say to Pharaoh king of Egypt all that I say to you.” ³⁰ But Moses said before the Lord, “Behold, I am ^[t](AI)unskilled in speech; how then will Pharaoh listen to me?”