And God spoke to Moses and said to him: “I am [a]the Lord. (A)I appeared to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, as (B)God Almighty, but by My name (C)Lord[b] I was not known to them. (D)I have also [c]established My covenant with them, (E)to give them the land of Canaan, the land of their [d]pilgrimage, (F)in which they were [e]strangers. And (G)I have also heard the groaning of the children of Israel whom the Egyptians keep in bondage, and I have remembered My covenant. Therefore say to the children of Israel: (H)‘I am the Lord; (I)I will bring you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians, I will (J)rescue you from their bondage, and I will redeem you with [f]an outstretched arm and with great judgments. I will (K)take you as My people, and (L)I will be your God. Then you shall know that I am the Lord your God who brings you out (M)from under the burdens of the Egyptians. And I will bring you into the land which I (N)swore[g] to give to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob; and I will give it to you as a heritage: I am the Lord.’ ” So Moses spoke thus to the children of Israel; (O)but they did not heed Moses, because of (P)anguish[h] of spirit and cruel bondage.

10 And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 11 “Go in, tell Pharaoh king of Egypt to let the children of Israel go out of his land.”

12 And Moses spoke before the Lord, saying, “The children of Israel have not heeded me. How then shall Pharaoh heed me, for (Q)I am [i]of uncircumcised lips?”

13 Then the Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron, and gave them a (R)command[j] for the children of Israel and for Pharaoh king of Egypt, to bring the children of Israel out of the land of Egypt.

The Family of Moses and Aaron(S)

14 These are the heads of their fathers’ houses: (T)The sons of Reuben, the firstborn of Israel, were Hanoch, Pallu, Hezron, and Carmi. These are the families of Reuben. 15 (U)And the sons of Simeon were [k]Jemuel, Jamin, Ohad, Jachin, Zohar, and Shaul the son of a Canaanite woman. These are the families of Simeon. 16 These are the names of (V)the sons of Levi according to their generations: Gershon, Kohath, and Merari. And the years of the life of Levi were one hundred and thirty-seven. 17 (W)The sons of Gershon were Libni and Shimi according to their families. 18 And (X)the sons of Kohath were Amram, Izhar, Hebron, and Uzziel. And the years of the life of Kohath were one hundred and thirty-three. 19 (Y)The sons of Merari were Mahli and Mushi. These are the families of Levi according to their generations.

20 Now (Z)Amram took for himself (AA)Jochebed, his father’s sister, as wife; and she bore him (AB)Aaron and Moses. And the years of the life of Amram were one hundred and thirty-seven. 21 (AC)The sons of Izhar were Korah, Nepheg, and Zichri. 22 And (AD)the sons of Uzziel were Mishael, Elzaphan, and Zithri. 23 Aaron took to himself Elisheba, daughter of (AE)Amminadab, sister of Nahshon, as wife; and she bore him (AF)Nadab, Abihu, (AG)Eleazar, and Ithamar. 24 And (AH)the sons of Korah were Assir, Elkanah, and Abiasaph. These are the families of the Korahites. 25 Eleazar, Aaron’s son, took for himself one of the daughters of Putiel as wife; and (AI)she bore him Phinehas. These are the heads of the fathers’ houses of the Levites according to their families.

26 These are the same Aaron and Moses to whom the Lord said, “Bring out the children of Israel from the land of Egypt according to their (AJ)armies.”[l] 27 These are the ones who spoke to Pharaoh king of Egypt, (AK)to bring out the children of Israel from Egypt. These are the same Moses and Aaron.

Aaron Is Moses’ Spokesman

28 And it came to pass, on the day the Lord spoke to Moses in the land of Egypt, 29 that the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, “I am the Lord. (AL)Speak to Pharaoh king of Egypt all that I say to you.”

30 But Moses said before the Lord, “Behold, (AM)I am [m]of uncircumcised lips, and how shall Pharaoh heed me?”

Moses Before Pharaoh

So the Lord said to Moses: “See, I have made you (AN)as God to Pharaoh, and Aaron your brother shall be (AO)your prophet. You (AP)shall speak all that I command you. And Aaron your brother shall tell Pharaoh to send the children of Israel out of his land. And (AQ)I will harden Pharaoh’s heart, and (AR)multiply My (AS)signs and My wonders in the land of Egypt. But (AT)Pharaoh will not heed you, so (AU)that I may lay My hand on Egypt and bring My [n]armies and My people, the children of Israel, out of the land of Egypt (AV)by great judgments. And the Egyptians (AW)shall know that I am the Lord, when I (AX)stretch out My hand on Egypt and (AY)bring out the children of Israel from among them.”

Then Moses and Aaron (AZ)did so; just as the Lord commanded them, so they did. And Moses was (BA)eighty years old and (BB)Aaron eighty-three years old when they spoke to Pharaoh.

Footnotes

  1. Exodus 6:2 Heb. YHWH
  2. Exodus 6:3 Heb. YHWH, traditionally Jehovah
  3. Exodus 6:4 made or ratified
  4. Exodus 6:4 sojournings
  5. Exodus 6:4 sojourners, temporary residents
  6. Exodus 6:6 Mighty power
  7. Exodus 6:8 promised, lit. lifted up My hand
  8. Exodus 6:9 Lit. shortness
  9. Exodus 6:12 One who does not speak well
  10. Exodus 6:13 charge
  11. Exodus 6:15 Nemuel, Num. 26:12
  12. Exodus 6:26 hosts
  13. Exodus 6:30 One who does not speak well
  14. Exodus 7:4 hosts

Death of the Firstborn Announced(A)

11 And the Lord said to Moses, “I will bring one more plague on Pharaoh and on Egypt. (B)Afterward he will let you go from here. (C)When he lets you go, he will surely drive you out of here altogether. Speak now in the hearing of the people, and let every man ask from his neighbor and every woman from her neighbor, (D)articles of silver and articles of gold.” (E)And the Lord gave the people favor in the sight of the Egyptians. Moreover the man (F)Moses was very great in the land of Egypt, in the sight of Pharaoh’s servants and in the sight of the people.

Then Moses said, “Thus says the Lord: (G)‘About midnight I will go out into the midst of Egypt;

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35 Now the children of Israel had done according to the word of Moses, and they had asked from the Egyptians (A)articles of silver, articles of gold, and clothing.

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36 (A)And the Lord had given the people favor in the sight of the Egyptians, so that they granted them what they requested. Thus (B)they plundered the Egyptians.

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