Exodus 6

6But the Lord replied to Moses, “Now you will see what I will do to Pharaoh: because of a strong hand he will let them go, and because of a strong hand he will drive them from his land.”^o

GOD PROMISES FREEDOM

²Then God spoke to Moses, telling him, “I am the Lord. ³I appeared to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob as God Almighty, but I was not known to them by my name ‘the Lord.’^{Aa 4}I also established my covenant with them to give them the land of Canaan, the land they lived in as aliens.^{b 5}Furthermore, I have heard the groaning of the Israelites, whom the Egyptians are forcing to work as slaves, and I have remembered^c my covenant.

⁶“Therefore tell the Israelites: I am the Lord, and I will bring you out from the forced labor of the Egyptians and rescue you from slavery to them. I will redeem you with an outstretched arm^d and great acts of judgment. ⁷I will take you as my people,^e and I will be your God. You will know^f that I am the Lord your God, who brought you out from the forced labor of the Egyptians. ⁸I will bring you to the land that I swore^Bg to give to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and I will give it to you as a possession. I am the Lord.” ⁹Moses told this to the Israelites, but they did not listen^h to him because of their broken spirit and hard labor.

¹⁰Then the Lord spoke to Moses, ¹¹“Go and tell Pharaoh king of Egypt to let the Israelites go from his land.”

¹²But Moses said in the Lord’s presence, “If the Israelites will not listen to me, then how will Pharaoh listen to me, since I am such a poor speaker?”^{i 13}Then the Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron and gave them commands concerning both the Israelites and Pharaoh king of Egypt to bring the Israelites out of the land of Egypt.

GENEALOGY OF MOSES AND AARON

¹⁴These are the heads of their fathers’ families:

The sons of Reuben,^j the firstborn of Israel:

Hanoch and Pallu, Hezron and Carmi.

These are the clans of Reuben.

¹⁵The sons of Simeon:^k

Jemuel, Jamin, Ohad, Jachin,

Zohar, and Shaul, the son of a Canaanite woman.

These are the clans of Simeon.

¹⁶These are the names of the sons of Levi

according to their family records;

Gershon, Kohath, and Merari.^l

Levi lived 137 years.

¹⁷The sons of Gershon:

Libni and Shimei, by their clans.

¹⁸The sons of Kohath:

Amram, Izhar, Hebron, and Uzziel.

Kohath lived 133 years.

¹⁹The sons of Merari:

Mahli and Mushi.

These are the clans of the Levites^m

according to their family records.

²⁰Amram married his father’s sister Jochebed,

and she bore him Aaron and Moses.ⁿ

Amram lived 137 years.

²¹The sons of Izhar:^o

Korah, Nepheg, and Zichri.

²²The sons of Uzziel:

Mishael, Elzaphan,^p and Sithri.

²³Aaron married Elisheba,

daughter of Amminadab^q and sister of Nahshon.

She bore him Nadab and Abihu, Eleazar and Ithamar.^r

²⁴The sons of Korah:^s

Assir, Elkanah, and Abiasaph.

These are the clans of the Korahites.

²⁵Aaron’s son Eleazar married

one of the daughters of Putiel,

and she bore him Phinehas.^t

These are the heads of the Levite families by their clans.

²⁶It was this Aaron and Moses whom the Lord told, “Bring the Israelites out of the land of Egypt according to their military divisions.”^{u 27}Moses and Aaron were the ones who spoke to Pharaoh king of Egypt in order to bring the Israelites out of Egypt.

MOSES AND AARON BEFORE PHARAOH

²⁸On the day the Lord spoke to Moses in the land of Egypt, ²⁹he said to him, “I am the Lord;^v tell Pharaoh king of Egypt everything I am telling you.”

³⁰But Moses replied in the Lord’s presence, “Since I am such a poor speaker,^w how will Pharaoh listen to me?”