Exodus 5:1–14:31
Pharaoh Rejects Yahweh’s Authority and Makes Israel’s Troubles Worse
5 And afterward, Moses and Aaron went, and they said to Pharaoh, “Thus says Yahweh the God of Israel, ‘Release my people so that they may hold a festival for me in the desert.’ ” 2 And Pharaoh said, “Who is Yahweh that I should listen to his voice to release Israel? I do not know Yahweh, and also I will not release Israel.”
3 And they said, “The God of the Hebrews has met with us. Please let us go on a three-day journey into the desert, and let us sacrifice to Yahweh our God, lest he strike us with plague or with sword.” 4 And the king of Egypt said, “Why, Moses and Aaron, do you takea the people from their work? Go to your ⌊forced labor⌋!”b 5 And Pharaoh said, “Look, the people of the land are now many, and you want to stop them from their ⌊forced labor⌋.”c
6 And on that day Pharaoh commanded the slave drivers over the people and his foremen, saying, 7 “You must no longer give straw to the people to make the bricks like ⌊before⌋.d Let them go and gather straw for themselves. 8 But the quota of the bricks that they were making ⌊before⌋e ⌊you must require of them⌋.f You must not reduce from it, because they are lazy. Therefore they are crying out, saying, ‘Let us go and sacrifice to our God.’ 9 Let the work be heavier on the men so that they will do it and not pay attention to words of deception.”
10 And the slave drivers of the people and their foremen went out, and they spoke to the people, saying, “Thus says Pharaoh, ‘I am not giving you straw. 11 You go, get straw for yourselves from whatever you find because not a thing is being reduced from your work.’ ” 12 And the people spread out in all the land of Egypt to gather stubble for the straw. 13 And the slave drivers were insisting, saying, “Finish your work ⌊for each day⌋g on its day, as ⌊when there was straw⌋.”h 14 And the foremen of the ⌊Israelites⌋,i whom Pharaoh’s slave drivers had appointed over them, were beaten by men who were saying, “Why have you not completed your portion of brickmaking ⌊as before, both yesterday and today⌋?”j
The Foremen Complain to Pharaoh and Moses, and Moses Complains to Yahweh
15 And the foremen of the ⌊Israelites⌋k came and cried out to Pharaoh, saying, “Why do you treat your servants like this? 16 Straw is not being given to your servants, but they are saying to us, ‘Make bricks!’ and, look, your servants are being beaten, but it is the fault ofl your people.” 17 And he said, “You are lazy, lazy! Therefore you are saying, ‘Let us go; let us sacrifice to Yahweh.’ 18 And now go, work, but straw will not be given to you, and you must give the full quota of bricks.”
19 And the foremen of the ⌊Israelites⌋m saw they were in trouble ⌊with the saying⌋,n “You will not reduce from your bricks ⌊for each day⌋o on its day.” 20 And they met Moses and Aaron, who were waiting to meet them when they were going out from Pharaoh. 21 And they said to them, “May Yahweh look upon you and judge because you have caused our fragrance to stink in the eyes of Pharaoh and in the eyes of his servants so as to put a sword into their hand to kill us.” 22 And Moses returned to Yahweh and said, “Lord, why have you brought trouble to this people? Why ever did you send me? 23 And from the time I came to Pharaoh to speak in your name, he has brought trouble to this people, and you have certainly not delivered your people.”
Yahweh Discusses His Name and Israel’s Future
6 And Yahweh said to Moses, “Now you will see what I will do to Pharaoh, because with a strong hand he will release them, and with a strong hand he will drive them out from his land.”
2 And God spoke to Moses, and he said to him, “I am Yahweh. 3 And I appeared to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob as God Shaddai,a but by my name Yahweh I was not known to them. 4 And I not only established my covenant with them to give to them the land of Canaan, the land of their sojournings, in which they dwelt as aliens, 5 but also I myself heard the groaning of the ⌊Israelites⌋,b whom the Egyptians are making to work, and I remembered my covenant. 6 Therefore say to the ⌊Israelites⌋,c ‘I am Yahweh, and I will bring you out from under the ⌊forced labor⌋d of Egypt, and I will deliver you from their slavery, and I will redeem you with an outstretched arm and with great punishments. 7 And I will take you ⌊as my people⌋,e and I will be ⌊your God⌋,f and you will know that I am Yahweh your God, who brought you out from under the ⌊forced labor⌋g of Egypt. 8 And I will bring you to the land ⌊that I swore⌋h to give to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, and I will give it to you as a possession. I am Yahweh.”
9 And Moses spoke thus to the ⌊Israelites⌋,i but they did not listen to Moses, because of ⌊discouragement⌋j and because of hard work.
10 And Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, 11 “Go, speak to Pharaoh, the king of Egypt, and let him release the ⌊Israelites⌋k from his land.” 12 And Moses spoke before Yahweh, saying, “Look, the ⌊Israelites⌋l do not listen to me, and how will Pharaoh listen to me, since I am ⌊a poor speaker⌋?”m 13 And Yahweh spoke to Moses and to Aaron, and he commanded them to go to the ⌊Israelites⌋n and to Pharaoh, the king of Egypt, to bring the ⌊Israelites⌋o out from the land of Egypt.
The Genealogy of Moses and Aaron
14 These are the heads of ⌊their families⌋.p
The sons of Reuben, the firstborn of Israel, are Enoch and Pallu, Hezron and Carmi. These are the clans of Reuben.
15 And the sons of Simeon are Jemuel and Jamin and Ohad and Jakin and Zohar and Shaul the son of the Canaanitess.q These are the clans of Simeon.
16 And these are the names of the sons of Levi according to their genealogies:r Gershon and Kohath and Merari, and the years of the life of Levi were ⌊one hundred and thirty-seven years⌋.s
17 The sons of Gershon are Libni and Shimei according to their clans.
18 And the sons of Kohath are Amram and Izhar and Hebron and Uzziel, and the years of the life of Kohath were ⌊one hundred and thirty-three years⌋.t
19 And the sons of Merari are Mahli and Mushi. These are clans of the Levites according to their genealogies.u
20 And Amram took Jochebed his aunt for himself as a wife, and she bore for him Aaron and Moses, and the years of the life of Amram were ⌊one hundred and thirty-seven years⌋.v
21 And the sons of Izhar are Korah and Nepheg and Zikri.
22 And the sons of Uzziel are Mishael and Elzaphan and Sithri.
23 And Aaron took Elisheba the daughter of Amminadab, the sister of Nahshon, for himself as a wife, and she bore for him Nadab and Abihu, Eleazar and Ithamar.
24 And the sons of Korah are Assir and Elkanah and Abiasaph. These are the clans of the Korahites.
25 And Eleazar the son of Aaron took for himself one from the daughters of Putiel as a wife, and she bore for him Phinehas. These are the heads of the ⌊families⌋w of the Levites according to their clans.
26 It was that Aaron and Moses to whom Yahweh said, “Bring the ⌊Israelites⌋x out from the land of Egypt according to their divisions.” 27 They were those who spoke to Pharaoh, the king of Egypt, in order to bring the ⌊Israelites⌋y out from Egypt. It was that Moses and Aaron.
28 ⌊And so it was on a certain day⌋z Yahweh spoke to Moses in the land of Egypt. 29 And Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, “I am Yahweh. Speak to Pharaoh, the king of Egypt, all that I am speaking to you.” 30 And Moses said before Yahweh, “Look, I am ⌊a poor speaker⌋.a And how will Pharaoh listen to me?”
Yahweh Reviews Plans for Bringing the Israelites out of Egypt
7 And Yahweh said to Moses, “See, I have made you as a god to Pharaoh, and Aaron your brother will be your prophet. 2 You will speak all that I will command you, and Aaron your brother will speak to Pharaoh, and he will release the ⌊Israelites⌋a from his land. 3 And I myself will harden the heart of Pharaoh, and I will make my signs and my wonders numerous in the land of Egypt. 4 And Pharaoh will not listen to you, and I will put my hand into Egypt and bring out my divisions, my people, the ⌊Israelites⌋,b from the land of Egypt with great punishments. 5 And the Egyptians will know that I am Yahweh when I stretch out my hand over Egypt and bring the ⌊Israelites⌋c out from their midst.”
6 And Moses and Aaron did it; as Yahweh commanded them, so they did. 7 (And Moses was ⌊eighty years old⌋,d and Aaron was ⌊eighty-three years old⌋e when they spoke to Pharaoh.)
Provision of a Wonder: Aaron’s Staff Becomes a Snake
8 And Yahweh said to Moses and to Aaron, saying, 9 “When Pharaoh speaks to you, saying, ‘Do a wonder for yourselves,’ you will say to Aaron, ‘Take your staff and throw it before Pharaoh, and it will become a snake.’ ” 10 And Moses and Aaron came to Pharaoh, and they did so, as Yahweh had commanded. And Aaron threw his staff before Pharaoh and before his servants, and it became a snake.
11 And Pharaoh also called the wise men and the sorcerers, and they also, the magicians of Egypt, did likewise with their secret arts. 12 Each threw down his staff, and they became snakes, and Aaron’s staff swallowed up their staffs. 13 And Pharaoh’s heart was hard, and he did not listen to them, as Yahweh had said.
14 And Yahweh said to Moses, “Pharaoh’s heart is ⌊insensitive⌋;f he refuses to release the people. 15 Go to Pharaoh in the morning. Look, he is going out to the water, and you must wait to meet him on the bank of the Nile, and you must take in your hand the staff that was changed into a snake. 16 And you must say to him, ‘Yahweh, the God of the Hebrews, has sent me to you, saying, “Release my people that they may serve me in the desert, and, look, you have not listened until now.” 17 Thus says Yahweh, “By this you will know that I am Yahweh. Look, I am about to strike with the staff that is in my hand the water that is in the Nile, and it will be changed to blood. 18 And the fish that are in the Nile will die, and the Nile will stink, and the Egyptians will be unable to drink water from the Nile.” ’ ”