Exodus 4:22–32:35

²²And you must say to Pharaoh, ‘Thus says Yahweh, “Israel is my son, my firstborn.” ²³And I said to you, “Release my son and let him serve me,” but you refused to release him. Look, I am about to kill your son, your firstborn.’ ”

²⁴And^j on the way, at the place of overnight lodging, Yahweh encountered him and sought to kill him. ²⁵But Zipporah took a flint knife, and she cut off the foreskin of her son, and she touched his feet, and she said, “Yes, you are a bridegroom of blood to me.” ²⁶And he left him alone. At that time she said, “A bridegroom of blood,” because of the circumcision.^k

²⁷And Yahweh said to Aaron, “Go to the desert to meet Moses.” And he went and encountered him at the mountain of God and kissed him. ²⁸And Moses told Aaron all the words of Yahweh, who had sent him—and all the signs that he had commanded him.

²⁹And Moses and Aaron went, and they gathered all of the elders of the Israelites.^{l 30}And Aaron spoke all the words that Yahweh had spoken to Moses, and he did the signs before the eyes of the people. ³¹And the people believed when they heard that Yahweh had attended to the Israelites^m and that he had seen their misery, and they knelt down and they worshiped.

Pharaoh Rejects Yahweh’s Authority and Makes Israel’s Troubles Worse

5And 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.’ ” ²And 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.”

³And 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.” ⁴And the king of Egypt said, “Why, Moses and Aaron, do you take^a 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

⁶And 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. ⁸But 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.’ ⁹Let the work be heavier on the men so that they will do it and not pay attention to words of deception.”

¹⁰And 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. ¹¹You go, get straw for yourselves from whatever you find because not a thing is being reduced from your work.’ ” ¹²And the people spread out in all the land of Egypt to gather stubble for the straw. ¹³And 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

¹⁵And the foremen of the Israelites^k came and cried out to Pharaoh, saying, “Why do you treat your servants like this? ¹⁶Straw 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 of^l your people.” ¹⁷And he said, “You are lazy, lazy! Therefore you are saying, ‘Let us go; let us sacrifice to Yahweh.’ ¹⁸And now go, work, but straw will not be given to you, and you must give the full quota of bricks.”

¹⁹And 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.” ²⁰And they met Moses and Aaron, who were waiting to meet them when they were going out from Pharaoh. ²¹And 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.” ²²And Moses returned to Yahweh and said, “Lord, why have you brought trouble to this people? Why ever did you send me? ²³And 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

6And 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.”

²And God spoke to Moses, and he said to him, “I am Yahweh. ³And I appeared to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob as God Shaddai,^a but by my name Yahweh I was not known to them. ⁴And 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, ⁵but also I myself heard the groaning of the Israelites,^b whom the Egyptians are making to work, and I remembered my covenant. ⁶Therefore 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. ⁷And 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. ⁸And 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.”

⁹And Moses spoke thus to the Israelites,ⁱ but they did not listen to Moses, because of discouragement^j and because of hard work.

¹⁰And Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, ¹¹“Go, speak to Pharaoh, the king of Egypt, and let him release the Israelites^k from his land.” ¹²And 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 Israelitesⁿ and to Pharaoh, the king of Egypt, to bring the Israelites^o out from the land of Egypt.

The Genealogy of Moses and Aaron

¹⁴These 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.

¹⁵And 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.

¹⁶And 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

¹⁷The sons of Gershon are Libni and Shimei according to their clans.

¹⁸And 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

¹⁹And the sons of Merari are Mahli and Mushi. These are clans of the Levites according to their genealogies.^u

²⁰And 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

²¹And the sons of Izhar are Korah and Nepheg and Zikri.

²²And the sons of Uzziel are Mishael and Elzaphan and Sithri.

²³And 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.

²⁴And the sons of Korah are Assir and Elkanah and Abiasaph. These are the clans of the Korahites.

²⁵And 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.

²⁶It was that Aaron and Moses to whom Yahweh said, “Bring the Israelites^x out from the land of Egypt according to their divisions.” ²⁷They 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.

²⁸And so it was on a certain day^z Yahweh spoke to Moses in the land of Egypt. ²⁹And Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, “I am Yahweh. Speak to Pharaoh, the king of Egypt, all that I am speaking to you.” ³⁰And 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

7And Yahweh said to Moses, “See, I have made you as a god to Pharaoh, and Aaron your brother will be your prophet. ²You 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. ³And I myself will harden the heart of Pharaoh, and I will make my signs and my wonders numerous in the land of Egypt. ⁴And 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. ⁵And 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.”

⁶And 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

⁸And 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.’ ” ¹⁰And 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.

¹¹And Pharaoh also called the wise men and the…