Exodus 4:22–32:35

²²Then say to Pharaoh, ‘This is what the Lord says: Israel is my firstborn son,^{u 23}and I told you, “Let my son go,^v so he may worship^w me.” But you refused to let him go; so I will kill your firstborn son.’ ”^x

²⁴At a lodging place on the way, the Lord met Moses^b and was about to kill^y him. ²⁵But Zipporah^z took a flint knife, cut off her son’s foreskin^a and touched Moses’ feet with it.^c “Surely you are a bridegroom of blood to me,” she said. ²⁶So the Lord let him alone. (At that time she said “bridegroom of blood,” referring to circumcision.)

²⁷The Lord said to Aaron, “Go into the wilderness to meet Moses.” So he met Moses at the mountain^b of God and kissed^c him. ²⁸Then Moses told Aaron everything the Lord had sent him to say, and also about all the signs he had commanded him to perform.

²⁹Moses and Aaron brought together all the elders^d of the Israelites, ³⁰and Aaron told them everything the Lord had said to Moses. He also performed the signs^e before the people, ³¹and they believed.^f And when they heard that the Lord was concerned^g about them and had seen their misery,^h they bowed down and worshiped.ⁱ

Bricks Without Straw

5Afterward Moses and Aaron went to Pharaoh and said, “This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: ‘Let my people go,^j so that they may hold a festival^k to me in the wilderness.’ ”

²Pharaoh said, “Who is the Lord,^l that I should obey him and let Israel go? I do not know the Lord and I will not let Israel go.”^m

³Then they said, “The God of the Hebrews has met with us. Now let us take a three-day journeyⁿ into the wilderness to offer sacrifices to the Lord our God, or he may strike us with plagues^o or with the sword.”

⁴But the king of Egypt said, “Moses and Aaron, why are you taking the people away from their labor?^p Get back to your work!” ⁵Then Pharaoh said, “Look, the people of the land are now numerous,^q and you are stopping them from working.”

⁶That same day Pharaoh gave this order to the slave drivers^r and overseers in charge of the people: ⁷“You are no longer to supply the people with straw for making bricks;^s let them go and gather their own straw. ⁸But require them to make the same number of bricks as before; don’t reduce the quota.^t They are lazy;^u that is why they are crying out, ‘Let us go and sacrifice to our God.’^{v 9}Make the work harder for the people so that they keep working and pay no attention to lies.”

¹⁰Then the slave drivers^w and the overseers went out and said to the people, “This is what Pharaoh says: ‘I will not give you any more straw. ¹¹Go and get your own straw wherever you can find it, but your work will not be reduced^x at all.’ ” ¹²So the people scattered all over Egypt to gather stubble to use for straw. ¹³The slave drivers kept pressing them, saying, “Complete the work required of you for each day, just as when you had straw.” ¹⁴And Pharaoh’s slave drivers beat the Israelite overseers they had appointed,^y demanding, “Why haven’t you met your quota of bricks yesterday or today, as before?”

¹⁵Then the Israelite overseers went and appealed to Pharaoh: “Why have you treated your servants this way? ¹⁶Your servants are given no straw, yet we are told, ‘Make bricks!’ Your servants are being beaten, but the fault is with your own people.”

¹⁷Pharaoh said, “Lazy, that’s what you are—lazy!^z That is why you keep saying, ‘Let us go and sacrifice to the Lord.’ ¹⁸Now get to work.^a You will not be given any straw, yet you must produce your full quota of bricks.”

¹⁹The Israelite overseers realized they were in trouble when they were told, “You are not to reduce the number of bricks required of you for each day.” ²⁰When they left Pharaoh, they found Moses and Aaron waiting to meet them, ²¹and they said, “May the Lord look on you and judge^b you! You have made us obnoxious^c to Pharaoh and his officials and have put a sword^d in their hand to kill us.”^e

God Promises Deliverance

²²Moses returned to the Lord and said, “Why, Lord, why have you brought trouble on this people?^f Is this why you sent me? ²³Ever since I went to Pharaoh to speak in your name, he has brought trouble on this people, and you have not rescued^g your people at all.”

6Then the Lord said to Moses, “Now you will see what I will do to Pharaoh: Because of my mighty hand^h he will let them go;ⁱ because of my mighty hand he will drive them out of his country.”^j

²God also said to Moses, “I am the Lord.^{k 3}I appeared to Abraham, to Isaac and to Jacob as God Almighty,^al but by my name^m the Lord^bn I did not make myself fully known to them. ⁴I also established my covenant^o with them to give them the land^p of Canaan, where they resided as foreigners.^{q 5}Moreover, I have heard the groaning^r of the Israelites, whom the Egyptians are enslaving, and I have remembered my covenant.^s

⁶“Therefore, say to the Israelites: ‘I am the Lord, and I will bring you out from under the yoke of the Egyptians.^t I will free you from being slaves to them, and I will redeem^u you with an outstretched arm^v and with mighty acts of judgment.^{w 7}I will take you as my own people, and I will be your God.^x Then you will know^y that I am the Lord your God, who brought you out from under the yoke of the Egyptians. ⁸And I will bring you to the land^z I swore^a with uplifted hand^b to give to Abraham, to Isaac and to Jacob.^c I will give it to you as a possession. I am the Lord.’ ”^d

⁹Moses reported this to the Israelites, but they did not listen to him because of their discouragement and harsh labor.^e

¹⁰Then the Lord said to Moses, ¹¹“Go, tell^f Pharaoh king of Egypt to let the Israelites go out of his country.”^g

¹²But Moses said to the Lord, “If the Israelites will not listen^h to me, why would Pharaoh listen to me, since I speak with faltering lips^c?”ⁱ

Family Record of Moses and Aaron

¹³Now the Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron about the Israelites and Pharaoh king of Egypt, and he commanded them to bring the Israelites out of Egypt.^j

¹⁴These were the heads of their families^d:^k

The sons of Reuben^l the firstborn son of Israel were Hanok and Pallu, Hezron and Karmi. These were the clans of Reuben.

¹⁵The sons of Simeon^m were Jemuel, Jamin, Ohad, Jakin, Zohar and Shaul the son of a Canaanite woman. These were the clans of Simeon.

¹⁶These were the names of the sons of Leviⁿ according to their records: Gershon,^o Kohath and Merari.^p Levi lived 137 years.

¹⁷The sons of Gershon, by clans, were Libni and Shimei.^q

¹⁸The sons of Kohath^r were Amram, Izhar, Hebron and Uzziel.^s Kohath lived 133 years.

¹⁹The sons of Merari were Mahli and Mushi.^t

These were the clans of Levi according to their records.

²⁰Amram^u married his father’s sister Jochebed, who bore him Aaron and Moses.^v Amram lived 137 years.

²¹The sons of Izhar^w were Korah, Nepheg and Zikri.

²²The sons of Uzziel were Mishael, Elzaphan^x and Sithri.

²³Aaron married Elisheba, daughter of Amminadab^y and sister of Nahshon,^z and she bore him Nadab and Abihu,^a Eleazar^b and Ithamar.^c

²⁴The sons of Korah^d were Assir, Elkanah and Abiasaph. These were the Korahite clans.

²⁵Eleazar son of Aaron married one of the daughters of Putiel, and she bore him Phinehas.^e

These were the heads of the Levite families, clan by clan.

²⁶It was this Aaron and Moses to whom the Lord said, “Bring the Israelites out of Egypt^f by their divisions.”^{g 27}They were the ones who spoke to Pharaoh^h king of Egypt about bringing the Israelites out of Egypt—this same Moses and Aaron.ⁱ

Aaron to Speak for Moses

²⁸Now when the Lord spoke to Moses in Egypt, ²⁹he said to him, “I am the Lord.^j Tell Pharaoh king of Egypt everything I tell you.”

³⁰But Moses said to the Lord, “Since I speak with faltering lips,^k why would Pharaoh listen to me?”

7Then the Lord said to Moses, “See, I have made you like God^l to Pharaoh, and your brother Aaron will be your prophet.^{m 2}You are to say everything I command you, and your brother Aaron is to tell Pharaoh to let the Israelites go out of his country. ³But I will harden Pharaoh’s heart,ⁿ and though I multiply my signs and wonders^o in Egypt, ⁴he will not listen^p to you. Then I will lay my hand on Egypt and with mighty acts of judgment^q I will bring out my divisions,^r my people the Israelites. ⁵And the Egyptians will know that I am the Lord^s when I stretch out my hand^t against Egypt and bring the Israelites out of it.”

⁶Moses and Aaron did just as the Lord commanded^u them. ⁷Moses was eighty years old^v and Aaron eighty-three when they spoke to Pharaoh.

Aaron’s Staff Becomes a Snake

⁸The Lord said to Moses and Aaron, ⁹“When Pharaoh says to you, ‘Perform a miracle,^w’ then say to Aaron, ‘Take your staff and throw it down before Pharaoh,’ and it will become a snake.”^x

¹⁰So Moses and Aaron went to Pharaoh and did just as the Lord commanded. Aaron threw his staff down in front of Pharaoh and his officials, and it became a snake. ¹¹Pharaoh then summoned wise men and sorcerers,^y and the Egyptian magicians^z also did the same things by their secret arts:^{a 12}Each one threw down his staff and it became a snake. But Aaron’s staff swallowed up their staffs. ¹³Yet Pharaoh’s heart^b became hard and he would not listen^c to them, just as the Lord had said.

The Plague of Blood

¹⁴Then the Lord said to Moses, “Pharaoh’s heart is unyielding;^d he refuses to let the people go. ¹⁵Go to Pharaoh in the morning as he goes out to the river.^e Confront him on the bank of the Nile,^f and take in your hand the staff that was changed into a snake. ¹⁶Then say to him, ‘The Lord, the God of the Hebrews, has sent me to say to you: Let my people go, so that they may worship^g me in the wilderness. But until now you have not listened.^{h 17}This is what the Lord says: By this you will know that I am the Lord:ⁱ With the staff that is in my hand I will strike the water of the Nile, and it will be changed into blood.^{j 18}The fish in the Nile will die, and the river will stink;^k the Egyptians will not be able to drink its water.’ ”^l

¹⁹The Lord said to Moses, “Tell Aaron, ‘Take your staff^m and stretch out your handⁿ over the…