God Renews His Promise to Israel

Then the Lord said to Moses, “Now you shall see what I will do to Pharaoh. For (A)with a strong hand he will let them go, and with a strong hand (B)he will drive them out of his land.”

And God spoke to Moses and said to him: “I am [a]the Lord. (C)I appeared to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, as (D)God Almighty, but by My name (E)Lord[b] I was not known to them. (F)I have also [c]established My covenant with them, (G)to give them the land of Canaan, the land of their [d]pilgrimage, (H)in which they were [e]strangers. And (I)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: (J)‘I am the Lord; (K)I will bring you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians, I will (L)rescue you from their bondage, and I will redeem you with [f]an outstretched arm and with great judgments. I will (M)take you as My people, and (N)I will be your God. Then you shall know that I am the Lord your God who brings you out (O)from under the burdens of the Egyptians. And I will bring you into the land which I (P)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; (Q)but they did not heed Moses, because of (R)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 (S)I am [i]of uncircumcised lips?”

13 Then the Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron, and gave them a (T)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(U)

14 These are the heads of their fathers’ houses: (V)The sons of Reuben, the firstborn of Israel, were Hanoch, Pallu, Hezron, and Carmi. These are the families of Reuben. 15 (W)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 (X)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 (Y)The sons of Gershon were Libni and Shimi according to their families. 18 And (Z)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 (AA)The sons of Merari were Mahli and Mushi. These are the families of Levi according to their generations.

20 Now (AB)Amram took for himself (AC)Jochebed, his father’s sister, as wife; and she bore him (AD)Aaron and Moses. And the years of the life of Amram were one hundred and thirty-seven. 21 (AE)The sons of Izhar were Korah, Nepheg, and Zichri. 22 And (AF)the sons of Uzziel were Mishael, Elzaphan, and Zithri. 23 Aaron took to himself Elisheba, daughter of (AG)Amminadab, sister of Nahshon, as wife; and she bore him (AH)Nadab, Abihu, (AI)Eleazar, and Ithamar. 24 And (AJ)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 (AK)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 (AL)armies.”[l] 27 These are the ones who spoke to Pharaoh king of Egypt, (AM)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. (AN)Speak to Pharaoh king of Egypt all that I say to you.”

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

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

Then the Lord said to Moses, “Now you will see what I will do to Pharaoh: Because of my mighty hand(A) he will let them go;(B) because of my mighty hand he will drive them out of his country.”(C)

God also said to Moses, “I am the Lord.(D) I appeared to Abraham, to Isaac and to Jacob as God Almighty,[a](E) but by my name(F) the Lord[b](G) I did not make myself fully known to them. I also established my covenant(H) with them to give them the land(I) of Canaan, where they resided as foreigners.(J) Moreover, I have heard the groaning(K) of the Israelites, whom the Egyptians are enslaving, and I have remembered my covenant.(L)

“Therefore, say to the Israelites: ‘I am the Lord, and I will bring you out from under the yoke of the Egyptians.(M) I will free you from being slaves to them, and I will redeem(N) you with an outstretched arm(O) and with mighty acts of judgment.(P) I will take you as my own people, and I will be your God.(Q) Then you will know(R) that I am the Lord your God, who brought you out from under the yoke of the Egyptians. And I will bring you to the land(S) I swore(T) with uplifted hand(U) to give to Abraham, to Isaac and to Jacob.(V) I will give it to you as a possession. I am the Lord.’”(W)

Moses reported this to the Israelites, but they did not listen to him because of their discouragement and harsh labor.(X)

10 Then the Lord said to Moses, 11 “Go, tell(Y) Pharaoh king of Egypt to let the Israelites go out of his country.”(Z)

12 But Moses said to the Lord, “If the Israelites will not listen(AA) to me, why would Pharaoh listen to me, since I speak with faltering lips[c]?”(AB)

Family Record of Moses and Aaron

13 Now 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.(AC)

14 These were the heads of their families[d]:(AD)

The sons of Reuben(AE) the firstborn son of Israel were Hanok and Pallu, Hezron and Karmi. These were the clans of Reuben.

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

16 These were the names of the sons of Levi(AG) according to their records: Gershon,(AH) Kohath and Merari.(AI) Levi lived 137 years.

17 The sons of Gershon, by clans, were Libni and Shimei.(AJ)

18 The sons of Kohath(AK) were Amram, Izhar, Hebron and Uzziel.(AL) Kohath lived 133 years.

19 The sons of Merari were Mahli and Mushi.(AM)

These were the clans of Levi according to their records.

20 Amram(AN) married his father’s sister Jochebed, who bore him Aaron and Moses.(AO) Amram lived 137 years.

21 The sons of Izhar(AP) were Korah, Nepheg and Zikri.

22 The sons of Uzziel were Mishael, Elzaphan(AQ) and Sithri.

23 Aaron married Elisheba, daughter of Amminadab(AR) and sister of Nahshon,(AS) and she bore him Nadab and Abihu,(AT) Eleazar(AU) and Ithamar.(AV)

24 The sons of Korah(AW) were Assir, Elkanah and Abiasaph. These were the Korahite clans.

25 Eleazar son of Aaron married one of the daughters of Putiel, and she bore him Phinehas.(AX)

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

26 It was this Aaron and Moses to whom the Lord said, “Bring the Israelites out of Egypt(AY) by their divisions.”(AZ) 27 They were the ones who spoke to Pharaoh(BA) king of Egypt about bringing the Israelites out of Egypt—this same Moses and Aaron.(BB)

Aaron to Speak for Moses

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

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

Footnotes

  1. Exodus 6:3 Hebrew El-Shaddai
  2. Exodus 6:3 See note at 3:15.
  3. Exodus 6:12 Hebrew I am uncircumcised of lips; also in verse 30
  4. Exodus 6:14 The Hebrew for families here and in verse 25 refers to units larger than clans.