God Promises Deliverance
1 The Lord said to Moses, “Now you shall see what I will do to Pharaoh, for by my mighty hand he shall let them go, and by my strong hand he shall drive them out of his land.”
2 God spoke to Moses and said to him, “I am the Lord. 3 I appeared to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, as God Almighty; but by my name, Yahweh, I was not known to them. 4 I have also established my covenant with them, to give them the land of Canaan, the land of their sojourning, in which they were foreigners. 5 Moreover I have heard the groaning of the Israelites, whom the Egyptians keep in bondage, and I have remembered my covenant.
6 Therefore tell the Israelites, ‘I am the Lord, and I will bring you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians, and I will release you from their bondage, and I will redeem you with an outstretched arm, and with mighty acts of judgment. 7 I will take you to myself as a people. I will be your God, and you shall know that I am the Lord your God, who brings you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians. 8 I will bring you into the land which I swore to give to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, and I will give it to you as a heritage. I am the Lord.’ ”
9 Moses told this to the Israelites, but they did not listen to Moses because of their discouragement and cruel bondage.
Moses and Aaron Sent to Pharoah
10 The Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 11 “Go, tell Pharaoh king of Egypt to let the Israelites go out of his land.”
12 Moses spoke before the Lord, saying, “The Israelites have not listened to me. How then will Pharaoh listen to me, when I am deficient in speech?”
Genealogies of Moses and Aaron
13 The Lord spoke to Moses and to Aaron and gave a command to the Israelites and to Pharaoh king of Egypt, to bring the Israelites out of the land of Egypt.
14 These are the heads of their fathers’ households:
The sons of Reuben the firstborn of Israel:
Hanoch, and Pallu, Hezron, and Carmi,
These are the families of Reuben.
15 The sons of Simeon:
Jemuel, and Jamin, and Ohad, and Jachin,
and Zohar, and Shaul the son of a Canaanite woman.
These are the families of Simeon.
16 These are the names of the sons of Levi according to their genealogy:
Gershon, and Kohath, and Merari;
and Levi lived 137 years.
17 The sons of Gershon:
Libni and Shimei, according to their clans.
18 The sons of Kohath:
Amram, and Izhar, and Hebron,
and Uzziel; Kohath lived 133 years.
19 The sons of Merari: Mahli and Mushi.
These are the families of the Levites
according to their genealogy.
20 Amram took Jochebed his father’s sister to himself as wife,
and she bore him Aaron and Moses.
Amram lived 137 years.
21 The sons of Izhar:
Korah, and Nepheg, and Zichri.
22 The sons of Uzziel: Mishael, and Elzaphan, and Sithri.
23 Aaron took Elisheba, the daughter of Amminadab, the sister of Nahshon, as his wife,
and she bore him Nadab and Abihu, Eleazar and Ithamar.
24 The sons of Korah: Assir, and Elkanah, and Abiasaph;
these are the families of the Korahites.
25 Eleazar Aaron’s son took one of the daughters of Putiel as his wife,
and she bore him Phinehas.
These are the heads of the fathers’ houses of the Levites according to their families.
Moses and Aaron’s Story Recounted
26 These are the ones, Aaron and Moses, to whom the Lord said, “Bring the Israelites out from the land of Egypt according to their armies.” 27 These are the ones who spoke to Pharaoh king of Egypt, to bring the Israelites out from Egypt. These are the same Moses and Aaron.
28 On the day when the Lord spoke to Moses in the land of Egypt, 29 he said to Moses, “I am the Lord. Tell Pharaoh king of Egypt all that I tell you.”
30 Moses said before the Lord, “I am deficient in speech. How will Pharaoh listen to me?”