6 The Lord said to Moses, “Now you will see what I will do to Pharaoh. Because of a mighty hand[a] he will send them away, and because of a mighty hand he will drive them out of his land.”
God Promises Deliverance
2 Then God spoke to Moses, telling him, “I am the Lord. 3 I appeared to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, as God Almighty, but by my name, the Lord, I was not known to them.[b] 4 I also established my covenant with them, to give them the land of Canaan, the land where they were residing as aliens. 5 I certainly have heard the groaning of the Israelites, whom the Egyptians have enslaved, and I have remembered my covenant.
6 “Therefore, tell the Israelites, ‘I am the Lord. I will bring you out from under the forced labor of the Egyptians. I will deliver you from being their slaves. I will redeem you with an outstretched arm and with great acts of judgment. 7 I will take you as my own people, and I will be your God. You will know that I am the Lord your God, the one who brought you out from under the forced labor of the Egyptians. 8 I will bring you to the land which I swore with uplifted hand to give to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob. I will give it to you as a possession. I am the Lord.’”
9 Moses spoke these words to the Israelites, but they did not listen to Moses because of their broken spirit and because of the hard labor. 10 The Lord spoke to Moses: 11 “Go, tell Pharaoh, king of Egypt, to let the Israelites go from his land.”
12 But Moses said in the Lord’s presence, “Look, the Israelites have not listened to me. Why would Pharaoh listen to me, since I am a poor speaker?”[c]
The Family Record of Moses and Aaron
13 The Lord again spoke to Moses and Aaron about the Israelites and about Pharaoh, king of Egypt. He commanded them to bring the Israelites out of the land of Egypt.
14 These were the heads of their fathers’ houses:[d]
The sons of Reuben, the firstborn of Israel, were Hanoch and
Pallu, Hezron and Carmi. These were the founders of the clans
of Reuben.
15 The sons of Simeon were Jemuel, Jamin, Ohad, Jachin, Zohar,
and Shaul, the son of a Canaanite woman. These were the
founders of the clans of Simeon.
16 These were the names of the sons of Levi according to their family records: Gershon, Kohath, and Merari. Levi lived 137 years.
17 The sons of Gershon were Libni and Shimei. They were founders of clans.
18 The sons of Kohath were Amram, Izhar, Hebron, and Uzziel. Kohath lived 133 years.
19 The sons of Merari were Mahli and Mushi.
These were the clans of the Levites according to their family records.
20 Amram[e] married Jochebed, his father’s sister, and she gave birth
to Aaron and Moses for him. Amram lived 137 years.
21 The sons of Izhar were Korah, Nepheg, and Zichri.
22 The sons of Uzziel were Mishael, Elzaphan, and Sithri.
23 Aaron married Elisheba, the daughter of Amminadab and the
sister of Nahshon, and she gave birth to Nadab and Abihu,
Eleazar and Ithamar for him.
24 The sons of Korah were Assir, Elkanah, and Abiasaph. These
were the founders of the clans of the Korahites.
25 Eleazar, the son of Aaron, married one of the daughters of Putiel,
and she gave birth to Phinehas for him.
These were the heads of the fathers’ houses of the Levites that had become clans.
26 These were the Aaron and Moses to whom the Lord said, “Bring out the Israelites from the land of Egypt according to their divisions.”[f] 27 These were the same ones who spoke to Pharaoh, the king of Egypt, in order to bring the Israelites out from Egypt. These were that same Moses and Aaron.
28 On the day that the Lord spoke to Moses in the land of Egypt, 29 the Lord said to him, “I am the Lord. Tell Pharaoh, king of Egypt, everything that I tell you.”
30 But Moses said in the Lord’s presence, “You see, I am a poor speaker. Why would Pharaoh listen to me?”
Footnotes
- Exodus 6:1 Or with a strong hand. The question is whether Pharaoh is forcing them to go, or the Lord is forcing him to let them go.
- Exodus 6:3 The name Lord does appear in Genesis, so perhaps this means that the full impact and meaning of the name were not experienced by the patriarchs as they were during the events of Exodus. Others solve the problem by reading this as an unmarked question: Did I not make myself known to them?
- Exodus 6:12 Literally I am uncircumcised of lips. Also in verse 30.
- Exodus 6:14 In each successive generation, the tribal and clan elders were called the fathers of the clan.
- Exodus 6:20 From Levi to the birth of Moses is over three hundred years. Only three men are named to cover this period: Levi, Kohath, and Amram. If the Amram in verse 18 is the same man as the Amram in verse 20, it is likely that he is a descendant of Kohath rather than his son. Another possibility is that there are two Amrams: one the founder of the clan, the other the father of Moses.
- Exodus 6:26 Or military units