Exodus 6

God Promises Deliverance

¹ But the LORD said to Moses, “Now you will see what I will do to Pharaoh, for because of My mighty hand he will let the people go; because of My strong hand he will drive them out of his land.”

² God also told Moses, “I am the LORD.

³ I appeared to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob as God Almighty,¹ but by My name the LORD I did not make Myself known to them.

⁴ I also established My covenant with them to give them the land of Canaan, the land where they lived as foreigners.

⁵ Furthermore, I have heard the groaning of the Israelites, whom the Egyptians are enslaving, and I have remembered My covenant.

⁶ Therefore tell the Israelites: ‘I am the LORD, and I will bring you out from under the yoke of the Egyptians and deliver you from their bondage. I will redeem you with an outstretched arm and with mighty acts of judgment.

⁷ I will take you as My own people, and I will be your God. Then you will know that I am the LORD your God, who brought you out from under the yoke of the Egyptians.

⁸ And I will bring you into the land that I swore to give to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. I will give it to you as a possession. I am the LORD!’”

⁹ Moses relayed this message to the Israelites, but on account of their broken spirit and cruel bondage, they did not listen to him.

¹⁰ So the LORD said to Moses,

¹¹ “Go and tell Pharaoh king of Egypt to let the Israelites go out of his land.”

¹² But in the LORD’s presence Moses replied, “If the Israelites will not listen to me, then why would Pharaoh listen to me, since I am unskilled in speech?²”

¹³ Then the LORD spoke to Moses and Aaron and gave them a charge concerning both the Israelites and Pharaoh king of Egypt, to bring the Israelites out of the land of Egypt.

Genealogies of Moses and Aaron

¹⁴ These were the heads of their fathers’ houses: The sons of Reuben, the firstborn of Israel, were Hanoch and Pallu, Hezron and Carmi. These were the clans of Reuben.

¹⁵ The sons of Simeon were Jemuel, Jamin, Ohad, Jachin, Zohar,³ and Shaul, the son of a Canaanite woman. These were the clans of Simeon.

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

¹⁷ The sons of Gershon were Libni and Shimei, by their 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 records.

²⁰ And Amram married his father’s sister Jochebed, and she bore him Aaron and Moses. Amram lived 137 years.

²¹ The sons of Izhar were Korah, Nepheg, and Zichri.

²² The sons of Uzziel were Mishael, Elzaphan,⁴ and Sithri.

²³ And Aaron married Elisheba, the daughter of Amminadab and sister of Nahshon, and she bore him Nadab and Abihu, Eleazar and Ithamar.

²⁴ The sons of Korah were Assir, Elkanah, and Abiasaph.⁵ These were the clans of the Korahites.

²⁵ Aaron’s son Eleazar married one of the daughters of Putiel, and she bore him Phinehas. These were the heads of the Levite families by their clans.

²⁶ It was this Aaron and Moses to whom the LORD said, “Bring the Israelites out of the land of Egypt by their divisions.”

²⁷ Moses and Aaron were the ones who spoke to Pharaoh king of Egypt in order to bring the Israelites out of Egypt.

²⁸ Now on the day that the LORD spoke to Moses in Egypt,

²⁹ He said to him, “I am the LORD; tell Pharaoh king of Egypt everything I say to you.”

³⁰ But in the LORD’s presence Moses replied, “Since I am unskilled in speech, why would Pharaoh listen to me?”