Exodus 4:18-7:13

New American Standard Bible 1995

¹⁸ Then Moses departed and returned to ^[a]Jethro ^(A)his father-in-law and said to him, “Please, let me go, that I may return to my brethren who are in Egypt, and see if they are still alive.” And Jethro said to Moses, “Go in peace.” ¹⁹ Now the Lord said to Moses in Midian, “Go ^[b]back to Egypt, for ^(B)all the men who were seeking your life are dead.” ²⁰ So Moses took his wife and his ^(C)sons and mounted them on a donkey, and returned to the land of Egypt. Moses also took the ^(D)staff of God in his hand.

²¹ The Lord said to Moses, “When you go ^[c]back to Egypt see that you perform before Pharaoh all ^(E)the wonders which I have put in your ^[d]power; but ^(F)I will harden his heart so that he will not let the people go. ²² Then you shall say to Pharaoh, ‘Thus says the Lord, “^(G)Israel is My son, My firstborn. ²³ So I said to you, ‘^(H)Let My son go that he may serve Me’; but you have refused to let him go. Behold, ^(I)I will kill your son, your firstborn.”’”

²⁴ Now it came about at the lodging place on the way that the Lord met him and ^(J)sought to put him to death. ²⁵ Then Zipporah took ^(K)a flint and cut off her son’s foreskin and ^[e]threw it at Moses’ feet, and she said, “You are indeed a bridegroom of blood to me.” ²⁶ So He let him alone. At that time she said, “You are a bridegroom of blood”—^[f]because of the circumcision.

^27 (L)Now the Lord said to Aaron, “Go to meet Moses in the wilderness.” So he went and met him at the ^(M)mountain of God and kissed him. ^28 (N)Moses told Aaron all the words of the Lord with which He had sent him, and ^(O)all the signs that He had commanded him to do. ²⁹ Then Moses and Aaron went and ^(P)assembled all the elders of the sons of Israel; ³⁰ and ^(Q)Aaron spoke all the words which the Lord had spoken to Moses. He then performed the ^(R)signs in the sight of the people. ³¹ So ^(S)the people believed; and when they heard that the Lord ^[g](T)was concerned about the sons of Israel and that He had seen their affliction, then ^(U)they bowed low and worshiped.

Israel’s Labor Increased

5 And afterward Moses and Aaron came and said to Pharaoh, “^(V)Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, ‘^(W)Let My people go that they may celebrate a feast to Me in the wilderness.’” ² But Pharaoh said, “^(X)Who is the Lord that I should obey His voice to let Israel go? I do not know the Lord, and besides, ^(Y)I will not let Israel go.” ³ Then they said, “^(Z)The God of the Hebrews has met with us. Please, let us go a three days’ journey into the wilderness that we may sacrifice to the Lord our God, otherwise He will fall upon us with pestilence or with the sword.” ⁴ But the king of Egypt said to them, “Moses and Aaron, why do you ^[h]draw the people away from their ^[i]work? Get back to your ^[j](AA)labors!” ⁵ Again Pharaoh said, “Look, ^(AB)the people of the land are now many, and you would have them cease from their labors!” ⁶ So the same day Pharaoh commanded ^(AC)the taskmasters over the people and their ^(AD)foremen, saying, ⁷ “You are no longer to give the people straw to make brick as previously; let them go and gather straw for themselves. ⁸ But the quota of bricks which they were making previously, you shall impose on them; you are not to reduce any of it. Because they are ^(AE)lazy, therefore they cry out, ‘^[k]Let us go and sacrifice to our God.’ ⁹ Let the labor be heavier on the men, and let them work at it so that they will pay no attention to false words.”

¹⁰ So ^(AF)the taskmasters of the people and their foremen went out and spoke to the people, saying, “Thus says Pharaoh, ‘I am not going to give you any straw. ¹¹ You go and get straw for yourselves wherever you can find it, but none of your labor will be reduced.’” ¹² So the people scattered through all the land of Egypt to gather stubble for straw. ¹³ The taskmasters pressed them, saying, “Complete your ^[l]work quota, ^[m]your daily amount, just as when ^[n]you had straw.” ¹⁴ Moreover, ^(AG)the foremen of the sons of Israel, whom Pharaoh’s taskmasters had set over them, ^(AH)were beaten ^[o]and were asked, “Why have you not completed your required amount either yesterday or today in making brick as previously?”

¹⁵ Then the foremen of the sons of Israel came and cried out to Pharaoh, saying, “Why do you deal this way with your servants? ¹⁶ There is no straw given to your servants, yet they keep saying to us, ‘Make bricks!’ And behold, your servants are being beaten; but it is the fault of your own people.” ¹⁷ But he said, “You are ^(AI)lazy, very lazy; therefore you say, ‘Let us go and sacrifice to the Lord.’ ¹⁸ So go now and work; for you will be given no straw, yet you must deliver the quota of bricks.” ¹⁹ The foremen of the sons of Israel saw that they were in trouble ^[p]because they were told, “You must not reduce ^[q]your daily amount of bricks.” ²⁰ When they left Pharaoh’s presence, they met Moses and Aaron as they were ^[r]waiting for them. ^21 (AJ)They said to them, “^(AK)May the Lord look upon you and judge you, for you have ^(AL)made ^[s]us odious in Pharaoh’s sight and in the sight of his servants, to put a sword in their hand to kill us.”

²² Then Moses returned to the Lord and said, “^(AM)O Lord, why have You brought harm to this people? Why did You ever send me? ²³ Ever since I came to Pharaoh to speak in Your name, he has done harm to this people, ^(AN)and You have not delivered Your people at all.”

God Promises Action

6 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Now you shall see what I will do to Pharaoh; for ^[t](AO)under compulsion he will let them go, and ^[u]under compulsion he will drive them out of his land.”

² God spoke further to Moses and said to him, “I am ^(AP)the Lord; ³ and I appeared to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, as ^[v](AQ)God Almighty, but by ^(AR)My name, ^[w]Lord, I did not make Myself known to them. ⁴ I also established ^(AS)My covenant with them, to give them the land of Canaan, the ^[x]land in which they sojourned. ⁵ Furthermore I have ^(AT)heard the groaning of the sons of Israel, because the Egyptians are holding them in bondage, and I have remembered My covenant. ⁶ Say, therefore, to the sons of Israel, ‘^(AU)I am the Lord, and ^(AV)I will bring you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians, and I will deliver you from their bondage. I will also ^(AW)redeem you with ^(AX)an outstretched arm and with great judgments. ⁷ Then I will take you ^[y](AY)for My people, and ^(AZ)I will be ^[z]your God; and ^(BA)you shall know that I am the Lord your God, who brought you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians. ⁸ I will bring you to the land which ^(BB)I ^[aa]swore to give to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and ^(BC)I will give it to you for a possession; ^(BD)I am the Lord.’” ⁹ So Moses spoke thus to the sons of Israel, but they did not listen to Moses on ^(BE)account of their ^[ab]despondency and cruel bondage.

¹⁰ Now the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, ¹¹ “^(BF)Go, ^[ac]tell Pharaoh king of Egypt ^[ad]to let the sons of Israel go out of his land.” ¹² But Moses spoke before the Lord, saying, “Behold, the sons of Israel have not listened to me; ^(BG)how then will Pharaoh listen to me, for I am ^[ae](BH)unskilled in speech?” ¹³ Then the Lord spoke to Moses and to Aaron, and gave them a charge to the sons of Israel and to Pharaoh king of Egypt, to bring the sons of Israel out of the land of Egypt.

The Heads of Israel

¹⁴ These are the heads of their fathers’ households. ^(BI)The sons of Reuben, Israel’s firstborn: Hanoch and Pallu, Hezron and Carmi; these are the families of Reuben. ¹⁵ The ^(BJ)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 ^(BK)the sons of Levi according to their generations: Gershon and Kohath and Merari; and the ^[af]length of Levi’s life was one hundred and thirty-seven years. ^17 (BL)The sons of Gershon: ^[ag]Libni and Shimei, according to their families. ^18 (BM)The sons of Kohath: Amram and Izhar and Hebron and Uzziel; and the ^[ah]length of Kohath’s life was one hundred and thirty-three years. ^19 (BN)The sons of Merari: Mahli and Mushi. These are the families of the Levites according to their generations. ^20 (BO)Amram ^[ai]married his father’s sister Jochebed, and she bore him Aaron and Moses; and the ^[aj]length of Amram’s life was one hundred and thirty-seven years. ^21 (BP)The sons of Izhar: Korah and Nepheg and Zichri. ^22 (BQ)The sons of Uzziel: Mishael and ^[ak]Elzaphan and Sithri. ²³ Aaron ^[al]married Elisheba, the daughter of ^(BR)Amminadab, the sister of ^(BS)Nahshon, and she bore him ^(BT)Nadab and Abihu, Eleazar and Ithamar. ²⁴ The ^(BU)sons of Korah: Assir and Elkanah and ^[am]Abiasaph; these are the families of the Korahites. ²⁵ Aaron’s son ^(BV)Eleazar ^[an]married one of the daughters of Putiel, and she bore him ^(BW)Phinehas. These are the heads of the fathers’ households of the Levites according to their families. ²⁶ It was the same Aaron and Moses to whom the Lord said, “^(BX)Bring out the sons of Israel from the land of Egypt according to their ^(BY)hosts.” ²⁷ They were the ones ^(BZ)who spoke to Pharaoh king of Egypt ^[ao]about bringing out the sons of Israel from Egypt; it was the same Moses and Aaron.

²⁸ Now it came about on the day when the Lord spoke to Moses in the land of Egypt, ²⁹ that the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, “^(CA)I am the Lord; ^(CB)speak to Pharaoh king of Egypt all that I speak to you.” ³⁰ But Moses said before the Lord, “Behold, I am ^[ap](CC)unskilled in speech; how then will Pharaoh listen to me?”

“I Will Stretch Out My Hand”

7 Then the Lord said to Moses, “^(CD)See, I make you as God to Pharaoh, and your brother Aaron shall be your prophet. ² You shall speak all that I command you, and your brother ^(CE)Aaron shall speak to Pharaoh that he let the sons of Israel go out of his land. ³ But ^(CF)I will harden Pharaoh’s heart that I may ^(CG)multiply My signs and My wonders in the land of Egypt. ⁴ When ^(CH)Pharaoh does not listen to you, then I will lay My hand on Egypt and ^(CI)bring out My hosts, My people the sons of Israel, from the land of Egypt by ^(CJ)great judgments. ^5 (CK)The Egyptians shall know that I am the Lord, when I ^(CL)stretch out My hand on Egypt and bring out the sons of Israel from their midst.” ⁶ So Moses and Aaron did it; ^(CM)as the Lord commanded them, thus they did. ⁷ Moses was ^(CN)eighty years old and Aaron ^[aq]eighty-three, when they spoke to Pharaoh.

Aaron’s Rod Becomes a Serpent

⁸ Now the Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron, saying, ⁹ “When Pharaoh speaks to you, saying, ‘^[ar](CO)Work a miracle,’ then you shall say to Aaron, ‘^(CP)Take your staff and throw it down before Pharaoh, that it may become a serpent.’” ¹⁰ So Moses and Aaron came to Pharaoh, and thus they did just as the Lord had commanded; and Aaron threw his staff down before Pharaoh and ^[as]his servants, and it ^(CQ)became a serpent. ¹¹ Then Pharaoh also ^(CR)called for the wise men and the sorcerers, and they also, the ^[at](CS)magicians of Egypt, did ^[au]the same with ^(CT)their secret arts. ¹² For each one threw down his staff and they turned into serpents. But Aaron’s staff swallowed up their staffs. ¹³ Yet ^(CU)Pharaoh’s heart was ^[av]hardened, and he did not listen to them, as the Lord had said.