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Yahweh Remembers His Covenant

Then Yahweh said to Moses, “Now you shall see what I will do to Pharaoh; for (A)by a strong hand he will let them go, and by a strong hand he will drive them out of his land.”

God spoke further to Moses and said to him, “I am (B)Yahweh; and I appeared to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, as [a](C)God Almighty, but by (D)My name, Yahweh, I was not known to them. And I also established (E)My covenant with them, to give them the land of Canaan, the [b]land in which they sojourned. Furthermore I have (F)heard the groaning of the sons of Israel because the Egyptians are holding them in slavery, and I have remembered My covenant. Say, therefore, to the sons of Israel, ‘(G)I am Yahweh, and (H)I will bring you out from under the hard labors of the Egyptians, and I will deliver you from their slavery. I will also (I)redeem you with (J)an outstretched arm and with great judgments. Then I will take you [c](K)for My people, and (L)I will be [d]your God; and (M)you shall know that I am Yahweh your God, who brought you out from under the hard labors of the Egyptians. And I will bring you to the land which (N)I [e]swore to give to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, and (O)I will give it to you for a possession; (P)I am Yahweh.’” So Moses spoke thus to the sons of Israel, but they did not listen to Moses on (Q)account of their weakness of spirit and [f]hard slavery.

10 Now Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, 11 (R)Come, [g]tell Pharaoh king of Egypt [h]to let the sons of Israel go out of his land.” 12 But Moses spoke before Yahweh, saying, “Behold, the sons of Israel have not listened to me; (S)how then will Pharaoh listen to me, for I am of (T)uncircumcised lips?” 13 Then Yahweh spoke to Moses and to Aaron and gave them a command for the sons of Israel and for Pharaoh king of Egypt, to bring the sons of Israel out of the land of Egypt.

The Heads of Israel’s Households

14 These are the heads of their fathers’ households.

(U)The sons of Reuben, Israel’s firstborn:
Hanoch and Pallu, Hezron and Carmi; these are the families of Reuben.
15 The (V)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 (W)the sons of Levi according to their generations:
Gershon and Kohath and Merari; and the years of Levi’s life were 137 years.
17 (X)The sons of Gershon:
[i]Libni and Shimei, according to their families.
18 (Y)The sons of Kohath:
Amram and Izhar and Hebron and Uzziel; and the years of Kohath’s life were 133 years.
19 (Z)The sons of Merari:
Mahli and Mushi.
These are the families of the Levites according to their generations.
20 (AA)And Amram took his father’s sister Jochebed as a wife, and she bore him Aaron and Moses; and the years of Amram’s life were 137 years.
21 (AB)The sons of Izhar:
Korah and Nepheg and Zichri.
22 (AC)The sons of Uzziel:
Mishael and [j]Elzaphan and Sithri.
23 And Aaron took Elisheba, the daughter of (AD)Amminadab, the sister of (AE)Nahshon, as a wife, and she bore him (AF)Nadab and Abihu, Eleazar and Ithamar.
24 The (AG)sons of Korah:
Assir and Elkanah and [k]Abiasaph; these are the families of the Korahites.

25 And Aaron’s son (AH)Eleazar took one of the daughters of Putiel as a wife, and she bore him (AI)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 Yahweh said, “(AJ)Bring out the sons of Israel from the land of Egypt according to their (AK)hosts.” 27 They were the ones (AL)who spoke to Pharaoh king of Egypt to bring out the sons of Israel from Egypt; it was the same Moses and Aaron.

Aaron Will Speak for Moses

28 Now it happened on the day when Yahweh spoke to Moses in the land of Egypt, 29 that Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, “(AM)I am Yahweh; (AN)speak to Pharaoh king of Egypt all that I am speaking to you.” 30 But Moses said before Yahweh, “Behold, I am of (AO)uncircumcised lips; how then will Pharaoh listen to me?”

Footnotes

  1. Exodus 6:3 Heb El Shaddai
  2. Exodus 6:4 Lit land of their sojournings in which...
  3. Exodus 6:7 Lit to Me for a people
  4. Exodus 6:7 Lit to you for a God
  5. Exodus 6:8 Lit lifted up My hand
  6. Exodus 6:9 Lit stiff
  7. Exodus 6:11 Lit speak to
  8. Exodus 6:11 Lit that he let
  9. Exodus 6:17 In 1 Chr 23:7, Ladan
  10. Exodus 6:22 In Num 3:30, Elizaphan
  11. Exodus 6:24 In 1 Chr 6:23 and 9:19, Ebiasaph

But the Lord replied to Moses, “Now you will see what I will do to Pharaoh: because of a strong hand he will let them go, and because of a strong hand he will drive them from his land.”(A)

God Promises Freedom

Then God spoke to Moses, telling him, “I am the Lord. I appeared to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob as God Almighty, but I was not known to them by my name ‘the Lord.’[a](B) I also established my covenant with them to give them the land of Canaan, the land they lived in as aliens.(C) Furthermore, I have heard the groaning of the Israelites, whom the Egyptians are forcing to work as slaves, and I have remembered(D) my covenant.

“Therefore tell the Israelites: I am the Lord, and I will bring you out from the forced labor of the Egyptians and rescue you from slavery to them. I will redeem you with an outstretched arm(E) and great acts of judgment. I will take you as my people,(F) and I will be your God. You will know(G) that I am the Lord your God, who brought you out from the forced labor of the Egyptians. I will bring you to the land that I swore[b](H) to give to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and I will give it to you as a possession. I am the Lord.” Moses told this to the Israelites, but they did not listen(I) to him because of their broken spirit and hard labor.

10 Then the Lord spoke to Moses, 11 “Go and tell Pharaoh king of Egypt to let the Israelites go from his land.”

12 But Moses said in the Lord’s presence, “If the Israelites will not listen to me, then how will Pharaoh listen to me, since I am such a poor speaker?” [c](J) 13 Then the Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron and gave them commands concerning both the Israelites and Pharaoh king of Egypt to bring the Israelites out of the land of Egypt.

Genealogy of Moses and Aaron

14 These are the heads of their fathers’ families:

The sons of Reuben,(K) the firstborn of Israel:

Hanoch and Pallu, Hezron and Carmi.

These are the clans of Reuben.

15 The sons of Simeon:(L)

Jemuel, Jamin, Ohad, Jachin,

Zohar, and Shaul, the son of a Canaanite woman.

These are the clans of Simeon.

16 These are the names of the sons of Levi

according to their family records;

Gershon, Kohath, and Merari.(M)

Levi lived 137 years.

17 The sons of Gershon:

Libni and Shimei, by their clans.

18 The sons of Kohath:

Amram, Izhar, Hebron, and Uzziel.

Kohath lived 133 years.

19 The sons of Merari:

Mahli and Mushi.

These are the clans of the Levites(N)

according to their family records.

20 Amram married his father’s sister Jochebed,

and she bore him Aaron and Moses.(O)

Amram lived 137 years.

21 The sons of Izhar:(P)

Korah, Nepheg, and Zichri.

22 The sons of Uzziel:

Mishael, Elzaphan,(Q) and Sithri.

23 Aaron married Elisheba,

daughter of Amminadab(R) and sister of Nahshon.

She bore him Nadab and Abihu, Eleazar and Ithamar.(S)

24 The sons of Korah:(T)

Assir, Elkanah, and Abiasaph.

These are the clans of the Korahites.

25 Aaron’s son Eleazar married

one of the daughters of Putiel,

and she bore him Phinehas.(U)

These are the heads of the Levite families by their clans.

26 It was this Aaron and Moses whom the Lord told, “Bring the Israelites out of the land of Egypt according to their military divisions.”(V) 27 Moses and Aaron were the ones who spoke to Pharaoh king of Egypt in order to bring the Israelites out of Egypt.

Moses and Aaron before Pharaoh

28 On the day the Lord spoke to Moses in the land of Egypt, 29 he said to him, “I am the Lord;(W) tell Pharaoh king of Egypt everything I am telling you.”

30 But Moses replied in the Lord’s presence, “Since I am such a poor speaker,(X) how will Pharaoh listen to me?”

Footnotes

  1. 6:3 Lord (in small capitals) stands for the personal name of God, which in Hb is Yahweh. There is a long tradition of substituting “Lord” for “Yahweh” out of reverence.
  2. 6:8 Lit raised my hand
  3. 6:12 Lit I have uncircumcised lips, also in v. 30