Exodus 6
New American Bible (Revised Edition)
Chapter 6
1 The Lord answered Moses: Now you will see what I will do to Pharaoh. For by a strong hand, he will let them go; by a strong hand,[a] he will drive them from his land.
Confirmation of the Promise to the Ancestors. 2 [b]Then God spoke to Moses, and said to him: I am the Lord. 3 As God the Almighty[c] I appeared(A) to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, but by my name, 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 in which they were residing as aliens.(B) 5 Now that I have heard the groaning of the Israelites, whom the Egyptians have reduced to slavery, I am mindful of my covenant.(C) 6 Therefore, say to the Israelites: I am the Lord. I will free you from the burdens of the Egyptians and will deliver you from their slavery. I will redeem you by my outstretched arm and with mighty acts of judgment. 7 I will take you as my own people, and I will be your God;(D) and you will know that I, the Lord, am your God who has freed you from the burdens of the Egyptians 8 and I will bring you into the land which I swore to give to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. I will give it to you as your own possession—I, the Lord! 9 But when Moses told this to the Israelites, they would not listen to him because of their dejection and hard slavery.
10 Then the Lord spoke to Moses: 11 Go, tell Pharaoh, king of Egypt, to let the Israelites leave his land. 12 However, Moses protested to the Lord, “If the Israelites did not listen to me, how is it possible that Pharaoh will listen to me, poor speaker[d](E) that I am!” 13 But the Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron regarding the Israelites and Pharaoh, king of Egypt, and charged them to bring the Israelites out of the land of Egypt.
Genealogy of Moses and Aaron. 14 These are the heads of their ancestral houses.[e] The sons of Reuben,(F) the firstborn of Israel: Hanoch, Pallu, Hezron and Carmi; these are the clans of Reuben. 15 The sons of Simeon:(G) 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,(H) in their genealogical order: Gershon, Kohath and Merari. Levi lived one hundred and thirty-seven years.
17 The sons of Gershon,(I) by their clans: Libni and Shimei. 18 The sons of Kohath:(J) Amram, Izhar, Hebron and Uzziel. Kohath lived one hundred and thirty-three years. 19 The sons of Merari:(K) Mahli and Mushi. These are the clans of Levi in their genealogical order.
20 Amram married his aunt[f] Jochebed,(L) who bore him Aaron, Moses, and Miriam. Amram lived one hundred and thirty-seven years. 21 The sons of Izhar: Korah, Nepheg and Zichri. 22 The sons of Uzziel: Mishael, Elzaphan and Sithri. 23 Aaron married Elisheba, Amminadab’s(M) daughter, the sister of Nahshon; she bore him Nadab, Abihu, Eleazar and Ithamar. 24 The sons of Korah: Assir, Elkanah and Abiasaph. These are the clans of the Korahites. 25 Eleazar, Aaron’s son, married one of Putiel’s daughters, who bore him Phinehas.[g] These are the heads of the ancestral houses of the Levites by their clans. 26 These are the Aaron and the Moses to whom the Lord said, “Bring the Israelites out from the land of Egypt, company by company.” 27 They are the ones who spoke to Pharaoh, king of Egypt, to bring the Israelites out of Egypt—the same Moses and Aaron.
28 When the Lord spoke to Moses in the land of Egypt 29 the Lord said to Moses: I am the Lord. Say to Pharaoh, king of Egypt, all that I tell you. 30 But Moses protested to the Lord, “Since I am a poor speaker, how is it possible that Pharaoh will listen to me?”
Footnotes
- 6:1 By a strong hand: by God’s hand or Pharaoh’s hand? The Hebrew is ambiguous; although it may be an allusion to God’s hand of 3:19–20, both interpretations are possible.
- 6:2–7:7 According to the standard source criticism of the Pentateuch, 6:2–7:7 represents a Priestly version of the JE call narrative in 3:1–4:17. But in context the present account does more than simply repeat the earlier passage. See note below.
- 6:3 God the Almighty: in Hebrew, El Shaddai. This traditional translation does not have a firm philological basis. But by my name…I did not make myself known to them: although the text implies that the name Lord was unknown previously, in context the emphasis in the passage falls on the understanding of God that comes with knowledge of the name. In this way God responds to the worsening plight of the Israelites and Moses’ complaint in 5:23 that God has done nothing at all to rescue them.
- 6:12 Poor speaker: lit., “uncircumcised of lips”: a metaphor expressing the hindrance of good communication expressed as “slow of speech and tongue” (4:10). Also used as a metaphor for impeded “heart” (Lv 26:41; Dt 10:16).
- 6:14 The purpose of the genealogy here is to give the line from which Moses and Aaron sprang, with special emphasis placed on the line of Aaron. Reuben and Simeon are mentioned first because, as older brothers of Levi, their names occur before his in the genealogy.
- 6:20 His aunt: more exactly, “his father’s sister.” Later on such a marriage was forbidden. Cf. Lv 18:12. Hence, the Greek and Latin versions render here, “his cousin.”
- 6:25 Phinehas: according to Nm 25:13, Phinehas was given by God “the covenant of an everlasting priesthood” because of his zeal for God when the Israelites committed apostasy by worshiping the Baal of Peor in the plains of Moab (see Nm 25:1–18).
Exodus 6
Modern English Version
6 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Now you shall see what I will do to Pharaoh, for with a strong hand shall he let them go, and with a strong hand shall he drive them out of his land.”
2 Then God spoke to Moses, and said to him, “I am the Lord, 3 and I appeared to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, by the name of God Almighty, but by My name, The Lord, 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 pilgrimage, wherein they sojourned. 5 I have also heard the groaning of the children of Israel, whom the Egyptians keep in bondage, and I have remembered My covenant.
6 “Therefore say to the children of Israel: ‘I am the Lord, and I will bring you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians, and I will rid you out of their bondage, and I will redeem you with a stretched-out arm and with great judgments. 7 And I will take you to Me for a people, and I will be to you a 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 for a heritage. I am the Lord.’ ”
9 Moses spoke so to the children of Israel, but they did not listen to Moses on account of their anguish of spirit and for cruel bondage.
10 The Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 11 “Go in, tell Pharaoh king of Egypt to let the children of Israel go out of his land.”
12 Moses spoke before the Lord, saying, “The children of Israel have not listened to me. How then shall Pharaoh listen to me, as I am of uncircumcised lips?”
13 And the Lord spoke to Moses and to Aaron, and gave them a command for the children of Israel, and for Pharaoh, king of Egypt, to bring the children of Israel out of the land of Egypt.
The Genealogy of Moses and Aaron
14 These are the heads of their fathers’ houses:
The sons of Reuben the firstborn of Israel: Hanok, Pallu, Hezron, and Karmi. These are the families of Reuben.
15 The sons of Simeon: Jemuel, Jamin, Ohad, Jakin, 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 generations: Gershon, Kohath, and Merari, and the years of the life of Levi were one hundred and thirty-seven years.
17 The sons of Gershon: Libni, and Shimei, according to their families.
18 The sons of Kohath: Amram, Izhar, Hebron, and Uzziel, and the years of the life of Kohath were one hundred and thirty-three years.
19 The sons of Merari: Mahli and Mushi.
These are the families of Levi according to their generations.
20 Now Amram married Jochebed his father’s sister, and she bore him Aaron and Moses. And the years of the life of Amram were one hundred and thirty-seven years.
21 The sons of Izhar: Korah, Nepheg, and Zikri.
22 The sons of Uzziel: Mishael, Elzaphan, and Sithri.
23 Aaron took to himself Elisheba, daughter of Amminadab, sister of Nahshon, to wife; and she bore him Nadab, Abihu, Eleazar, and Ithamar.
24 The sons of Korah: Assir, Elkanah, and Abiasaph. These are the families of the Korahites.
25 Eleazar, Aaron’s son, married one of the daughters of Putiel, and she bore him Phinehas.
These are the heads of the fathers of the Levites according to their families.
26 It was that Aaron and Moses to whom the Lord said, “Bring out the children of Israel from the land of Egypt according to their armies.” 27 They are the ones who spoke to Pharaoh king of Egypt to bring out the children of Israel from Egypt. It was that Moses and Aaron.
Aaron to Speak for Moses
28 On the day when the Lord spoke to Moses in the land of Egypt, 29 the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, “I am the Lord. Speak to Pharaoh the king of Egypt all that I say to you.”
30 However, Moses said before the Lord, “Listen! I am unskilled in speech, so how will Pharaoh listen to me?”
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The Holy Bible, Modern English Version. Copyright © 2014 by Military Bible Association. Published and distributed by Charisma House.