Exodus 6
New King James Version
God Renews His Promise to Israel
6 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Now you shall see what I will do to Pharaoh. For (A)with a strong hand he will let them go, and with a strong hand (B)he will drive them out of his land.”
2 And God spoke to Moses and said to him: “I am [a]the Lord. 3 (C)I appeared to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, as (D)God Almighty, but by My name (E)Lord[b] I was not known to them. 4 (F)I have also [c]established My covenant with them, (G)to give them the land of Canaan, the land of their [d]pilgrimage, (H)in which they were [e]strangers. 5 And (I)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: (J)‘I am the Lord; (K)I will bring you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians, I will (L)rescue you from their bondage, and I will redeem you with [f]an outstretched arm and with great judgments. 7 I will (M)take you as My people, and (N)I will be your God. Then you shall know that I am the Lord your God who brings you out (O)from under the burdens of the Egyptians. 8 And I will bring you into the land which I (P)swore[g] to give to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob; and I will give it to you as a heritage: I am the Lord.’ ” 9 So Moses spoke thus to the children of Israel; (Q)but they did not heed Moses, because of (R)anguish[h] of spirit and cruel bondage.
10 And 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 And Moses spoke before the Lord, saying, “The children of Israel have not heeded me. How then shall Pharaoh heed me, for (S)I am [i]of uncircumcised lips?”
13 Then the Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron, and gave them a (T)command[j] for the children of Israel and for Pharaoh king of Egypt, to bring the children of Israel out of the land of Egypt.
The Family of Moses and Aaron(U)
14 These are the heads of their fathers’ houses: (V)The sons of Reuben, the firstborn of Israel, were Hanoch, Pallu, Hezron, and Carmi. These are the families of Reuben. 15 (W)And the sons of Simeon were [k]Jemuel, Jamin, Ohad, Jachin, Zohar, and Shaul the son of a Canaanite woman. These are the families of Simeon. 16 These are the names of (X)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. 17 (Y)The sons of Gershon were Libni and Shimi according to their families. 18 And (Z)the sons of Kohath were Amram, Izhar, Hebron, and Uzziel. And the years of the life of Kohath were one hundred and thirty-three. 19 (AA)The sons of Merari were Mahli and Mushi. These are the families of Levi according to their generations.
20 Now (AB)Amram took for himself (AC)Jochebed, his father’s sister, as wife; and she bore him (AD)Aaron and Moses. And the years of the life of Amram were one hundred and thirty-seven. 21 (AE)The sons of Izhar were Korah, Nepheg, and Zichri. 22 And (AF)the sons of Uzziel were Mishael, Elzaphan, and Zithri. 23 Aaron took to himself Elisheba, daughter of (AG)Amminadab, sister of Nahshon, as wife; and she bore him (AH)Nadab, Abihu, (AI)Eleazar, and Ithamar. 24 And (AJ)the sons of Korah were Assir, Elkanah, and Abiasaph. These are the families of the Korahites. 25 Eleazar, Aaron’s son, took for himself one of the daughters of Putiel as wife; and (AK)she bore him Phinehas. These are the heads of the fathers’ houses of the Levites according to their families.
26 These are the same Aaron and Moses to whom the Lord said, “Bring out the children of Israel from the land of Egypt according to their (AL)armies.”[l] 27 These are the ones who spoke to Pharaoh king of Egypt, (AM)to bring out the children of Israel from Egypt. These are the same Moses and Aaron.
Aaron Is Moses’ Spokesman
28 And it came to pass, on the day the Lord spoke to Moses in the land of Egypt, 29 that the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, “I am the Lord. (AN)Speak to Pharaoh king of Egypt all that I say to you.”
30 But Moses said before the Lord, “Behold, (AO)I am [m]of uncircumcised lips, and how shall Pharaoh heed me?”
Footnotes
- Exodus 6:2 Heb. YHWH
- Exodus 6:3 Heb. YHWH, traditionally Jehovah
- Exodus 6:4 made or ratified
- Exodus 6:4 sojournings
- Exodus 6:4 sojourners, temporary residents
- Exodus 6:6 Mighty power
- Exodus 6:8 promised, lit. lifted up My hand
- Exodus 6:9 Lit. shortness
- Exodus 6:12 One who does not speak well
- Exodus 6:13 charge
- Exodus 6:15 Nemuel, Num. 26:12
- Exodus 6:26 hosts
- Exodus 6:30 One who does not speak well
Exodus 6
The Message
6 God said to Moses, “Now you’ll see what I’ll do to Pharaoh: With a strong hand he’ll send them out free; with a strong hand he’ll drive them out of his land.”
2-6 God continued speaking to Moses, reassuring him, “I am God. I appeared to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob as The Strong God, but by my name God (I-Am-Present) I was not known to them. I also established my covenant with them to give them the land of Canaan, the country in which they lived as sojourners. But now I’ve heard the groanings of the Israelites whom the Egyptians continue to enslave and I’ve remembered my covenant. Therefore tell the Israelites:
6-8 “I am God. I will bring you out from under the cruel hard labor of Egypt. I will rescue you from slavery. I will redeem you, intervening with great acts of judgment. I’ll take you as my own people and I’ll be God to you. You’ll know that I am God, your God who brings you out from under the cruel hard labor of Egypt. I’ll bring you into the land that I promised to give Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob and give it to you as your own country. I AM God.”
9 But when Moses delivered this message to the Israelites, they didn’t even hear him—they were that beaten down in spirit by the harsh slave conditions.
10-11 Then God said to Moses, “Go and speak to Pharaoh king of Egypt so that he will release the Israelites from his land.”
12 Moses answered God, “Look—the Israelites won’t even listen to me. How do you expect Pharaoh to? And besides, I stutter.”
13 But God again laid out the facts to Moses and Aaron regarding the Israelites and Pharaoh king of Egypt, and he again commanded them to lead the Israelites out of the land of Egypt.
The Family Tree of Moses and Aaron
14 These are the heads of the tribes:
The sons of Reuben, Israel’s firstborn: Hanoch, Pallu, Hezron, and Carmi—these are the families of Reuben.
15 The sons of Simeon: Jemuel, Jamin, Ohad, Jakin, Zohar, and Saul, the son of a Canaanite woman—these are the families of Simeon.
16 These are the names of the sons of Levi in the order of their birth: Gershon, Kohath, and Merari. Levi lived 137 years.
17 The sons of Gershon by family: Libni and Shimei.
18 The sons of Kohath: Amram, Izhar, Hebron, and Uzziel. Kohath lived to be 133.
19 The sons of Merari: Mahli and Mushi.
These are the sons of Levi in the order of their birth.
20 Amram married his aunt Jochebed and she had Aaron and Moses. Amram lived to be 137.
21 The sons of Izhar: Korah, Nepheg, and Zicri.
22 The sons of Uzziel: Mishael, Elzaphan, and Sithri.
23 Aaron married Elisheba, the daughter of Amminadab and sister of Nahshon, and she had Nadab and Abihu, Eleazar and Ithamar.
24 The sons of Korah: Assir, Elkanah, and Abiasaph. These are the families of the Korahites.
25 Aaron’s son Eleazar married one of the daughters of Putiel and she had Phinehas.
These are the heads of the Levite families, family by family.
26-27 This is the Aaron and Moses whom God ordered: “Bring the Israelites out of the land of Egypt clan by clan.” These are the men, Moses and Aaron, who told Pharaoh king of Egypt to release the Israelites from Egypt.
“I’ll Make You as a God to Pharaoh”
28 And that’s how things stood when God next spoke to Moses in Egypt.
29 God addressed Moses, saying, “I am God. Tell Pharaoh king of Egypt everything I say to you.”
30 And Moses answered, “Look at me. I stutter. Why would Pharaoh listen to me?”
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Copyright © 1993, 2002, 2018 by Eugene H. Peterson