Exodus 6
Living Bible
6 “Now you will see what I shall do to Pharaoh,” the Lord told Moses. “For he must be forced to let my people go; he will not only let them go, but will drive them out of his land! 2-3 I am Jehovah, the Almighty God who appeared to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob—though I did not reveal my name, Jehovah, to them. 4 And I entered into a solemn covenant with them; under its terms I promised to give them and their descendants the land of Canaan where they were living. 5 And now I have heard the groanings of the people of Israel, in slavery now to the Egyptians, and I remember my promise.
6 “Therefore tell the descendants of Israel that I will use my mighty power and perform great miracles to deliver them from slavery and make them free. 7 And I will accept them as my people and be their God. And they shall know that I am Jehovah their God who has rescued them from the Egyptians. 8-9 I will bring them into the land I promised to give to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. It shall belong to my people.”
So Moses told the people what God had said, but they wouldn’t listen anymore because they were too dispirited after the tragic consequence of what he had said before.[a]
10 Now the Lord spoke to Moses again and told him, 11 “Go back again to Pharaoh and tell him that he must let the people of Israel go.”
12 “But look,” Moses objected, “my own people won’t even listen to me anymore; how can I expect Pharaoh to? I’m no orator!”
13 Then the Lord ordered Moses and Aaron to return to the people of Israel and to Pharaoh, king of Egypt, demanding that the people be permitted to leave.
14 These are the names of the heads of the clans of the various tribes of Israel:
The sons of Reuben, Israel’s oldest son: Hanoch, Pallu, Hezron, Carmi.
15 The heads of the clans of the tribe of Simeon: Jemuel, Jamin, Ohad, Jachin, Zohar, Shaul (whose mother was a Canaanite).
16 These are the names of the heads of the clans of the tribe of Levi, in the order of their ages:[b] Gershon, Kohath, Merari. (Levi lived 137 years.)
17 The sons of Gershon were: Libni, Shime-i (and their clans).
18 The sons of Kohath: Amram, Izhar, Hebron, Uzziel. (Kohath lived 133 years.)
19 The sons of Merari: Mahli, Mushi.
The above are the families of the Levites, listed according to their ages.
20 And Amram[c] married Jochebed, his father’s sister; and Aaron and Moses were their sons.
Amram lived to the age of 137.
21 The sons of Izhar: Korah, Nepheg, Zichri.
22 The sons of Uzziel: Misha-el, Elzaphan, Sithri.
23 Aaron married Elisheba, the daughter of Amminadab and sister of Nahshon. Their children were: Nadab, Abihu, Eleazar, Ithamar.
24 The sons of Korah: Assir, Elkanah, Abiasaph.
These are the families within the clan of Korah.
25 Aaron’s son Eleazar married one of the daughters of Puti-el, and Phinehas was one of his children. These are all the names of the heads of the clans of the Levites and the families within the clans.
26 Aaron and Moses, included in that list, are the same Aaron and Moses to whom Jehovah said, “Lead all the people of Israel out of the land of Egypt,” 27 and who went to Pharaoh to ask permission to lead the people from the land, 28-29 and to whom the Lord said, “I am Jehovah. Go in and give Pharaoh the message I have given you.”
30 This is that Moses who argued with the Lord, “I can’t do it; I’m no speaker—why should Pharaoh listen to me?”
Footnotes
- Exodus 6:8 because they were too dispirited after the tragic consequence of what he had said before, literally, “because of their broken spirit and the cruel bondage.”
- Exodus 6:16 in the order of their ages, literally, “according to their generations.” So also in v. 19.
- Exodus 6:20 Amram. See v. 18.
Exodus 6
English Standard Version
God Promises Deliverance
6 But the Lord said to Moses, “Now you shall see what I will do to Pharaoh; for with a strong hand he will send them out, and with (A)a strong hand he will (B)drive them out of his land.”
2 God spoke to Moses and said to him, (C)“I am the Lord. 3 I appeared to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, as (D)God Almighty,[a] but by my name the (E)Lord I did not make myself known to them. 4 (F)I also established my covenant with them (G)to give them the land of Canaan, the land in which they lived as sojourners. 5 Moreover, (H)I have heard the groaning of the people of Israel whom the Egyptians hold as slaves, and I have remembered my covenant. 6 Say therefore to the people of Israel, (I)‘I am the Lord, and (J)I will bring you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians, and I will deliver you from slavery to them, and (K)I will redeem you with an outstretched arm and with great acts of judgment. 7 I (L)will take you to be my people, and (M)I will be your God, and you shall know that (N)I am the Lord your God, who has brought you out (O)from under the burdens of the Egyptians. 8 I will bring you into (P)the land that I (Q)swore to give to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob. I will give it to you for a possession. (R)I am the Lord.’” 9 Moses spoke thus to the people of Israel, but they (S)did not listen to Moses, because of their broken spirit and harsh slavery.
10 So the Lord said to Moses, 11 “Go in, tell Pharaoh king of Egypt to let the people of Israel go out of his land.” 12 But Moses said to the Lord, “Behold, the people of Israel have (T)not listened to me. How then shall Pharaoh listen to me, for (U)I am of uncircumcised lips?” 13 But the Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron and gave them a charge about the people of Israel and about Pharaoh king of Egypt: to bring the people of Israel out of the land of Egypt.
The Genealogy of Moses and Aaron
14 These are the heads of their fathers' houses: the (V)sons of Reuben, the firstborn of Israel: Hanoch, Pallu, Hezron, and Carmi; these are the clans of Reuben. 15 The (W)sons of Simeon: 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 (X)sons of Levi according to their generations: Gershon, Kohath, and Merari, the years of the life of Levi being 137 years. 17 The (Y)sons of Gershon: Libni and Shimei, by their clans. 18 The (Z)sons of Kohath: Amram, Izhar, Hebron, and Uzziel, the years of the life of Kohath being 133 years. 19 The (AA)sons of Merari: Mahli and Mushi. These are the clans of the Levites according to their generations. 20 (AB)Amram took as his wife Jochebed his father's sister, and she bore him Aaron and Moses, the years of the life of Amram being 137 years. 21 (AC)The sons of Izhar: Korah, Nepheg, and Zichri. 22 The (AD)sons of Uzziel: Mishael, Elzaphan, and Sithri. 23 Aaron took as his wife Elisheba, the daughter of (AE)Amminadab and the sister of (AF)Nahshon, and she bore him (AG)Nadab, Abihu, Eleazar, and Ithamar. 24 The (AH)sons of Korah: Assir, Elkanah, and Abiasaph; these are the clans of the Korahites. 25 Eleazar, Aaron's son, took as his wife one of the daughters of Putiel, and (AI)she bore him Phinehas. These are the heads of the fathers' houses of the Levites by their clans.
26 These are the Aaron and Moses (AJ)to whom the Lord said: “Bring out the people of Israel from the land of Egypt (AK)by their hosts.” 27 It was they who spoke to Pharaoh king of Egypt about bringing out the people of Israel from Egypt, this Moses and this Aaron.
28 On the day when the Lord spoke to Moses in the land of Egypt, 29 the Lord said to Moses, (AL)“I am the Lord; (AM)tell Pharaoh king of Egypt all that I say to you.” 30 But Moses said to the Lord, “Behold, (AN)I am of uncircumcised lips. How will Pharaoh listen to me?”
Footnotes
- Exodus 6:3 Hebrew El Shaddai
The Living Bible copyright © 1971 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
The ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. ESV Text Edition: 2025.
