Exodus 6

New American Standard Bible

God Promises Action

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

² God spoke further to Moses and said to him, “I am ^(B)the Lord; ³ and I appeared to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob as ^[c](C)God Almighty, but by ^(D)My name, ^[d]Lord, I did not make Myself known to them. ⁴ I also established ^(E)My covenant with them, to give them the land of Canaan, the ^[e]land in which they lived as strangers. ⁵ Furthermore I have ^(F)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, ‘^(G)I am the Lord, and ^(H)I will bring you out from under the labors of the Egyptians, and I will rescue you from their bondage. I will also ^(I)redeem you with ^(J)an outstretched arm, and with great judgments. ⁷ Then I will take you ^[f](K)as My people, and ^(L)I will be ^[g]your God; and ^(M)you shall know that I am the Lord your God, who brought you out from under the labors of the Egyptians. ⁸ I will bring you to the land which ^(N)I ^[h]swore to give to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and ^(O)I will give it to you as a possession; ^(P)I am the Lord.’” ⁹ So Moses said this to the sons of Israel, but they did not listen to Moses on ^(Q)account of their ^[i]despondency and cruel bondage.

¹⁰ Now the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, ¹¹ “^(R)Go, ^[j]tell Pharaoh king of Egypt ^[k]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; ^(S)how then will Pharaoh listen to me, as I am ^[l](T)unskilled in speech?” ¹³ Nevertheless, the Lord spoke to Moses and to Aaron and gave them a command concerning the sons of Israel and 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. ^(U)The sons of Reuben, Israel’s firstborn: Hanoch and Pallu, Hezron and Carmi; these are the families of Reuben. ¹⁵ And the ^(V)sons of Simeon: ^[m]Jemuel, Jamin, Ohad, Jachin, Zohar, and Shaul the son of a Canaanite woman; these are the families of Simeon. ¹⁶ And these are the names of ^(W)the sons of Levi according to their generations: Gershon, Kohath, and Merari; and the ^[n]length of Levi’s life was 137 years. ^17 (X)The sons of Gershon: ^[o]Libni and Shimei, according to their families. ¹⁸ And ^(Y)the sons of Kohath: Amram, Izhar, Hebron, and Uzziel; and the ^[p]length of Kohath’s life was 133 years. ¹⁹ And ^(Z)the sons of Merari: Mahli and Mushi. These are the families of the Levites according to their generations. ²⁰ Now ^(AA)Amram ^[q]married his father’s sister Jochebed, and she bore him Aaron and Moses; and the ^[r]length of Amram’s life was 137 years. ²¹ And ^(AB)the sons of Izhar: Korah, Nepheg, and Zichri. ²² And ^(AC)the sons of Uzziel: Mishael, ^[s]Elzaphan, and Sithri. ²³ Aaron ^[t]married Elisheba, the daughter of ^(AD)Amminadab, the sister of ^(AE)Nahshon, and she bore him ^(AF)Nadab and Abihu, Eleazar and Ithamar. ²⁴ And the ^(AG)sons of Korah: Assir, Elkanah, and ^[u]Abiasaph; these are the families of the Korahites. ²⁵ Now Aaron’s son ^(AH)Eleazar ^[v]married one of the daughters of Putiel, 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 the Lord said, “^(AJ)Bring out the sons of Israel from the land of Egypt according to their ^[w](AK)multitudes.” ²⁷ They were the ones ^(AL)who spoke to Pharaoh king of Egypt ^[x]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, “^(AM)I am the Lord; ^(AN)say to Pharaoh king of Egypt all that I say to you.” ³⁰ But Moses said before the Lord, “Behold, I am ^[y](AO)unskilled in speech; how then will Pharaoh listen to me?”