Exodus 5:22-6:13

International Standard Version

²² So Moses returned to the Lord and asked him, “Lord, why have you caused trouble for this people? Why have you sent me here? ²³ Ever since I came to Pharaoh to speak in your name, he has caused trouble for this people, and you have done nothing to deliver your people.”

God Promises to Deliver Israel

6 The Lord told Moses, “Now you’re about to see what I’ll do to Pharaoh. Indeed, he’ll send them out under compulsion^[a] and he’ll drive them out of his land violently.”^[b]

² Later, God told Moses, “I am the Lord. ³ I appeared to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob as God Almighty,^[c] and did I not reveal to them my name ‘Lord’? ⁴ I also established my covenant with them to give them the land of Canaan, the land where they lived as resident aliens for a time. ⁵ Also, I’ve heard the groaning of the Israelis whom the Egyptians have forced to labor for them, and I’ve remembered my covenant. ⁶ Therefore, tell the Israelis, ‘I am the Lord. I’ll bring you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians, and I’ll deliver you from their bondage. I’ll redeem you with an outstretched arm and with great acts of judgment.^{[d] 7} I’ll take you for my own people,^[e] and I’ll be your God. Then you will know that I am the Lord your God, who brings you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians. ⁸ I’ll bring you to the land that I swore^[f] to give to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob. I’ll give it to you as a possession. I am the Lord.’”

⁹ Then Moses reported this to the Israelis, but they did not listen to Moses due to their irritation and impatience because there was no deliverance^[g] and because of the cruel bondage.

¹⁰ Then the Lord told Moses, ¹¹ “Go, speak to Pharaoh, king of Egypt, that he should let the Israelis go out of his land.”

¹² Then Moses said right in front of the Lord, “Look, the Israelis didn’t listen to me, so how will Pharaoh? I’m not a persuasive speaker.”^{[h] 13} Then the Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron, issuing orders to them regarding the Israelis for delivery to Pharaoh, king of Egypt; that is, to bring the Israelis out of the land of Egypt.