6:1 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Now you will see what I will do to Pharaoh,1 for with a strong hand2 he will release them, and with a strong hand he will drive them out of his land.”3
6:2 God spoke4 to Moses and said to him, “I am the Lord.5 6:3 I appeared to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob as6 God Almighty,7 but by8 my name ‘the Lord’9 I was not known to them.10 6:4 I also established my covenant with them11 to give them the land of Canaan, in which they were living as resident aliens.12 6:5 I13 have also heard14 the groaning of the Israelites, whom the Egyptians are enslaving,15 and I have remembered my covenant.16 6:6 Therefore, say to the Israelites, ‘I am the Lord. I will bring you out17 from under the burdens of the Egyptians, I will rescue you from the hard labor they impose,18 and I will redeem you with an outstretched arm and with great judgments. 6:7 I will take you to myself for a people, and I will be your God.19 Then you will know that I am the Lord your God, who brought you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians. 6:8 I will bring you to the land I swore to give20 to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob—and I will give it to you21 as a possession. I am the Lord!’”
6:922 Moses told this23 to the Israelites, but they did not listen to him24 because of their discouragement25 and hard labor. 6:10 Then the Lord said to Moses, 6:11 “Go, tell Pharaoh king of Egypt that he must release26 the Israelites from his land.” 6:12 But Moses responded to27 the Lord, “If the Israelites did not listen to me, then28 how will Pharaoh listen to me, since29 I speak with difficulty?”30
6:13 The Lord spoke31 to Moses and Aaron and gave them a charge32 for the Israelites and Pharaoh king of Egypt to bring the Israelites out of the land of Egypt.
The Ancestry of the Deliverer
6:1433 These are the heads of their fathers’ households:34
The sons35 of Reuben, the firstborn son of Israel, were Hanoch and Pallu, Hezron and Carmi. These were the clans36 of Reuben.
6:15 The sons of Simeon were Jemuel, Jamin, Ohad, Jakin, Zohar, and Shaul, the son of a Canaanite woman. These were the clans of Simeon.
6:16 Now these are the names of the sons of Levi, according to their records:37 Gershon, Kohath, and Merari. (The length of Levi’s life was one hundred thirty-seven years.)
6:17 The sons of Gershon, by their families, were Libni and Shimei.
6:18 The sons of Kohath were Amram, Izhar, Hebron, and Uzziel. (The length of Kohath’s life was one hundred thirty-three years.)
6:19 The sons of Merari were Mahli and Mushi. These were the clans of Levi, according to their records.
6:20 Amram married38 his father’s sister Jochebed, and she bore him Aaron and Moses. (The length of Amram’s life was one hundred thirty-seven years.)
6:21 The sons of Izhar were Korah, Nepheg, and Zikri.
6:22 The sons of Uzziel were Mishael, Elzaphan, and Sithri.
6:23 Aaron married Elisheba, the daughter of Amminadab and sister of Nahshon, and she bore him Nadab and Abihu, Eleazar and Ithamar.
6:24 The sons of Korah were Assir, Elkanah, and Abiasaph. These were the Korahite clans.
6:25 Now Eleazar son of Aaron married one of the daughters of Putiel and she bore him Phinehas.
These are the heads of the fathers’ households39 of Levi according to their clans.
6:26 It was the same Aaron and Moses to whom the Lord said, “Bring the Israelites out of the land of Egypt according to their regiments.”40 6:27 They were the men who were speaking to Pharaoh king of Egypt, in order to bring the Israelites out of Egypt. It was the same Moses and Aaron.
The Authentication of the Word
6:2841 When42 the Lord spoke to Moses in the land of Egypt, 6:29 he said to him,43 “I am the Lord. Tell44 Pharaoh king of Egypt all that45 I am telling46 you.” 6:30 But Moses said before the Lord, “Since I speak with difficulty,47 why should Pharaoh listen to me?”