God Promises Freedom

2Then God spoke to Moses, telling him, “I am •Yahweh. 3I appeared to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob as •God Almighty, but I did not reveal My name Yahweh to them.b 4I also established My covenant with them to give them the land of Canaan, the land they lived in as foreigners.c 5Furthermore, I have heard the groaning of the Israelites, whom the Egyptians are forcing to work as slaves, and I have rememberedd My covenant.

6“Therefore tell the Israelites: I am Yahweh, and I will deliver you from the forced labor of the Egyptians and free you from slavery to them. I will redeem you with an outstretched arme and great acts of judgment. 7I will take you as My people,f and I will be your God. You will knowg that I am Yahweh your God, who delivered you from the forced labor of the Egyptians. 8I will bring you to the land that I sworeh, i to give to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and I will give it to you as a possession. I am Yahweh.” 9Moses told this to the Israelites, but they did not listenj to him because of their broken spirit and hard labor.

10Then the LORD spoke to Moses, 11“Go and tell Pharaoh king of Egypt to let the Israelites go from his land.”

12But Moses said in the LORD’s presence: “If the Israelites will not listen to me, then how will Pharaoh listen to me, since I am such a poor speaker? ”k, l 13Then the LORD spoke to Moses and Aaron and gave them commands concerning both the Israelites and Pharaoh king of Egypt to bring the Israelites out of the land of Egypt.

Genealogy of Moses and Aaron

14These are the heads of their fathers’ families:

The sons of Reuben,m the firstborn of Israel:

Hanoch and Pallu, Hezron and Carmi.

These are the clans of Reuben.

15The sons of Simeon:n

Jemuel, Jamin, Ohad, Jachin,

Zohar, and Shaul, the son of a Canaanite woman.

These are the clans of Simeon.

16These are the names of the sons of Levi

according to their genealogy:

Gershon, Kohath, and Merari.o

Levi lived 137 years.

17The sons of Gershon:

Libni and Shimei, by their clans.

18The sons of Kohath:

Amram, Izhar, Hebron, and Uzziel.

Kohath lived 133 years.

19The sons of Merari:

Mahli and Mushi.

These are the clans of the Levitesp

according to their genealogy.

20Amram married his father’s sister Jochebed,

and she bore him Aaron and Moses.q

Amram lived 137 years.

21The sons of Izhar:r

Korah, Nepheg, and Zichri.

22The sons of Uzziel:

Mishael, Elzaphan,s and Sithri.

23Aaron married Elisheba,

daughter of Amminadabt and sister of Nahshon.

She bore him Nadab and Abihu, Eleazar and Ithamar.u

24The sons of Korah:v

Assir, Elkanah, and Abiasaph.

These are the clans of the Korahites.

25Aaron’s son Eleazar married

one of the daughters of Putiel

and she bore him Phinehas.w

These are the heads of the Levite families by their clans.

26It was this Aaron and Moses whom the LORD told, “Bring the Israelites out of the land of Egypt according to their divisions.”x 27Moses and Aaron were the ones who spoke to Pharaoh king of Egypt in order to bring the Israelites out of Egypt.

Moses and Aaron before Pharaoh

28On the day the LORD spoke to Moses in the land of Egypt, 29He said to him, “I am Yahweh;y tell Pharaoh king of Egypt everything I am telling you.”

30But Moses replied in the LORD’s presence, “Since I am such a poor speaker,z, aa how will Pharaoh listen to me? ”