God Renews His Promise to Israel

1Then the Lord said to Moses, “Now you shall see what I will do to Pharaoh. For with a strong hand he will let them go, and with a strong hand he will drive them out of his land.”

2And God spoke to Moses and said to him: “I am [a]the Lord. 3I appeared to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, as God Almighty, but by My name Lord[b] I was not known to them. 4I have also [c]established My covenant with them, to give them the land of Canaan, the land of their [d]pilgrimage, in which they were [e]strangers. 5And I have also heard the groaning of the children of Israel whom the Egyptians keep in bondage, and I have remembered My covenant. 6Therefore say to the children of Israel: ‘I am the Lord; I will bring you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians, I will rescue you from their bondage, and I will redeem you with [f]an outstretched arm and with great judgments. 7I will take you as My people, and I will be your God. Then you shall know that I am the Lord your God who brings you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians. 8And I will bring you into the land which I swore[g] to give to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob; and I will give it to you as a heritage: I am the Lord.’ ” 9So Moses spoke thus to the children of Israel; but they did not heed Moses, because of anguish[h] of spirit and cruel bondage.

10And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 11“Go in, tell Pharaoh king of Egypt to let the children of Israel go out of his land.”

12And Moses spoke before the Lord, saying, “The children of Israel have not heeded me. How then shall Pharaoh heed me, for I am [i]of uncircumcised lips?”

13Then the Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron, and gave them a command[j] for the children of Israel and for Pharaoh king of Egypt, to bring the children of Israel out of the land of Egypt.

The Family of Moses and Aaron

14These are the heads of their fathers’ houses: The sons of Reuben, the firstborn of Israel, were Hanoch, Pallu, Hezron, and Carmi. These are the families of Reuben. 15And the sons of Simeon were [k]Jemuel, Jamin, Ohad, Jachin, Zohar, and Shaul the son of a Canaanite woman. These are the families of Simeon. 16These are the names of the sons of Levi according to their generations: Gershon, Kohath, and Merari. And the years of the life of Levi were one hundred and thirty-seven. 17The sons of Gershon were Libni and Shimi according to their families. 18And the sons of Kohath were Amram, Izhar, Hebron, and Uzziel. And the years of the life of Kohath were one hundred and thirty-three. 19The sons of Merari were Mahli and Mushi. These are the families of Levi according to their generations.

20Now Amram took for himself Jochebed, his father’s sister, as wife; and she bore him Aaron and Moses. And the years of the life of Amram were one hundred and thirty-seven. 21The sons of Izhar were Korah, Nepheg, and Zichri. 22And the sons of Uzziel were Mishael, Elzaphan, and Zithri. 23Aaron took to himself Elisheba, daughter of Amminadab, sister of Nahshon, as wife; and she bore him Nadab, Abihu, Eleazar, and Ithamar. 24And the sons of Korah were Assir, Elkanah, and Abiasaph. These are the families of the Korahites. 25Eleazar, Aaron’s son, took for himself one of the daughters of Putiel as wife; and she bore him Phinehas. These are the heads of the fathers’ houses of the Levites according to their families.

26These are the same Aaron and Moses to whom the Lord said, “Bring out the children of Israel from the land of Egypt according to their armies.”[l] 27These are the ones who spoke to Pharaoh king of Egypt, to bring out the children of Israel from Egypt. These are the same Moses and Aaron.

Aaron Is Moses’ Spokesman

28And it came to pass, on the day the Lord spoke to Moses in the land of Egypt, 29that the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, “I am the Lord. Speak to Pharaoh king of Egypt all that I say to you.”

30But Moses said before the Lord, “Behold, I am [m]of uncircumcised lips, and how shall Pharaoh heed me?”