God Promises Action

¹Then the Lord said to Moses, “Now you shall see what I will do to Pharaoh; for ^[a]under compulsion he will [not only] let them go, but under compulsion he will drive them out of his land.”

² Then God spoke further to Moses and said to him, “I am the Lord. ³ I appeared to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob (Israel) as God Almighty [El Shaddai], but by My ^[b]name, ^[c]Lord, I did not make Myself known to them [in acts and great miracles]. ⁴ I also established My covenant with them, to give them the land of Canaan, the land in which they lived as strangers (temporary residents, foreigners). ⁵ And I have also heard the groaning of the sons of Israel, whom the Egyptians have enslaved, and I have [faithfully] remembered My covenant [with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob]. ⁶ Therefore, say to the children of Israel, ‘I am the Lord, and I will bring you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians, and I will free you from their bondage. I will redeem and rescue you with an outstretched (vigorous, powerful) arm and with great acts of judgment [against Egypt]. ⁷ Then I will take you for My people, and I will be your God; and you shall know that I am the Lord your God, who redeemed you and brought you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians. ⁸ I will bring you to the land which I ^[d]swore to give to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob (Israel); and I will give it to you as a possession. I am the Lord [you have the promise of My changeless omnipotence and faithfulness].’” ⁹ Moses told this to the Israelites, but they did not listen to him because of their ^[e]impatience and despondency, and because of their forced labor.

¹⁰ The Lord spoke to Moses, saying, ¹¹ “Go, tell Pharaoh king of Egypt to let the children of Israel go out of his land.” ¹² But Moses said to the Lord, “Look, [my own people] the Israelites have not listened to me; so how then will Pharaoh listen to me, for I am ^[f]unskilled and inept in speech?” ¹³ Then the Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron, and gave them a command concerning the Israelites and Pharaoh king of Egypt, to bring the Israelites out of the land of Egypt.

The Heads of Israel

¹⁴ These are the heads of their fathers’ households. The sons of Reuben, Israel’s (Jacob’s) firstborn: Hanoch and Pallu, Hezron and Carmi; these are the families of Reuben. ¹⁵ The sons of Simeon: Jemuel, Jamin, Ohad, Jachin, Zohar, and Shaul the son of a Canaanite woman; these are the families of Simeon. ¹⁶ These are the names of the sons of Levi according to their births: Gershon, Kohath, and Merari; and Levi lived a hundred and thirty-seven years. ¹⁷ The sons of Gershon: Libni and Shimei, by their families. ¹⁸ The sons of Kohath: Amram (Moses’ father), Izhar, Hebron, and Uzziel; and Kohath lived a hundred and thirty-three years. ¹⁹ The sons of Merari: Mahli and Mushi. These are the families of Levi according to their generations. ²⁰ Amram married his father’s sister Jochebed, and she gave birth to Aaron and Moses; and Amram lived a hundred and thirty-seven years. ²¹ The sons of Izhar: Korah, Nepheg, and Zichri. ²² The sons of Uzziel: Mishael, Elzaphan, and Sithri. ²³ Aaron married Elisheba, the daughter of Amminadab and the sister of Nahshon, and she gave birth to Nadab, Abihu, Eleazar, and Ithamar. ²⁴ The sons of Korah: Assir, Elkanah, and Abiasaph. These are the [extended] families of the Korahites. ²⁵ Eleazar, Aaron’s son, married one of the daughters of Putiel, and she gave birth to Phinehas. These are the heads of the fathers’ households of the Levites by their families. ²⁶ These are [the same] Aaron and Moses to whom the Lord said, “Bring the children of Israel out of the land of Egypt by their ^[g]armies.” ²⁷ They were the ones who spoke to Pharaoh king of Egypt about bringing the Israelites out of Egypt; these are [the same] Moses and Aaron.

²⁸ Now it happened on the day when the Lord spoke to Moses in the land of Egypt, ²⁹ that He said, “I am the Lord; tell Pharaoh king of Egypt everything that I say to you.” ³⁰ But Moses said before the Lord, “Look, I am ^[h]unskilled and inept in speech; how then will Pharaoh listen to me and pay attention to what I say?”