Exodus 6 - Modern English Version

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

² Then God spoke to Moses, and said to him, “I am the Lord,

³ and I appeared to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, by the name of God Almighty, but by My name, The Lord, I was not known to them.

⁴ I have also established My covenant with them, to give them the land of Canaan, the land of their pilgrimage, wherein they sojourned.

⁵ I have also heard the groaning of the Israelites, whom the Egyptians keep in bondage, and I have remembered My covenant.

⁶ “Therefore say to the Israelites: ‘I am the Lord, and I will bring you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians, and I will rid you out of their bondage, and I will redeem you with an outstretched arm and with great judgments.

⁷ And I will take you to Me for a people, and I will be to you a God. And you shall know that I am the Lord your God, who brings you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians.

⁸ I will bring you into the land, which I swore to give to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, and I will give it to you for an inheritance. I am the Lord.’ ”

⁹ Moses spoke so to the Israelites, but they did not listen to Moses on account of their anguish of spirit and for cruel bondage.

¹⁰ The Lord spoke to Moses, saying,

¹¹ “Go in, tell Pharaoh king of Egypt to let the Israelites go out of his land.”

¹² Moses spoke before the Lord, saying, “Behold, the Israelites have not listened to me. How then shall Pharaoh listen to me, as I am of uncircumcised lips?”

¹³ And the Lord spoke to Moses and to Aaron, and gave them a command for the Israelites, and for Pharaoh, king of Egypt, to bring the Israelites out of the land of Egypt.

The Genealogy of Moses and Aaron

¹⁴ These are the heads of their fathers’ houses: The sons of Reuben the firstborn of Israel: Hanok, Pallu, Hezron, and Karmi. These are the families of Reuben.

¹⁵ The sons of Simeon: Jemuel, Jamin, Ohad, Jakin, 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 generations: Gershon, Kohath, and Merari, and the years of the life of Levi were one hundred and thirty-seven years.

¹⁷ The sons of Gershon: Libni, and Shimei, according to their families.

¹⁸ The sons of Kohath: Amram, Izhar, Hebron, and Uzziel, and the years of the life of Kohath were one hundred and thirty-three years.

¹⁹ The sons of Merari: Mahli and Mushi. These are the families of Levi according to their generations.

²⁰ Now Amram married Jochebed his father’s sister, and she bore him Aaron and Moses. And the years of the life of Amram were one hundred and thirty-seven years.

²¹ The sons of Izhar: Korah, Nepheg, and Zikri.

²² The sons of Uzziel: Mishael, Elzaphan, and Sithri.

²³ Aaron took to himself Elisheba, daughter of Amminadab, sister of Nahshon, to wife; and she bore him Nadab, Abihu, Eleazar, and Ithamar.

²⁴ The sons of Korah: Assir, Elkanah, and Abiasaph. These are the families of the Korahites.

²⁵ Eleazar, Aaron’s son, married one of the daughters of Putiel, and she bore him Phinehas. These are the heads of the fathers of the Levites according to their families.

²⁶ It was this same Aaron and Moses to whom the Lord said, “Bring out the Israelites from the land of Egypt according to their armies.”

²⁷ They are the ones who spoke to Pharaoh king of Egypt to bring the Israelites out of Egypt. It was this Aaron and Moses.

Aaron to Speak for Moses

²⁸ On the day when the Lord spoke to Moses in the land of Egypt,

²⁹ the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, “I am the Lord. Speak to Pharaoh the king of Egypt all that I say to you.”

³⁰ However, Moses said before the Lord, “Behold, I am unskilled in speech. Why should Pharaoh listen to me?”