CHAPTER 6
But the LORD
said
to
Moses,
“Now
you will see
what
I will do
to Pharaoh,
for
because of My mighty
hand
he will let them go;
because of My strong
hand
he will drive them out of
his land.”
I appeared
to
Abraham,
to
Isaac,
and to
Jacob
as God
Almighty,
but I did not
reveal Myself
to them
by My name,
‘the LORD.’
I also
established
My covenant
with
them to give
them the land
of Canaan,
the land where
they lived as foreigners.
Furthermore,
I
have heard
the groaning
of the Israelites,
whom
the Egyptians
are enslaving,
and I have remembered
My covenant.
Therefore
tell
the Israelites:
‘I
am the LORD,
and I will bring
you
out from under
the yoke
of the Egyptians
and deliver
you
from their bondage.
I will redeem
you
with an outstretched
arm
and with mighty
acts of judgment.
I will take
you
as My own
people,
and I will be
your
God.
Then you will know
that
I
am the LORD
your God,
who brought
you
out from under
the yoke
of the Egyptians.
And I will bring
you
into
the land
that
I swore
to give
to Abraham,
Isaac,
and Jacob.
I will give
it
to you
as a possession.
I
am the LORD!’”
Moses
relayed
this message
to
the Israelites,
but on account of their broken spirit
and cruel
bondage,
they did not
listen
to
him.
But in the LORD’s
presence
Moses
replied,
“If
the Israelites
will not
listen
to me,
then how
will Pharaoh
listen to me,
since I
am unskilled
in speech?”
Then the LORD
spoke
to
Moses
and Aaron
and gave them a charge
concerning
both the Israelites
and Pharaoh
king
of Egypt,
to bring
the Israelites
out of the land
of Egypt.
These
were the heads
of their fathers’
houses:
The sons
of Reuben,
the firstborn
of Israel, were
Hanoch
and Pallu,
Hezron
and Carmi.
These
were the clans
of Reuben.
The sons
of Simeon were
Jemuel,
Jamin,
Ohad,
Jachin,
Zohar,
and Shaul,
the son
of a Canaanite woman.
These
were the clans
of Simeon.
These
were the names
of the sons
of Levi
according to their records:
Gershon,
Kohath,
and Merari.
Levi
lived
137
years.
The sons
of Merari were
Mahli
and Mushi.
These
were the clans
of the Levites
according to their records.
And Amram
married
his father’s sister
Jochebed,
and she bore
him Aaron
and Moses.
Amram
lived
137
years.
And Aaron
married
Elisheba,
the daughter
of Amminadab
and sister
of Nahshon.
She bore
him Nadab
and Abihu,
Eleazar
and Ithamar.
Aaron’s
son
Eleazar
married
one of the daughters
of Putiel,
and she bore
him
Phinehas.
These
were the heads
of the Levite
families
by their clans.
It was this
Aaron
and Moses
to whom
the LORD
said,
“Bring the Israelites
out
of the land
of Egypt
by
their divisions.”
Moses
and Aaron
were the ones who spoke
to
Pharaoh
king
of Egypt
in order to bring the Israelites
out
of Egypt.
But in the LORD’s
presence
Moses
replied,
“Since
I
am unskilled
in speech,
why
would Pharaoh
listen
to me?”