Êxodo 6

¹ Jehovah said to Moses: »Now you will see what I will do to Pharaoh. I will show him my power. He will let my people go! I will show him my power, and he will throw them out of his country.«

² God spoke further to Moses and said to him: »I am Jehovah.

³ »I appeared to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, as God Almighty, but by my name, Jehovah, I did not make myself known to them.

⁴ »I also established my covenant with them, to give them the land of Canaan, the land in which they lived as foreigners.

⁵ »Furthermore I have heard the groaning of the sons of Israel. This is because the Egyptians are holding them in bondage. I have remembered my covenant.

⁶ »Tell the sons of Israel: ‘I am Jehovah. I will bring you out from under the oppression of the Egyptians. I will free you from slavery! I will rescue you with my powerful arm and with mighty acts of judgment.’

⁷ »I will make you my people, and I will be your God. You will know that I am Jehovah your God. I brought you out from under the forced labor of the Egyptians.

⁸ »I will bring you to the land I solemnly swore to give to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. I will give it to you as your own possession. I am Jehovah!’«

⁹ Moses reported this to the Israelites. But they would not listen to him. For they were so discouraged by their backbreaking work.

¹⁰ Then Jehovah told Moses:

¹¹ »Demand that Pharaoh king of Egypt let the sons of Israel go.«

¹² But Moses replied: »I am not a powerful speaker. If the sons of Israel will not listen to me, why should the king of Egypt?«

¹³ Jehovah sent Aaron and Moses with a message for the sons of Israel and for the king. He also ordered Aaron and Moses to free the people from Egypt.

¹⁴ The following men were the heads of their father’s households: The sons of Reuben, Jacob’s oldest son, were Hanoch, Pallu, Hezron, and Carmi.

¹⁵ The sons of Simeon: Jemuel and Jamin and Ohad and Jachin and 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 and Kohath and Merari. Levi lived one hundred and thirty-seven years.

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

¹⁸ The sons of Kohath: Amram and Izhar and Hebron and Uzziel. Kohath lived one hundred and thirty-three years.

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

²⁰ Amram married his father’s sister Jochebed, and she bore him Aaron and Moses. Amram lived one hundred and thirty-seven years.

²¹ The sons of Izhar: Korah and Nepheg and Zichri.

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

²³ Aaron married Elisheba, the daughter of Amminadab, the sister of Nahshon, and she bore him Nadab and Abihu, Eleazar and Ithamar.

²⁴ The sons of Korah: Assir and Elkanah and Abiasaph; these are the families of the Korahites.

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

²⁶ It was the same Aaron and Moses to whom Jehovah said: »Bring out the sons of Israel from the land of Egypt according to their hosts.«

²⁷ They were the ones who spoke to Pharaoh king of Egypt about bringing out the sons of Israel from Egypt. It was the same Moses and Aaron.

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

²⁹ Jehovah said to Moses: »I am Jehovah! Speak to Pharaoh king of Egypt all that I speak to you.«

³⁰ But Moses protested to Jehovah: »I am unskilled in speech. How then will Pharaoh listen to me?«