Exodus - The Old Testament

¹ Yahweh then said to Moses, 'Now you will see what I am going to do to Pharaoh. A mighty hand will force him to let them go, a mighty hand will force him to expel them from his country.'

² God spoke to Moses and said to him, 'I am Yahweh.

³ To Abraham, Isaac and Jacob I appeared as El Shaddai, but I did not make my name Yahweh known to them.

⁴ I also made my covenant with them to give them the land of Canaan, the country in which they were living as aliens.

⁵ Furthermore, I have heard the groaning of the Israelites, enslaved by the Egyptians, and have remembered my covenant.

⁶ So say to the Israelites, "I am Yahweh. I shall free you from the forced labour of the Egyptians; I shall rescue you from their slavery and I shall redeem you with outstretched arm and mighty acts of judgement.

⁷ I shall take you as my people and I shall be your God. And you will know that I am Yahweh your God, who have freed you from the forced labour of the Egyptians.

⁸ Then I shall lead you into the country which I swore I would give to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, and shall give it to you as your heritage, I, Yahweh." '

⁹ And Moses repeated this to the Israelites, but they would not listen to Moses, so crushed was their spirit and so cruel their slavery.

¹⁰ Yahweh then said to Moses,

¹¹ 'Go to Pharaoh, king of Egypt, and tell him to let the Israelites leave his country.'

¹² But Moses spoke out in Yahweh's presence and said, 'The Israelites have not listened to me, so why should Pharaoh take any notice of a poor speaker like me?'

¹³ Yahweh spoke to Moses and Aaron and sent them to Pharaoh king of Egypt, to lead the Israelites out of Egypt.

¹⁴ These were their heads of families: The sons of Reuben, Israel's first-born: Hanoch, Pallu, Hezron and Carmi: these are the clans of Reuben.

¹⁵ The sons of Simeon: Jemuel, Jamin, Ohad, Jachin, Zohar, and Shaul son of the Canaanite woman: these are the clans of Simeon.

¹⁶ These were the names of the sons of Levi with their descendants: Gershon, Kohath and Merari. Levi lived for a hundred and thirty-seven years.

¹⁷ The sons of Gershon: Libni and Shimei, with their clans.

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

¹⁹ The sons of Merari: Mahli and Mushi. These are the clans of Levi with their descendants.

²⁰ Amram married Jochebed, his aunt, who bore him Aaron and Moses. Amram lived for a hundred and thirty-seven years.

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

²² And the sons of Uzziel: Mishael, Elzaphan and Sithri.

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

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

²⁵ Eleazar, son of Aaron, married one of Putiel's daughters who bore him Phinehas. These were the Levitical heads of families, according to clan.

²⁶ It was to this Aaron and Moses that Yahweh said, 'Lead the Israelites out of Egypt in their armies.'

²⁷ It was they who spoke to Pharaoh, king of Egypt, to lead the Israelites out of Egypt -- namely Moses and Aaron.

²⁸ Now the day when Yahweh spoke to Moses in Egypt,

²⁹ Yahweh said to Moses, 'Tell Pharaoh king of Egypt everything that I am going to say to you.'

³⁰ But Moses said to Yahweh's face, 'I am a poor speaker, so why should Pharaoh take any notice of me?'