11
But Moses asked God, “Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh and that I should bring the Israelites out of Egypt? ”
12
He answered, “I will certainly be with you, and this will be the sign to you that I have sent you: when you bring the people out of Egypt, you will all worship God at this mountain.”
13
Then Moses asked God, “If I go to the Israelites and say to them: The God of your fathers has sent me to you, and they ask me, ‘What is His name? ' what should I tell them? ”
14
God replied to Moses, “I AM WHO I AM. This is what you are to say to the Israelites: I AM has sent me to you.”
15
God also said to Moses, “Say this to the Israelites:
•Yahweh
, the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has sent me to you. This is My name forever; this is how I am to be remembered in every generation.
16
“Go and assemble the elders of Israel and say to them: Yahweh, the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, has appeared to me and said: I have paid close attention to you and to what has been done to you in Egypt.
17
And I have promised you that I will bring you up from the misery of Egypt to the land of the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites — a land flowing with milk and honey.
18
They will listen to what you say. Then you, along with the elders of Israel, must go to the king of Egypt and say to him: Yahweh, the God of the Hebrews, has met with us. Now please let us go on a three-day trip into the wilderness so that we may sacrifice to Yahweh our God.
19
“However, I know that the king of Egypt will not allow you to go, unless he is forced by a strong hand.
20
I will stretch out My hand and strike Egypt with all My miracles that I will perform in it. After that, he will let you go.
21
And I will give these people such favor in the sight of the Egyptians that when you go, you will not go empty-handed.
22
Each woman will ask her neighbor and any woman staying in her house for silver and gold jewelry, and clothing, and you will put them on your sons and daughters. So you will plunder the Egyptians.”
Exodus
Miraculous Signs for Moses
4
Then Moses answered, “What if they won't believe me and will not obey me but say, ‘The
Lord
did not appear to you'? ”
2
The
Lord
asked him, “What is that in your hand? ”
“A staff,” he replied.
3
Then He said, “Throw it on the ground.” He threw it on the ground, and it became a snake. Moses ran from it,
4
but the
Lord
told him, “Stretch out your hand and grab it by the tail.” So he stretched out his hand and caught it, and it became a staff in his hand.
5
“This will take place,” He continued, “so they will believe that
•Yahweh
, the God of their fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has appeared to you.”
6
In addition the
Lord
said to him, “Put your hand inside your cloak.” So he put his hand inside his cloak, and when he took it out, his hand was diseased, white as snow.
7
Then He said, “Put your hand back inside your cloak.” He put his hand back inside his cloak, and when he took it out, it had again become like the rest of his skin.
8
“If they will not believe you and will not respond to the evidence of the first sign, they may believe the evidence of the second sign.
9
And if they don't believe even these two signs or listen to what you say, take some water from the Nile and pour it on the dry ground. The water you take from the Nile will become blood on the ground.”
10
But Moses replied to the
Lord
, “Please, Lord, I have never been eloquent — either in the past or recently or since You have been speaking to Your servant — because I am slow and hesitant in speech.”
11
Yahweh said to him, “Who made the human mouth? Who makes him mute or deaf, seeing or blind? Is it not I, Yahweh?
12
Now go! I will help you speak and I will teach you what to say.”
13
Moses said, “Please, Lord, send someone else.”
14
Then the
Lord
's anger burned against Moses, and He said, “Isn't Aaron the Levite your brother? I know that he can speak well. And also, he is on his way now to meet you. He will rejoice when he sees you.
15
You will speak with him and tell him what to say. I will help both you and him to speak and will teach you both what to do.
16
He will speak to the people for you. He will be your spokesman, and you will serve as God to him.
17
And take this staff in your hand that you will perform the signs with.”
Moses' Return to Egypt
18
Then Moses went back to his father-in-law Jethro and said to him, “Please let me return to my relatives in Egypt and see if they are still living.”
Jethro said to Moses, “Go in peace.”
19
Now in Midian the
Lord
told Moses, “Return to Egypt, for all the men who wanted to kill you are dead.”
20
So Moses took his wife and sons, put them on a donkey, and returned to the land of Egypt. And Moses took God's staff in his hand.
21
The
Lord
instructed Moses, “When you go back to Egypt, make sure you do all the wonders before Pharaoh that I have put within your power. But I will harden his heart so that he won't let the people go.
22
Then you will say to Pharaoh: This is what Yahweh says: Israel is My firstborn son.
23
I told you: Let My son go so that he may worship Me, but you refused to let him go. Now I will kill your firstborn son! ”
24
On the trip, at an overnight campsite, it happened that the
Lord
confronted him and sought to put him to death.
25
So Zipporah took a flint, cut off her son's foreskin, and threw it at Moses' feet. Then she said, “You are a bridegroom of blood to me! ”
26
So He let him alone. At that time she said, “You are a bridegroom of blood,” referring to the circumcision.
Reunion of Moses and Aaron
27
Now the
Lord
had said to Aaron, “Go and meet Moses in the wilderness.” So he went and met him at the mountain of God and kissed him.
28
Moses told Aaron everything the
Lord
had sent him to say, and about all the signs He had commanded him to do.
29
Then Moses and Aaron went and assembled all the elders of the Israelites.
30
Aaron repeated everything the
Lord
had said to Moses and performed the signs before the people.
31
The people believed, and when they heard that the
Lord
had paid attention to them and that He had seen their misery, they bowed down and worshiped.
Exodus
Moses Confronts Pharaoh
5
Later, Moses and Aaron went in and said to Pharaoh, “This is what
•Yahweh
, the God of Israel, says: Let My people go, so that they may hold a festival for Me in the wilderness.”
2
But Pharaoh responded, “Who is Yahweh that I should obey Him by letting Israel go? I do not know anything about Yahweh, and besides, I will not let Israel go.”
3
Then they answered, “The God of the Hebrews has met with us. Please let us go on a three-day trip into the wilderness so that we may sacrifice to Yahweh our God, or else He may strike us with plague or sword.”
4
The king of Egypt said to them, “Moses and Aaron, why are you causing the people to neglect their work? Get to your work! ”
5
Pharaoh also said, “Look, the people of the land are so numerous, and you would stop them from working.”
Further Oppression of Israel
6
That day Pharaoh commanded the overseers of the people as well as their foremen:
7
“Don't continue to supply the people with straw for making bricks, as before. They must go and gather straw for themselves.
8
But require the same quota of bricks from them as they were making before; do not reduce it. For they are slackers — that is why they are crying out, ‘Let us go and sacrifice to our God.'
9
Impose heavier work on the men. Then they will be occupied with it and not pay attention to deceptive words.”
10
So the overseers and foremen of the people went out and said to them, “This is what Pharaoh says: ‘I am not giving you straw.
11
Go get straw yourselves wherever you can find it, but there will be no reduction at all in your workload.' ”
12
So the people scattered throughout the land of Egypt to gather stubble for straw.
13
The overseers insisted, “Finish your assigned work each day, just as you did when straw was provided.”
14
Then the Israelite foremen, whom Pharaoh's slave drivers had set over the people, were beaten and asked, “Why haven't you finished making your prescribed number of bricks yesterday or today, as you did before? ”
15
So the Israelite foremen went in and cried for help to Pharaoh: “Why are you treating your servants this way?
16
No straw has been given to your servants, yet they say to us, ‘Make bricks! ' Look, your servants are being beaten, but it is your own people who are at fault.”
17
But he said, “You are slackers. Slackers! That is why you are saying, ‘Let us go sacrifice to the
Lord
.'
18
Now get to work. No straw will be given to you, but you must produce the same quantity of bricks.”
19
The Israelite foremen saw that they were in trouble when they were told, “You cannot reduce your daily quota of bricks.”
20
When they left Pharaoh, they confronted Moses and Aaron, who stood waiting to meet them.
21
“May the
Lord
take note of you and judge,” they said to them, “because you have made us reek in front of Pharaoh and his officials — putting a sword in their hand to kill us! ”
22
So Moses went back to the
Lord
and asked, “Lord, why have You caused trouble for this people? And why did You ever send me?
23
Ever since I went in to Pharaoh to speak in Your name he has caused trouble for this people, and You haven't delivered Your people at all.”
Exodus
6
But the
Lord
replied to Moses, “Now you are going to see what I will do to Pharaoh: he will let them go because of My strong hand; he will drive them out of his land because of My strong hand.”
God Promises Freedom
2
Then God spoke to Moses, telling him, “I am
•Yahweh
.
3
I appeared to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob as
•God
Almighty, but I did not reveal My name Yahweh to them.
4
I also established My covenant with them to give them the land of Canaan, the land they lived in as foreigners.
5
Furthermore, I have heard the groaning of the Israelites, whom the Egyptians are forcing to work as slaves, and I have remembered My covenant.
6
“Therefore tell the Israelites: I am Yahweh, and I will deliver you from the forced labor of the Egyptians and free you from slavery to them. I will redeem you with an outstretched arm and great acts of judgment.
7
I will take you as My people, and I will be your God. You will know that I am Yahweh your God, who delivered you from the forced labor of the Egyptians.
8
I will bring you to the land that I swore to give to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and I will give it to you as a possession. I am Yahweh.”
9
Moses told this to the Israelites, but they did not listen to him because of their broken spirit and hard labor.
10
Then the
Lord
spoke to Moses,
11
“Go and tell Pharaoh king of Egypt to let the Israelites go from his land.”
12
But Moses said in the
Lord
's presence: “If the Israelites will not listen to me, then how will Pharaoh listen to me, since I am such a poor speaker? ”
13
Then the
Lord
spoke to Moses and Aaron and gave them commands concerning both the Israelites and Pharaoh king of Egypt to bring the Israelites out of the land of Egypt.
Genealogy of Moses and Aaron
14
These are the heads of their fathers' families:
The sons of Reuben, the firstborn of Israel:
Hanoch and Pallu, Hezron and Carmi.
These are the clans of Reuben.
15
The sons of Simeon:
Jemuel, Jamin, Ohad, Jachin,
Zohar, and Shaul, the son of a Canaanite woman.
These are the clans of Simeon.
16
These are the names of the sons of Levi
according to their genealogy:
Gershon, Kohath, and Merari.
Levi lived 137 years.
17
The sons of Gershon:
Libni and Shimei, by their clans.
18
The sons of Kohath:
Amram, Izhar, Hebron, and Uzziel.
Kohath lived 133 years.
19
The sons of Merari:
Mahli and Mushi.
These are the clans of the Levites
according to their genealogy.
20
Amram married his father's sister Jochebed,
and she bore him Aaron and Moses.
Amram lived 137 years.
21
The sons of Izhar:
Korah, Nepheg, and Zichri.
22
The sons of Uzziel:
Mishael, Elzaphan, and Sithri.
23
Aaron married Elisheba,
daughter of Amminadab and sister of Nahshon.
She bore him Nadab and Abihu, Eleazar and Ithamar.
24
The sons of Korah:
Assir, Elkanah, and Abiasaph.
These are the clans 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 Levite families by their clans.