Exodus 6 | King James Version

King James Version

1 Then the LORD said unto Moses, Now shalt thou 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 And God spake unto Moses, and said unto him, I am the LORD: 3 And I appeared unto Abraham, unto Isaac, and unto Jacob, by the name of God Almighty, but by my name JEHOVAH was I not known to them. 4 And I have also established my covenant with them, to give them the land of Canaan, the land of their pilgrimage, wherein they were strangers. 5 And I have also heard the groaning of the children of Israel, whom the Egyptians keep in bondage; and I have remembered my covenant. 6 Wherefore say unto the children of Israel, 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 a stretched out 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 ye shall know that I am the LORD your God, which bringeth you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians. 8 And I will bring you in unto the land, concerning the which I did swear to give it to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob; and I will give it you for an heritage: I am the LORD. 9 And Moses spake so unto the children of Israel: but they hearkened not unto Moses for anguish of spirit, and for cruel bondage. 10 And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying, 11 Go in, speak unto Pharaoh king of Egypt, that he let the children of Israel go out of his land. 12 And Moses spake before the LORD, saying, Behold, the children of Israel have not hearkened unto me; how then shall Pharaoh hear me, who am of uncircumcised lips? 13 And the LORD spake unto Moses and unto Aaron, and gave them a charge unto the children of Israel, and unto Pharaoh king of Egypt, to bring the children of Israel out of the land of Egypt. 14 These be the heads of their fathers'houses: The sons of Reuben the firstborn of Israel; Hanoch, and Pallu, Hezron, and Carmi: these be the families of Reuben. 15 And the sons of Simeon; Jemuel, and Jamin, and Ohad, and Jachin, and Zohar, and Shaul the son of a Canaanitish woman: these are the families of Simeon. 16 And these are the names of the sons of Levi according to their generations; Gershon, and Kohath, and Merari: and the years of the life of Levi were an hundred thirty and seven years. 17 The sons of Gershon; Libni, and Shimi, according to their families. 18 And the sons of Kohath; Amram, and Izhar, and Hebron, and Uzziel: and the years of the life of Kohath were an hundred thirty and three years. 19 And the sons of Merari; Mahali and Mushi: these are the families of Levi according to their generations. 20 And Amram took him Jochebed his father' sister to wife; and she bare him Aaron and Moses: and the years of the life of Amram were an hundred and thirty and seven years. 21 And the sons of Izhar; Korah, and Nepheg, and Zichri. 22 And the sons of Uzziel; Mishael, and Elzaphan, and Zithri. 23 And Aaron took him Elisheba, daughter of Amminadab, sister of Naashon, to wife; and she bare him Nadab, and Abihu, Eleazar, and Ithamar. 24 And the sons of Korah; Assir, and Elkanah, and Abiasaph: these are the families of the Korhites. 25 And Eleazar Aaron' son took him one of the daughters of Putiel to wife; and she bare him Phinehas: these are the heads of the fathers of the Levites according to their families. 26 These are that Aaron and Moses, to whom the LORD said, Bring out the children of Israel from the land of Egypt according to their armies. 27 These are they which spake to Pharaoh king of Egypt, to bring out the children of Israel from Egypt: these are that Moses and Aaron. 28 And it came to pass on the day when the LORD spake unto Moses in the land of Egypt, 29 That the LORD spake unto Moses, saying, I am the LORD: speak thou unto Pharaoh king of Egypt all that I say unto thee. 30 And Moses said before the LORD, Behold, I am of uncircumcised lips, and how shall Pharaoh hearken unto me?

New International Reader’s Version

1 Then the LORD said to Moses, ‘Now you will see what I will do to Pharaoh. Because of my powerful hand, he will let the people of Israel go. Because of my mighty hand, he will drive them out of his country.’ 2 God continued, ‘I am the LORD. 3 I appeared to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob as the Mighty God. But I did not show them the full meaning of my name, The LORD. 4 I also made my covenant with them. I promised to give them the land of Canaan. That is where they lived as outsiders. 5 Also, I have heard the groans of the Israelites. The Egyptians are keeping them as slaves. But I have remembered my covenant. 6 ‘So tell the people of Israel, “I am the LORD. I will throw off the heavy load the Egyptians have put on your shoulders. I will set you free from being slaves to them. I will reach out my arm and save you with mighty acts when I judge Egypt. 7 I will take you to be my own people. I will be your God. I throw off the load the Egyptians have put on your shoulders. Then you will know that I am the LORD your God. 8 I will bring you to the land I promised to give to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. I lifted up my hand and promised it to them. The land will belong to you. I am the LORD.” ’ 9 Moses reported these things to the Israelites. But they didn’t listen to him. That’s because they had lost all hope and had to work very hard. 10 Then the LORD said to Moses, 11 ‘Go. Tell Pharaoh, the king of Egypt, to let the people of Israel leave his country.’ 12 But Moses said to the LORD, ‘The people won’t listen to me. So why would Pharaoh listen to me? After all, I don’t speak very well.’

The family record of Moses and Aaron

13 The LORD had spoken to Moses and Aaron. He had talked with them about the Israelites and about Pharaoh, the king of Egypt. He had commanded Moses and Aaron to bring the people of Israel out of Egypt. 14 Here were the leaders of the family groups of Reuben, Simeon and Levi. Reuben was the eldest son of Israel. Reuben’s sons were Hanok, Pallu, Hezron and Karmi. These were the family groups of Reuben. 15 The sons of Simeon were Jemuel, Jamin, Ohad, Jakin, Zohar and Shaul. Shaul was the son of a woman from Canaan. These were the family groups of Simeon. 16 Here are the names of the sons of Levi written in their family record. They were Gershon, Kohath and Merari. Levi lived for 137 years. 17 The sons of Gershon, by their family groups, were Libni and Shimei. 18 The sons of Kohath were Amram, Izhar, Hebron and Uzziel. Kohath lived for 133 years. 19 The sons of Merari were Mahli and Mushi. These are the family groups of Levi written in their family record. 20 Amram married his father’s sister Jochebed. Aaron and Moses were members of Amram’s family line. Amram lived for 137 years. 21 The sons of Izhar were Korah, Nepheg and Zikri. 22 The sons of Uzziel were Mishael, Elzaphan and Sithri. 23 Aaron married Elisheba. She was the daughter of Amminadab and the sister of Nahshon. She had Nadab, Abihu, Eleazar and Ithamar by Aaron. 24 The sons of Korah were Assir, Elkanah and Abiasaph. These were the family groups of Korah. 25 Eleazar, the son of Aaron, married one of the daughters of Putiel. She had Phinehas by Eleazar. These are the leaders of the families of Levi. Their names are written in their family records. 26 The LORD had spoken to this same Aaron and Moses. He had told them, ‘Bring the Israelites out of Egypt like an army on the march.’ 27 They spoke to Pharaoh, the king of Egypt, about bringing the people of Israel out of Egypt. It was this same Moses and Aaron.

Aaron speaks for Moses

28 The LORD had spoken to Moses in Egypt. 29 He had told him, ‘I am the LORD. Tell Pharaoh, the king of Egypt, everything I tell you.’ 30 But Moses said to the LORD, ‘I don’t speak very well. So why would Pharaoh listen to me?’