¹⁴ and they made ^(A)their lives bitter with hard labor in mortar and bricks and at all kinds of labor in the field, all their labors which they rigorously ^[a]imposed on them.

¹¹ Now it came about in those days, ^(A)when Moses had grown up, that he went out to his brethren and looked on their ^[a](B)hard labors; and ^(C)he saw an Egyptian beating a Hebrew, one of his brethren.

⁴ But the king of Egypt said to them, “Moses and Aaron, why do you ^[a]draw the people away from their ^[b]work? Get back to your ^[c](A)labors!” ⁵ Again Pharaoh said, “Look, ^(B)the people of the land are now many, and you would have them cease from their labors!” ⁶ So the same day Pharaoh commanded ^(C)the taskmasters over the people and their ^(D)foremen, saying, ⁷ “You are no longer to give the people straw to make brick as previously; let them go and gather straw for themselves. ⁸ But the quota of bricks which they were making previously, you shall impose on them; you are not to reduce any of it. Because they are ^(E)lazy, therefore they cry out, ‘^[d]Let us go and sacrifice to our God.’ ⁹ Let the labor be heavier on the men, and let them work at it so that they will pay no attention to false words.”

⁶ Say, therefore, to the sons of Israel, ‘^(A)I am the Lord, and ^(B)I will bring you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians, and I will deliver you from their bondage. I will also ^(C)redeem you with ^(D)an outstretched arm and with great judgments. ⁷ Then I will take you ^[a](E)for My people, and ^(F)I will be ^[b]your God; and ^(G)you shall know that I am the Lord your God, who brought you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians. ⁸ I will bring you to the land which ^(H)I ^[c]swore to give to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and ^(I)I will give it to you for a possession; ^(J)I am the Lord.’” ⁹ So Moses spoke thus to the sons of Israel, but they did not listen to Moses on ^(K)account of their ^[d]despondency and cruel bondage.

¹⁰ Now the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, ¹¹ “^(L)Go, ^[e]tell Pharaoh king of Egypt ^[f]to let the sons of Israel go out of his land.” ¹² But Moses spoke before the Lord, saying, “Behold, the sons of Israel have not listened to me; ^(M)how then will Pharaoh listen to me, for I am ^[g](N)unskilled in speech?” ¹³ Then the Lord spoke to Moses and to Aaron, and gave them a charge to the sons of Israel and to Pharaoh king of Egypt, to bring the sons of Israel out of the land of Egypt.

The Heads of Israel

¹⁴ These are the heads of their fathers’ households. ^(O)The sons of Reuben, Israel’s firstborn: Hanoch and Pallu, Hezron and Carmi; these are the families of Reuben. ¹⁵ The ^(P)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 ^(Q)the sons of Levi according to their generations: Gershon and Kohath and Merari; and the ^[h]length of Levi’s life was one hundred and thirty-seven years. ^17 (R)The sons of Gershon: ^[i]Libni and Shimei, according to their families. ^18 (S)The sons of Kohath: Amram and Izhar and Hebron and Uzziel; and the ^[j]length of Kohath’s life was one hundred and thirty-three years. ^19 (T)The sons of Merari: Mahli and Mushi. These are the families of the Levites according to their generations. ^20 (U)Amram ^[k]married his father’s sister Jochebed, and she bore him Aaron and Moses; and the ^[l]length of Amram’s life was one hundred and thirty-seven years. ^21 (V)The sons of Izhar: Korah and Nepheg and Zichri. ^22 (W)The sons of Uzziel: Mishael and ^[m]Elzaphan and Sithri. ²³ Aaron ^[n]married Elisheba, the daughter of ^(X)Amminadab, the sister of ^(Y)Nahshon, and she bore him ^(Z)Nadab and Abihu, Eleazar and Ithamar. ²⁴ The ^(AA)sons of Korah: Assir and Elkanah and ^[o]Abiasaph; these are the families of the Korahites. ²⁵ Aaron’s son ^(AB)Eleazar ^[p]married one of the daughters of Putiel, and she bore him ^(AC)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 the Lord said, “^(AD)Bring out the sons of Israel from the land of Egypt according to their ^(AE)hosts.” ²⁷ They were the ones ^(AF)who spoke to Pharaoh king of Egypt ^[q]about bringing out the sons of Israel from Egypt; it was the same Moses and Aaron.

²⁸ Now it came about on the day when the Lord spoke to Moses in the land of Egypt, ²⁹ that the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, “^(AG)I am the Lord; ^(AH)speak to Pharaoh king of Egypt all that I speak to you.” ³⁰ But Moses said before the Lord, “Behold, I am ^[r](AI)unskilled in speech; how then will Pharaoh listen to me?”