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Exodus 6
New American Bible (Revised Edition)
Exodus 6
New American Bible (Revised Edition)
Chapter 6
1 The Lord answered Moses: Now you will see what I will do to Pharaoh. For by a strong hand, he will let them go; by a strong hand,[a] he will drive them from his land.
Confirmation of the Promise to the Ancestors. 2 [b]Then God spoke to Moses, and said to him: I am the Lord. 3 As God the Almighty[c] I appeared(A) to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, but by my name, Lord, 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 were residing as aliens.(B) 5 Now that I have heard the groaning of the Israelites, whom the Egyptians have reduced to slavery, I am mindful of my covenant.(C) 6 Therefore, say to the Israelites: I am the Lord. I will free you from the burdens of the Egyptians and will deliver you from their slavery. I will redeem you by my outstretched arm and with mighty acts of judgment. 7 I will take you as my own people, and I will be your God;(D) and you will know that I, the Lord, am your God who has freed you from the burdens of the Egyptians 8 and I will bring you into the land which I swore to give to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. I will give it to you as your own possession—I, the Lord! 9 But when Moses told this to the Israelites, they would not listen to him because of their dejection and hard slavery.
10 Then the Lord spoke to Moses: 11 Go, tell Pharaoh, king of Egypt, to let the Israelites leave his land. 12 However, Moses protested to the Lord, “If the Israelites did not listen to me, how is it possible that Pharaoh will listen to me, poor speaker[d](E) that I am!” 13 But the Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron regarding the Israelites and Pharaoh, king of Egypt, and charged them to bring the Israelites out of the land of Egypt.
Genealogy of Moses and Aaron. 14 These are the heads of their ancestral houses.[e] The sons of Reuben,(F) the firstborn of Israel: Hanoch, Pallu, Hezron and Carmi; these are the clans of Reuben. 15 The sons of Simeon:(G) 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,(H) in their genealogical order: Gershon, Kohath and Merari. Levi lived one hundred and thirty-seven years.
17 The sons of Gershon,(I) by their clans: Libni and Shimei. 18 The sons of Kohath:(J) Amram, Izhar, Hebron and Uzziel. Kohath lived one hundred and thirty-three years. 19 The sons of Merari:(K) Mahli and Mushi. These are the clans of Levi in their genealogical order.
20 Amram married his aunt[f] Jochebed,(L) who bore him Aaron, Moses, and Miriam. Amram lived one hundred and thirty-seven years. 21 The sons of Izhar: Korah, Nepheg and Zichri. 22 The sons of Uzziel: Mishael, Elzaphan and Sithri. 23 Aaron married Elisheba, Amminadab’s(M) daughter, the sister of Nahshon; 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, Aaron’s son, married one of Putiel’s daughters, who bore him Phinehas.[g] These are the heads of the ancestral houses of the Levites by their clans. 26 These are the Aaron and the Moses to whom the Lord said, “Bring the Israelites out from the land of Egypt, company by company.” 27 They are the ones who spoke to Pharaoh, king of Egypt, to bring the Israelites out of Egypt—the same Moses and Aaron.
28 When the Lord spoke to Moses in the land of Egypt 29 the Lord said to Moses: I am the Lord. Say to Pharaoh, king of Egypt, all that I tell you. 30 But Moses protested to the Lord, “Since I am a poor speaker, how is it possible that Pharaoh will listen to me?”
Footnotes
- 6:1 By a strong hand: by God’s hand or Pharaoh’s hand? The Hebrew is ambiguous; although it may be an allusion to God’s hand of 3:19–20, both interpretations are possible.
- 6:2–7:7 According to the standard source criticism of the Pentateuch, 6:2–7:7 represents a Priestly version of the JE call narrative in 3:1–4:17. But in context the present account does more than simply repeat the earlier passage. See note below.
- 6:3 God the Almighty: in Hebrew, El Shaddai. This traditional translation does not have a firm philological basis. But by my name…I did not make myself known to them: although the text implies that the name Lord was unknown previously, in context the emphasis in the passage falls on the understanding of God that comes with knowledge of the name. In this way God responds to the worsening plight of the Israelites and Moses’ complaint in 5:23 that God has done nothing at all to rescue them.
- 6:12 Poor speaker: lit., “uncircumcised of lips”: a metaphor expressing the hindrance of good communication expressed as “slow of speech and tongue” (4:10). Also used as a metaphor for impeded “heart” (Lv 26:41; Dt 10:16).
- 6:14 The purpose of the genealogy here is to give the line from which Moses and Aaron sprang, with special emphasis placed on the line of Aaron. Reuben and Simeon are mentioned first because, as older brothers of Levi, their names occur before his in the genealogy.
- 6:20 His aunt: more exactly, “his father’s sister.” Later on such a marriage was forbidden. Cf. Lv 18:12. Hence, the Greek and Latin versions render here, “his cousin.”
- 6:25 Phinehas: according to Nm 25:13, Phinehas was given by God “the covenant of an everlasting priesthood” because of his zeal for God when the Israelites committed apostasy by worshiping the Baal of Peor in the plains of Moab (see Nm 25:1–18).
Exodus 6
New International Version
Exodus 6
New International Version
6 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Now you will see what I will do to Pharaoh: Because of my mighty hand(A) he will let them go;(B) because of my mighty hand he will drive them out of his country.”(C)
2 God also said to Moses, “I am the Lord.(D) 3 I appeared to Abraham, to Isaac and to Jacob as God Almighty,[a](E) but by my name(F) the Lord[b](G) I did not make myself fully known to them. 4 I also established my covenant(H) with them to give them the land(I) of Canaan, where they resided as foreigners.(J) 5 Moreover, I have heard the groaning(K) of the Israelites, whom the Egyptians are enslaving, and I have remembered my covenant.(L)
6 “Therefore, say to the Israelites: ‘I am the Lord, and I will bring you out from under the yoke of the Egyptians.(M) I will free you from being slaves to them, and I will redeem(N) you with an outstretched arm(O) and with mighty acts of judgment.(P) 7 I will take you as my own people, and I will be your God.(Q) Then you will know(R) that I am the Lord your God, who brought you out from under the yoke of the Egyptians. 8 And I will bring you to the land(S) I swore(T) with uplifted hand(U) to give to Abraham, to Isaac and to Jacob.(V) I will give it to you as a possession. I am the Lord.’”(W)
9 Moses reported this to the Israelites, but they did not listen to him because of their discouragement and harsh labor.(X)
10 Then the Lord said to Moses, 11 “Go, tell(Y) Pharaoh king of Egypt to let the Israelites go out of his country.”(Z)
12 But Moses said to the Lord, “If the Israelites will not listen(AA) to me, why would Pharaoh listen to me, since I speak with faltering lips[c]?”(AB)
Family Record of Moses and Aaron
13 Now the Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron about the Israelites and Pharaoh king of Egypt, and he commanded them to bring the Israelites out of Egypt.(AC)
14 These were the heads of their families[d]:(AD)
The sons of Reuben(AE) the firstborn son of Israel were Hanok and Pallu, Hezron and Karmi. These were the clans of Reuben.
15 The sons of Simeon(AF) were Jemuel, Jamin, Ohad, Jakin, Zohar and Shaul the son of a Canaanite woman. These were the clans of Simeon.
16 These were the names of the sons of Levi(AG) according to their records: Gershon,(AH) Kohath and Merari.(AI) Levi lived 137 years.
17 The sons of Gershon, by clans, were Libni and Shimei.(AJ)
18 The sons of Kohath(AK) were Amram, Izhar, Hebron and Uzziel.(AL) Kohath lived 133 years.
19 The sons of Merari were Mahli and Mushi.(AM)
These were the clans of Levi according to their records.
20 Amram(AN) married his father’s sister Jochebed, who bore him Aaron and Moses.(AO) Amram lived 137 years.
21 The sons of Izhar(AP) were Korah, Nepheg and Zikri.
22 The sons of Uzziel were Mishael, Elzaphan(AQ) and Sithri.
23 Aaron married Elisheba, daughter of Amminadab(AR) and sister of Nahshon,(AS) and she bore him Nadab and Abihu,(AT) Eleazar(AU) and Ithamar.(AV)
24 The sons of Korah(AW) were Assir, Elkanah and Abiasaph. These were the Korahite clans.
25 Eleazar son of Aaron married one of the daughters of Putiel, and she bore him Phinehas.(AX)
These were the heads of the Levite families, clan by clan.
26 It was this Aaron and Moses to whom the Lord said, “Bring the Israelites out of Egypt(AY) by their divisions.”(AZ) 27 They were the ones who spoke to Pharaoh(BA) king of Egypt about bringing the Israelites out of Egypt—this same Moses and Aaron.(BB)
Aaron to Speak for Moses
28 Now when the Lord spoke to Moses in Egypt, 29 he said to him, “I am the Lord.(BC) Tell Pharaoh king of Egypt everything I tell you.”
30 But Moses said to the Lord, “Since I speak with faltering lips,(BD) why would Pharaoh listen to me?”
Footnotes
- Exodus 6:3 Hebrew El-Shaddai
- Exodus 6:3 See note at 3:15.
- Exodus 6:12 Hebrew I am uncircumcised of lips; also in verse 30
- Exodus 6:14 The Hebrew for families here and in verse 25 refers to units larger than clans.
New American Bible (Revised Edition) (NABRE)
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