1The Lord God told Moses:

Soon you will see what I will do to the king. Because of my mighty power, he will let my people go, and he will even chase them out of his country.

2 My name is the Lord.+ 3But when I appeared to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, I came as God All-Powerful and did not use my name. 4I made an agreement and promised them the land of Canaan, where they were living as foreigners. 5Now I have seen how the people of Israel are suffering because of the Egyptians, and I will keep my promise.

6Here is my message for Israel: “I am the Lord! And with my mighty power I will punish the Egyptians and free you from slavery. 7I will accept you as my people, and I will be your God. Then you will know that I was the one who rescued you from the Egyptians. 8I will bring you into the land that I solemnly promised to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and it will be yours. I am the Lord!”

9When Moses told this to the Israelites, they were too discouraged and mistreated to believe him.

10Then the Lord told Moses 11to demand that the king of Egypt let the Israelites leave. 12But Moses replied, “I'm not a powerful speaker. If the Israelites won't listen to me, why should the king of Egypt?” 13But the Lord sent Aaron and Moses with a message for the Israelites and for the king. He also ordered Aaron and Moses to free the people from Egypt.

Family Record of Aaron and Moses

14The following men were the heads of their ancestral clans:

The sons of Reuben, Jacob's+ oldest son, were Hanoch, Pallu, Hezron, and Carmi.

15The sons of Simeon were Jemuel, Jamin, Ohad, Jachin, Zohar, and Shaul, the son of a Canaanite woman.

16 Levi lived to be 137; his sons were Gershon, Kohath, and Merari.

17Gershon's sons were Libni and Shimei.

18Kohath lived to be 133; his sons were Amram, Izhar, Hebron, and Uzziel.

19Merari's sons were Mahli and Mushi. All of the above were from the Levi tribe.

20Amram lived to be 137. He married his father's sister Jochebed, and they had two sons, Aaron and Moses.

21Izhar's sons were Korah, Nepheg, and Zichri.

22Uzziel's sons were Mishael, Elzaphan, and Sithri.

23Aaron married Elisheba. She was the daughter of Amminadab and the sister of Nahshon; they had four sons, Nadab, Abihu, Eleazar, and Ithamar.

24Korah's sons were Assir, Elkanah, and Abiasaph.

25Aaron's son Eleazar married one of Putiel's daughters, and their son was Phinehas. This ends the list of those who were the heads of clans in the Levi tribe.

26The Lord had commanded Aaron and Moses to lead every family and tribe of Israel out of Egypt, 27and so they told the king of Egypt to set the people of Israel free.

The Lord Commands Moses and Aaron To Speak to the King

28When the Lord spoke to Moses in the land of Egypt, 29he said, “I am the Lord. Tell the king+ of Egypt everything I say to you.”

30But Moses answered, “You know I am a very poor speaker, and the king will never listen to me.”