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6:1  Then the Lord said to Moses, “Now you are going to see what I will do to the king. I will force him to let my people go. In fact, I will force him to drive them out of his land.”
6:2  God spoke to Moses and said, “I am the Lord.
6:3  I appeared to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob as Almighty God, but I did not make myself known to them by my holy name, the Lord.
6:4  I also made my covenant with them, promising to give them the land of Canaan, the land in which they had lived as foreigners.
6:5  Now I have heard the groaning of the Israelites, whom the Egyptians have enslaved, and I have remembered my covenant.
6:6  So tell the Israelites that I say to them, ‘I am the Lord; I will rescue you and set you free from your slavery to the Egyptians. I will raise my mighty arm to bring terrible punishment upon them, and I will save you.
6:7  I will make you my own people, and I will be your God. You will know that I am the Lord your God when I set you free from slavery in Egypt.
6:8  I will bring you to the land that I solemnly promised to give to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob; and I will give it to you as your own possession. I am the Lord.’”
6:9  Moses told this to the Israelites, but they would not listen to him, because their spirit had been broken by their cruel slavery.
6:10  Then the Lord said to Moses,
6:11  “Go and tell the king of Egypt that he must let the Israelites leave his land.”
6:12  But Moses replied, “Even the Israelites will not listen to me, so why should the king? I am such a poor speaker.”
6:13  The Lord commanded Moses and Aaron: “Tell the Israelites and the king of Egypt that I have ordered you to lead the Israelites out of Egypt.”
6:14  Reuben, Jacob's first-born, had four sons: Hanoch, Pallu, Hezron, and Carmi; they were the ancestors of the clans that bear their names.
6:15  Simeon had six sons: Jemuel, Jamin, Ohad, Jachin, Zohar, and Shaul, the son of a Canaanite woman; they were the ancestors of the clans that bear their names.
6:16  Levi had three sons: Gershon, Kohath, and Merari; they were the ancestors of the clans that bear their names. Levi lived 137 years.
6:17  Gershon had two sons: Libni and Shimei, and they had many descendants.
6:18  Kohath had four sons: Amram, Izhar, Hebron, and Uzziel. Kohath lived 133 years.
6:19  Merari had two sons: Mahli and Mushi. These are the clans of Levi with their descendants.
6:20  Amram married his father's sister Jochebed, who bore him Aaron and Moses. Amram lived 137 years.
6:21  Izhar had three sons: Korah, Nepheg, and Zichri.
6:22  Uzziel also had three sons: Mishael, Elzaphan, and Sithri.
6:23  Aaron married Elisheba, the daughter of Amminadab and sister of Nahshon; she bore him Nadab, Abihu, Eleazar, and Ithamar.
6:24  Korah had three sons: Assir, Elkanah, and Abiasaph; they were the ancestors of the divisions of the clan of Korah.
6:25  Eleazar, Aaron's son, married one of Putiel's daughters, who bore him Phinehas. These were the heads of the families and the clans of the tribe of Levi.
6:26  Aaron and Moses were the ones to whom the Lord said, “Lead the tribes of Israel out of Egypt.”
6:27  They were the men who told the king of Egypt to free the Israelites.
6:28  When the Lord spoke to Moses in the land of Egypt,
6:29  he said, “I am the Lord. Tell the king of Egypt everything I tell you.”
6:30  But Moses answered, “You know that I am such a poor speaker; why should the king listen to me?”