1 Yahweh said to Moses, “Now you will see that I will overcome him and oblige him to let you go, even force him to drive you out of his land.”
Another narrative of the call of Moses
2 God spoke to Moses saying, “I am Yahweh!
3 I appeared to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob as God Almighty, but I did not make myself known to them by the name of Yahweh.
4 I established my covenant with them promising to give them the land of Canaan, in which they lived as strangers,
5 and now I remember my co venant as I hear the groaning of the Is raelites enslaved by the Egyptians.
6 Therefore say this to them: “I am Yahweh. I will take you away from the burden of Egypt and free you from its bondage; I will redeem you with the blows of my powerful hand.
7 I will take you for my people and you will know that I am Yahweh your God who delivered you from the slavery of the Egyp tians.
8 I will bring you to the land I swore I would give to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and I will give it to you as your own possession. I am Yahweh.”
9 This is how Moses spoke to the people of Israel but they did not listen, so discouraged were they by their cruel slavery.
10 Yahweh spoke to Moses saying,
11 “Go and speak to Pharaoh, king of Egypt and tell him to let the people of Israel leave the country.”
12 But Moses said, “If the Israelites paid no attention to me, how then will Pharaoh listen to me, a man who has difficulty in expressing him self?”
13 But Yahweh spoke to Moses and Aaron and ordered them, and Pha raoh as well, to bring the people of Israel out of Egypt.
The forefathers of Moses and Aaron
14 These were the heads of the tribes:
Sons of Reuben, Israel’s firstborn: Ha noch, Pallu, Hezron and Carmi; these are the families of Reuben.
15 Sons of Simeon: Jemuel, Jamin, Ohad, Jachin, Zohar, and Shaul, son of a Canaanite woman; these are the families of Simeon.
16 These are the sons of Levi with their descendants: Gershon, Kohath and Me rari. Levi lived a hundred and thirty-seven years.
17 Sons of Gershon: Libni and Shimei and their descendants.
18 Sons of Kohath: Amram, Izhar, He bron and Uzziel. Kohath lived for a hundred and thirty-three years.
19 Sons of Merari: Mahli and Mushi. These are the descendants of Levi with their families.
20 Amram married Jochebed, his aunt, who gave him two sons, Aaron and Moses. Amram lived a hundred and thirty-seven years.
21 The sons of Izhar were: Korah, Nepheg and Zichri.
22 The sons of Uzziel: Mishael, Elza phan and Sithri.
23 Aaron married Elisheba, daughter of Amminadab and sister of Nahshon, and she bore him Nadab, Abihu, Eleazar and Ithamar.
24 The sons of Korah: Assir, Elkanah and Abiasaph. These are the families of the Korahites. 25 Eleazar, son of Aaron, married one of Putiel’s daughters and Phi nehas was their son.
25 These are the heads of the families of the Levites according to their clans.
26 It was to Aaron and Moses that Yahweh said, “Bring the people of Israel out of the land of Egypt in divisions.”
27 It was they who spoke with Pha raoh, king of Egypt, about bringing the Israelites out of Egypt. Yes, it was Moses and Aaron.
28 When Yahweh spoke to Moses in the land of Egypt,
29 he said, “I am Yahweh. Say to Pharaoh, king of Egypt, all that I tell you.”
30 But Moses replied, “I am a poor speaker and why would Pharaoh listen to me?”
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Comments Exodus, Chapter 6
• 6.2 We said in the beginning of this book that different accounts of the same events were put together. Here begins a later and more summarized story of Moses’ call. It gives a list of his ancestors. The Jewish priests attribute to Moses a life of 120 years, that is, of three generations—a symbolic and perfect number:
– 40 years old upon leaving Egypt,
– 80 years old when he met God,
– 120 years old at his death.