¹ And Jehovah said unto Moses, Now shalt thou see what I will do to Pharaoh: for by a strong hand shall he let them go, and by a strong hand shall he drive them out of his land.

² And God spake unto Moses, and said unto him, I am Jehovah:

³ and I appeared unto Abraham, unto Isaac, and unto Jacob, as God Almighty; but by my name Jehovah I was not known to them.

⁴ And I have also established my covenant with them, to give them the land of Canaan, the land of their sojournings, wherein they sojourned.

⁵ And moreover I have heard the groaning of the children of Israel, whom the Egyptians keep in bondage; and I have remembered my covenant.

⁶ Wherefore say unto the children of Israel, I am Jehovah, and I will bring you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians, and I will rid you out of their bondage, and I will redeem you with an outstretched arm, and with great judgments:

⁷ and I will take you to me for a people, and I will be to you a God; and ye shall know that I am Jehovah your God, who bringeth you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians.

⁸ And I will bring you in unto the land which I sware to give to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob; and I will give it you for a heritage: I am Jehovah.

⁹ And Moses spake so unto the children of Israel: but they hearkened not unto Moses for anguish of spirit, and for cruel bondage.

¹⁰ And Jehovah spake unto Moses, saying,

¹¹ Go in, speak unto Pharaoh king of Egypt, that he let the children of Israel Go out of his land.

¹² And Moses spake before Jehovah, saying, Behold, the children of Israel have not hearkened unto me; how then shall Pharaoh hear me, who am of uncircumcised lips?

¹³ And Jehovah spake unto Moses and unto Aaron, and gave them a charge unto the children of Israel, and unto Pharaoh king of Egypt, to bring the children of Israel out of the land of Egypt.

¹⁴ These are the heads of their fathers' houses. The sons of Reuben the first-born of Israel: Hanoch, and Pallu, Hezron, and Carmi; these are the families of Reuben.

¹⁵ And the sons of Simeon: Jemuel, and Jamin, and Ohad, and Jachin, and Zohar, and Shaul the son of a Canaanitish woman; these are the families of Simeon.

¹⁶ And these are the names of the sons of Levi according to their generations: Gershon, and Kohath, and Merari; and the years of the life of Levi were a hundred thirty and seven years.

¹⁷ The sons of Gershon: Libni and Shimei, according to their families.

¹⁸ And the sons of Kohath: Amram, and Izhar, and Hebron, and Uzziel; and the years of the life of Kohath were a hundred thirty and three years.

¹⁹ And the sons of Merari: Mahli and Mushi. These are the families of the Levites according to their generations.

²⁰ And Amram took him Jochebed his father's sister to wife; and she bare him Aaron and Moses: and the years of the life of Amram were a hundred and thirty and seven years.

²¹ And the sons of Izhar: Korah, and Nepheg, and Zichri.

²² And the sons of Uzziel: Mishael, and Elzaphan, and Sithri.

²³ And Aaron took him Elisheba, the daughter of Amminadab, the sister of Nahshon, to wife; and she bare him Nadab and Abihu, Eleazar and Ithamar.

²⁴ And the sons of Korah: Assir, and Elkanah, and Abiasaph; these are the families of the Korahites.

²⁵ And Eleazar Aaron's son took him one of the daughters of Putiel to wife; and she bare him Phinehas. These are the heads of the fathers' [houses] of the Levites according to their families.

²⁶ These are that Aaron and Moses, to whom Jehovah said, Bring out the children of Israel from the land of Egypt according to their hosts.

²⁷ These are they that spake to Pharaoh king of Egypt, to bring out the children of Israel from Egypt: these are that Moses and Aaron.

²⁸ And it came to pass on the day when Jehovah spake unto Moses in the land of Egypt,

²⁹ that Jehovah spake unto Moses, saying, I am Jehovah: speak thou unto Pharaoh king of Egypt all that I speak unto thee.

³⁰ And Moses said before Jehovah, Behold, I am of uncircumcised lips, and how shall Pharaoh hearken unto me?

¹ Afterward Moses and Aaron came, and said to Pharaoh, "This is what Yahweh, the God of Israel, says, 'Let my people go, that they may hold a feast to me in the wilderness.'"

² Pharaoh said, "Who is Yahweh, that I should listen to his voice to let Israel go? I don't know Yahweh, and moreover I will not let Israel go."

³ They said, "The God of the Hebrews has met with us. Please let us go three days' journey into the wilderness, and sacrifice to Yahweh, our God, lest he fall on us with pestilence, or with the sword."

⁴ The king of Egypt said to them, "Why do you, Moses and Aaron, take the people from their work? Get back to your burdens!"

⁵ Pharaoh said, "Behold, the people of the land are now many, and you make them rest from their burdens."

⁶ The same day Pharaoh commanded the taskmasters of the people, and their officers, saying,

⁷ "You shall no longer give the people straw to make brick, as before. Let them go and gather straw for themselves.

⁸ The number of the bricks, which they made before, you require from them. You shall not diminish anything of it, for they are idle; therefore they cry, saying, 'Let us go and sacrifice to our God.'

⁹ Let heavier work be laid on the men, that they may labor therein; and don't let them pay any attention to lying words."

¹⁰ The taskmasters of the people went out, and their officers, and they spoke to the people, saying, "This is what Pharaoh says: 'I will not give you straw.

¹¹ Go yourselves, get straw where you can find it, for nothing of your work shall be diminished.'"

¹² So the people were scattered abroad throughout all the land of Egypt to gather stubble for straw.

¹³ The taskmasters were urgent saying, "Fulfill your work quota daily, as when there was straw!"

¹⁴ The officers of the children of Israel, whom Pharaoh's taskmasters had set over them, were beaten, and demanded, "Why haven't you fulfilled your quota both yesterday and today, in making brick as before?"

¹⁵ Then the officers of the children of Israel came and cried to Pharaoh, saying, "Why do you deal this way with your servants?

¹⁶ No straw is given to your servants, and they tell us, 'Make brick!' and behold, your servants are beaten; but the fault is in your own people."

¹⁷ But he said, "You are idle! You are idle! Therefore you say, 'Let us go and sacrifice to Yahweh.'

¹⁸ Go therefore now, and work, for no straw shall be given to you, yet you shall deliver the same number of bricks!"

¹⁹ The officers of the children of Israel saw that they were in trouble, when it was said, "You shall not diminish anything from your daily quota of bricks!"

²⁰ They met Moses and Aaron, who stood in the way, as they came forth from Pharaoh:

²¹ and they said to them, "May Yahweh look at you, and judge, because you have made us a stench to be abhorred in the eyes of Pharaoh, and in the eyes of his servants, to put a sword in their hand to kill us."

²² Moses returned to Yahweh, and said, "Lord, why have you brought trouble on this people? why is it that you have sent me?

²³ For since I came to Pharaoh to speak in your name, he has brought trouble on this people; neither have you delivered your people at all."