1. Then the Lord said to Moses, “Now you will see what I will do to Pharaoh. I will show him my power, and he will let my people go. I will show him my power, and he will throw them out of his country.”
2. God spoke to Moses, “I am the Lord.
3. I appeared to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob as God Almighty, but I didn’t make myself known to them by my name, the Lord.
4. I even made a promise to give them Canaan, the land where they lived as foreigners.
5. Now I have heard the groaning of the Israelites, whom the Egyptians hold in slavery, and I have remembered my promise.
6. “Tell the Israelites, ‘I am the Lord. I will bring you out from under the oppression of the Egyptians, and I will free you from slavery. I will rescue you with my powerful arm and with mighty acts of judgment.
7. Then I will make you my people, and I will be your God. You will know that I am the Lord your God, who brought you out from under the forced labor of the Egyptians.
8. I will bring you to the land I solemnly swore to give to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. I will give it to you as your own possession. I am the Lord.’ ”
9. Moses reported this to the Israelites. But they would not listen to him because they were so discouraged by their back–breaking work.
10. Then the Lord spoke to Moses,
11. “Go tell Pharaoh (the king of Egypt) to let the Israelites leave his country.”
12. But Moses protested to the Lord, “The Israelites wouldn’t listen to me. Why would Pharaoh listen to me? I’m such a poor speaker.”
13. The Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron about the Israelites and Pharaoh (the king of Egypt). He commanded them to bring the Israelites out of Egypt.
14. These were the heads of the families:The sons of Reuben, Israel’s firstborn, were Hanoch, Pallu, Hezron, and Carmi.These were the families descended from Reuben.