4. I also made my agreement with them to give them the land of Canaan. They lived in that land, but it was not their own land.
5. Now I have heard the cries of the Israelites. The Egyptians are treating them as slaves. And I remember my agreement.
6. So tell the people of Israel that I say to them, ‘I am the Lord. I will save you from the hard work the Egyptians force you to do. I will make you free. You will not be slaves to the Egyptians. I will free you by my great power. And I will punish the Egyptians terribly.
7. I will make you my own people, and I will be your God. You will know that I am the Lord your God. I am the One who saves you from the hard work the Egyptians force you to do.
8. I will lead you to the land that I promised to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. I will give you that land to own. I am the Lord.’”
9. So Moses told this to the people of Israel. But they would not listen to him. They were discouraged, and their slavery was hard.
10. Then the Lord said to Moses,
11. “Go tell the king of Egypt that he must let the Israelites leave his land.”
12. But Moses answered, “The Israelites will not listen to me. So surely the king will not listen to me, either. I am not a good speaker.”
13. But the Lord told Moses and Aaron to talk to the king. He commanded them to lead the Israelites out of Egypt.
14. These are the leaders of the families of Israel:Israel’s first son, Reuben, had four sons. They were Hanoch, Pallu, Hezron and Carmi. These are the family groups of Reuben.