Exodus 4

• 1. But Moses protested again, "Look, they won't believe me! They won't do what I tell them. They'll just say, `The LORD never appeared to you.'"
• 2. Then the LORD asked him, "What do you have there in your hand?A shepherd's staff," Moses replied.
• 3. "Throw it down on the ground," the LORD told him. So Moses threw it down, and it became a snake! Moses was terrified, so he turned and ran away.
• 4. Then the LORD told him, "Take hold of its tail." So Moses reached out and grabbed it, and it became a shepherd's staff again.
• 5. "Perform this sign, and they will believe you," the LORD told him. "Then they will realize that the LORD, the God of their ancestors--the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob--really has appeared to you."
• 6. Then the LORD said to Moses, "Put your hand inside your robe." Moses did so, and when he took it out again, his hand was white as snow with leprosy.
• 7. "Now put your hand back into your robe again," the LORD said. Moses did, and when he took it out this time, it was as healthy as the rest of his body.
• 8. "If they do not believe the first miraculous sign, they will believe the second," the LORD said.
• 9. "And if they do not believe you even after these two signs, then take some water from the Nile River and pour it out on the dry ground. When you do, it will turn into blood."
• 10. But Moses pleaded with the LORD, "O Lord, I'm just not a good speaker. I never have been, and I'm not now, even after you have spoken to me. I'm clumsy with words."
• 11. "Who makes mouths?" the LORD asked him. "Who makes people so they can speak or not speak, hear or not hear, see or not see? Is it not I, the LORD?
• 12. Now go, and do as I have told you. I will help you speak well, and I will tell you what to say."
• 13. But Moses again pleaded, "Lord, please! Send someone else."
• 14. Then the LORD became angry with Moses. "All right," he said. "What about your brother, Aaron the Levite? He is a good speaker. And look! He is on his way to meet you now. And when he sees you, he will be very glad.
• 15. You will talk to him, giving him the words to say. I will help both of you to speak clearly, and I will tell you what to do.
• 16. Aaron will be your spokesman to the people, and you will be as God to him, telling him what to say.
• 17. And be sure to take your shepherd's staff along so you can perform the miraculous signs I have shown you."
• 18. Then Moses went back home and talked it over with Jethro, his father-in-law. "With your permission," Moses said, "I would like to go back to Egypt to visit my family. I don't even know whether they are still alive.Go with my blessing," Jethro replied.
• 19. Before Moses left Midian, the LORD said to him, "Do not be afraid to return to Egypt, for all those who wanted to kill you are dead."
• 20. So Moses took his wife and sons, put them on a donkey, and headed back to the land of Egypt. In his hand he carried the staff of God.
• 21. Then the LORD reminded him, "When you arrive back in Egypt, go to Pharaoh and perform the miracles I have empowered you to do. But I will make him stubborn so he will not let the people go.
• 22. Then you will tell him, `This is what the LORD says: Israel is my firstborn son.
• 23. I commanded you to let him go, so he could worship me. But since you have refused, be warned! I will kill your firstborn son!'"
• 24. On the journey, when Moses and his family had stopped for the night, the LORD confronted Moses and was about to kill him.
• 25. But Zipporah, his wife, took a flint knife and circumcised her son. She threw the foreskin at Moses' feet and said, "What a blood-smeared bridegroom you are to me!"
• 26. (When she called Moses a "blood-smeared bridegroom," she was referring to the circumcision.) After that, the LORD left him alone.
• 27. Now the LORD had said to Aaron, "Go out into the wilderness to meet Moses." So Aaron traveled to the mountain of God, where he found Moses and greeted him warmly.
• 28. Moses then told Aaron everything the LORD had commanded them to do and say. And he told him about the miraculous signs they were to perform.
• 29. So Moses and Aaron returned to Egypt and called the leaders of Israel to a meeting.
• 30. Aaron told them everything the LORD had told Moses, and Moses performed the miraculous signs as they watched.
• 31. The leaders were soon convinced that the LORD had sent Moses and Aaron. And when they realized that the LORD had seen their misery and was deeply concerned for them, they all bowed their heads and worshiped.

Exodus 5

• 1. After this presentation to Israel's leaders, Moses and Aaron went to see Pharaoh. They told him, "This is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: `Let my people go, for they must go out into the wilderness to hold a religious festival in my honor.'"
• 2. "Is that so?" retorted Pharaoh. "And who is the LORD that I should listen to him and let Israel go? I don't know the LORD, and I will not let Israel go."
• 3. But Aaron and Moses persisted. "The God of the Hebrews has met with us," they declared. "Let us take a three-day trip into the wilderness so we can offer sacrifices to the LORD our God. If we don't, we will surely die by disease or the sword."
• 4. "Who do you think you are," Pharaoh shouted, "distracting the people from their tasks? Get back to work!
• 5. Look, there are many people here in Egypt, and you are stopping them from doing their work."
• 6. That same day Pharaoh sent this order to the slave drivers and foremen he had set over the people of Israel:
• 7. "Do not supply the people with any more straw for making bricks. Let them get it themselves!
• 8. But don't reduce their production quotas by a single brick. They obviously don't have enough to do. If they did, they wouldn't be talking about going into the wilderness to offer sacrifices to their God.
• 9. Load them down with more work. Make them sweat! That will teach them to listen to these liars!"
• 10. So the slave drivers and foremen informed the people: "Pharaoh has ordered us not to provide straw for you.
• 11. Go and get it yourselves. Find it wherever you can. But you must produce just as many bricks as before!"
• 12. So the people scattered throughout the land in search of straw.
• 13. The slave drivers were brutal. "Meet your daily quota of bricks, just as you did before!" they demanded.
• 14. Then they whipped the Israelite foremen in charge of the work crews. "Why haven't you met your quotas either yesterday or today?" they demanded.
• 15. So the Israelite foremen went to Pharaoh and pleaded with him. "Please don't treat us like this," they begged.
• 16. "We are given no straw, but we are still told to make as many bricks as before. We are beaten for something that isn't our fault! It is the fault of your slave drivers for making such unreasonable demands."
• 17. But Pharaoh replied, "You're just lazy! You obviously don't have enough to do. If you did, you wouldn't be saying, `Let us go, so we can offer sacrifices to the LORD.'
• 18. Now, get back to work! No straw will be given to you, but you must still deliver the regular quota of bricks."
• 19. Since Pharaoh would not let up on his demands, the Israelite foremen could see that they were in serious trouble.
• 20. As they left Pharaoh's court, they met Moses and Aaron, who were waiting outside for them.
• 21. The foremen said to them, "May the LORD judge you for getting us into this terrible situation with Pharaoh and his officials. You have given them an excuse to kill us!"
• 22. So Moses went back to the LORD and protested, "Why have you mistreated your own people like this, Lord? Why did you send me?
• 23. Since I gave Pharaoh your message, he has been even more brutal to your people. You have not even begun to rescue them!"

Exodus 6

• 1. "Now you will see what I will do to Pharaoh," the LORD told Moses. "When he feels my powerful hand upon him, he will let the people go. In fact, he will be so anxious to get rid of them that he will force them to leave his land!"
• 2. And God continued, "I am the LORD.
• 3. I appeared to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob as God Almighty, though I did not reveal my name, the LORD, to them.
• 4. And I entered into a solemn covenant with them. Under its terms, I swore to give them the land of Canaan, where they were living.
• 5. You can be sure that I have heard the groans of the people of Israel, who are now slaves to the Egyptians. I have remembered my covenant with them.
• 6. "Therefore, say to the Israelites: `I am the LORD, and I will free you from your slavery in Egypt. I will redeem you with mighty power and great acts of judgment.
• 7. I will make you my own special people, and I will be your God. And you will know that I am the LORD your God who has rescued you from your slavery in Egypt.
• 8. I will bring you into the land I swore to give to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. It will be your very own property. I am the LORD!'"
• 9. So Moses told the people what the LORD had said, but they wouldn't listen anymore. They had become too discouraged by the increasing burden of their slavery.
• 10. Then the LORD said to Moses,
• 11. "Go back to Pharaoh, and tell him to let the people of Israel leave Egypt."
• 12. "But LORD!" Moses objected. "My own people won't listen to me anymore. How can I expect Pharaoh to listen? I'm no orator!"
• 13. But the LORD ordered Moses and Aaron to return to Pharaoh, king of Egypt, and to demand that he let the people of Israel leave Egypt.
• 14. These are the ancestors of clans from some of Israel's tribes: The descendants of Reuben, Israel's oldest son, included Hanoch, Pallu, Hezron, and Carmi. Their descendants became the clans of Reuben.
• 15. The descendants of Simeon included Jemuel, Jamin, Ohad, Jakin, Zohar, and Shaul (whose mother was a Canaanite). Their descendants became the clans of Simeon.
• 16. These are the descendants of Levi, listed according to their family groups. In the first generation were Gershon, Kohath, and Merari. (Levi, their father, lived to be 137 years old.)
• 17. The descendants of Gershon included Libni and Shimei, each of whom is the ancestor of a clan.
• 18. The descendants of Kohath included Amram, Izhar, Hebron, and Uzziel. (Kohath lived to be 133 years old.)
• 19. The descendants of Merari included Mahli and Mushi. These are the clans of the Levites, listed according to their genealogies.
• 20. Amram married his father's sister Jochebed, and she bore him Aaron and Moses. (Amram lived to be 137 years old.)
• 21. The descendants of Izhar included Korah, Nepheg, and Zicri.
• 22. The descendants of Uzziel included Mishael, Elzaphan, and Sithri.
• 23. Aaron married Elisheba, the daughter of Amminadab and sister of Nahshon, and she bore him Nadab, Abihu, Eleazar, and Ithamar.
• 24. The descendants of Korah included Assir, Elkanah, and Abiasaph. Their descendants became the clans of Korah.
• 25. Eleazar son of Aaron married one of the daughters of Putiel, and she bore him Phinehas. These are the ancestors of the Levite clans, listed according to their family groups.
• 26. The Aaron and Moses named in this list are the same Aaron and Moses to whom the LORD said, "Lead all the people of Israel out of the land of Egypt, division by division."
• 27. They are the ones who went to Pharaoh to ask permission to lead the people from the land of Egypt.
• 28. At that time, the LORD had said to them,
• 29. "I am the LORD! Give Pharaoh the message I have given you."
• 30. This is the same Moses who had argued with the LORD, saying, "I can't do it! I'm no orator. Why should Pharaoh listen to me?"

New Living Translation: 19 of 324 days.