¹The Lord God told Moses:

⁹When Moses told this to the Israelites, they were too discouraged and mistreated to believe him.

¹⁰Then the Lord told Moses

¹¹to demand that the king of Egypt let the Israelites leave.

¹²But Moses replied, “I'm not a powerful speaker. If the Israelites won't listen to me, why should the king of Egypt?”

¹³But the Lord sent Aaron and Moses with a message for the Israelites and for the king. He also ordered Aaron and Moses to free the people from Egypt.

Family Record of Aaron and Moses

¹⁴The following men were the heads of their ancestral clans:

²⁶The Lord had commanded Aaron and Moses to lead every family and tribe of Israel out of Egypt,

²⁷and so they told the king of Egypt to set the people of Israel free.

The Lord Commands Moses and Aaron To Speak to the King

²⁸When the Lord spoke to Moses in the land of Egypt,

²⁹he said, “I am the Lord . Tell the king of Egypt everything I say to you.”[#6.29 See the note at 1.11.]

³⁰But Moses answered, “You know I am a very poor speaker, and the king will never listen to me.”