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They will heed what you say. Then you will come, you and the leaders of Isra'el, before the king of Egypt; and you will tell him, ‘ Adonai , the God of the Hebrews, has met with us. Now, please, let us go three days' journey into the desert; so that we can sacrifice to Adonai our God.'

I know that the king of Egypt will not let you leave unless he is forced to do so.

Moreover, I will make the Egyptians so well-disposed toward this people that when you go, you won't go empty-handed.

"This is so that they will believe that Adonai , the God of their fathers, the God of Avraham, the God of Yitz'chak and the God of Ya‘akov, has appeared to you!"

So Moshe took his wife and sons, put them on a donkey, and started out for Egypt. Moshe took God's staff in his hand.

(vii) After that, Moshe and Aharon came and said to Pharaoh, "Here is what Adonai , the God of Isra'el, says: ‘Let my people go, so that they can celebrate a festival in the desert to honor me.'"

They said, "The God of the Hebrews has met with us. Please let us go three days' journey into the desert, so that we can sacrifice to Adonai our God. Otherwise, he may strike us with a plague or with the sword."

So the people were dispersed throughout all the land of Egypt to gather stubble for straw.

(Maftir) Moshe returned to Adonai and said, " Adonai , why have you treated this people so terribly? What has been the value of sending me?

Adonai said to Moshe, "Now you will see what I am going to do to Pharaoh. With a mighty hand he will send them off; with force he will drive them from the land!" Haftarah Sh'mot: Yesha‘yahu (Isaiah) 27:6–28:13; 29:22–23 (A); Yirmeyahu (Jeremiah) 1:1–2:3 (S) B'rit Hadashah suggested readings for Parashah Sh'mot: Mattityahu (Matthew) 22:23–33; 41–46; Mark 12:18–27; 35–37; Luke 20:27–44; Acts 3:12–15; 5:27–32; 7:17–36; 22:12–16; 24:14–16; Messianic Jews (Hebrews) 11:23–26 God spoke to Moshe; he said to him, "I am Adonai . I appeared to Avraham, Yitz'chak and Ya‘akov as El Shaddai, although I did not make myself known to them by my name, Yud-Heh-Vav-Heh [ Adonai ]. Also with them I established my covenant to give them the land of Kena‘an, the land where they wandered about and lived as foreigners. Moreover, I have heard the groaning of the people of Isra'el, whom the Egyptians are keeping in slavery; and I have remembered my covenant. "Therefore, say to the people of Isra'el: ‘I am Adonai . I will free you from the forced labor of the Egyptians, rescue you from their oppression, and redeem you with an outstretched arm and with great judgments. I will take you as my people, and I will be your God. Then you will know that I am Adonai your God, who freed you from the forced labor of the Egyptians. I will bring you into the land which I swore to give to Avraham, Yitz'chak and Ya‘akov — I will give it to you as your inheritance. I am Adonai .'" Moshe said this to the people of Isra'el. But they wouldn't listen to him, because they were so discouraged, and their slavery was so cruel. Adonai said to Moshe, "Go in; and tell Pharaoh, king of Egypt, to let the people of Isra'el leave his land." Moshe said to Adonai , "Look, the people of Isra'el haven't listened to me; so how will Pharaoh listen to me, poor speaker that I am?" But Adonai spoke to Moshe and Aharon and gave them orders concerning both the people of Isra'el and Pharaoh, king of Egypt, to bring the people of Isra'el out of the land of Egypt. (ii) These were the heads of their families: the sons of Re'uven the firstborn of Isra'el were Hanokh, Pallu, Hetzron and Karmi. These were the families of Re'uven. The sons of Shim‘on were Y'mu'el, Yamin, Ohad, Yakhin, Tzochar and Sha'ul the son of a Kena‘ani woman. These were the families of Shim‘on. These are the names of the sons of Levi with their descendants: Gershon, K'hat and M'rari. Levi lived to be 137 years old. The sons of Gershon were Livni and Shim‘i, with their families. The sons of K'hat were ‘Amram, Yitz'har, Hevron and ‘Uzi'el. K'hat lived to be 133 years old. The sons of M'rari were Machli and Mushi. These were the families of Levi with their descendants. ‘Amram married Yokheved his father's sister, and she bore him Aharon and Moshe. ‘Amram lived to be 137 years old. The sons of Yitz'har were Korach, Nefeg and Zikhri. The sons of ‘Uzi'el were Misha'el, Eltzafan and Sitri. Aharon married Elisheva daughter of ‘Amminadav and sister of Nachshon, and she bore him Nadav, Avihu, El‘azar and Itamar. The sons of Korach were Asir, Elkanah and Avi'asaf. These were the Korchi families. El‘azar the son of Aharon married one of the daughters of Puti'el, and she bore him Pinchas. These were the heads of the families of Levi, family by family. These are the Aharon and Moshe to whom Adonai said, "Bring the people of Isra'el out of the land of Egypt, division by division," and who told Pharaoh king of Egypt, to let the people of Isra'el leave Egypt. These are the same Moshe and Aharon. On the day when Adonai spoke to Moshe in the land of Egypt, (iii) he said, "I am Adonai . Tell Pharaoh, king of Egypt, everything I say to you." Moshe answered Adonai , "Look, I'm such a poor speaker that Pharaoh won't listen to me."

Moshe said this to the people of Isra'el. But they wouldn't listen to him, because they were so discouraged, and their slavery was so cruel.

Moshe said to Adonai , "Look, the people of Isra'el haven't listened to me; so how will Pharaoh listen to me, poor speaker that I am?"

"When Pharaoh says to you, ‘Perform a miracle,' tell Aharon to take his staff and throw it down in front of Pharaoh, so that it can become a snake."

and say to him, ‘ Adonai , the God of the Hebrews, sent me to you to say: "Let my people go, so that they can worship me in the desert." But until now you haven't listened;

so Adonai says, "This will let you know that I am Adonai ": I will take the staff in my hand and strike the water in the river, and it will be turned into blood.

Adonai said to Moshe, "Say to Aharon, ‘Take your staff, reach out your hand over the waters of Egypt, over their rivers, canals, ponds and all their reservoirs, so that they can turn into blood. There will be blood throughout the whole land of Egypt, even in the wooden buckets and stone jars.'"

The fish in the river died, and the river stank so badly that the Egyptians couldn't drink its water. There was blood throughout all the land of Egypt.

But the magicians of Egypt did the same with their secret arts, so that Pharaoh was made hardhearted and didn't listen to them, as Adonai had said would happen.

Seven days after Adonai had struck the river, Adonai said to Moshe, "Go in to Pharaoh and say to him, ‘Here is what Adonai says: "Let my people go, so that they can worship me. If you refuse to let them go, I will strike all your territory with frogs. The river will swarm with frogs. They will go up, enter your palace and go into your bedroom, onto your bed. They will enter the houses of your servants and your people and go into your ovens and kneading bowls. The frogs will climb all over you, your people and your servants."'"

Then the magicians said to Pharaoh, "This is the finger of God." But Pharaoh was made hardhearted, so that he didn't listen to them, just as Adonai had said would happen.