Exodus 4

1 Moses answered, “But, behold, they will not believe me, nor listen to my voice; for they will say, ‘The LORD has not appeared to you.’”

And Moses answered and said, If they believe me not, and do not hearken to my voice (for they will say, God has not appeared to thee), what shall I say to them?

2 The LORD said to him, “What is that in your hand?” He said, “A rod.”

And the Lord said to him, What is this thing that is in thine hand? and he said, A rod.

3 He said, “Throw it on the ground.” He threw it on the ground, and it became a snake; and Moses ran away from it.

And he said, Cast it on the ground: and he cast it on the ground, and it became a serpent, and Moses fled from it.

4 The LORD said to Moses, “Stretch out your hand, and take it by the tail.” He stretched out his hand, and took hold of it, and it became a rod in his hand.

And the Lord said to Moses, Stretch forth thine hand, and take hold of its tail: so he stretched forth his hand and took hold of the tail,

5 “This is so that they may believe that the LORD, the God of their fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has appeared to you.”

and it became a rod in his hand, —that they may believe thee, that the God of thy fathers has appeared to thee, the God of Abraam, and God of Isaac, and God of Jacob.

6 The LORD said furthermore to him, “Now put your hand inside your cloak.” He put his hand inside his cloak, and when he took it out, behold, his hand was leprous, as white as snow.

And the Lord said again to him, Put thine hand into thy bosom; and he put his hand into his bosom, and brought his hand out of his bosom, and his hand became as snow.

7 He said, “Put your hand inside your cloak again.” He put his hand inside his cloak again, and when he took it out of his cloak, behold, it had turned again as his other flesh.

And he said again, Put thy hand into thy bosom; and he put his hand into his bosom, and brought his hand out of his bosom, and it was again restored to the complexion of his [other] flesh.

8 “It will happen, if they will not believe you or listen to the voice of the first sign, that they will believe the voice of the latter sign.

And if they will not believe thee, nor hearken to the voice of the first sign, they will believe thee [because] of the voice of the second sign.

9 It will happen, if they will not believe even these two signs or listen to your voice, that you shall take of the water of the river, and pour it on the dry land. The water which you take out of the river will become blood on the dry land.”

And it shall come to pass if they will not believe thee for these two signs, and will not hearken to thy voice, that thou shalt take of the water of the river and pour it upon the dry land, and the water which thou shalt take from the river shall be blood upon the dry land.

10 Moses said to the LORD, “O Lord, I am not eloquent, neither before now, nor since you have spoken to your servant; for I am slow of speech, and of a slow tongue.”

And Moses said to the Lord, I pray, Lord, I have not been sufficient in former times, neither from the time that thou hast begun to speak to thy servant: I am weak in speech, and slow-tongued.

11 The LORD said to him, “Who made man’s mouth? Or who makes one mute, or deaf, or seeing, or blind? Is not it I, the LORD?

And the Lord said to Moses, Who has given a mouth to man, and who has made the very hard of hearing, and the deaf, the seeing and the blind? have not I, God?

12 Now therefore go, and I will be with your mouth, and teach you what you shall speak.”

And now go and I will open thy mouth, and will instruct thee in what thou shalt say.

13 Moses said, “Oh, Lord, please send someone else.”

And Moses said, I pray thee, Lord, appoint another able [person] whom thou shalt send.

14 The LORD’s anger burned against Moses, and he said, “What about Aaron, your brother, the Levite? I know that he can speak well. Also, behold, he is coming out to meet you. When he sees you, he will be glad in his heart.

And the Lord was greatly angered against Moses, and said, Lo! is not Aaron the Levite thy brother? I know that he will surely speak to thee; and, behold, he will come forth to meet thee, and beholding thee he will rejoice within himself.

15 You shall speak to him, and put the words in his mouth. I will be with your mouth, and with his mouth, and will teach you what you shall do.

And thou shalt speak to him; and thou shalt put my words into his mouth, and I will open thy mouth and his mouth, and I will instruct you in what ye shall do.

16 He will be your spokesman to the people. It will happen that he will be to you a mouth, and you will be to him as God.

And he shall speak for thee to the people, and he shall be thy mouth, and thou shalt be for him in things pertaining to God.

17 You shall take this rod in your hand, with which you shall do the signs.”

And this rod that was turned into a serpent thou shalt take in thine hand, wherewith thou shalt work miracles.

18 Moses went and returned to Jethro his father-in-law, and said to him, “Please let me go and return to my brothers who are in Egypt, and see whether they are still alive.” Jethro said to Moses, “Go in peace.”

And Moses went and returned to Jothor his father-in-law, and says, I will go and return to my brethren in Egypt, and will see if they are yet living. And Jothor said to Moses, Go in health. And in those days after some time, the king of Egypt died.

19 The LORD said to Moses in Midian, “Go, return into Egypt; for all the men who sought your life are dead.”

And the Lord said to Moses in Madiam, Go, depart into Egypt, for all that sought thy life are dead.

20 Moses took his wife and his sons, and set them on a donkey, and he returned to the land of Egypt. Moses took God’s rod in his hand.

And Moses took his wife and his children, and mounted them on the beasts, and returned to Egypt; and Moses took the rod [which he had] from God in his hand.

21 The LORD said to Moses, “When you go back into Egypt, see that you do before Pharaoh all the wonders which I have put in your hand, but I will harden his heart and he will not let the people go.

And the Lord said to Moses, When thou goest and returnest to Egypt, see—all the miracles I have charged thee with, thou shalt work before Pharao: and I will harden his heart, and he shall certainly not send away the people.

22 You shall tell Pharaoh, ‘The LORD says, Israel is my son, my firstborn,

And thou shalt say to Pharao, These things saith the Lord, Israel [is] my first-born.

23 and I have said to you, “Let my son go, that he may serve me;” and you have refused to let him go. Behold, I will kill your firstborn son.’”

And I said to thee, Send away my people, that they may serve me: now if thou wilt not send them away, see, I will slay thy first-born son.

24 On the way at a lodging place, the LORD met Moses and wanted to kill him.

And it came to pass [that] the angel of the Lord met him by the way in the inn, and sought to slay him.

25 Then Zipporah took a flint, and cut off the foreskin of her son, and cast it at his feet; and she said, “Surely you are a bridegroom of blood to me.”

and Sepphora having taken a stone cut off the foreskin of her son, and fell at his feet and said, The blood of the circumcision of my son is staunched:

26 So he let him alone. Then she said, “You are a bridegroom of blood,” because of the circumcision.

and he departed from him, because she said, The blood of the circumcision of my son is staunched.

27 The LORD said to Aaron, “Go into the wilderness to meet Moses.” He went, and met him on God’s mountain, and kissed him.

And the Lord said to Aaron, Go into the wilderness to meet Moses; and he went and met him in the mount of God, and they kissed each other.

28 Moses told Aaron all the LORD’s words with which he had sent him, and all the signs with which he had instructed him.

And Moses reported to Aaron all the words of the Lord, which he sent, and all the things which he charged him.

29 Moses and Aaron went and gathered together all the elders of the children of Israel.

And Moses and Aaron went and gathered the elders of the children of Israel.

30 Aaron spoke all the words which the LORD had spoken to Moses, and did the signs in the sight of the people.

And Aaron spoke all these words, which God spoke to Moses, and wrought the miracles before the people.

31 The people believed, and when they heard that the LORD had visited the children of Israel, and that he had seen their affliction, then they bowed their heads and worshiped.

and the people believed and rejoiced, because God visited the children of Israel, and because he saw their affliction: and the people bowed and worshipped.