Exodus 4

1 And Moses, answering, said, It is certain that they will not have faith in me or give ear to my voice; for they will say, You have not seen the Lord.

And Moses answereth and saith, 'And, if they do not give credence to me, nor hearken to my voice, and say, Jehovah hath not appeared unto thee?'

2 And the Lord said to him, What is that in your hand? And he said, A rod.

And Jehovah saith unto him, 'What [is] this in thy hand?' and he saith, 'A rod;'

3 And he said, Put it down on the earth. And he put it down on the earth and it became a snake; and Moses went running from it.

and He saith, 'Cast it to the earth;' and he casteth it to the earth, and it becometh a serpent — and Moses fleeth from its presence.

4 And the Lord said to Moses, Put out your hand and take it by the tail: (and he put out his hand and took a grip of it and it became a rod in his hand: )

And Jehovah saith unto Moses, 'Put forth thy hand, and lay hold on the tail of it;' and he putteth forth his hand, and layeth hold on it, and it becometh a rod in his hand —

5 So that they may be certain that the Lord, the God of their fathers, the God of Abraham, of Isaac, and of Jacob, has been seen by you.

' — so that they believe that Jehovah, God of their fathers, hath appeared unto thee, God of Abraham, God of Isaac, and God of Jacob.'

6 Then the Lord said to him again, Put your hand inside your clothing. And he put his hand inside his robe: and when he took it out it was like the hand of a leper, as white as snow.

And Jehovah saith to him again, 'Put in, I pray thee, thy hand into thy bosom;' and he putteth in his hand into his bosom, and he bringeth it out, and lo, his hand [is] leprous as snow;

7 And he said, Put your hand inside your robe again. (And he put his hand into his robe again, and when he took it out he saw that it had become like his other flesh.)

and He saith, 'Put back thy hand unto thy bosom;' and he putteth back his hand unto his bosom, and he bringeth it out from his bosom, and lo, it hath turned back as his flesh —

8 And if they do not have faith in you or give ear to the voice of the first sign, they will have faith in the second sign.

' — and it hath come to pass, if they do not give credence to thee, and hearken not to the voice of the first sign, that they have given credence to the voice of the latter sign.

9 And if they have no faith even in these two signs and will not give ear to your voice, then you are to take the water of the Nile and put it on the dry land: and the water you take out of the river will become blood on the dry land.

'And it hath come to pass, if they do not give credence even to these two signs, nor hearken to thy voice, that thou hast taken of the waters of the River, and hast poured on the dry land, and the waters which thou takest from the River have been, yea, they have become — blood on the dry land.'

10 And Moses said to the Lord, O Lord, I am not a man of words; I have never been so, and am not now, even after what you have said to your servant: for talking is hard for me, and I am slow of tongue.

And Moses saith unto Jehovah, 'O, my Lord, I [am] not a man of words, either yesterday, or before, or since Thy speaking unto Thy servant, for I [am] slow of mouth, and slow of tongue.'

11 And the Lord said to him, Who has made man's mouth? who takes away a man's voice or hearing, or makes him seeing or blind? Is it not I, the Lord?

And Jehovah saith unto him, 'Who appointed a mouth for man? or who appointeth the dumb, or deaf, or open, or blind? is it not I, Jehovah?

12 So go now, and I will be with your mouth, teaching you what to say.

and now, go, and I — I am with thy mouth, and have directed thee that which thou speakest;'

13 And he said, O Lord, send, if you will, by the hand of anyone whom it seems good to you to send.

and he saith, 'O, my Lord, send, I pray thee, by the hand Thou dost send.'

14 And the Lord was angry with Moses, and said, Is there not Aaron, your brother, the Levite? To my knowledge he is good at talking. And now he is coming out to you: and when he sees you he will be glad in his heart.

And the anger of Jehovah burneth against Moses, and He saith, 'Is not Aaron the Levite thy brother? I have known that he speaketh well, and also, lo, he is coming out to meet thee; when he hath seen thee, then he hath rejoiced in his heart,

15 Let him give ear to your voice, and you will put my words in his mouth; and I will be with your mouth and with his, teaching you what you have to do.

and thou hast spoken unto him, and hast set the words in his mouth, and I — I am with thy mouth, and with his mouth, and have directed you that which ye do;

16 And he will do the talking for you to the people: he will be to you as a mouth and you will be to him as God.

and he, he hath spoken for thee unto the people, and it hath come to pass, he — he is to thee for a mouth, and thou — thou art to him for God;

17 And take in your hand this rod with which you will do the signs.

and this rod thou dost take in thy hand, with which thou doest the signs.'

18 And Moses went back to Jethro, his father-in-law, and said to him, Let me go back now to my relations in Egypt and see if they are still living. And Jethro said to Moses, Go in peace.

And Moses goeth and turneth back unto Jethro his father-in-law, and saith to him, 'Let me go, I pray thee, and I turn back unto my brethren who [are] in Egypt, and I see whether they are yet alive.' And Jethro saith to Moses, 'Go in peace.'

19 And the Lord said to Moses in Midian, Go back to Egypt, for all the men are dead who were attempting to take your life.

And Jehovah saith unto Moses in Midian, 'Go, turn back to Egypt, for all the men have died who seek thy life;'

20 And Moses took his wife and his sons and put them on an ass and went back to the land of Egypt: and he took the rod of God in his hand.

and Moses taketh his wife, and his sons, and causeth them to ride on the ass, and turneth back to the land of Egypt, and Moses taketh the rod of God in his hand.

21 And the Lord said to Moses, When you go back to Egypt, see that you do before Pharaoh all the wonders which I have given you power to do: but I will make his heart hard and he will not let the people go.

And Jehovah saith unto Moses, 'In thy going to turn back to Egypt, see — all the wonders which I have put in thy hand — that thou hast done them before Pharaoh, and I — I strengthen his heart, and he doth not send the people away;

22 And you are to say to Pharaoh, The Lord says, Israel is the first of my sons:

and thou hast said unto Pharaoh, Thus said Jehovah, My son, My first-born [is] Israel,

23 And I said to you, Let my son go, so that he may give me worship; and you did not let him go: so now I will put the first of your sons to death.

and I say unto thee, Send away My son, and he doth serve Me; and — thou dost refuse to send him away — lo, I am slaying thy son, thy first-born.'

24 Now on the journey, at the night's resting-place, the Lord came in his way and would have put him to death.

And it cometh to pass in the way, in a lodging place, that Jehovah meeteth him, and seeketh to put him to death;

25 Then Zipporah took a sharp stone, and cutting off the skin of her son's private parts, and touching his feet with it, she said, Truly you are a husband of blood to me.

and Zipporah taketh a flint, and cutteth off the foreskin of her son, and causeth [it] to touch his feet, and saith, 'Surely a bridegroom of blood [art] thou to me;'

26 So he let him go. Then she said, You are a husband of blood because of the circumcision.

and He desisteth from him: then she said, 'A bridegroom of blood,' in reference to the circumcision.

27 And the Lord said to Aaron, Go into the waste land and you will see Moses. So he went and came across Moses at the mountain of God, and gave him a kiss.

And Jehovah saith unto Aaron, 'Go to meet Moses into the wilderness;' and he goeth, and meeteth him in the mount of God, and kisseth him,

28 And Moses gave Aaron an account of all the words of the Lord which he had sent him to say, and of all the signs which he had given him orders to do.

and Moses declareth to Aaron all the words of Jehovah with which He hath sent him, and all the signs with which He hath charged him.

29 Then Moses and Aaron went and got together all the chiefs of the children of Israel:

And Moses goeth — Aaron also — and they gather all the elders of the sons of Israel,

30 And Aaron said to them all the words the Lord had said to Moses, and did the signs before all the people.

and Aaron speaketh all the words which Jehovah hath spoken unto Moses, and doth the signs before the eyes of the people;

31 And the people had faith in them; and hearing that the Lord had taken up the cause of the children of Israel and had seen their troubles, with bent heads they gave him worship.

and the people believe when they hear that Jehovah hath looked after the sons of Israel, and that He hath seen their affliction; and they bow and do obeisance.