Exodus 4

1 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?

“But what if they don't believe me or listen to what I say?” Moses asked. “They could say, ‘The Lord didn't appear to you.’”

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

The Lord asked him, “What are you holding in your hand?” “A walking stick,” Moses replied.

3 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.

“Throw it on the ground,” he told Moses. So Moses did. It turned into a snake and Moses ran away from it.

4 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,

“Reach out and grab hold of it by its tail,” the Lord told Moses. Moses did so and it turned back into a walking stick in his hand.

5 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.

“You are to do this so that they will believe that I the Lord did appear to you, the God of their fathers, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.”

6 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.

Then the Lord told him, “Put your hand inside your clothes close to your chest.” So Moses did as he was told. When he took his hand out, it was white like snow with a skin disease.

7 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.

“Now put your hand back inside your clothes,” the Lord said. Moses did so. When he took it out again, his hand had returned to normal.

8 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.

“If they don't believe you and they're not convinced by the first sign, they'll believe because of the second sign,” the Lord explained.

9 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.

“But if they still don't believe you or listen to you because of these two signs, then you are to take some water from the Nile and pout it out on the ground. The Nile water will turn into blood on the ground.”

10 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.

Then Moses said to the Lord, “Pleased excuse me, but I'm not someone who is good with words—not in the past, and not from the time you have been speaking with me, your servant. My speech is slow and I don't say things well.”

11 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?

“Who gave people mouths?” the Lord asked him. “Who makes people deaf or dumb, able to see or blind? It's I, the Lord, who does that.

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

Now go, and I myself will be your mouth, and I will tell you what you are to say.”

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

“Please, Lord, send someone else!” Moses responded.

14 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.

The Lord got angry with Moses, and told him, “There's your brother Aaron, the Levite. I know he speaks well. He's on his way to meet you, and he'll be very happy to see you.

15 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.

Speak to him and tell him what to say. I will be your mouth and his mouth, and I will tell you what you are to do.

16 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.

Aaron will speak on your behalf to the people, as if he was your mouth, and you will be in the place of God to him.

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

Make sure to take your walking stick with you so you can use it to do the signs.”

18 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.

Then Moses returned to Jethro his father-in-law and told him, “Please allow me to go back to my own people in Egypt so I can see if any of them are still alive.” “Go with my blessing,” Jethro replied.

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

While Moses was in Midian, the Lord told him, “Go back to Egypt because all those who wanted to kill you have died.”

20 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.

Moses put his wife and sons on a donkey and went back to Egypt, carrying the walking stick that God had used to perform miracles.

21 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.

The Lord told Moses, “When you get back to Egypt, make sure to go to Pharaoh and carry out the miracles I've given you to do. I will make him stubborn and he will not let the people go.

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

This is what you are to tell Pharaoh, ‘This is what the Lord says. Israel is my firstborn son.

23 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.

I ordered you to let my son go so he can worship me. But you refused to release him, so I will now kill your firstborn son.”

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

But while they were on their way the Lord came to the place where they were staying, wanting to kill Moses.

25 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:

However, Zipporah used a flint knife to cut off her son's foreskin. She touched his feet with it, and said to him, “You are a blood-husband to me.”

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

(Calling him a blood-husband referred to circumcision.) After this the Lord left Moses alone.

27 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.

The Lord had told Aaron, “Go and meet Moses in the desert.” So Aaron went and met Moses at the mountain of God and greeted him with a kiss.

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

Then Moses explained to Aaron everything the Lord had sent him to say and all the miracles he had ordered him to do.

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

Moses and Aaron traveled to Egypt. There they had all the Israelite elders gather together.

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

Aaron shared with them everything the Lord had told Moses, and Moses carried out the miracles so they could see them.

31 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.

The Israelites were convinced. When they heard that the Lord had come to them, and that he had been touched by their suffering, they bowed their heads and worshiped.