Exodus 4

1 And Moses answered and said, But, behold, they will not believe me, nor listen to my voice: for they will say, The LORD has not appeared to you.

Moses/I replied, “But what if [the Israeli people] (do not believe me/are not convinced) or not do what I tell them? What if they say, ‘Yahweh did not appear to you!’”

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

Yahweh said to him/me, “[Look at] that thing you are holding in your hand. What is it?” He/I replied, “A (walking stick/shepherd’s stick).”

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 before it.

He said, “Throw it down on the ground!” So, he/I threw it on the ground, and it became a snake! And he/I ran/jumped away from it.

4 And the LORD said to Moses, Put forth your hand, and take it by the tail. And he put forth his hand, and caught it, and it became a rod in his hand:

But Yahweh said to Moses/me, “Reach down and pick it up by its tail!” So he/I reached down and caught it, and [when he/I picked it up], it became a stick in his/my hand [again.]

5 That they may believe that the LORD God of their fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has appeared to you.

Yahweh said, “[Do the same thing in front of the Israeli people], in order that they may believe that [I], Yahweh God, the one Abraham and Isaac and Jacob worshiped, truly appeared to you.”

6 And the LORD said furthermore to him, Put now your hand into your bosom. And he put his hand into his bosom: and when he took it out, behold, his hand was leprous as snow.

Yahweh spoke to Moses/me again, saying “Put your hand inside your robe [MTY]!” He/I did that. And when he/I took it out again, [surprisingly], his/my hand was white. It had a skin disease [that made it] as white as snow.

7 And he said, Put your hand into your bosom again. And he put his hand into his bosom again; and plucked it out of his bosom, and, behold, it was turned again as his other flesh.

Then God said, “Put your hand back inside your robe [MTY]!” So he/I did that, and when he/I took it out again, surprisingly, it was normal again, just like the rest of his/my body!

8 And it shall come to pass, if they will not believe you, neither listen to the voice of the first sign, that they will believe the voice of the latter sign.

God said, “[You can do that in front of the Israeli people, too]. If they do not pay attention to what you say because of [seeing] the first miracle, they will (believe [you/be convinced) when you perform] the second miracle.

9 And it shall come to pass, if they will not believe also these two signs, neither listen to your voice, that you shall take of the water of the river, and pour it on the dry land: and the water which you take out of the river shall become blood on the dry land.

If they do not believe you or do what you say, even [after you perform] those two miracles, get some water from the Nile [River] and pour it on the ground. [When you do that], the water from the river that you pour on the ground will become blood [MTY] (OR, [red like] blood).”

10 And Moses said to the LORD, O my LORD, I am not eloquent, neither heretofore, nor since you have spoken to your servant: but I am slow of speech, and of a slow tongue.

Moses/I replied, “O Yahweh! I am not an eloquent [speaker]! I was not an eloquent speaker before, and I have not become one since you started talking to me! I am not a good speaker [MTY], and I speak very slowly.”

11 And the LORD said to him, Who has made man’s mouth? or who makes the dumb, or deaf, or the seeing, or the blind? have not I the LORD?

Then Yahweh said to him/me, “[You seem to forget] who it is that makes people able to speak [RHQ]! Who is it that enables people to be unable to speak or unable to hear, or able to see or not to see? It is I, Yahweh [RHQ]!

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

So start going [to Egypt], and I will help you to speak [MTY], and I will tell you what you should say.”

13 And he said, O my LORD, send, I pray you, by the hand of him whom you will send.

But he/I replied, “O, Yahweh, I ask you, please send someone else [instead]!”

14 And the anger of the LORD was kindled against Moses, and he said, Is not Aaron the Levite your brother? I know that he can speak well. And also, behold, he comes forth to meet you: and when he sees you, he will be glad in his heart.

Then Yahweh became very angry with Moses/me. He said, “[What about] your [older] brother Aaron, who is [also] a descendant of Levi? I know that he is a very good/eloquent speaker. He is actually on his way here [right now], and he will be very happy to see you.

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

You can talk to him and tell him what to say [MTY], and I will help both of you [SYN] to know what to say [MTY]. And I will tell you both what you should do.

16 And he shall be your spokesman to the people: and he shall be, even he shall be to you instead of a mouth, and you shall be to him instead of God.

He will speak for you to the [Israeli] people. He will be (your spokesman/as though he was your mouth) [MET], and you will be to him as though you are [his] god.

17 And you shall take this rod in your hand, with which you shall do signs.

[Be sure] to take with you the walking/shepherd’s stick [that is in your hand], because you will perform miracles with it.”

18 And Moses went and returned to Jethro his father in law, and said to him, Let me go, I pray you, and return to my brothers which are in Egypt, and see whether they be yet alive. And Jethro said to Moses, Go in peace.

Moses/I returned to his/my father-in-law Jethro and said to him, “Please let me go back to Egypt, to see my fellow Israelis there. I want to know if they are still alive.” Jethro said to Moses/me, “Go, and may [God give you inner] peace.”

19 And the LORD said to Moses in Midian, Go, return into Egypt: for all the men are dead which sought your life.

Yahweh said to Moses/me [before he/I left] Midian, “You can [safely] return to Egypt, because the men who were wanting to kill you [MTY] are [now] dead.”

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

So Moses/I took his/my wife and sons and put them on donkeys, and they/we returned to Egypt. And Moses/I took in his/my hand the stick that God [told him/me to take along].

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

Yahweh said to Moses/me, “When you return to Egypt, be sure to perform all the miracles that I have given you power [to do], while the king is watching. But I will make him stubborn [IDM], with the result that he will not let the Israeli people leave [Egypt].

22 And you shall say to Pharaoh, Thus says the LORD, Israel is my son, even my firstborn:

Then say to him, ‘This is what Yahweh says: “The Israeli [people] [MTY] are [as dear to] me as firstborn sons [MET].

23 And I say to you, Let my son go, that he may serve me: and if you refuse to let him go, behold, I will slay your son, even your firstborn.

I told you to let my people [MTY] leave [Egypt], in order that they may worship me [in the desert]. If you refuse to let them go, I warn you, I will kill your firstborn son!”’”

24 And it came to pass by the way in the inn, that the LORD met him, and sought to kill him.

[One night], as they were camping on the way [to Egypt], Yahweh appeared to Moses/me. He wanted/threatened to kill Moses/me [for disobeying his command that boys/sons be circumcised].

25 Then Zipporah took a sharp stone, and cut off the foreskin of her son, and cast it at his feet, and said, Surely a bloody husband are you to me.

Then [his/my wife] Zipporah took a flint knife and circumcised her son. Then she touched the boy’s feet (OR, genitals) with the piece of skin [she had cut off], and she said, “The blood [which flowed when I circumcised you] will protect you [from being harmed by Yahweh] [MET].”

26 So he let him go: then she said, A bloody husband you are, because of the circumcision.

She said to him, “You are safe now [MET] because you have been circumcised.” So Yahweh did not harm her son.

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 kissed him.

Yahweh said to Aaron, “Go into the desert to meet/see Moses!” So he went [there from Egypt] and met him/me at [Sinai], the mountain dedicated to God, and [greeted him/me by] kissing him/me [on the cheek].

28 And Moses told Aaron all the words of the LORD who had sent him, and all the signs which he had commanded him.

Moses/I told Aaron everything that Yahweh had said to him/me when he told him/me to return to Egypt. He/I also told Aaron about all the miracles that Yahweh told him/me to perform.

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

[So Aaron and Moses/I] returned [to Egypt]. There they/we gathered together all the Israeli elders/leaders.

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

Aaron told them everything that Yahweh had told Moses/me, and Aaron performed [all] the miracles as the people watched.

31 And the people believed: and when they heard that the LORD had visited the children of Israel, and that he had looked on their affliction, then they bowed their heads and worshipped.

They believed [that what they/we were saying was true]. When they heard that Yahweh had seen how the Israeli people were being cruelly oppressed and that he was going to help them, they bowed down and worshiped [Yahweh].