Exodus 4

1 And Moses answered and said, But, behold, they will not believe me, nor hearken unto my voice; for they will say, The Lord hath not appeared unto thee.

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.

2 And the Lord said unto him, What is that in thy hand? and he said, A staff.

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

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.

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.

4 And the Lord said unto Moses, Put forth thy hand, and grasp it by the tail; and he put forth his hand, and laid hold of it, and it became a staff in his hand.

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: )

5 In order that they may believe that there hath appeared unto thee the Everlasting One, the God of their fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.

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.

6 And the Lord said farthermore unto him, Do put thy hand into thy bosom: and he put his hand into his bosom; and when he took it out, behold, his hand was leprous, white as snow.

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.

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

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.)

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

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.

9 And it shall come to pass, if they will not believe also these two signs, and will not hearken unto 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 out of the river shall become blood upon the dry land.

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.

10 And Moses said unto the Lord, Pardon, O Lord, I am not a man of words, neither yesterday, nor the day before, nor since thou hast spoken unto thy servant; for I am heavy of speech, and heavy of tongue.

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.

11 And the Lord said unto him, Who hath given a mouth to man? or who maketh him dumb, or deaf, or seeing, or blind? is it not I the Lord?

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?

12 Now therefore go, and I will be with thy mouth, and I will teach thee what thou shalt speak.

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

13 And he said, Pardon, O Lord, send, I pray thee, by the hand of him whom thou wouldst send.

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

14 And the anger of the Lord was kindled against Moses, and he said, Is there not Aaron, thy brother, the Levite? I know that he can speak well; and also, behold, he cometh forth to meet thee; and when he seeth thee, he will be glad in his heart.

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.

15 And thou shalt speak unto him, and put the words in his mouth: and I will be with thy mouth, and with his mouth, and I will teach you what ye shall do.

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.

16 And he shall speak for thee unto the people; and he shall be, yea he shall be to thee as a mouth, and thou shalt be to him as a God.

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.

17 And this staff shalt thou take in thy hand, wherewith thou shalt do the signs.

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

18 And Moses went and returned to Jether his father-in-law, and said unto him, Let me go, I pray thee, and return unto my brethren that are in Egypt, and see whether they be yet alive; and Jithro said to Moses, Go in peace.

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.

19 And the Lord said unto Moses in Midian, Go, return into Egypt; for all the men are dead who sought thy life.

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.

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

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.

21 And the Lord said unto Moses, When thou goest to return into Egypt, regard well all the wonders which I have put in thy hand, and do them before Pharaoh; but I will harden his heart, and he will not let the people go.

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.

22 And thou shalt say unto Pharaoh, Thus hath said the Lord, My son, my first-born, is Israel.

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

23 And I said unto thee, Let my son go, that he may serve me; and thou refusest to let him go; so, behold, I will slay thy son, thy first-born.

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.

24 And as he was on the journey in the inn, the Lord met him, and sought to kill him.

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

25 Then took Zipporah a sharp instrument, and cut off the foreskin of her son, and cast it at his feet, and said, Surely a bloody relative art thou to me.

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.

26 And then he withdrew from him; when she said, A bloody relative, but only in respect of the circumcision.

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

27 And the Lord said to Aaron, Go to meet Moses, into the wilderness; and he went and met him by the mount of God, and kissed him.

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.

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

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.

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

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

30 And Aaron spoke all the words which the Lord had spoken unto Moses; and he did the signs before the eyes of the people.

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

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

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.