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.

Moses answered and said: They will not believe me, nor hear my voice, but they will say: The Lord hath not appeared to thee.

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

Then he said to him: What is that thou holdest in thy hand? He answered: 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 the Lord said: Cast it down upon the ground. He cast it down, and it was turned into a serpent: so that Moses fled 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: Put out thy hand and take it by the tail. He put forth his hand, and took hold of it, and it was turned into a rod.

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.

That they may believe, saith he, that the Lord God of their fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, hath appeared to thee.

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.

And the Lord said again: Put thy hand into thy bosom. And when he had put it into his bosom, he brought it forth leprous 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 back thy hand into thy bosom. He put it back, and brought it out again, and it was like the 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.

If they will not believe thee, saith he, nor hear the voice of the former sign, they will believe the word of the latter 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.

But if they will not even believe these two signs, nor hear thy voice: take of the river water, and pour it out upon the dry land, and whatsoever thou drawest out of the river shall be turned into blood.

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.

Moses said: I beseech thee, Lord. I am not eloquent from yesterday and the day before: and since thou hast spoken to thy servant, I have more impediment and slowness 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?

The Lord said to him: Who made man’s mouth? or who made the dumb and the deaf, the seeing and the blind? did not I?

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

Go therefore and I will be in thy mouth: and I will teach thee what thou shalt speak.

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

But he said: I beseech thee, Lord send whom thou wilt 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.

The Lord being angry at Moses, said Aaron the Levite is thy brother, I know that he is eloquent: behold he cometh forth to meet thee, and seeing thee shall be glad at 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.

Speak to him, and put my words in his mouth: and I will be in thy mouth, and in his mouth, and will shew you what you must 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.

He shall speak in thy stead to the people, and shall be thy mouth: but thou shalt be to him in those things that pertain to God.

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

And take this rod in thy hand, wherewith thou shalt 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.

Moses went his way, and returned to Jethro his father in law and said to him: I will go and return to my brethren into Egypt, that I may see if they be yet alive. And Jethro said to him: 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 Madian: Go, and return into Egypt: for they are all dead that sought thy 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.

Moses therefore took his wife, and his sons, and set them upon an ass: and returned into Egypt, carrying 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 him as he was returning into Egypt: See that thou do all the wonders before Pharao, which I have put in thy hand: I shall harden his heart, 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 thou shalt say to him: Thus saith the Lord: Israel is my son, my firstborn.

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.

I have said to thee: Let my son go, that he may serve me, and thou wouldst not let him go: behold I will kill thy son, thy firstborn.

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

And when he was in his journey, in the inn, the Lord met him, and would have killed him.

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.

Immediately Sephora took a very sharp stone, and circumcised the fore skin of her son, and touched his feet and said: A bloody spouse art thou to me.

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

And he let him go after she had said A bloody spouse art thou to me, 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 desert to meet Moses. And he went forth to meet him in the mountain of God, and kissed him.

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 told Aaron all the words of the Lord, by which he had sent him, and the signs that he had commanded.

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

And they came together, and they assembled all the ancients 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 spoke all the words which the Lord had said to Moses: and he wrought the signs before 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 believed. And they heard that the Lord had visited the children of Israel: and that he had looked upon their affliction: and falling down they adored.