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.

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

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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?

12 Now therefore go, and I will be with 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.

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.

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.

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.

17 And this staff shalt thou take 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.

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

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.

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

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.

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

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

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.

29 And Moses and Aaron went and assembled all the elders 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.

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.