Exodus 4

1 And Moses answers and says, “And if they do not give credence to me, nor listen to my voice, and say, YHWH has not appeared to you?”

And Moses answered and said, But behold, they will not believe me, nor hearken to my voice, for they will say, Jehovah has not appeared to thee.

2 And YHWH says to him, “What [is] this in your hand?” And he says, “A rod”;

And Jehovah said to him, What is that in thy hand? And he said, A rod.

3 and He says, “Cast it to the earth”; and he casts it to the earth, and it becomes a serpent—and Moses flees from its presence.

And he said, Cast in on the ground. And he cast it on the ground. And it became a serpent, and Moses fled from before it.

4 And YHWH says to Moses, “Put forth your hand, and lay hold on the tail of it”; and he puts forth his hand, and lays hold on it, and it becomes a rod in his hand—

And Jehovah said to Moses, Put forth thy hand, and take it by the tail (and he put forth his hand, and laid hold of it, and it became a rod in his hand),

5 “so that they believe that YHWH, God of their fathers, has appeared to you, God of Abraham, God of Isaac, and God of Jacob.”

that they may believe that Jehovah, the God of their fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has appeared to thee.

6 And YHWH says to him again, “Now put your hand into your bosom”; and he puts his hand into his bosom, and he brings it out, and behold, his hand [is] leprous as snow;

And Jehovah said furthermore to him, Put now thy hand into thy bosom. And he put his hand into his bosom. And when he took it out, behold, his hand was leprous, as snow.

7 and He says, “Put your hand back into your bosom”; and he puts his hand back into his bosom, and he brings it out from his bosom, and behold, it has turned back as his flesh—

And he said, Put thy hand into thy bosom again. (And he put his hand into his bosom again, and when he took it out of his bosom, behold, it was turned again as his other flesh.)

8 “and it has come to pass, if they do not give credence to you, and do not listen to the voice of the first sign, that they have given credence to the voice of the latter sign.

And it shall come to pass, if they will not believe thee, nor hearken to the voice of the first sign, that they will believe the voice of the latter sign.

9 And it has come to pass, if they do not give credence even to these two signs, nor listen to your voice, that you have taken of the waters of the River, and have poured [it] on the dry land, and the waters which you take from the River have been, indeed, they have become blood on the dry land.”

And it shall come to pass, if they will not believe even these two signs, nor hearken to thy voice, that thou shall take of the water of the river, and pour it upon the dry land. And the water which thou take out of the river shall become blood upon the dry land.

10 And Moses says to YHWH, “O my Lord, I [am] not a man of words, either yesterday, or before, or since Your speaking to Your servant, for I [am] slow of mouth, and slow of tongue.”

And Moses said to Jehovah, Oh, Lord, I am not eloquent, neither heretofore, nor since thou have spoken to thy servant, for I am slow of speech, and of a slow tongue.

11 And YHWH says to him, “Who appointed a mouth for man? Or who appoints the mute, or deaf, or open, or blind? Is it not I, YHWH?

And Jehovah said to him, Who has made man's mouth? Or who makes a man dumb, or deaf, or seeing, or blind? Is it not I, Jehovah?

12 And now, go, and I am with your mouth, and have directed you that which you speak”;

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

13 and he says, “O my Lord, please send by the hand [of another that] You send.”

And he said, Oh, Lord, send, I pray thee, by the hand of him whom thou will send.

14 And the anger of YHWH burns against Moses, and He says, “Is Aaron the Levite not your brother? I have known that he speaks well, and also, behold, he is coming out to meet you; when he has seen you, then he has rejoiced in his heart,

And the anger of Jehovah 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 comes forth to meet thee, and when he sees thee, he will be glad in his heart.

15 and you have spoken to him, and have set the words in his mouth, and I am with your mouth, and with his mouth, and have directed you that which you do;

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

16 and he, he has spoken to the people for you, and it has come to pass, he is to you for a mouth, and you are to him for God;

and he shall be thy spokesman to the people. And it shall come to pass, that he shall be to thee a mouth, and thou shall be to him as God.

17 and you take this rod in your hand, with which you do the signs.”

And thou shall take this rod in thy hand, with which thou shall do the signs.

18 And Moses goes and turns back to his father-in-law Jethro, and says to him, “Please let me go, and I return to my brothers who [are] in Egypt, and I see whether they are yet alive.” And Jethro says to Moses, “Go in peace.”

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

19 And YHWH says to Moses in Midian, “Go, return to Egypt, for all the men who seek your life have died”;

And Jehovah said to Moses in Midian, Go, return into Egypt, for all the men are dead who sought thy life.

20 and Moses takes his wife, and his sons, and causes them to ride on the donkey, and turns back to the land of Egypt, and Moses takes the rod of God in his hand.

And Moses took his wife and his sons, and set them upon a donkey, and he returned to the land of Egypt. And Moses took the rod of God in his hand.

21 And YHWH says to Moses, “In your going to return to Egypt, see—all the wonders which I have put in your hand—that you have done them before Pharaoh, and I strengthen his heart, and he does not send the people away;

And Jehovah said to Moses, When thou go back into Egypt, see that thou do before Pharaoh all the wonders which I have put in thy hand, but I will harden his heart and he will not let the people go.

22 and you have said to Pharaoh, Thus said YHWH: My son, My firstborn [is] Israel,

And thou shall say to Pharaoh, Thus says Jehovah, Israel is my son, my firstborn,

23 and I say to you, send My son away, and he serves Me; and [if] you refuse to send him away, behold, I am slaying your son, your firstborn.”

and I have said to thee, Let my son go, that he may serve me, and thou have refused to let him go. Behold, I will slay thy son, thy firstborn.

24 And it comes to pass in the way, in a lodging place, that YHWH meets him, and seeks to put him to death;

And it came to pass on the way at the lodging-place, that Jehovah met him, and sought to kill him.

25 and Zipporah takes a flint, and cuts off the foreskin of her son, and causes [it] to touch his feet, and says, “You [are] surely a bridegroom of blood to me”;

Then Zipporah took a flint, and cut off the foreskin of her son, and cast it at his feet. And she said, Surely a bridegroom of blood thou are to me.

26 and He desists from him. Then she said, “A bridegroom of blood,” in reference to the circumcision.

So he let him alone. Then she said, A bridegroom of blood thou are, because of the circumcision.

27 And YHWH says to Aaron, “Go into the wilderness to meet Moses”; and he goes, and meets him on the mountain of God, and kisses him,

And Jehovah said to Aaron, Go into the wilderness to meet Moses. And he went, and met him on the mountain of God, and kissed him.

28 and Moses declares to Aaron all the words of YHWH with which He has sent him, and all the signs with which He has charged him.

And Moses told Aaron all the words of Jehovah with which he had sent him, and all the signs with which he had ordered him.

29 And Moses goes—Aaron also—and they gather all the elderly of the sons of Israel,

And Moses and Aaron went and gathered together all the elders of the sons of Israel.

30 and Aaron speaks all the words which YHWH has spoken to Moses, and does the signs before the eyes of the people;

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

31 and the people believe when they hear that YHWH has looked after the sons of Israel, and that He has seen their affliction; and they bow and pay respect.

And the people believed. And when they heard that Jehovah had visited the sons of Israel, and that he had seen their affliction, then they bowed their heads and worshiped.