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, If they believe me not, and do not listen to my voice (for they will say, God has not appeared to you), what shall I say to them?

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

And the Lord said to him, What is this thing that is in your 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 it on the ground: and he cast it on the ground, and it became a serpent, and Moses fled from 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 the Lord said to Moses, Stretch forth your hand, and take hold of its tail: so he stretched forth his hand and took hold of the tail,

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.”

and it became a rod in his hand, —that they may believe you, that the God of your fathers has appeared to you, the God of Abraam, and God of Isaac, and God of Jacob.

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 the Lord said again to him, Put your hand into your bosom; and he put his hand into his bosom, and brought his hand out of his bosom, and his hand became 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 again, Put your hand into your bosom; and he put his hand into his bosom, and brought his hand out of his bosom, and it was again restored to the complexion of 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 if they will not believe you, nor listen to the voice of the first sign, they will believe you [because] of the voice of the second 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 you for these two signs, and will not listen to your voice, that you shall take of the water of the river and pour it upon the dry land, and the water which you shall take from the river shall be 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 the Lord, I pray, Lord, I have not been sufficient in former times, neither from the time that you have begun to speak to your servant: I am weak in speech, and slow-tongued.

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 the Lord said to Moses, Who has given a mouth to man, and who has made the very hard of hearing, and the deaf, the seeing and the blind? have not I, God?

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

And now go and I will open your mouth, and will instruct you in what you shall say.

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

And Moses said, I pray you, Lord, appoint another able [person] whom you shall 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 Lord was greatly angered against Moses, and said, Behold! is not Aaron the Levite your brother? I know that he will surely speak to you; and, behold, he will come forth to meet you, and beholding you he will rejoice within himself.

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 you shall speak to him; and you shall put my words into his mouth, and I will open your mouth and his mouth, and I will instruct you in what you 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 speak for you to the people, and he shall be your mouth, and you shall be for him in things pertaining to God.

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

And this rod that was turned into a serpent you shall take in your hand, wherewith you shall work miracles.

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 Jothor his father-in-law, and says, I will go and return to my brethren in Egypt, and will see if they are yet living. And Jothor said to Moses, Go in health. And in those days after some time, the king of Egypt died.

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

And the Lord said to Moses in Madiam, Go, depart into Egypt, for all that sought your life are dead.

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 children, and mounted them on the beasts, and returned to Egypt; and Moses took the rod [which he had] from 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 the Lord said to Moses, When you go and return to Egypt, see—all the miracles I have charged you with, you shall work before Pharao: and I will harden his heart, and he shall certainly not send away the people.

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

And you shall say to Pharao, These things says the Lord, Israel [is] 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 said to you, Send away my people, that they may serve me: now if you will not send them away, see, I will kill your firstborn son.

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 [that] the angel of the Lord met him by the way in the inn, 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”;

and Sepphora having taken a stone cut off the foreskin of her son, and fell at his feet and said, The blood of the circumcision of my son is staunched:

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

and he departed from him, because she said, The blood of the circumcision of my son is staunched.

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 the Lord said to Aaron, Go into the wilderness to meet Moses; and he went and met him in the mount of God, and they kissed each other.

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 reported to Aaron all the words of the Lord, which he sent, and all the things which he charged 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 the elders of the children 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 these words, which God spoke to Moses, and wrought the miracles before 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 rejoiced, because God visited the children of Israel, and because he saw their affliction: and the people bowed and worshipped.