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 unto my voice: for they will say, The LORD hath not appeared unto thee.

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

And the LORD said unto him, What [is] that in thine 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 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 the LORD said unto Moses, Put forth thine hand, and take it by the tail. And he put forth his hand, and caught 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 the LORD God of their fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, hath appeared unto 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 the LORD said furthermore unto him, Put now thine 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 thine hand into thy bosom again. And he put his hand into his bosom again; and plucked it out of his bosom, and, 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, neither 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 also these two signs, neither 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 takest 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 unto the LORD, O my Lord, I [am] not eloquent, neither heretofore, nor since thou hast spoken unto thy servant: but 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 the LORD said unto him, Who hath made man’s mouth? or who maketh the dumb, or deaf, or the seeing, or the blind? have not I the LORD?

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 shalt say.

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

And he said, O my Lord, send, I pray thee, by the hand [of him whom] thou wilt 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 the LORD was kindled against Moses, and he said, [Is] not Aaron the Levite thy brother? 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 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 shalt speak unto him, and put 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 unto the people: and he shall be, [even] he shall be to thee instead of a mouth, and thou shalt be to him instead of God.

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

And thou shalt take this rod in thine hand, wherewith thou shalt do 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 unto him, Let me go, I pray thee, and return unto my brethren which [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 the LORD said unto Moses in Midian, Go, return into Egypt: for all the men are dead which 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 an ass, 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 the LORD said unto Moses, When thou goest to return into Egypt, see that thou do all those wonders before Pharaoh, which I have put in thine hand: but I will harden his heart, that he shall not let the people go.

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

And thou shalt say unto Pharaoh, Thus saith the LORD, Israel [is] my son, [even] 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 say unto thee, Let my son go, that he may serve me: and if thou refuse to let him go, behold, I will slay thy son, [even] 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 by the way in the inn, that the LORD 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 sharp stone, and cut off the foreskin of her son, and cast [it] at his feet, and said, Surely a bloody husband [art] thou to me.

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

So he let him go: then she said, A bloody husband [thou art], 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 the LORD said to Aaron, Go into the wilderness to meet Moses. And he went, and met him in the mount 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 the LORD who had sent him, and all the signs which he had commanded 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 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 spake all the words which the LORD had spoken unto 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 the LORD had visited the children of Israel, and that he had looked upon their affliction, then they bowed their heads and worshipped.