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?”

Moses answered, “But, behold, they will not believe me, nor listen to my voice; for they will say, ‘The LORD has not appeared to you.’”

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

The LORD said to him, “What is that in your hand?” 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.

He said, “Throw it on the ground.” He threw it on the ground, and it became a snake; and Moses ran away 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—

The LORD said to Moses, “Stretch out your hand, and take it by the tail.” He stretched out his hand, and took 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.”

“This is so that they may believe that the LORD, the God of their fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has appeared to you.”

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;

The LORD said furthermore to him, “Now put your hand inside your cloak.” He put his hand inside his cloak, and when he took it out, behold, his hand was leprous, as white 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—

He said, “Put your hand inside your cloak again.” He put his hand inside his cloak again, and when he took it out of his cloak, behold, it had 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.

“It will happen, if they will not believe you or listen 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.”

It will happen, if they will not believe even these two signs or listen to your voice, that you shall take of the water of the river, and pour it on the dry land. The water which you take out of the river will become blood on 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.”

Moses said to the LORD, “O Lord, I am not eloquent, neither before now, nor since you have spoken to your 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?

The LORD said to him, “Who made man’s mouth? Or who makes one mute, or deaf, or seeing, or blind? Isn’t it 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 your mouth, and teach you what you shall speak.”

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

Moses said, “Oh, Lord, please send someone else.”

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,

The LORD’s anger burned against Moses, and he said, “What about Aaron, your brother, the Levite? I know that he can speak well. Also, behold, he is coming out to meet you. When he sees you, 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;

You shall speak to him, and put the words in his mouth. I will be with your mouth, and with his mouth, and will teach you 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;

He will be your spokesman to the people. It will happen that he will be to you a mouth, and you will be to him as God.

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

You shall take this rod in your hand, with which you 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.”

Moses went and returned to Jethro his father-in-law, and said to him, “Please let me go and return to my brothers who are in Egypt, and see whether they are still alive.” 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”;

The LORD said to Moses in Midian, “Go, return into Egypt; for all the men who 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.

Moses took his wife and his sons, and set them on a donkey, and he returned to the land of Egypt. Moses took God’s rod 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;

The LORD said to Moses, “When you go back into Egypt, see that you do before Pharaoh all the wonders which I have put in your 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,

You shall tell Pharaoh, ‘The LORD says, 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 you, “Let my son go, that he may serve me;” and you have refused to let him go. Behold, 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;

On the way at a lodging place, the LORD met Moses and wanted 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 you are a bridegroom of blood 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, “You are a bridegroom of blood,” 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,

The LORD said to Aaron, “Go into the wilderness to meet Moses.” He went, and met him on God’s mountain, 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.

Moses told Aaron all the LORD’s words with which he had sent him, and all the signs with which he had instructed him.

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

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;

Aaron spoke all the words which the LORD 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.

The people believed, and when they heard that the LORD had visited the children of Israel, and that he had seen their affliction, then they bowed their heads and worshiped.