Exodus 4

1 Moses answered, "But, look, they will not believe me, nor listen to my voice; for they will say, 'God has not appeared to you.'"

And Moses, answering, said, It is certain that they will not have faith in me or give ear to my voice; for they will say, You have not seen the Lord.

2 YHWH said to him, "What is that in your hand?" He said, "A staff."

And the Lord said to him, What is that in your hand? And he said, A rod.

3 He said, "Throw it on the ground." He threw it on the ground, and it became a serpent; and Moses ran away from it.

And he said, Put it down on the earth. And he put it down on the earth and it became a snake; and Moses went running from it.

4 YHWH said to Moses, "Put forth your hand, and take it by the tail." He put forth his hand, and laid hold of it, and it became a staff in his hand.

And the Lord said to Moses, Put out your hand and take it by the tail: (and he put out his hand and took a grip of it and it became a rod in his hand: )

5 "That they may believe that YHWH, the God of their fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has appeared to you."

So that they may be certain that the Lord, the God of their fathers, the God of Abraham, of Isaac, and of Jacob, has been seen by you.

6 YHWH said furthermore to him, "Now put your hand inside your cloak." He put his hand inside his cloak, and when he took it out, look, his hand was leprous, as white as snow.

Then the Lord said to him again, Put your hand inside your clothing. And he put his hand inside his robe: and when he took it out it was like the hand of a leper, as white as snow.

7 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, look, it had turned again as his other flesh.

And he said, Put your hand inside your robe again. (And he put his hand into his robe again, and when he took it out he saw that it had become like his other flesh.)

8 "It will happen, if they will neither believe you nor listen to the voice of the first sign, that they will believe the voice of the latter sign.

And if they do not have faith in you or give ear to the voice of the first sign, they will have faith in the second sign.

9 It will happen, if they will not believe even these two signs, neither 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."

And if they have no faith even in these two signs and will not give ear to your voice, then you are to take the water of the Nile and put it on the dry land: and the water you take out of the river will become blood on the dry land.

10 Moses said to YHWH, "Please, 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."

And Moses said to the Lord, O Lord, I am not a man of words; I have never been so, and am not now, even after what you have said to your servant: for talking is hard for me, and I am slow of tongue.

11 YHWH said to him, "Who made man's mouth? Or who makes the mute, the deaf, the seeing, or the blind? Is it not I, God?

And the Lord said to him, Who has made man's mouth? who takes away a man's voice or hearing, or makes him seeing or blind? Is it not I, the Lord?

12 Now therefore go, and I will be with your mouth, and teach you what you shall speak."

So go now, and I will be with your mouth, teaching you what to say.

13 He said, "Oh, Lord, please send someone else."

And he said, O Lord, send, if you will, by the hand of anyone whom it seems good to you to send.

14 The anger of YHWH was kindled against Moses, and he said, "What about Aaron, your brother, the Levite? I know that he can speak well. Also, look, he comes forth to meet you. When he sees you, he will be glad in his heart.

And the Lord was angry with Moses, and said, Is there not Aaron, your brother, the Levite? To my knowledge he is good at talking. And now he is coming out to you: and when he sees you he will be glad in his heart.

15 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.

Let him give ear to your voice, and you will put my words in his mouth; and I will be with your mouth and with his, teaching you what you have to do.

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

And he will do the talking for you to the people: he will be to you as a mouth and you will be to him as God.

17 You shall take this staff in your hand, with which you shall do the signs."

And take in your hand this rod with which you will do the signs.

18 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."

And Moses went back to Jethro, his father-in-law, and said to him, Let me go back now to my relations in Egypt and see if they are still living. And Jethro said to Moses, Go in peace.

19 YHWH said to Moses in Midian, "Go, return into Egypt; for all the men who sought your life are dead."

And the Lord said to Moses in Midian, Go back to Egypt, for all the men are dead who were attempting to take your life.

20 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 staff in his hand.

And Moses took his wife and his sons and put them on an ass and went back to the land of Egypt: and he took the rod of God in his hand.

21 YHWH 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.

And the Lord said to Moses, When you go back to Egypt, see that you do before Pharaoh all the wonders which I have given you power to do: but I will make his heart hard and he will not let the people go.

22 You shall tell Pharaoh, 'Thus says YHWH, Israel is my son, my firstborn,

And you are to say to Pharaoh, The Lord says, Israel is the first of my sons:

23 and I have said to you, "Let my son go, that he may serve me;" and you have refused to let him go. Look, I will kill your son, your firstborn.'"

And I said to you, Let my son go, so that he may give me worship; and you did not let him go: so now I will put the first of your sons to death.

24 It happened on the way at a lodging place, that YHWH met him and wanted to kill him.

Now on the journey, at the night's resting-place, the Lord came in his way and would have put him to death.

25 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."

Then Zipporah took a sharp stone, and cutting off the skin of her son's private parts, and touching his feet with it, she said, Truly you are a husband of blood to me.

26 So he let him alone. Then she said, "You are a bridegroom of blood," because of the circumcision.

So he let him go. Then she said, You are a husband of blood because of the circumcision.

27 YHWH said to Aaron, "Go into the wilderness to meet Moses." He went, and met him on God's mountain, and kissed him.

And the Lord said to Aaron, Go into the waste land and you will see Moses. So he went and came across Moses at the mountain of God, and gave him a kiss.

28 Moses told Aaron all the words of YHWH with which he had sent him, and all the signs with which he had instructed him.

And Moses gave Aaron an account of all the words of the Lord which he had sent him to say, and of all the signs which he had given him orders to do.

29 Moses and Aaron went and gathered together all the elders of the children of Israel.

Then Moses and Aaron went and got together all the chiefs of the children of Israel:

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

And Aaron said to them all the words the Lord had said to Moses, and did the signs before all the people.

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

And the people had faith in them; and hearing that the Lord had taken up the cause of the children of Israel and had seen their troubles, with bent heads they gave him worship.