< Exodus 4 >

1 Then responded Moses, and said, And lo! they will not believe me, neither hearken to my voice, —for they will say, Yahweh, hath not appeared unto thee.
Then Moses answered, “What if they do not believe me or listen to my voice? For they may say, ‘The LORD has not appeared to you.’”
2 And Yahweh said unto him—What is this in thy hand? And he said—A staff.
And the LORD asked him, “What is that in your hand?” “A staff,” he replied.
3 Then said he—Cast it to the earth. And he cast it to the earth, and it became a serpent, —and Moses fled from the face thereof.
“Throw it on the ground,” said the LORD. So Moses threw it on the ground, and it became a snake, and he ran from it.
4 And Yahweh said unto Moses, Put forth thy hand, and take it by its tail: So he put forth his hand, and laid hold of it, and it became a staff in his hand: —
“Stretch out your hand and grab it by the tail,” the LORD said to Moses, who reached out his hand and caught the snake, and it turned back into a staff in his hand.
5 that they may believe that Yahweh, God of their fathers, —God of Abraham, God of Isaac, and God of Jacob hath appeared unto thee.
“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 Then said Yahweh unto him, yet again—Bring, I pray thee, thy hand, into thy bosom. So he brought his hand, into his bosom, —and then took it out, and lo! his hand, was leprous, —like snow,
Furthermore, the LORD said to Moses, “Put your hand inside your cloak.” So he put his hand inside his cloak, and when he took it out, his hand was leprous, white as snow.
7 And he said—Put back thy hand into thy bosom: So he put back his hand into his bosom, —and then took it out of his bosom, and lo it had come again like his own flesh:
“Put your hand back inside your cloak,” said the LORD. So Moses put his hand back inside his cloak, and when he took it out, it was restored, like the rest of his skin.
8 thus shall it come to pass, if they will not believe thee, nor hearken to the voice of the first sign, then will they believe the voice of the next sign;
And the LORD said, “If they refuse to believe you or heed the witness of the first sign, they may believe that of the second.
9 and it shall come to pass if they will not believe even these two signs nor hearken to thy voice, then shalt thou take of the water of the river, and pour it out on the dry land, —so shall the water which thou hast taken from the river, become, yea it shall become, blood, on the dry land.
But if they do not believe even these two signs or listen to your voice, take some water from the Nile and pour it on the dry ground. Then the water you take from the Nile will become blood on the ground.”
10 And Moses said unto Yahweh—Pardon, O My Lord! not a man of words, am I, neither heretofore, nor since thou hast spoken unto thy servant, —for heavy of mouth and heavy of tongue, I am.
“Please, Lord,” Moses replied, “I have never been eloquent, neither in the past nor since You have spoken to Your servant, for I am slow of speech and tongue.”
11 Then Yahweh said unto him—Who appointed a mouth for man, or who appointeth him to be dumb, or deaf, or seeing or blind? Is it not I, Yahweh?
And the LORD said to him, “Who gave man his mouth? Or who makes the mute or the deaf, the sighted or the blind? Is it not I, the LORD?
12 Now, therefore go, —and, I, will be with thy mouth, so will I direct thee, what thou shalt speak.
Now go! I will help you as you speak, and I will teach you what to say.”
13 And he said—Pardon, O My Lord! send, I pray thee by the hand of him whom thou wilt send—
But Moses replied, “Please, Lord, send someone else.”
14 Then was kindled the anger of Yahweh against Moses, and he said—Is there not Aaron, thy brother, the Levite? I know that he, can speak. Moreover also lo! he himself is coming forth to meet thee, as surely as he seeth thee, so surely will he rejoice in his heart.
Then the anger of the LORD burned against Moses, and He said, “Is not Aaron the Levite your brother? I know that he can speak well, and he is now on his way to meet you. When he sees you, he will be glad in his heart.
15 Then shalt thou speak unto him, and shalt put the words in his mouth, —and, I, will be with thy mouth and with his mouth, so will I direct you what ye shall do.
You are to speak to him and put the words in his mouth. I will help both of you to speak, and I will teach you what to do.
16 And, he, shall speak for thee unto the people, —so shall it come to pass that he shall become thy mouth, and thou shalt become to him as God.
He will speak to the people for you. He will be your spokesman, and it will be as if you were God to him.
17 And this staff, take thou in thy hand, —wherewith thou shalt do the signs.
But take this staff in your hand so you can perform signs with it.”
18 So Moses went and returned unto Jethro his father-in-law and said to him—Let me go, I pray thee, and return unto my brethren who are in Egypt, that I may see whether they are yet alive. And Jethro said to Moses: Go and prosper.
Then Moses went back to his father-in-law Jethro and said to him, “Please let me return to my brothers in Egypt to see if they are still alive.” “Go in peace,” Jethro replied.
19 Then said Yahweh unto Moses in Midian, Go, return to Egypt, —for all the men are dead who were seeking thy life.
Now the LORD had said to Moses in Midian, “Go back to Egypt, for all the men who sought to kill you are dead.”
20 So Moses took his wife and his sons, and caused them to ride upon the ass, and he returned to the land of Egypt, —and Moses took the staff of God in his hand.
So Moses took his wife and sons, put them on a donkey, and headed back to Egypt. And he took the staff of God in his hand.
21 And Yahweh said unto Moses, When thou goest to return to Egypt, see as touching all the wonders which I have put in thy hand, that thou do them before Pharaoh—but, I, will let his heart wax bold, and he will not suffer the people to go.
The LORD instructed Moses, “When you go back to Egypt, see that you perform before Pharaoh all the wonders that I have put within your power. But I will harden his heart so that he will not let the people go.
22 Then shalt thou say unto Pharaoh, Thus, saith Yahweh—My son—my firstborn, is Israel;
Then tell Pharaoh that this is what the LORD says: ‘Israel is My firstborn son,
23 Therefore I say unto thee, Let my son go, that he may serve me, But if thou refuse to let him go, behold, I, am going to slay, thy son, thy firstborn.
and I told you to let My son go so that he may worship Me. But since you have refused to let him go, behold, I will kill your firstborn son!’”
24 And it came to pass, on the way, in the resting-place for the night, that Yahweh fell upon him, and sought to kill him.
Now at a lodging place along the way, the LORD met Moses and was about to kill him.
25 So Zipporah took a sharp stone and cut off the foreskin of her son, and cast it down at his feet, —and said—Surely, a bridegroom by rites of blood, art thou to me!
But Zipporah took a flint knife, cut off her son’s foreskin, and touched it to Moses’ feet. “Surely you are a bridegroom of blood to me,” she said.
26 So he let him go, Then, it was that she said, A bridegroom by rites of blood—with regard to the rites of circumcision.
So the LORD let him alone. (When she said, “bridegroom of blood,” she was referring to the circumcision.)
27 And Yahweh said unto Aaron, Go thy way to meet Moses, towards the desert. So he went his way, and fell in with him in the mountain of God and kissed him.
Meanwhile, the LORD had said to Aaron, “Go and meet Moses in the wilderness.” So he went and met Moses at the mountain of God and kissed him.
28 And Moses told Aaron, all the words of Yahweh wherewith he had sent him, —and all the signs wherewith he had charged him.
And Moses told Aaron everything the LORD had sent him to say, and all the signs He had commanded him to perform.
29 So Moses and Aaron went their way, —and gathered together all the elders of the sons of Israel.
Then Moses and Aaron went and assembled all the elders of the Israelites,
30 And Aaron spake all the words which Yahweh had spoken unto Moses, —and did the signs before the eyes of the people,
and Aaron relayed everything the LORD had said to Moses. And Moses performed the signs before the people,
31 And the people believed, —and when they heard that Yahweh had concerned himself for the sons of Israel, and that he had looked upon their humiliation, then bent they their heads and bowed themselves down.
and they believed. And when they heard that the LORD had attended to the Israelites and had seen their affliction, they bowed down and worshiped.

< Exodus 4 >