Exodus 4

1 Moses/I replied, “But what if [the Israeli people] (do not believe me/are not convinced) or not do what I tell them? What if they say, ‘Yahweh did not appear 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 Yahweh said to him/me, “[Look at] that thing you are holding in your hand. What is it?” He/I replied, “A (walking stick/shepherd’s stick).”

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

3 He said, “Throw it down on the ground!” So, he/I threw it on the ground, and it became a snake! And he/I ran/jumped 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 But Yahweh said to Moses/me, “Reach down and pick it up by its tail!” So he/I reached down and caught it, and [when he/I picked it up], it became a stick in his/my hand [again.]

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 Yahweh said, “[Do the same thing in front of the Israeli people], in order that they may believe that [I], Yahweh God, the one Abraham and Isaac and Jacob worshiped, truly 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 Yahweh spoke to Moses/me again, saying “Put your hand inside your robe [MTY]!” He/I did that. And when he/I took it out again, [surprisingly], his/my hand was white. It had a skin disease [that made it] 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 Then God said, “Put your hand back inside your robe [MTY]!” So he/I did that, and when he/I took it out again, surprisingly, it was normal again, just like the rest of his/my body!

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 God said, “[You can do that in front of the Israeli people, too]. If they do not pay attention to what you say because of [seeing] the first miracle, they will (believe [you/be convinced) when you perform] the second miracle.

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 If they do not believe you or do what you say, even [after you perform] those two miracles, get some water from the Nile [River] and pour it on the ground. [When you do that], the water from the river that you pour on the ground will become blood [MTY] (OR, [red like] blood).”

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/I replied, “O Yahweh! I am not an eloquent [speaker]! I was not an eloquent speaker before, and I have not become one since you started talking to me! I am not a good speaker [MTY], and I speak very slowly.”

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 Then Yahweh said to him/me, “[You seem to forget] who it is that makes people able to speak [RHQ]! Who is it that enables people to be unable to speak or unable to hear, or able to see or not to see? It is I, Yahweh [RHQ]!

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 So start going [to Egypt], and I will help you to speak [MTY], and I will tell you what you should say.”

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

13 But he/I replied, “O, Yahweh, I ask you, please send someone else [instead]!”

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

14 Then Yahweh became very angry with Moses/me. He said, “[What about] your [older] brother Aaron, who is [also] a descendant of Levi? I know that he is a very good/eloquent speaker. He is actually on his way here [right now], and he will be very happy to see you.

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 can talk to him and tell him what to say [MTY], and I will help both of you [SYN] to know what to say [MTY]. And I will tell you both what you should 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 speak for you to the [Israeli] people. He will be (your spokesman/as though he was your mouth) [MET], and you will be to him as though you are [his] 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 [Be sure] to take with you the walking/shepherd’s stick [that is in your hand], because you will perform miracles with it.”

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

18 Moses/I returned to his/my father-in-law Jethro and said to him, “Please let me go back to Egypt, to see my fellow Israelis there. I want to know if they are still alive.” Jethro said to Moses/me, “Go, and may [God give you inner] 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 Yahweh said to Moses/me [before he/I left] Midian, “You can [safely] return to Egypt, because the men who were wanting to kill you [MTY] are [now] 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 So Moses/I took his/my wife and sons and put them on donkeys, and they/we returned to Egypt. And Moses/I took in his/my hand the stick that God [told him/me to take along].

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 Yahweh said to Moses/me, “When you return to Egypt, be sure to perform all the miracles that I have given you power [to do], while the king is watching. But I will make him stubborn [IDM], with the result that he will not let the Israeli people leave [Egypt].

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 Then say to him, ‘This is what Yahweh says: “The Israeli [people] [MTY] are [as dear to] me as firstborn sons [MET].

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

23 I told you to let my people [MTY] leave [Egypt], in order that they may worship me [in the desert]. If you refuse to let them go, I warn you, I will kill your firstborn son!”’”

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 [One night], as they were camping on the way [to Egypt], Yahweh appeared to Moses/me. He wanted/threatened to kill Moses/me [for disobeying his command that boys/sons be circumcised].

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 [his/my wife] Zipporah took a flint knife and circumcised her son. Then she touched the boy’s feet (OR, genitals) with the piece of skin [she had cut off], and she said, “The blood [which flowed when I circumcised you] will protect you [from being harmed by Yahweh] [MET].”

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 She said to him, “You are safe now [MET] because you have been circumcised.” So Yahweh did not harm her son.

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

27 Yahweh said to Aaron, “Go into the desert to meet/see Moses!” So he went [there from Egypt] and met him/me at [Sinai], the mountain dedicated to God, and [greeted him/me by] kissing him/me [on the cheek].

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/I told Aaron everything that Yahweh had said to him/me when he told him/me to return to Egypt. He/I also told Aaron about all the miracles that Yahweh told him/me to perform.

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 [So Aaron and Moses/I] returned [to Egypt]. There they/we gathered together all the Israeli elders/leaders.

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

30 Aaron told them everything that Yahweh had told Moses/me, and Aaron performed [all] the miracles as the people watched.

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

31 They believed [that what they/we were saying was true]. When they heard that Yahweh had seen how the Israeli people were being cruelly oppressed and that he was going to help them, they bowed down and worshiped [Yahweh].

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.