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!’”
Respondens Moyses ait: Non credent mihi, neque audient vocem meam, sed dicent: Non apparuit tibi Dominus.
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).”
Dixit ergo ad eum: Quid est quod tenes in manu tua? Respondit: Virga.
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.
Dixitque Dominus: Projice eam in terram. Projecit, et versa est in colubrum, ita ut fugeret Moyses.
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.]
Dixitque Dominus: Extende manum tuam, et apprehende caudam ejus. Extendit, et tenuit, versaque est in virgam.
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.”
Ut credant, inquit, quod apparuerit tibi Dominus Deus patrum suorum, Deus Abraham, Deus Isaac et Deus Jacob.
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.
Dixitque Dominus rursum: Mitte manum tuam in sinum tuum. Quam cum misisset in sinum, protulit leprosam instar nivis.
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!
Retrahe, ait, manum tuam in sinum tuum. Retraxit, et protulit iterum, et erat similis carni reliquæ.
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.
Si non crediderint, inquit, tibi, neque audierint sermonem signi prioris, credent verbo signi sequentis.
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).”
Quod si nec duobus quidem his signis crediderint, neque audierint vocem tuam: sume aquam fluminis, et effunde eam super aridam, et quidquid hauseris de fluvio, vertetur in sanguinem.
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.”
Ait Moyses: Obsecro, Domine, non sum eloquens ab heri et nudiustertius: et ex quo locutus es ad servum tuum, impeditioris et tardioris linguæ sum.
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]!
Dixit Dominus ad eum: Quis fecit os hominis? aut quis fabricatus est mutum et surdum, videntem et cæcum? nonne ego?
12 So start going [to Egypt], and I will help you to speak [MTY], and I will tell you what you should say.”
Perge, igitur, et ego ero in ore tuo: doceboque te quid loquaris.
13 But he/I replied, “O, Yahweh, I ask you, please send someone else [instead]!”
At ille: Obsecro, inquit, Domine, mitte quem missurus es.
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.
Iratus Dominus in Moysen, ait: Aaron frater tuus Levites, scio quod eloquens sit: ecce ipse egreditur in occursum tuum, vidensque te lætabitur corde.
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.
Loquere ad eum, et pone verba mea in ore ejus: et ego ero in ore tuo, et in ore illius, et ostendam vobis quid agere debeatis.
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.
Ipse loquetur pro te ad populum, et erit os tuum: tu autem eris ei in his quæ ad Deum pertinent.
17 [Be sure] to take with you the walking/shepherd’s stick [that is in your hand], because you will perform miracles with it.”
Virgam quoque hanc sume in manu tua, in qua facturus es signa.
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.”
Abiit Moyses, et reversus est ad Jethro socerum suum, dixitque ei: Vadam et revertar ad fratres meos in Ægyptum, ut videam si adhuc vivant. Cui ait Jethro: Vade in pace.
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.”
Dixit ergo Dominus ad Moysen in Madian: Vade, et revertere in Ægyptum, mortui sunt enim omnes qui quærebant animam tuam.
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].
Tulit ergo Moyses uxorem suam, et filios suos, et imposuit eos super asinum: reversusque est in Ægyptum, portans virgam Dei in manu sua.
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].
Dixitque ei Dominus revertenti in Ægyptum: Vide ut omnia ostenta quæ posui in manu tua, facias coram Pharaone: ego indurabo cor ejus, et non dimittet populum.
22 Then say to him, ‘This is what Yahweh says: “The Israeli [people] [MTY] are [as dear to] me as firstborn sons [MET].
Dicesque ad eum: Hæc dicit Dominus: Filius meus primogenitus Israël.
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!”’”
Dixi tibi: Dimitte filium meum ut serviat mihi; et noluisti dimittere eum: ecce ego interficiam filium tuum primogenitum.
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].
Cumque esset in itinere, in diversorio occurrit ei Dominus, et volebat occidere eum.
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].”
Tulit idcirco Sephora acutissimam petram, et circumcidit præputium filii sui, tetigitque pedes ejus, et ait: Sponsus sanguinum tu mihi es.
26 She said to him, “You are safe now [MET] because you have been circumcised.” So Yahweh did not harm her son.
Et dimisit eum postquam dixerat: Sponsus sanguinum ob circumcisionem.
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].
Dixit autem Dominus ad Aaron: Vade in occursum Moysi in desertum. Qui perrexit obviam ei in montem Dei, et osculatus est eum.
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.
Narravitque Moyses Aaron omnia verba Domini quibus miserat eum, et signa quæ mandaverat.
29 [So Aaron and Moses/I] returned [to Egypt]. There they/we gathered together all the Israeli elders/leaders.
Veneruntque simul, et congregaverunt cunctos seniores filiorum Israël.
30 Aaron told them everything that Yahweh had told Moses/me, and Aaron performed [all] the miracles as the people watched.
Locutusque est Aaron omnia verba quæ dixerat Dominus ad Moysen: et fecit signa coram populo,
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].
et credidit populus. Audieruntque quod visitasset Dominus filios Israël, et respexisset afflictionem illorum: et proni adoraverunt.
