Exodus 4

1 Moses answered, “But what if they do not believe me or listen to me but say instead, 'Yahweh 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 Yahweh said to him, “What is that in your hand?” Moses said, “A staff.”

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

3 Yahweh said, “Throw it on the ground.” Moses threw it on the ground, and it became a snake. Moses ran back 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 Yahweh said to Moses, “Reach out and take it by the tail.” So he reached out and took hold of the snake. It became a staff in his 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 “This is so they may believe that Yahweh, the God of their ancestors, 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 Yahweh also said to him, “Now put your hand inside your robe.” So Moses put his hand inside his robe. When he brought it out, behold, 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 Yahweh said, “Put your hand inside your robe again.” So Moses put his hand inside his robe, and when he brought it out, he saw that it was made healthy again, like the rest of his 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 Yahweh said, “If they do not believe you—if they do not pay attention to the first sign of my power or believe in it, then they will believe the second 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 If they do not believe even these two signs of my power, or listen to you, then take some water from the river and pour it on the dry land. The water that you take 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 Then Moses said to Yahweh, “Lord, I have never been eloquent, neither in the past nor since you spoke to your servant. I am slow of speech and slow of 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 Yahweh said to him, “Who is it who made man's mouth? Who makes a man mute or deaf or seeing or blind? Is it not I, Yahweh?

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 now go, and I will be with your mouth and teach you what to say.”

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

13 But Moses said, “Lord, please send anyone else, anyone whom you wish to send.”

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 angry with Moses. He said, “What about Aaron, your brother, the Levite? I know that he can speak well. Moreover, he is coming to meet you, and 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 will speak to him and put the words to say into his mouth. I will be with your mouth and with his mouth, and I will show you both what to 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 to the people for you. He will be your mouth, and you will be to him like me, 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 will take in your hand this staff. With it you will do the signs.”

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

18 So Moses went back to Jethro his father-in-law and said to him, “Let me go so I may return to my relatives who are in Egypt and see if 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 Yahweh said to Moses in Midian, “Go, return to Egypt, for all the men who were trying to take 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 put them on a donkey. He returned to the land of Egypt, and he took the staff of God 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 Yahweh said to Moses, “When you go back to Egypt, see that you do before Pharaoh all the wonders that I have put in your power. 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 must say to Pharaoh, 'This is what Yahweh says: 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 say to you, “Let my son go, so he may worship me.” But since you have refused to let him go, I will certainly 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 Now on the way, when they stopped for the night, Yahweh met Moses and tried 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 knife and cut off the foreskin of her son, and touched it to his feet. Then she said, “Surely you are a bridegroom to me by blood.”

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 Yahweh let him alone. 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 Yahweh said to Aaron, “Go into the wilderness to meet Moses.” Aaron went, met him at the mountain of God, 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 Yahweh that he had sent him to say and about all the signs of Yahweh's power that he had commanded him to do.

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 Then Moses and Aaron went and gathered together all the elders of the Israelites.

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

30 Aaron spoke all the words that Yahweh had spoken to Moses. He also displayed the signs of Yahweh's power 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. When they heard that Yahweh had observed the Israelites and that he had seen their oppression, then they bowed their heads and worshiped him.

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.