Exodus 4

1 And Moses answereth and saith, 'And, if they do not give credence to me, nor hearken to my voice, and say, Jehovah hath not appeared unto thee?'

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

2 And Jehovah saith unto him, 'What [is] this in thy hand?' and he saith, 'A rod;'

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

3 and He saith, 'Cast it to the earth;' and he casteth it to the earth, and it becometh a serpent — and Moses fleeth from its presence.

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

4 And Jehovah saith unto Moses, 'Put forth thy hand, and lay hold on the tail of it;' and he putteth forth his hand, and layeth hold on it, and it becometh a rod in his hand —

Jehovah 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.

5 ' — so that they believe that Jehovah, God of their fathers, hath appeared unto thee, God of Abraham, God of Isaac, and God of Jacob.'

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

6 And Jehovah saith to him again, 'Put in, I pray thee, thy hand into thy bosom;' and he putteth in his hand into his bosom, and he bringeth it out, and lo, his hand [is] leprous as snow;

Jehovah 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.

7 and He saith, 'Put back thy hand unto thy bosom;' and he putteth back his hand unto his bosom, and he bringeth it out from his bosom, and lo, it hath turned back as his flesh —

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.

8 ' — and it hath come to pass, if they do not give credence to thee, and hearken not to the voice of the first sign, that they have given credence to the voice of the latter sign.

"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.

9 'And it hath come to pass, if they do not give credence even to these two signs, nor hearken to thy voice, that thou hast taken of the waters of the River, and hast poured on the dry land, and the waters which thou takest from the River have been, yea, they have become — blood on the dry land.'

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."

10 And Moses saith unto Jehovah, 'O, my Lord, I [am] not a man of words, either yesterday, or before, or since Thy speaking unto Thy servant, for I [am] slow of mouth, and slow of tongue.'

Moses said to Jehovah, "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."

11 And Jehovah saith unto him, 'Who appointed a mouth for man? or who appointeth the dumb, or deaf, or open, or blind? is it not I, Jehovah?

Jehovah 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?

12 and now, go, and I — I am with thy mouth, and have directed thee that which thou speakest;'

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

13 and he saith, 'O, my Lord, send, I pray thee, by the hand Thou dost send.'

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

14 And the anger of Jehovah burneth against Moses, and He saith, 'Is not Aaron the Levite thy brother? I have known that he speaketh well, and also, lo, he is coming out to meet thee; when he hath seen thee, then he hath rejoiced in his heart,

The anger of Jehovah 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.

15 and thou hast spoken unto him, and hast set the words in his mouth, and I — I am with thy mouth, and with his mouth, and have directed you that which ye do;

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.

16 and he, he hath spoken for thee unto the people, and it hath come to pass, he — he is to thee for a mouth, and thou — thou art to him for God;

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.

17 and this rod thou dost take in thy hand, with which thou doest the signs.'

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

18 And Moses goeth and turneth back unto Jethro his father-in-law, and saith to him, 'Let me go, I pray thee, and I turn back unto my brethren who [are] in Egypt, and I see whether they are yet alive.' And Jethro saith to Moses, 'Go in peace.'

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."

19 And Jehovah saith unto Moses in Midian, 'Go, turn back to Egypt, for all the men have died who seek thy life;'

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

20 and Moses taketh his wife, and his sons, and causeth them to ride on the ass, and turneth back to the land of Egypt, and Moses taketh the rod of God in his hand.

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.

21 And Jehovah saith unto Moses, 'In thy going to turn back to Egypt, see — all the wonders which I have put in thy hand — that thou hast done them before Pharaoh, and I — I strengthen his heart, and he doth not send the people away;

Jehovah 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.

22 and thou hast said unto Pharaoh, Thus said Jehovah, My son, My first-born [is] Israel,

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

23 and I say unto thee, Send away My son, and he doth serve Me; and — thou dost refuse to send him away — lo, I am slaying thy son, thy first-born.'

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.'"

24 And it cometh to pass in the way, in a lodging place, that Jehovah meeteth him, and seeketh to put him to death;

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

25 and Zipporah taketh a flint, and cutteth off the foreskin of her son, and causeth [it] to touch his feet, and saith, 'Surely a bridegroom of blood [art] thou to me;'

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."

26 and He desisteth from him: then she said, 'A bridegroom of blood,' in reference to the circumcision.

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

27 And Jehovah saith unto Aaron, 'Go to meet Moses into the wilderness;' and he goeth, and meeteth him in the mount of God, and kisseth him,

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

28 and Moses declareth to Aaron all the words of Jehovah with which He hath sent him, and all the signs with which He hath charged him.

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

29 And Moses goeth — Aaron also — and they gather all the elders of the sons of Israel,

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

30 and Aaron speaketh all the words which Jehovah hath spoken unto Moses, and doth the signs before the eyes of the people;

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

31 and the people believe when they hear that Jehovah hath looked after the sons of Israel, and that He hath seen their affliction; and they bow and do obeisance.

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.