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 what if they do not believe me or listen to me but say instead, 'Yahweh has not appeared to you'?”

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

Yahweh said to him, “What is that in your hand?” Moses 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.

Yahweh said, “Throw it on the ground.” Moses threw it on the ground, and it became a snake. Moses ran back 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 —

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.

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.'

“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.”

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;

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.

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 —

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.

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.

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.

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.'

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.”

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.'

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.”

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?

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?

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

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

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

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

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,

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.

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 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.

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 speak to the people for you. He will be your mouth, and you will be to him like me, God.

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

You will take in your hand this staff. With it you will 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.'

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.”

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

Yahweh said to Moses in Midian, “Go, return to Egypt, for all the men who were trying to take 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 put them on a donkey. He returned to the land of Egypt, and he took the staff of God 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;

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.

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

You must say to Pharaoh, 'This is what Yahweh says: 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 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.'”

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

Now on the way, when they stopped for the night, Yahweh met Moses and tried 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 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.”

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

So Yahweh let him alone. 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,

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

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

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

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