Exodus 4
1 Respondens Moyses, ait: Non credent mihi, neque audient vocem meam, sed dicent: Non apparuit tibi Dominus.
Responding, Moses said, “They will not believe me, and they will not listen to my voice, but they will say: ‘The Lord has not appeared to you.’”
2 Dixit ergo ad eum: Quid est quod tenes in manu tua? Respondit: Virga.
Therefore, he said to him, “What is that you hold in your hand?” He answered, “A staff.”
3 Dixitque Dominus: Proiice eam in terram. Proiecit, et versa est in colubrum, ita ut fugeret Moyses.
And the Lord said, “Cast it down upon the ground.” He cast it down, and it was turned into a snake, so that Moses fled away.
4 Dixitque Dominus: Extende manum tuam, et apprehende caudam eius. Extendit, et tenuit, reversaque est in virgam.
And the Lord said, “Reach out your hand, and take hold of its tail.” He reached out his hand and took hold, and it was turned into a staff.
5 Ut credant, inquit, quod apparuerit tibi Dominus Deus patrum suorum, Deus Abraham, Deus Isaac, et Deus Iacob.
“So may they believe,” he said, “that the Lord God of their fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has appeared to you.”
6 Dixitque Dominus rursum: Mitte manum tuam in sinum tuum. Quam cum misisset in sinum, protulit leprosam instar nivis.
And the Lord said again, “Put your hand into your bosom.” And when he had put it into his bosom, he brought it out leprous, resembling snow.
7 Retrahe, ait, manum tuam in sinum tuum. Retraxit, et protulit iterum, et erat similis carni reliquae.
“Put your hand back,” he said, “into your bosom.” He put it back and brought it out again, and it was like the rest of his flesh.
8 Si non crediderint, inquit, tibi, neque audierint sermonem signi prioris, credent verbo signi sequentis.
“If they will not believe you,” he said, “and will not listen to the sermon of the first sign, then they will believe the word of the subsequent sign.
9 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.
But if they will not believe even these two signs, and they will not listen to your voice: take from the water of the river, and pour it upon the dry land, and whatever you will have drawn from the river will be turned into blood.”
10 Ait Moyses: Obsecro Domine, non sum eloquens ab heri, et nudiustertius: et ex quo locutus es ad servum tuum, impeditioris et tardioris linguae sum.
Moses said: “I beg you, O Lord, I was not eloquent yesterday or the day before. And from the time that you have spoken to your servant, I have a greater impediment and slowness of tongue.”
11 Dixit Dominus ad eum: Quis fecit os hominis? aut quis fabricatus est mutum et surdum, videntem et caecum? nonne ego?
The Lord said to him: “Who made the mouth of man? And who has formed the mute and the deaf, the seeing and the blind? Was it not I?
12 Perge igitur, et ego ero in ore tuo: doceboque te quid loquaris.
Go on, therefore, and I will be in your mouth. And I will teach you what you shall say.”
13 At ille: Obsecro Domine, inquit, mitte quem missurus es.
But he said, “I beg you, O Lord, send whomever else you would send.”
14 Iratus Dominus in Moysen, ait: Aaron frater tuus levites, scio quod eloquens sit: ecce ipse egredietur in occursum tuum, vidensque te laetabitur corde.
The Lord, being angry at Moses, said: “Aaron the Levite is your brother. I know that he is eloquent. Behold, he is going out to meet you, and seeing you, he will rejoice in heart.
15 Loquere ad eum, et pone verba mea in ore eius: et ego ero in ore tuo, et in ore illius, et ostendam vobis quid agere debeatis.
Speak to him, and put my words in his mouth. And I will be in your mouth and in his mouth, and I will reveal to you what you must do.
16 ipse loquetur pro te ad populum, et erit os tuum: tu autem eris ei in his quae ad Deum pertinent.
He will speak for you to the people, and he will be your mouth. But you will be with him in those things that pertain to God.
17 Virgam quoque hanc sume in manu tua, in qua facturus es signa.
Also, take this staff into your hand; with it you will accomplish the signs.”
18 Abiit Moyses, et reversus est ad Iethro socerum suum, dixitque ei: Vadam et revertar ad fratres meos in Aegyptum, ut videam si adhuc vivant. Cui ait Iethro: Vade in pace.
Moses went forth, and he returned to Jethro, his father in law, and he said to him, “I shall go and return to my brothers in Egypt, so that I may see if they are still alive.” And Jethro said to him, “Go in peace.”
19 Dixit ergo Dominus ad Moysen in Madian: Vade, et revertere in Aegyptum: mortui sunt enim omnes qui quaerebant animam tuam.
And so the Lord said to Moses in Midian: “Go, and return to Egypt. For all those who sought your life have died.”
20 Tulit ergo Moyses uxorem suam, et filios suos, et imposuit eos super asinum, reversusque est in Aegyptum, portans virgam Dei in manu sua.
Therefore, Moses took his wife and his sons, and he placed them upon a donkey, and he returned into Egypt, carrying the staff of God in his hand.
21 Dixitque ei Dominus revertenti in Aegyptum: Vide ut omnia ostenta quae posui in manu tua, facias coram Pharaone: ego indurabo cor eius, et non dimittet populum.
And the Lord said to him, as he was returning to Egypt: “See that you accomplish, in the sight of Pharaoh, all the wonders that I have placed in your hand. I will harden his heart, and he will not release the people.
22 Dicesque ad eum: Haec dicit Dominus: Filius meus primogenitus Israel.
And you shall say to him: ‘Thus says the Lord: Israel is my firstborn son.
23 Dixi tibi: Dimitte filium meum ut serviat mihi; et noluisti dimittere eum: ecce ego interficiam filium tuum primogenitum.
I have said to you: Release my son, so that he may serve me. And you were not willing to release him. Behold, I will put to death your firstborn son.’”
24 Cumque esset in itinere, in diversorio occurrit ei Dominus, et volebat occidere eum.
And while he was on the journey, at an inn, the Lord met him, and he was willing to kill him.
25 Tulit idcirco Sephora acutissimam petram, et circumcidit praeputium filii sui, tetigitque pedes eius, et ait: Sponsus sanguinum tu mihi es.
For this reason, Zipporah took a very sharp stone, and she circumcised the foreskin of her son, and she touched his feet, and she said, “You are a bloody spouse to me.”
26 Et dimisit eum postquam dixerat: Sponsus sanguinum tu mihi es ob circumcisionem.
And he released him, after she had said, “You are a bloody spouse,” because of the circumcision.
27 Dixit autem Dominus ad Aaron: Vade in occursum Moysi in desertum. Qui perrexit obviam ei in Montem Dei, et osculatus est eum.
Then the Lord said to Aaron, “Go into the desert to meet Moses.” And he went directly to meet him on the mountain of God, and he kissed him.
28 Narravitque Moyses Aaron omnia verba Domini pro quibus miserat eum, et signa quae mandaverat.
And Moses explained to Aaron all the words of the Lord, by which he had sent him, and the signs which he had commanded.
29 Veneruntque simul, et congregaverunt cunctos seniores filiorum Israel.
And they arrived at the same time, and they gathered together all the elders of the sons of Israel.
30 Locutusque est Aaron omnia verba quae dixerat Dominus ad Moysen: et fecit signa coram populo,
And Aaron spoke all the words which the Lord had said to Moses. And he accomplished the signs in the sight of the people,
31 et credidit populus. Audieruntque quod visitasset Dominus filios Israel, et respexisset afflictionem illorum: et proni adoraverunt.
and the people believed. And they heard that the Lord had visited the sons of Israel, and that he had looked with favor upon their affliction. And falling prostrate, they worshiped.
