Exodus 4
1 respondens Moses ait non credent mihi neque audient vocem meam sed dicent non apparuit tibi Dominus
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!’”
2 dixit ergo ad eum quid est hoc quod tenes in manu tua respondit virga
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).”
3 ait proice eam in terram proiecit et versa est in colubrum ita ut fugeret Moses
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.
4 dixitque Dominus extende manum tuam et adprehende caudam eius extendit et tenuit versaque est in virgam
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.]
5 ut credant inquit quod apparuerit tibi Dominus Deus patrum tuorum Deus Abraham Deus Isaac Deus Iacob
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.”
6 dixitque Dominus rursum mitte manum in sinum tuum quam cum misisset in sinum protulit leprosam instar nivis
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.
7 retrahe ait manum in sinum tuum retraxit et protulit iterum et erat similis carni reliquae
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!
8 si non crediderint inquit tibi neque audierint sermonem signi prioris credent verbo signi sequentis
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.
9 quod si nec duobus quidem his signis crediderint neque audierint vocem tuam sume aquam fluminis et effunde eam super aridam et quicquid hauseris de fluvio vertetur in sanguinem
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).”
10 ait Moses obsecro Domine non sum eloquens ab heri et nudius tertius et ex quo locutus es ad servum tuum inpeditioris et tardioris linguae sum
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.”
11 dixit Dominus ad eum quis fecit os hominis aut quis fabricatus est mutum et surdum videntem et caecum nonne ego
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]!
12 perge igitur et ego ero in ore tuo doceboque te quid loquaris
So start going [to Egypt], and I will help you to speak [MTY], and I will tell you what you should say.”
13 at ille obsecro inquit Domine mitte quem missurus es
But he/I replied, “O, Yahweh, I ask you, please send someone else [instead]!”
14 iratus Dominus in Mosen ait Aaron frater tuus Levites scio quod eloquens sit ecce ipse egreditur in occursum tuum vidensque te laetabitur corde
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.
15 loquere ad eum et pone verba mea in ore eius ego ero in ore tuo et in ore illius et ostendam vobis quid agere debeatis
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.
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 [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.
17 virgam quoque hanc sume in manu tua in qua facturus es signa
[Be sure] to take with you the walking/shepherd’s stick [that is in your hand], because you will perform miracles with it.”
18 abiit Moses et reversus est ad Iethro cognatum suum dixitque ei vadam et revertar ad fratres meos in Aegyptum ut videam si adhuc vivunt cui ait Iethro vade in pace
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.”
19 dixit ergo Dominus ad Mosen in Madian vade revertere in Aegyptum mortui sunt omnes qui quaerebant animam tuam
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.”
20 tulit Moses uxorem et filios suos et inposuit eos super asinum reversusque est in Aegyptum portans virgam Dei in manu sua
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].
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
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].
22 dicesque ad eum haec dicit Dominus filius meus primogenitus meus Israhel
Then say to him, ‘This is what Yahweh says: “The Israeli [people] [MTY] are [as dear to] me as firstborn sons [MET].
23 dixi tibi dimitte filium meum ut serviat mihi et noluisti dimittere eum ecce ego interficiam filium tuum primogenitum
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!”’”
24 cumque esset in itinere in diversorio occurrit ei Dominus et volebat occidere eum
[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].
25 tulit ilico Seffora acutissimam petram et circumcidit praeputium filii sui tetigitque pedes eius et ait sponsus sanguinum tu mihi es
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].”
26 et dimisit eum postquam dixerat sponsus sanguinum ob circumcisionem
She said to him, “You are safe now [MET] because you have been circumcised.” So Yahweh did not harm her son.
27 dixit autem Dominus ad Aaron vade in occursum Mosi in deserto qui perrexit ei obviam in montem Dei et osculatus est eum
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].
28 narravitque Moses Aaron omnia verba Domini quibus miserat eum et signa quae mandaverat
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.
29 veneruntque simul et congregaverunt cunctos seniores filiorum Israhel
[So Aaron and Moses/I] returned [to Egypt]. There they/we gathered together all the Israeli elders/leaders.
30 locutusque est Aaron omnia verba quae dixerat Dominus ad Mosen et fecit signa coram populo
Aaron told them everything that Yahweh had told Moses/me, and Aaron performed [all] the miracles as the people watched.
31 et credidit populus audieruntque quod visitasset Dominus filios Israhel et quod respexisset adflictionem eorum et proni adoraverunt
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].
