Exodus 4
4
Signs for Moses to Do
1Moses answered, “What if the elders of Israel won’t believe me? What if they won’t listen to me? Suppose they say, ‘The Lord didn’t appear to you.’ Then what should I do?”
2The Lord said to him, “What do you have in your hand?”
“A walking stick,” he said.
3The Lord said, “Throw it on the ground.”
So Moses threw it on the ground. It turned into a snake. He ran away from it. 4Then the Lord said to Moses, “Reach your hand out. Take the snake by the tail.” So he reached out and grabbed the snake. It turned back into a walking stick in his hand. 5The Lord said, “When they see this sign, they will believe that I appeared to you. I am the Lord, the God of their fathers. I am the God of Abraham. I am the God of Isaac. And I am the God of Jacob.”
6Then the Lord said, “Put your hand inside your coat.” So Moses put his hand inside his coat. When he took it out, the skin had become as white as snow. His hand was covered with a skin disease.
7“Now put it back into your coat,” the Lord said. So Moses put his hand back into his coat. When he took it out, the skin was healthy again. His hand was like the rest of his skin.
8Then the Lord said, “Suppose they do not believe you or pay attention to the first sign. Then maybe they will believe the second one. 9But suppose they do not believe either sign. Suppose they will not listen to you. Then get some water from the Nile River. Pour it on the dry ground. The water you take from the river will turn into blood on the ground.”
10Moses spoke to the Lord. He said, “Lord, I’ve never been a good speaker. And I haven’t gotten any better since you spoke to me. I don’t speak very well at all.”
11The Lord said to him, “Who makes human beings able to talk? Who makes them unable to hear or speak? Who makes them able to see? Who makes them blind? It is I, the Lord. 12Now go. I will help you speak. I will teach you what to say.”
13But Moses said, “Lord, please send someone else to do it.”
14Then the Lord became very angry with Moses. He said, “What about your brother, Aaron the Levite? I know he can speak well. He is already on his way to meet you. He will be glad to see you. 15Speak to him. Tell him what to say. I will help both of you speak. I will teach you what to do. 16He will speak to the people for you. He will be like your mouth. And you will be like God to him. 17But take this walking stick in your hand. You will be able to do signs with it.”
Moses Returns to Egypt
18Then Moses went back to his father-in-law Jethro. He said to him, “Let me return to my own people in Egypt. I want to see if any of them are still alive.”
Jethro said, “Go. I hope everything goes well with you.”
19The Lord had said to Moses in Midian, “Go back to Egypt. All those who wanted to kill you are dead.” 20So Moses got his wife and sons. He put them on a donkey. Together they started back to Egypt. And he took the walking stick in his hand. It was the stick God would use in a powerful way.
21The Lord spoke to Moses. He said, “When you return to Egypt, do all the amazing things I have given you the power to do. Do them in the sight of Pharaoh. But I will make him stubborn. He will not let the people go. 22Then say to Pharaoh, ‘The Lord says, “Israel is like an oldest son to me. 23I told you, ‘Let my son go. Then he will be able to worship me.’ But you refused to let him go. So I will kill your oldest son.” ’ ”
24On the way to Egypt, Moses stopped for the night. There the Lord met him and was about to kill him. 25But Zipporah got a knife made out of flint. She circumcised her son with it. Then she touched Moses’ feet with the skin she had cut off. “Surely, you are a husband who has forced me to spill my son’s blood,” she said. 26So the Lord didn’t kill Moses. When she said “husband who has forced me to spill my son’s blood,” she was talking about circumcision.
27The Lord said to Aaron, “Go into the desert to see Moses.” So Aaron greeted Moses at the mountain of God and kissed him. 28Then Moses told Aaron everything the Lord had sent him to say. Moses also told him about all the signs the Lord had commanded him to do.
29Moses and Aaron gathered all the elders of Israel together. 30Aaron told them everything the Lord had said to Moses. He also performed the signs in the sight of the people. 31And they believed. They heard that the Lord was concerned about them. He had seen their suffering. So they bowed down and worshiped him.
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Holy Bible, New International Reader’s Version®, NIrV®
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Exodus 4
4
Proof for Moses
1Then Moses answered, “What if the people of Israel do not believe me or listen to me? What if they say, ‘The Lord did not appear to you’?”
2The Lord said to him, “What is that in your hand?”
Moses answered, “It is my walking stick.”
3The Lord said, “Throw it on the ground.”
So Moses threw it on the ground. And it became a snake. Moses ran from the snake. 4But the Lord said to him, “Reach out and grab the snake by its tail.” So Moses reached out and took hold of the snake. When he did this, it again became a stick in his hand. 5The Lord said, “When this happens, the Israelites will believe that the Lord appeared to you. I am the God of their ancestors. I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob.”
6Then the Lord said to Moses, “Put your hand inside your coat.” So Moses put his hand inside his coat. When he took his hand out, it was white with a harmful skin disease.
7Then the Lord said, “Now put your hand inside your coat again.” So Moses put his hand inside his coat again. When he took it out, his hand was healthy again. It was like the rest of his skin.
8Then the Lord said, “The people may not believe you or be convinced by the first miracle. They may believe you when you show them this second miracle. 9After these two miracles they still may not believe or listen to you. Then take some water from the Nile River. Pour it on the dry ground. The water will become blood when it touches the ground.”
10But Moses said to the Lord, “But Lord, I am not a skilled speaker. I have never been able to speak well. And now, even after talking to you, I am not a good speaker. I speak slowly and can’t find the best words.”
11Then the Lord said to him, “Who made man’s mouth? And who makes him deaf or not able to speak? Or who gives a man sight or makes him blind? It is I, the Lord. 12Now go! I will help you speak. I will tell you what to say.”
13But Moses said, “Please, Lord, send someone else.”
14The Lord became angry with Moses. He said, “Your brother Aaron, from the family of Levi, is a skilled speaker. He is already coming to meet you. And he will be happy when he sees you. 15I will tell you what to say. Then you will tell Aaron. I will help both of you know what to say and do. 16And Aaron will speak to the people for you. You will tell him what God says. And he will speak for you. 17Take your walking stick with you. Use it to do the miracles.”
Moses Returns to Egypt
18Then Moses went back to Jethro, his father-in-law. Moses said to him, “Let me go back to my people in Egypt. I want to see if they are still alive.”
Jethro said to Moses, “You may go. Have a safe trip.”
19While Moses was still in Midian, the Lord said to him, “Go back to Egypt. The men who wanted to kill you are dead now.”
20So Moses took his wife and his sons and put them on a donkey. Then he started back to Egypt. He took with him the walking stick of God.
21The Lord said to Moses, “When you get back to Egypt, do all the miracles. I have given you the power to do them. Show them to the king of Egypt. But I will make the king very stubborn. He will not let the people go. 22Then say to the king: ‘This is what the Lord says: Israel is my firstborn son. 23And I told you to let my son go. Let him go so he may worship me. But you refused to let Israel go. So I will kill your firstborn son.’”
24As Moses was on his way to Egypt, he stopped at a resting place for the night. The Lord met him there and tried to kill him. 25But Zipporah took a flint knife and circumcised her son. She took the skin and touched Moses’ feet with it. Then she said to him, “You are a bridegroom of blood to me.” 26Zipporah said this because she had to circumcise her son. So the Lord did not kill Moses.
27Meanwhile the Lord said to Aaron, “Go out into the desert to meet Moses.” When Aaron went, he met Moses at Sinai, the mountain of God, and kissed him. 28Moses told Aaron everything the Lord had said to him when he sent him to Egypt. And Moses told him about the miracles which the Lord had commanded him to do.
29So Moses and Aaron gathered all the elders of the Israelites. 30Aaron told them everything that the Lord had told Moses. Then Moses did the miracles for all the people to see. 31So the Israelites believed. They heard that the Lord was concerned about them and had seen their troubles. Then they bowed down and worshiped him.
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