Exodus 4
4
1 Moses answered, “But, behold, they will not believe me, nor listen to my voice; for they will say, ‘The LORD has not appeared to you.’”
2 The LORD said to him, “What is that in your hand?”
He said, “A rod.”
3 He said, “Throw it on the ground.”
He threw it on the ground, and it became a snake; and Moses ran away from it.
4 The LORD said to Moses, “Stretch out your hand, and take it by the tail.”
He stretched out his hand, and took hold of it, and it became a rod in his hand.
5“This is so that they may believe that the LORD, the God of their fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has appeared to you.” 6The LORD said furthermore to him, “Now put your hand inside your cloak.”
He put his hand inside his cloak, and when he took it out, behold, his hand was leprous, as white as snow.
7 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, behold, it had turned again as his other flesh.
8“It will happen, if they will not believe you or listen to the voice of the first sign, that they will believe the voice of the latter sign. 9It will happen, if they will not believe even these two signs or 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 Moses said to the LORD, “O Lord,#4:10 The word translated “Lord” is “Adonai”. 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 The LORD said to him, “Who made man’s mouth? Or who makes one mute, or deaf, or seeing, or blind? Isn’t it I, the LORD? 12Now therefore go, and I will be with your mouth, and teach you what you shall speak.”
13Moses said, “Oh, Lord, please send someone else.”
14 The LORD’s anger burned against Moses, and he said, “What about Aaron, your brother, the Levite? I know that he can speak well. Also, behold, he is coming out to meet you. When he sees you, he will be glad in his heart. 15You 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. 16He will be your spokesman to the people. It will happen that he will be to you a mouth, and you will be to him as God. 17You shall take this rod in your hand, with which you shall do the signs.”
18 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 The LORD said to Moses in Midian, “Go, return into Egypt; for all the men who sought your life are dead.”
20 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 rod in his hand. 21The LORD 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. 22You shall tell Pharaoh, ‘The LORD says, Israel is my son, my firstborn, 23and I have said to you, “Let my son go, that he may serve me;” and you have refused to let him go. Behold, I will kill your firstborn son.’”
24 On the way at a lodging place, the LORD met Moses and wanted to kill him. 25Then 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 So he let him alone. Then she said, “You are a bridegroom of blood,” because of the circumcision.
27 The LORD said to Aaron, “Go into the wilderness to meet Moses.”
He went, and met him on God’s mountain, and kissed him. 28Moses told Aaron all the LORD’s words with which he had sent him, and all the signs with which he had instructed him. 29Moses and Aaron went and gathered together all the elders of the children of Israel. 30Aaron spoke all the words which the LORD had spoken to Moses, and did the signs in the sight of the people. 31The people believed, and when they heard that the LORD had visited the children of Israel, and that he had seen their affliction, then they bowed their heads and worshiped.
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Exodus 4
4
1“But what if they don't believe me or listen to what I say?” Moses asked. “They could say, ‘The Lord didn't appear to you.’”
2The Lord asked him, “What are you holding in your hand?”
“A walking stick,” Moses replied.
3“Throw it on the ground,” he told Moses. So Moses did. It turned into a snake and Moses ran away from it.
4“Reach out and grab hold of it by its tail,” the Lord told Moses. Moses did so and it turned back into a walking stick in his hand.
5“You are to do this#4:5. “You are to do this”: supplied for clarity. so that they will believe that I the Lord did appear to you, the God of their fathers, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.”
6Then the Lord told him, “Put your hand inside your clothes close to your chest.” So Moses did as he was told. When he took his hand out, it was white like snow with a skin disease.
7“Now put your hand back inside your clothes,” the Lord said. Moses did so. When he took it out again, his hand had returned to normal.#4:7. “Normal”: literally, “like his flesh.”
8“If they don't believe you and they're not convinced by the first sign, they'll believe because of the second sign,” the Lord explained. 9“But if they still don't believe you or listen to you because of these two signs, then you are to take some water from the Nile and pour it out on the ground. The Nile water will turn into blood on the ground.”
10Then Moses said to the Lord, “Please excuse me, but I'm not someone who is good with words—not in the past, and not from the time you have been speaking with me, your servant. My speech is slow and I don't say things well.”#4:10. “My speech is slow and I don't say things well”: literally, “I am heavy of mouth and heavy of tongue.”
11“Who gave people mouths?” the Lord asked him. “Who makes people deaf or dumb, able to see or blind? It's I, the Lord, who does that. 12Now go, and I myself will be your mouth, and I will tell you what you are to say.”
13“Please, Lord, send someone else!” Moses responded.
14The Lord got angry with Moses, and told him, “There's your brother Aaron, the Levite. I know he speaks well. He's on his way to meet you, and he'll be very happy to see you. 15Speak to him and tell him what to say. I will be your mouth and his mouth, and I will tell you what you are to do. 16Aaron will speak on your behalf to the people, as if he was your mouth, and you will be in the place of God to him. 17Make sure to take your walking stick with you so you can use it to do the signs.”
18Then Moses returned to Jethro his father-in-law and told him, “Please allow me to go back to my own people in Egypt so I can see if any of them are still alive.”
“Go with my blessing,” Jethro replied.
19While Moses was in Midian, the Lord told him, “Go back to Egypt because all those who wanted to kill you have died.”
20Moses put his wife and sons on a donkey and went back to Egypt, carrying the walking stick that God had used to perform miracles.#4:20. “The walking stick that God had used to perform miracles:” literally, “the walking stick of God.” This interpretation refers back to the miracles recorded in verses 3 and 4.
21The Lord told Moses, “When you get back to Egypt, make sure to go to Pharaoh and carry out the miracles I've given you to do. I will make him stubborn#4:21. “Stubborn”: literally, “harden his heart,” similarly translated throughout the book. The same experience is described as being God's action, Pharaoh's own action, and also in the passive with no agent identified. and he will not let the people go. 22This is what you are to tell Pharaoh, ‘This is what the Lord says. Israel is my firstborn son. 23I ordered you to let my son go so he can worship me. But you refused to release him, so I will now kill your firstborn son.’”
24But while they were on their way the Lord came to the place where they were staying, wanting to kill Moses. 25However, Zipporah used a flint knife to cut off her son's foreskin. She touched his feet with it, and said to him, “You are a blood-husband to me.” 26(Calling him a blood-husband referred to circumcision.)#4:26. The term used here is not well understood. It may mean something like, “Through this blood I have spilled you are now related through marriage to me.” Some interpreters believe the word means “someone who is circumcised.” After this the Lord left Moses alone.
27The Lord had told Aaron, “Go and meet Moses in the desert.” So Aaron went and met Moses at the mountain of God and greeted him with a kiss. 28Then Moses explained to Aaron everything the Lord had sent him to say and all the miracles he had ordered him to do. 29Moses and Aaron traveled to Egypt. There they had all the Israelite elders gather together. 30Aaron shared with them everything the Lord had told Moses, and Moses carried out the miracles so they could see them. 31The Israelites were convinced. When they heard that the Lord had come to them, and that he had been touched by their suffering, they bowed their heads and worshiped.
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Dr. Jonathan Gallagher. Released under Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 Unported License. Version 4.3. For corrections send email to jonathangallagherfbv@gmail.com