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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Exodus 4
4
Yahweh Provides Signs and Help for Speaking
1And Moses answered, and he said, “And if they do not believe me and they do not listen to my voice, but they say, ‘Yahweh did not appear to you?’ ” 2And Yahweh said to him, “What is this in your hand?” And he said, “A staff.” 3And he said, “Throw it onto the ground.” And he threw it onto the ground, and it became a snake, and Moses fled from it. 4And Yahweh said to Moses, “Reach out your hand and grasp it by its tail”—” (And he reached out his hand and grabbed it, and it became a staff in his palm.)—5“so that they may believe that Yahweh, the God of their ancestors,#Or “fathers” appeared to you, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.”
6And Yahweh said to him again, “Put your hand into the fold of your garment.” And he put his hand into the fold of his garment, and he took it out, and, to his surprise,#Literally “look” or “behold” his hand was afflicted with a skin disease, like snow. 7And he said, “Return your hand to the fold of your garment.” And he returned his hand to the fold of his garment, and he took it out from the fold of his garment, and, to his surprise,#Literally “look” or “behold” it was restored like the rest of his body. 8“And#Literally “and he/it will be” if they do not believe you and they will not listen to the voice of the former sign, then they will believe the voice of the latter sign. 9And#Literally “and he/it will be” if they also do not believe the second of these signs and they will not listen to your voice, then you must take water from the Nile and pour it onto the dry ground, and the water that you take from the Nile will become blood on the dry ground.”
10And Moses said to Yahweh, “Please, Lord, I am not a man of words, neither recently nor in the past nor since your speaking#Literally “also from yesterday also from the day before also from then your speaking” to your servant, because I am heavy of mouth and of tongue.” 11And Yahweh said to him, “Who gave a mouth to humankind, or who makes mute or deaf or sighted or blind? Is it not I, Yahweh? 12So then go, and I myself will be with your mouth, and I will teach you what you must speak.” 13And he said, “Please, Lord, do send anyone else whom you wish to send.”#Literally “by the hand of someone you will send” 14And Yahweh was angry with#Literally “and the nose of Yahweh was hot against” Moses and said, “Is there not Aaron your brother the Levite? I know that he certainly can speak, and also there he is coming out to meet you, and when he sees you, he will rejoice in his heart. 15And you will speak to him, and you will put words in his mouth, and I myself will be with your mouth and with his mouth, and I will teach you what you must do. 16And he will speak for you to the people, and then#Literally “and he/it will be” he will be to you as a mouth, and you will be to him as a god. 17And you must take this staff in your hand, with which you will do the signs.”
Moses Leaves Midian and Returns to Egypt
18And Moses went, and he returned to Jethro his father-in-law, and he said to him, “Please let me go, and let me return to my brothers who are in Egypt, and let me see whether they are yet alive. And Jethro said to Moses, “Go in peace.” 19And Yahweh said to Moses in Midian, “Go, return to Egypt because all the men have died who were seeking your life.”
20And Moses took his wife and his sons and had them ride on the donkey, and he returned to the land of Egypt, and Moses took the staff of God in his hand. 21And Yahweh said to Moses, “When you go to return to Egypt, see all of the wonders that I have put in your hand, and do them before Pharaoh, and I myself will harden his heart, and he will not release the people. 22And you must say to Pharaoh, ‘Thus says Yahweh, “Israel is my son, my firstborn.” 23And I said to you, “Release my son and let him serve me,” but you refused to release him. Look, I am about to kill your son, your firstborn.’ ”
24And#Literally “and he/it was” on the way, at the place of overnight lodging, Yahweh encountered him and sought to kill him. 25But Zipporah took a flint knife, and she cut off the foreskin of her son, and she touched his feet, and she said, “Yes, you are a bridegroom of blood to me.” 26And he left him alone. At that time she said, “A bridegroom of blood,” because of the circumcision.#Hebrew “circumcisions”
27And Yahweh said to Aaron, “Go to the desert to meet Moses.” And he went and encountered him at the mountain of God and kissed him. 28And Moses told Aaron all the words of Yahweh, who had sent him—and all the signs that he had commanded him.
29And Moses and Aaron went, and they gathered all of the elders of the Israelites.#Literally “sons/children of Israel” 30And Aaron spoke all the words that Yahweh had spoken to Moses, and he did the signs before the eyes of the people. 31And the people believed when they heard that Yahweh had attended to the Israelites#Literally “sons/children of Israel” and that he had seen their misery, and they knelt down and they worshiped.
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