Exodus 4
4
Miraculous Signs for Moses
1Moses answered, “What if they won’t believe me and will not obey me but say, ‘The Lord did not appear#Ex 3:18; 6:30 to you’?”
2The Lord asked him, “What is that in your hand?”
“A staff,” he replied.
3“Throw it on the ground,” he said. So Moses threw it on the ground, it became a snake, and he ran from it. 4The Lord told Moses, “Stretch out your hand and grab it by the tail.” So he stretched out his hand and caught it, and it became a staff in his hand. 5“This will take place,” he continued, “so that they will believe that the Lord, the God of their ancestors, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has appeared to you.”#Ex 3:6,15; 4:17,20; 19:9
6In addition the Lord said to him, “Put your hand inside your cloak.” So he put his hand inside his cloak, and when he took it out, his hand was diseased, resembling snow.#4:6 A reference to whiteness or flakiness of the skin#Lv 13:3–4; Nm 12:10; 2Kg 5:27 7“Put your hand back inside your cloak,” he said. So he put his hand back inside his cloak, and when he took it out, it had again become like the rest of his skin.#Nm 12:13–14; Dt 32:39; 2Kg 5:14 8“If they will not believe you and will not respond to the evidence of the first sign, they may believe the evidence of the second sign. 9And if they don’t believe even these two signs or listen to what you say, take some water from the Nile and pour it on the dry ground. The water you take from the Nile will become blood on the ground.”#Ex 7:19
10But Moses replied to the Lord, “Please, Lord, I have never been eloquent — either in the past or recently or since you have been speaking to your servant — because my mouth and my tongue are sluggish.”#4:10 Lit heavy of mouth and heavy of tongue#Ex 6:12; Jr 1:6
11The Lord said to him, “Who placed a mouth on humans? Who makes a person mute or deaf, seeing or blind? Is it not I, the Lord?#Ps 94:9 12Now go! I will help you speak#4:12 Lit will be with your mouth and I will teach you what to say.”#Is 50:4; Jr 1:9; Mt 10:19–20; Mk 13:11; Lk 12:11–12; 21:14–15
13Moses said, “Please, Lord, send someone else.”#4:13 Lit send by the hand of whom you will send
14Then the Lord’s anger burned against Moses, and he said, “Isn’t Aaron the Levite your brother? I know that he can speak well. And also, he is on his way now to meet you. He will rejoice when he sees you. 15You will speak with him and tell him what to say.#Ex 7:1–2; Nm 23:5,12,16 I will help both you and him to speak#4:15 Lit will be with your mouth and with his mouth and will teach you both what to do. 16He will speak to the people for you. He will serve as a mouth for you, and you will serve as God to him. 17And take this staff in your hand that you will perform the signs with.”#Ex 4:2; 7:15
Moses’s Return to Egypt
18Then Moses went back to his father-in-law, Jethro, and said to him, “Please let me return to my relatives in Egypt and see if they are still living.”
Jethro said to Moses, “Go in peace.”
19Now in Midian the Lord told Moses, “Return to Egypt, for all the men who wanted to kill you are dead.”#Ex 2:15,23; Mt 2:20 20So Moses took his wife and sons, put them on a donkey, and returned to the land of Egypt. And Moses took God’s staff#Ex 17:9; Nm 20:8–9 in his hand.
21The Lord instructed Moses, “When you go back to Egypt, make sure you do before Pharaoh all the wonders that I have put within your power. But I will harden his heart#4:21 Or will make him stubborn#Ex 7:13; 9:12,35; 14:8; Dt 2:30; Jos 11:20; Is 63:17; Jn 12:40; Rm 9:18 so that he won’t let the people go. 22And you will say to Pharaoh: This is what the Lord says: Israel is my firstborn son.#Is 63:16; 64:8; Jr 31:9; Hs 11:1; Rm 9:4 23I told you: Let my son go so that he may worship me, but you refused to let him go. Look, I am about to kill your firstborn son!” #Ex 11:5; 12:29
24On the trip, at an overnight campsite, it happened that the Lord confronted him and intended to put him to death. 25So Zipporah took a flint, cut off her son’s foreskin, threw it at Moses’s feet, and said, “You are a bridegroom of blood to me!” #Gn 17:14; Jos 5:2–3 26So he let him alone. At that time she said, “You are a bridegroom of blood,” referring to the circumcision.
Reunion of Moses and Aaron
27Now the Lord had said to Aaron, “Go and meet Moses in the wilderness.” So he went and met him at the mountain of God and kissed him.#Ex 3:1; 4:14 28Moses told Aaron everything the Lord had sent him to say, and about all the signs he had commanded him to do. 29Then Moses and Aaron went and assembled all the elders of the Israelites. 30Aaron repeated everything the Lord had said to Moses and performed the signs before the people. 31The people believed, and when they heard that the Lord had paid attention#Ex 2:25; 3:7,18; 4:8–9 to them and that he had seen their misery,#Gn 24:26; 1Ch 29:20 they knelt low and worshiped.
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Exodus 4: CSB
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© 2017 Holman Bible Publishers
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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