Exodus 4
4
Moses Given Powerful Signs
1Then Moses answered, “But behold, they will not believe me or listen to my voice, for they will say, ‘The Lord did not appear to you.’” 2The Lord said to him, “What is that in your hand?” He said, #ver. 17, 20“A staff.” 3And he said, “Throw it on the ground.” So he threw it on the ground, and it became a serpent, and Moses ran from it. 4But the Lord said to Moses, “Put out your hand and catch it by the tail”—so he put out his hand and caught it, and it became a staff in his hand— 5“that they may #ch. 19:9believe that the Lord, #See ch. 3:6the God of their fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has appeared to you.” 6Again, the Lord said to him, “Put your hand inside your cloak.”#4:6 Hebrew into your bosom; also verse 7 And he put his hand inside his cloak, and when he took it out, behold, his hand was #Num. 12:10; 2 Kgs. 5:27leprous#4:6 Leprosy was a term for several skin diseases; see Leviticus 13 like snow. 7Then God said, “Put your hand back inside your cloak.” So he put his hand back inside his cloak, and when he took it out, behold, #[2 Kgs. 5:14]it was restored like the rest of his flesh. 8“If they will not believe you,” God said, “or listen to the first sign, they may believe the latter sign. 9If they will not believe even these two signs or listen to your voice, you shall take some water from the Nile and pour it on the dry ground, and the water that you shall take from the Nile #ch. 7:19will become blood on the dry ground.”
10But Moses said to the Lord, “Oh, my Lord, I am not eloquent, either in the past or since you have spoken to your servant, but #[ch. 6:12; Jer. 1:6]I am slow of speech and of tongue.” 11Then the Lord said to him, “Who has made man’s mouth? Who makes him mute, or deaf, or seeing, or blind? Is it not I, the Lord? 12Now therefore go, and #[ch. 3:12; Isa. 50:4; Jer. 1:9; Ezek. 33:22; Matt. 10:19, 20; Mark 13:11; Luke 12:11, 12; 21:15]I will be with your mouth and teach you what you shall speak.” 13But he said, “Oh, my Lord, please send someone else.” 14Then the anger of the Lord was kindled against Moses and he said, “Is there not Aaron, your brother, the Levite? I know that he can speak well. Behold, #ver. 27he is coming out to meet you, and when he sees you, he will be glad in his heart. 15#ch. 7:1, 2You shall speak to him and #Num. 22:38; 23:5, 12, 16; Deut. 18:18; 2 Sam. 14:3, 19; Isa. 51:16put the words in his mouth, and #[See ver. 12 above]I will be with your mouth and with his mouth and will teach you both what to do. 16#ver. 30He shall speak for you to the people, and he shall be your mouth, and #[ch. 7:1; 18:19]you shall be as God to him. 17And take in your hand #ver. 2; ch. 7:15this staff, with which you shall do the signs.”
Moses Returns to Egypt
18Moses went back to #[ch. 2:18]Jethro his father-in-law and said to him, “Please let me go back to my brothers in Egypt to see whether they are still alive.” And Jethro said to Moses, “Go in peace.” 19And the Lord said to Moses in Midian, “Go back to Egypt, for #ch. 2:15, 23; [Matt. 2:20]all the men who were seeking your life are dead.” 20So Moses took #ch. 18:2-4his wife and his sons and had them ride on a donkey, and went back to the land of Egypt. And Moses took #ch. 17:9; Num. 20:8, 9the staff of God in his hand.
21And the Lord said to Moses, “When you go back to Egypt, see that you do before Pharaoh all the #ch. 3:20miracles that I have put in your power. But #ch. 7:13, 22; 8:15, 32; 9:12, 35; 10:1; 14:8; Rom. 9:17, 18; [Deut. 2:30; Josh. 11:20; Isa. 63:17]I will harden his heart, so that he will not let the people go. 22Then you shall say to Pharaoh, ‘Thus says the Lord, #Hos. 11:1Israel is my #Jer. 31:9firstborn son, 23and I say to you, “Let my son go that he may serve me.” If you refuse to let him go, behold, I #ch. 11:5; 12:29will kill your firstborn son.’”
24At a lodging place on the way #[Num. 22:22; 1 Chr. 21:16] the Lord met him and #[Gen. 17:14]sought to put him to death. 25Then #ch. 2:21Zipporah took a #Josh. 5:2, 3flint and cut off her son’s foreskin and touched Moses’#4:25 Hebrew his feet with it and said, “Surely you are a bridegroom of blood to me!” 26So he let him alone. It was then that she said, “A bridegroom of blood,” because of the circumcision.
27The Lord said to Aaron, “Go into the wilderness #ver. 14to meet Moses.” So he went and met him at the #See ch. 3:1mountain of God and kissed him. 28And Moses #ver. 15, 16told Aaron all the words of the Lord with which he had sent him to speak, and all #See ver. 3-9the signs that he had commanded him to do. 29Then Moses and Aaron #ch. 3:16went and gathered together all the elders of the people of Israel. 30#ver. 16Aaron spoke all the words that the Lord had spoken to Moses and did the signs in the sight of the people. 31And the people #ver. 8, 9; ch. 3:18believed; and when they heard that the Lord had #See ch. 3:16visited the people of Israel and that he had #ch. 2:25; 3:7seen their affliction, #ch. 12:27; Gen. 24:26; 1 Chr. 29:20they bowed their heads and worshiped.
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The Holy Bible, English Standard Version® (ESV®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.
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Exodus 4
4
Objections and Excuses
1Then Moses said, “But look, they will not believe me or listen to my voice. They will say, ‘Adonai has not appeared to you.’”
2So Adonai said to him, “What is that in your hand?” “A staff,” he said.
3Then He said, “Cast it on the ground.” When he cast it to the ground, it became a serpent, so Moses fled from before it.
4Then Adonai said to Moses, “Stretch out your hand, and take it by the tail.” So he put out his hand, laid hold of it, and it became a staff in his hand.
5“This is so that they may believe Adonai, the God of their fathers—the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob—has appeared to you.”
6Adonai also said to him, “Now put your hand within your cloak.” So he put his hand inside, and when he took it out, his hand had tza'arat—white as snow.
7Then He said, “Put your hand back into your cloak.” So he put his hand back in, and when he took it out it was restored again as the rest of his skin.
8Then He said, “If they do not believe you, or listen to the voice of the first sign, they will believe the message of the latter sign.
9But if they do not believe even these two signs nor listen to your voice, you are to take 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 ground.”
10But Moses said to Adonai, “Adonai, I am not a man of words—not yesterday, nor the day before, nor since You have spoken to Your servant—because I have a slow mouth and a heavy tongue.”
11So Adonai said to him, “Who made man’s mouth? Or who makes a man mute or deaf, seeing or blind? Is it not I, Adonai?
12Now go! I will be with your mouth and teach you what to say.”
13But he said, “Please, please, send it by another hand.”
14Then the anger of Adonai was kindled against Moses, so He said, “In fact, Aaron the Levite is your brother. I know that he can speak well. Moreover, he is on his way to meet you! When he sees you, he will be glad in his heart.
15You are to speak to him and put the words in his mouth. I will be with your mouth and with his, and teach you what to do.
16He will be your spokesman to the people, so that he may act as a mouthpiece for you, and it will be as if you were as God for him.
17Now then, you must take this staff in your hand to do the signs.”
Moses Returns to Egypt
18So Moses went, returned to his father-in-law Jethro and said to him, “Please let me go, so I may return to my kinsmen who are in Egypt and see whether they are still alive.” Jethro said to Moses, “Go in peace.”
19Then Adonai said to Moses in Midian, “Go, return to Egypt, for all the men that sought your life are dead.”
20So Moses took his wife and his sons, set them on a donkey and returned to the land of Egypt. Moses took the staff of God in his hand.
21Adonai said to Moses, “When you go back to Egypt, see that you do all the wonders before Pharaoh that I have put in your hand. Still, I will harden his heart, and he will not let the people go.
22You are to say to Pharaoh, “This is what Adonai says: ‘Israel is My son, My firstborn.
23So I have said to you, Let My son go, that he may serve Me, but you have refused to let him go. Behold, I will slay your son, your firstborn.’”
24It happened along the way, at a lodging place, that Adonai met him and sought to kill him!
25But Zipporah took a flint, cut off the foreskin of her son, and threw it at his feet, saying, “You are surely a bridegroom of blood to me.”
26She said, “A bridegroom of blood” because of the circumcision. Then He let him alone.
27Now Adonai said to Aaron, “Go into the wilderness to meet Moses.” So he went and met him at the mountain of God, and kissed him.
28Then Moses told Aaron all the words of Adonai with which He had been sent, along with all the signs that He had commanded him to do.
29Then Moses and Aaron went and assembled all the elders of Bnei-Yisrael.
30Aaron spoke all the words that Adonai had spoken to Moses and did the signs in the sight of the people.
31So the people believed. When they heard that Adonai had remembered Bnei-Yisrael and had seen their affliction, they bowed their heads and worshipped.
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