Exodus 4
4
1 AND MOSES answered, But behold, they will not believe me or listen to and obey my voice; for they will say, The Lord has not appeared to you.
2 And the Lord said to him, What is that in your hand? And he said, A rod.
3 And He said, Cast it on the ground. And he did so and it became a serpent [the symbol of royal and divine power worn on the crown of the Pharaohs]; and Moses fled from before it.
4 And the Lord said to Moses, Put forth your hand and take it by the tail. And he stretched out his hand and caught it, and it became a rod in his hand,
5 [This you shall do, said the Lord] that the elders may believe that the Lord, the God of their fathers, of Abraham, of Isaac, and of Jacob, has indeed appeared to you.
6 The Lord said also to him, Put your hand into your bosom. He put his hand into his bosom, and when he took it out, behold, his hand was leprous, as white as snow.
7 [God] said, Put your hand into your bosom again. So he put his hand back into his bosom, and when he took it out, behold, it was restored as the rest of his flesh.
8 [Then God said] If they will not believe you or heed the voice or the testimony of the first sign, they may believe the voice or the witness of the second sign.
9 But if they will also not believe these two signs or heed your voice, you shall take some water of the river [Nile] and pour it upon the dry land; and the water which you take out of the river [Nile] shall become blood on the dry land.
10 And Moses said to the Lord, O Lord, I am not eloquent or a man of words, neither before nor since You have spoken to Your servant; for I am slow of speech and have a heavy and awkward tongue.
11 And the Lord said to him, Who has made man's mouth? Or who makes the dumb, or the deaf, or the seeing, or the blind? Is it not I, the Lord?
12 Now therefore go, and I will be with your mouth and will teach you what you shall say.
13 And he said, Oh, my Lord, I pray You, send by the hand of [some other] whom You will [send].
14 Then the anger of the Lord blazed against Moses; He said, Is there not Aaron your brother, the Levite? I know he can speak well. Also, he is coming out to meet you, and when he sees you, he will be overjoyed.
15 You must speak to him and put the words in his mouth; and I will be with your mouth and with his mouth and will teach you what you shall do.
16 He shall speak for you to the people, acting as a mouthpiece for you, and you shall be as God to him.
17 And you shall take this rod in your hand with which you shall work the signs [that prove I sent you].
18 And Moses went away and, returning to Jethro his father-in-law, said to him, Let me go back, I pray you, to my relatives in Egypt to see whether they are still alive. And Jethro said to Moses, Go in peace.
19 The Lord said to Moses in Midian, Go back to Egypt; for all the men who were seeking your life [for killing the Egyptian] are dead. [Exod. 2:11, 12.]
20 And Moses took his wife and his sons and set them on donkeys, and he returned to the land of Egypt; and Moses took the rod of God in his hand.
21 And the Lord said to Moses, When you return into Egypt, see that you do before Pharaoh all those miracles and wonders which I have put in your hand; but I will make him stubborn and harden his heart, so that he will not let the people go.
22 And you shall say to Pharaoh, Thus says the Lord, Israel is My son, even My firstborn.
23 And I say to you, Let My son go, that he may serve Me; and if you refuse to let him go, behold, I will slay your son, your firstborn.
24 Along the way at a [resting-] place, the Lord met [Moses] and sought to kill him [made him acutely and almost fatally ill].
25 [Now apparently he had failed to circumcise one of his sons, his wife being opposed to it; but seeing his life in such danger] Zipporah took a flint knife and cut off the foreskin of her son and cast it to touch [Moses'] feet, and said, Surely a husband of blood you are to me!
26 When He let [Moses] alone [to recover], Zipporah said, A husband of blood are you because of the circumcision.
27 The Lord said to Aaron, Go into the wilderness to meet Moses. And he went, and met him in the mountain of God [Horeb, or Sinai] and kissed him.
28 Moses told Aaron all the words of the Lord with which He had sent him, and all the signs with which He had charged him.
29 Moses and Aaron went and gathered together [in Egypt] all the elders of the Israelites.
30 Aaron spoke all the words which the Lord had spoken to Moses, and did the signs in the sight of the people.
31 And the people believed; and when they heard that the Lord had visited the Israelites, and that He had looked [in compassion] upon their affliction, they bowed their heads and worshiped.
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Exodus 4: AMPC
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1954, 1958, 1962, 1964, 1965, 1987 by The Lockman Foundation
Exodus 4
4
Moses’ Staff
1Then Moses answered, “What if they do not believe me or listen to my voice? For they may say, ‘The Lord has not appeared to you.’”
2And the Lord asked him, “What is that in your hand?”
“A staff,” he replied.
3“Throw it on the ground,” said the Lord. So Moses threw it on the ground, and it became a snake,#4:3 Hebrew nachash, in contrast to Aaron’s staff, which became a tanninin Exodus 7:10 and he ran from it.
4“Stretch out your hand and grab it by the tail,” the Lord said to Moses, who reached out his hand and caught the snake, and it turned back into a staff 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.”
Moses’ Hand
6Furthermore, the Lord said to Moses, “Put your hand inside your cloak.#4:6 Hebrew into your bosom; twice in this verse and twice in verse 7” So he put his hand inside his cloak, and when he took it out, his hand was leprous,#4:6 The Hebrew word traditionally translated as leprous was used for various skin diseases; see Leviticus 13. white as snow.
7“Put your hand back inside your cloak,” said the Lord.
So Moses put his hand back inside his cloak, and when he took it out, it was restored, like the rest of his skin.
8And the Lord said, “If they refuse to believe you or heed the witness of the first sign, they may believe that of the second. 9But if they do not believe even these two signs or listen to your voice, take some water from the Nile and pour it on the dry ground. Then the water you take from the Nile will become blood on the ground.”
The Appointment of Aaron
10“Please, Lord,” Moses replied, “I have never been eloquent, neither in the past nor since You have spoken to Your servant, for I am slow of speech and tongue.”
11And the Lord said to him, “Who gave man his mouth? Or who makes the mute or the deaf, the sighted or the blind? Is it not I, the Lord? 12Now go! I will help you as you speak, and I will teach you what to say.”
13But Moses replied, “Please, Lord, send someone else.”
14Then the anger of the Lord burned against Moses, and He said, “Is not Aaron the Levite your brother? I know that he can speak well, and he is now 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 help both of you to speak, and I will teach you what to do. 16He will speak to the people for you. He will be your spokesman, and it will be as if you were God to him. 17But take this staff in your hand so you can perform signs with it.”
Moses Leaves for Egypt
18Then Moses went back to his father-in-law Jethro#4:18 Moses’ father-in-law Jethro was also called Reuel; see Exodus 2:18. and said to him, “Please let me return to my brothers in Egypt to see if they are still alive.”
“Go in peace,” Jethro replied.
19Now the Lord had said to Moses in Midian, “Go back to Egypt, for all the men who sought to kill you are dead.” 20So Moses took his wife and sons, put them on a donkey, and headed back to Egypt. And he took the staff of God in his hand.
21The Lord instructed Moses, “When you go back to Egypt, see that you perform before Pharaoh all the wonders that I have put within your power. But I will harden#4:21 Or stiffen or strengthen his heart so that he will not let the people go.
22Then tell Pharaoh that this is what the Lord says: ‘Israel is My firstborn son, 23and I told you to let My son go so that he may worship Me. But since you have refused to let him go, behold, I will kill your firstborn son!’”
24Now at a lodging place along the way, the Lord met Moses#4:24 Hebrew him and was about to kill him. 25But Zipporah took a flint knife, cut off her son’s foreskin, and touched it to Moses’ feet.#4:25 Hebrew his feet “Surely you are a bridegroom of blood to me,” she said.
26So the Lord let him alone. (When she said, “bridegroom of blood,” she was referring to the circumcision.)
The People Believe Moses and Aaron
27Meanwhile, the Lord had said to Aaron, “Go and meet Moses in the wilderness.” So he went and met Moses at the mountain of God and kissed him. 28And Moses told Aaron everything the Lord had sent him to say, and all the signs He had commanded him to perform.
29Then Moses and Aaron went and assembled all the elders of the Israelites, 30and Aaron relayed everything the Lord had said to Moses.
And Moses performed the signs before the people, 31and they believed. And when they heard that the Lord had attended to the Israelites and had seen their affliction, they bowed down and worshiped.
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