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
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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