Exodus 4
4
1And Moses answereth and saith, ‘And, if they do not give credence to me, nor hearken to my voice, and say, Jehovah hath not appeared unto thee?’
2And Jehovah saith unto him, ‘What [is] this in thy hand?’ and he saith, ‘A rod;’
3and He saith, ‘Cast it to the earth;’ and he casteth it to the earth, and it becometh a serpent — and Moses fleeth from its presence.
4And Jehovah saith unto Moses, ‘Put forth thy hand, and lay hold on the tail of it;’ and he putteth forth his hand, and layeth hold on it, and it becometh a rod in his hand —
5‘ — so that they believe that Jehovah, God of their fathers, hath appeared unto thee, God of Abraham, God of Isaac, and God of Jacob.’
6And Jehovah saith to him again, ‘Put in, I pray thee, thy hand into thy bosom;’ and he putteth in his hand into his bosom, and he bringeth it out, and lo, his hand [is] leprous as snow;
7and He saith, ‘Put back thy hand unto thy bosom;’ and he putteth back his hand unto his bosom, and he bringeth it out from his bosom, and lo, it hath turned back as his flesh —
8‘ — and it hath come to pass, if they do not give credence to thee, and hearken not to the voice of the first sign, that they have given credence to the voice of the latter sign.
9‘And it hath come to pass, if they do not give credence even to these two signs, nor hearken to thy voice, that thou hast taken of the waters of the River, and hast poured on the dry land, and the waters which thou takest from the River have been, yea, they have become — blood on the dry land.’
10And Moses saith unto Jehovah, ‘O, my Lord, I [am] not a man of words, either yesterday, or before, or since Thy speaking unto Thy servant, for I [am] slow of mouth, and slow of tongue.’
11And Jehovah saith unto him, ‘Who appointed a mouth for man? or who appointeth the dumb, or deaf, or open, or blind? is it not I, Jehovah?
12and now, go, and I — I am with thy mouth, and have directed thee that which thou speakest;’
13and he saith, ‘O, my Lord, send, I pray thee, by the hand Thou dost send.’
14And the anger of Jehovah burneth against Moses, and He saith, ‘Is not Aaron the Levite thy brother? I have known that he speaketh well, and also, lo, he is coming out to meet thee; when he hath seen thee, then he hath rejoiced in his heart,
15and thou hast spoken unto him, and hast set the words in his mouth, and I — I am with thy mouth, and with his mouth, and have directed you that which ye do;
16and he, he hath spoken for thee unto the people, and it hath come to pass, he — he is to thee for a mouth, and thou — thou art to him for God;
17and this rod thou dost take in thy hand, with which thou doest the signs.’
18And Moses goeth and turneth back unto Jethro his father-in-law, and saith to him, ‘Let me go, I pray thee, and I turn back unto my brethren who [are] in Egypt, and I see whether they are yet alive.’ And Jethro saith to Moses, ‘Go in peace.’
19And Jehovah saith unto Moses in Midian, ‘Go, turn back to Egypt, for all the men have died who seek thy life;’
20and Moses taketh his wife, and his sons, and causeth them to ride on the ass, and turneth back to the land of Egypt, and Moses taketh the rod of God in his hand.
21And Jehovah saith unto Moses, ‘In thy going to turn back to Egypt, see — all the wonders which I have put in thy hand — that thou hast done them before Pharaoh, and I — I strengthen his heart, and he doth not send the people away;
22and thou hast said unto Pharaoh, Thus said Jehovah, My son, My first-born [is] Israel,
23and I say unto thee, Send away My son, and he doth serve Me; and — thou dost refuse to send him away — lo, I am slaying thy son, thy first-born.’
24And it cometh to pass in the way, in a lodging place, that Jehovah meeteth him, and seeketh to put him to death;
25and Zipporah taketh a flint, and cutteth off the foreskin of her son, and causeth [it] to touch his feet, and saith, ‘Surely a bridegroom of blood [art] thou to me;’
26and He desisteth from him: then she said, ‘A bridegroom of blood,’ in reference to the circumcision.
27And Jehovah saith unto Aaron, ‘Go to meet Moses into the wilderness;’ and he goeth, and meeteth him in the mount of God, and kisseth him,
28and Moses declareth to Aaron all the words of Jehovah with which He hath sent him, and all the signs with which He hath charged him.
29And Moses goeth — Aaron also — and they gather all the elders of the sons of Israel,
30and Aaron speaketh all the words which Jehovah hath spoken unto Moses, and doth the signs before the eyes of the people;
31and the people believe when they hear that Jehovah hath looked after the sons of Israel, and that He hath seen their affliction; and they bow and do obeisance.
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Exodus 4: YLT98
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maintained by the British and Foreign Bible Society
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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