Exodus 4

1 Respondens Moyses, ait: Non credent mihi, neque audient vocem meam, sed dicent: Non apparuit tibi Dominus.

And Moses, answering, said, It is certain that they will not have faith in me or give ear to my voice; for they will say, You have not seen the Lord.

2 Dixit ergo ad eum: Quid est quod tenes in manu tua? Respondit: Virga.

And the Lord said to him, What is that in your hand? And he said, A rod.

3 Dixitque Dominus: Proiice eam in terram. Proiecit, et versa est in colubrum, ita ut fugeret Moyses.

And he said, Put it down on the earth. And he put it down on the earth and it became a snake; and Moses went running from it.

4 Dixitque Dominus: Extende manum tuam, et apprehende caudam eius. Extendit, et tenuit, versaque est in virgam.

And the Lord said to Moses, Put out your hand and take it by the tail: (and he put out his hand and took a grip of it and it became a rod in his hand: )

5 Ut credant, inquit, quod apparuerit tibi Dominus Deus patrum suorum, Deus Abraham, Deus Isaac, et Deus Iacob.

So that they may be certain that the Lord, the God of their fathers, the God of Abraham, of Isaac, and of Jacob, has been seen by you.

6 Dixitque Dominus rursum: Mitte manum tuam in sinum tuum. Quam cum misisset in sinum, protulit leprosam instar nivis.

Then the Lord said to him again, Put your hand inside your clothing. And he put his hand inside his robe: and when he took it out it was like the hand of a leper, as white as snow.

7 Retrahe, ait, manum tuam in sinum tuum. Retraxit, et protulit iterum, et erat similis carni reliquæ.

And he said, Put your hand inside your robe again. (And he put his hand into his robe again, and when he took it out he saw that it had become like his other flesh.)

8 Si non crediderint, inquit, tibi, neque audierint sermonem signi prioris, credent verbo signi sequentis.

And if they do not have faith in you or give ear to the voice of the first sign, they will have faith in the second sign.

9 Quod si nec duobus quidem his signis crediderint, neque audierint vocem tuam: sume aquam fluminis, et effunde eam super aridam, et quidquid hauseris de fluvio, vertetur in sanguinem.

And if they have no faith even in these two signs and will not give ear to your voice, then you are to take the water of the Nile and put it on the dry land: and the water you take out of the river will become blood on the dry land.

10 Ait Moyses: Obsecro Domine, non sum eloquens ab heri, et nudiustertius: et ex quo locutus es ad servum tuum, impeditioris et tardioris linguæ sum.

And Moses said to the Lord, O Lord, I am not a man of words; I have never been so, and am not now, even after what you have said to your servant: for talking is hard for me, and I am slow of tongue.

11 Dixit Dominus ad eum: Quis fecit os hominis? aut quis fabricatus est mutum et surdum, videntem et cæcum? nonne ego?

And the Lord said to him, Who has made man's mouth? who takes away a man's voice or hearing, or makes him seeing or blind? Is it not I, the Lord?

12 Perge igitur, et ego ero in ore tuo: doceboque te quid loquaris.

So go now, and I will be with your mouth, teaching you what to say.

13 At ille: Obsecro, inquit, Domine, mitte quem missurus es.

And he said, O Lord, send, if you will, by the hand of anyone whom it seems good to you to send.

14 Iratus Dominus in Moysen, ait: Aaron frater tuus levites, scio quod eloquens sit: ecce ipse egreditur in occursum tuum, vidensque te lætabitur corde.

And the Lord was angry with Moses, and said, Is there not Aaron, your brother, the Levite? To my knowledge he is good at talking. And now he is coming out to you: and when he sees you he will be glad in his heart.

15 Loquere ad eum, et pone verba mea in ore eius: et ego ero in ore tuo, et in ore illius, et ostendam vobis quid agere debeatis.

Let him give ear to your voice, and you will put my words in his mouth; and I will be with your mouth and with his, teaching you what you have to do.

16 Ipse loquetur pro te ad populum, et erit os tuum: tu autem eris ei in his quæ ad Deum pertinent.

And he will do the talking for you to the people: he will be to you as a mouth and you will be to him as God.

17 Virgam quoque hanc sume in manu tua, in qua facturus es signa.

And take in your hand this rod with which you will do the signs.

18 Abiit Moyses, et reversus est ad Iethro socerum suum, dixitque ei: Vadam et revertar ad fratres meos in Ægyptum, ut videam si adhuc vivant. Cui ait Iethro: Vade in pace.

And Moses went back to Jethro, his father-in-law, and said to him, Let me go back now to my relations in Egypt and see if they are still living. And Jethro said to Moses, Go in peace.

19 Dixit ergo Dominus ad Moysen in Madian: Vade, et revertere in Ægyptum: mortui sunt enim omnes qui quærebant animam tuam.

And the Lord said to Moses in Midian, Go back to Egypt, for all the men are dead who were attempting to take your life.

20 Tulit ergo Moyses uxorem suam, et filios suos, et imposuit eos super asinum, reversusque est in Ægyptum, portans virgam Dei in manu sua.

And Moses took his wife and his sons and put them on an ass and went back to the land of Egypt: and he took the rod of God in his hand.

21 Dixitque ei Dominus revertenti in Ægyptum: Vide ut omnia ostenta quæ posui in manu tua, facias coram Pharaone: ego indurabo cor eius, et non dimittet populum.

And the Lord said to Moses, When you go back to Egypt, see that you do before Pharaoh all the wonders which I have given you power to do: but I will make his heart hard and he will not let the people go.

22 Dicesque ad eum: Hæc dicit Dominus: Filius meus primogenitus Israel.

And you are to say to Pharaoh, The Lord says, Israel is the first of my sons:

23 Dixi tibi: Dimitte filium meum ut serviat mihi; et noluisti dimittere eum: ecce ego interficiam filium tuum primogenitum.

And I said to you, Let my son go, so that he may give me worship; and you did not let him go: so now I will put the first of your sons to death.

24 Cumque esset in itinere, in diversorio occurrit ei Dominus, et volebat occidere eum.

Now on the journey, at the night's resting-place, the Lord came in his way and would have put him to death.

25 Tulit idcirco Sephora acutissimam petram, et circumcidit præputium filii sui, tetigitque pedes eius, et ait: Sponsus sanguinum tu mihi es.

Then Zipporah took a sharp stone, and cutting off the skin of her son's private parts, and touching his feet with it, she said, Truly you are a husband of blood to me.

26 Et dimisit eum postquam dixerat: Sponsus sanguinum ob circumcisionem.

So he let him go. Then she said, You are a husband of blood because of the circumcision.

27 Dixit autem Dominus ad Aaron: Vade in occursum Moysi in desertum. Qui perrexit obviam ei in Montem Dei, et osculatus est eum.

And the Lord said to Aaron, Go into the waste land and you will see Moses. So he went and came across Moses at the mountain of God, and gave him a kiss.

28 Narravitque Moyses Aaron omnia verba Domini quibus miserat eum, et signa quæ mandaverat.

And Moses gave Aaron an account of all the words of the Lord which he had sent him to say, and of all the signs which he had given him orders to do.

29 Veneruntque simul, et congregaverunt cunctos seniores filiorum Israel.

Then Moses and Aaron went and got together all the chiefs of the children of Israel:

30 Locutusque est Aaron omnia verba quæ dixerat Dominus ad Moysen: et fecit signa coram populo,

And Aaron said to them all the words the Lord had said to Moses, and did the signs before all the people.

31 et credidit populus. Audieruntque quod visitasset Dominus filios Israel, et respexisset afflictionem illorum: et proni adoraverunt.

And the people had faith in them; and hearing that the Lord had taken up the cause of the children of Israel and had seen their troubles, with bent heads they gave him worship.