Exodus 4

1 And Moses answered and said, But behold, they will not believe me, nor hearken unto my voice; for they will say, Jehovah has not appeared to thee.

“But what if they don't believe me or listen to what I say?” Moses asked. “They could say, ‘The Lord didn't appear to you.’”

2 And Jehovah said to him, What is that in thy hand? And he said, A staff.

The Lord asked him, “What are you holding in your hand?” “A walking stick,” Moses replied.

3 And he said, Cast it on the ground. And he cast it on the ground, and it became a serpent; and Moses fled from before it.

“Throw it on the ground,” he told Moses. So Moses did. It turned into a snake and Moses ran away from it.

4 And Jehovah said to Moses, Stretch out thy hand and take it by the tail — and he stretched out his hand and caught it, and it became a staff in his hand —

“Reach out and grab hold of it by its tail,” the Lord told Moses. Moses did so and it turned back into a walking stick in his hand.

5 that they may believe that Jehovah, the God of their fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, hath appeared unto thee.

“You are to do this so that they will believe that I the Lord did appear to you, the God of their fathers, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.”

6 And Jehovah said moreover to him, Put now thy hand into thy bosom. And he put his hand into his bosom, and took it out, and behold, his hand was leprous, as snow.

Then the Lord told him, “Put your hand inside your clothes close to your chest.” So Moses did as he was told. When he took his hand out, it was white like snow with a skin disease.

7 And he said, Put thy hand into thy bosom again. And he put his hand into his bosom again, and took it out of his bosom, and behold, it was turned again as his flesh.

“Now put your hand back inside your clothes,” the Lord said. Moses did so. When he took it out again, his hand had returned to normal.

8 And it shall come to pass, if they will not believe thee, neither hearken to the voice of the first sign, that they will believe the voice of the other sign.

“If they don't believe you and they're not convinced by the first sign, they'll believe because of the second sign,” the Lord explained.

9 And it shall come to pass, if they will not believe also those two signs, neither hearken unto thy voice, that thou shalt take of the water of the river, and pour [it] on the dry [land]; and the water that thou takest out of the river shall become blood upon the dry [land].

“But if they still don't believe you or listen to you because of these two signs, then you are to take some water from the Nile and pout it out on the ground. The Nile water will turn into blood on the ground.”

10 And Moses said to Jehovah, Ah Lord! I am not eloquent, neither heretofore nor since thou hast spoken to thy servant, for I am slow of speech and of a slow tongue.

Then Moses said to the Lord, “Pleased excuse me, but I'm not someone who is good with words—not in the past, and not from the time you have been speaking with me, your servant. My speech is slow and I don't say things well.”

11 And Jehovah said to him, Who gave man a mouth? or who maketh dumb, or deaf, or seeing, or blind? [have] not I, Jehovah?

“Who gave people mouths?” the Lord asked him. “Who makes people deaf or dumb, able to see or blind? It's I, the Lord, who does that.

12 And now go, and I will be with thy mouth, and will teach thee what thou shalt say.

Now go, and I myself will be your mouth, and I will tell you what you are to say.”

13 And he said, Ah Lord! send, I pray thee, by the hand [of him whom] thou wilt send.

“Please, Lord, send someone else!” Moses responded.

14 Then the anger of Jehovah was kindled against Moses, and he said, Is not Aaron the Levite thy brother? I know that he can speak well. And also behold, he goeth out to meet thee; and when he seeth thee he will be glad in his heart.

The Lord got angry with Moses, and told him, “There's your brother Aaron, the Levite. I know he speaks well. He's on his way to meet you, and he'll be very happy to see you.

15 And thou shalt speak unto him, and put the words in his mouth; and I will be with thy mouth, and with his mouth, and will teach you what ye shall do.

Speak to him and tell him what to say. I will be your mouth and his mouth, and I will tell you what you are to do.

16 And he shall speak for thee unto the people; and it shall come to pass that he shall be to thee for a mouth, and thou shalt be to him for God.

Aaron will speak on your behalf to the people, as if he was your mouth, and you will be in the place of God to him.

17 And thou shalt take this staff in thy hand, with which thou shalt do the signs.

Make sure to take your walking stick with you so you can use it to do the signs.”

18 And Moses went and returned to Jethro his father-in-law, and said to him, Let me go, I pray thee, and return to my brethren who are in Egypt, that I may see whether they are yet alive. And Jethro said to Moses, Go in peace.

Then Moses returned to Jethro his father-in-law and told him, “Please allow me to go back to my own people in Egypt so I can see if any of them are still alive.” “Go with my blessing,” Jethro replied.

19 And Jehovah said to Moses in Midian, Go, return to Egypt; for all the men are dead who sought thy life.

While Moses was in Midian, the Lord told him, “Go back to Egypt because all those who wanted to kill you have died.”

20 And Moses took his wife and his sons, and set them riding upon an ass, and he returned to the land of Egypt. And Moses took the staff of God in his hand.

Moses put his wife and sons on a donkey and went back to Egypt, carrying the walking stick that God had used to perform miracles.

21 And Jehovah said to Moses, When thou goest to return to Egypt, see that thou do all the wonders before Pharaoh that I have put in thy hand. And I will harden his heart, that he shall not let the people go.

The Lord told Moses, “When you get back to Egypt, make sure to go to Pharaoh and carry out the miracles I've given you to do. I will make him stubborn and he will not let the people go.

22 And thou shalt say to Pharaoh, Thus saith Jehovah: Israel is my son, my firstborn.

This is what you are to tell Pharaoh, ‘This is what the Lord says. Israel is my firstborn son.

23 And I say to thee, Let my son go, that he may serve me. And if thou refuse to let him go, behold, I will kill thy son, thy firstborn.

I ordered you to let my son go so he can worship me. But you refused to release him, so I will now kill your firstborn son.”

24 And it came to pass on the way, in the inn, that Jehovah came upon him, and sought to slay him.

But while they were on their way the Lord came to the place where they were staying, wanting to kill Moses.

25 Then Zipporah took a stone and cut off the foreskin of her son, and cast it at his feet, and said, A bloody husband indeed art thou to me!

However, Zipporah used a flint knife to cut off her son's foreskin. She touched his feet with it, and said to him, “You are a blood-husband to me.”

26 And he let him go. Then she said, A bloody husband — because of the circumcision.

(Calling him a blood-husband referred to circumcision.) After this the Lord left Moses alone.

27 And Jehovah said to Aaron, Go into the wilderness to meet Moses. And he went, and met him on the mountain of God, and kissed him.

The Lord had told Aaron, “Go and meet Moses in the desert.” So Aaron went and met Moses at the mountain of God and greeted him with a kiss.

28 And Moses told Aaron all the words of Jehovah who had sent him, and all the signs that he had commanded him.

Then Moses explained to Aaron everything the Lord had sent him to say and all the miracles he had ordered him to do.

29 And Moses and Aaron went and gathered all the elders of the children of Israel;

Moses and Aaron traveled to Egypt. There they had all the Israelite elders gather together.

30 and Aaron spoke all the words that Jehovah had spoken to Moses, and did the signs before the eyes of the people.

Aaron shared with them everything the Lord had told Moses, and Moses carried out the miracles so they could see them.

31 And the people believed. And when they heard that Jehovah had visited the children of Israel, and that he had seen their affliction, then they bowed their heads and worshipped.

The Israelites were convinced. When they heard that the Lord had come to them, and that he had been touched by their suffering, they bowed their heads and worshiped.