Exodus 4

1 And Moses answered and said, But, behold, they will not believe me, nor hearken to my voice: for they will say, The LORD hath not appeared to thee.

Moses svarede; »Hvis de nu ikke tror mig og ikke hører mig, men siger, at HERREN ikke har aabenbaret sig for mig?«

2 And the LORD said to him, What is that in thy hand? And he said, A rod.

Da sagde HERREN til ham: »Hvad har du der i din Haand?« Han svarede: »En Stav!«

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.

Og han sagde: »Kast den til Jorden!« Da kastede han den til Jorden, og den blev til en Slange, og Moses flyede for den.

4 And the LORD said to Moses, Put forth thy hand, and take it by the tail. And he put forth his hand, and caught it, and it became a rod in his hand:

Og HERREN sagde til Moses: »Ræk Haanden ud og grib den i Halen!« Da rakte han sin Haand ud, og den blev til en Stav i hans Haand.

5 That they may believe that the LORD God of their fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, hath appeared to thee.

»For at de nemlig kan tro, at HERREN, deres Fædres Gud, Abrahams Gud, Isaks Gud og Jakobs Gud, har aabenbaret sig for dig.«

6 And the LORD said furthermore to him, Put now thy hand into thy bosom. And he put his hand into his bosom: and when he took it out, behold, his hand was leprous as snow.

Og HERREN sagde fremdeles til ham: »Stik din Haand ind paa Brystet!« Da stak han sin Haand ind paa Brystet, og da han trak den ud, se, da var den hvid som Sne af Spedalskhed.

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

Derpaa sagde han: »Stik atter Haanden ind paa Brystet!« Saa stak han atter Haanden ind paa Brystet, og da han trak den ud, se, da var den igen som hans øvrige Legeme.

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 latter sign.

»Hvis de nu ikke tror dig og lader sig overbevise af det første Tegn, saa vil de tro det sidste;

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

men hvis de end ikke tror paa disse to Tegn og hører paa dig, tag da Vand fra Nilen og hæld det ud paa Jorden, saa skal Vandet, som du tager fra Nilen, blive til Blod paa Jorden.«

10 And Moses said to the LORD, O my Lord, I am not eloquent, neither before, nor since thou hast spoken to thy servant: but I am slow of speech, and of a slow tongue.

Men Moses sagde til HERREN: »Ak, Herre, jeg er ingen veltalende Mand, jeg var det ikke før og er det heller ikke nu, efter at du har talet til din Tjener, thi jeg har svært ved at udtrykke mig og tale for mig.«

11 And the LORD said to him, Who hath made man’s mouth? or who maketh the dumb, or deaf, or the seeing, or the blind? have not I the LORD?

Da svarede HERREN ham: »Hvem har givet Mennesket Mund, og hvem gør stum eller døv, seende eller blind? Mon ikke jeg, HERREN?

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

Gaa derfor kun, jeg vil være med din Mund og lære dig, hvad du skal sige!«

13 And he said, O my Lord, send, I pray thee, by the hand of him whom thou wilt send.

Men han sagde: »Ak, Herre, send dog enhver anden end mig!«

14 And the anger of the LORD 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 cometh forth to meet thee: and when he seeth thee, he will be glad in his heart.

Da blussede HERRENS Vrede op imod Moses, og han sagde: »Har du ikke din Broder Aron, Leviten? Han, ved jeg, kan tale for sig. Han er ogsaa allerede paa Vej for at møde dig, og han vil glæde sig i sit Hjerte, naar han ser dig;

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

du skal tale til ham og lægge ham Ordene i Munden, saa vil jeg være med din og hans Mund og lære eder, hvad I skal gøre.

16 And he shall speak for thee to the people: and he shall be, even he shall be to thee instead of a mouth, and thou shalt be to him instead of God.

Han skal tale paa dine Vegne til Folket; han skal være din Mund, og du skal være som Gud for ham.

17 And thou shalt take this rod in thy hand, with which thou shalt perform signs.

Tag nu i din Haand denne Stav, som du skal gøre Tegnene med!«

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, and see whether they are yet alive. And Jethro said to Moses, Go in peace.

Derefter vendte Moses tilbage til sin Svigerfader Jetro og sagde til ham: »Lad mig vende tilbage til mine Landsmænd i Ægypten og se, om de endnu er i Live!« Og Jetro svarede Moses: »Drag bort i Fred!«

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

Da sagde HERREN til Moses i Midjan: »Vend tilbage til Ægypten, thi alle de Mænd, der stod dig efter Livet, er døde.«

20 And Moses took his wife and his sons, and set them upon a donkey, and he returned to the land of Egypt: and Moses took the rod of God in his hand.

Saa tog Moses sin Hustru og sin Søn og satte dem paa sit Æsel og vendte tilbage til Ægypten; og Moses tog Guds Stav i Haanden.

21 And the LORD said to Moses, When thou goest to return into Egypt, see that thou perform all those wonders before Pharaoh, which I have put in thy hand: but I will harden his heart, that he shall not let the people go.

Men HERREN sagde til Moses: »Naar du vender tilbage til Ægypten, saa mærk dig dette: Alle de Undergerninger, jeg giver dig Magt til at udføre, skal du gøre for Farao; men jeg vil forhærde hans Hjerte, saa han ikke lader Folket rejse.

22 And thou shalt say to Pharaoh, Thus saith the LORD, Israel is my son, even my firstborn:

Og da skal du sige til Farao: Saa siger HERREN: Israel er min førstefødte Søn;

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

men da jeg sagde til dig: Lad min Søn rejse, for at han kan dyrke mig! da nægtede du at lade ham rejse. Se, jeg dræber din førstefødte Søn!«

24 And it came to pass by the way in the inn, that the LORD met him, and sought to kill him.

Men undervejs, i Natteherberget, kom HERREN imod ham og vilde dræbe ham.

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

Da greb Zippora en skarp Sten og afskar sin Søns Forhud og berørte hans Blusel dermed, idet hun sagde: »Du er mig en Blodbrudgom!«

26 So he let him go: then she said, A bloody husband thou art, because of the circumcision.

Saa lod han ham i Fred. Ved den Lejlighed brugte hun Ordet »Blodbrudgom« med Hentydning til Omskærelsen.

27 And the LORD said to Aaron, Go into the wilderness to meet Moses. And he went, and met him in the mount of God, and kissed him.

Derpaa sagde HERREN til Aron: »Gaa Moses i Møde i Ørkenen!« Og han gik ud og traf ham ved Guds Bjerg og kyssede ham.

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

Og Moses fortalte Aron om alt, hvad HERREN havde paalagt ham, og om alle de Tegn, han havde befalet ham at gøre.

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

Derefter gik Moses og Aron den og kaldte alle Israeliternes Ældste sammen;

30 And Aaron spoke all the words which the LORD had spoken to Moses, and performed the signs in the sight of the people.

og Aron fortalte alt, hvad HERREN havde sagt til Moses, og denne gjorde Tegnene i Folkets Paasyn.

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

Da troede Folket, og da de hørte, at HERREN havde givet Agt paa Israeliterne og set til deres Elendighed, bøjede de sig og tilbad.