Exodus 4
EasyEnglish Bible
God shows Moses some strange things
4 Then Moses replied, ‘Perhaps the leaders of Israel will not believe me. Perhaps they will not listen to my message. Perhaps they will say, “The Lord did not really appear to you.” ’
2 Then the Lord said to Moses, ‘What is that thing in your hand?’ Moses answered, ‘It is a stick.’
3 The Lord said, ‘Throw it down on the ground.’ So Moses threw it on the ground. Then the stick became a snake! Moses ran away from the snake. 4 Then the Lord said to Moses, ‘Take hold of the snake's tail with your hand.’ So Moses caught the snake with his hand. Then it became a stick in his hand again. 5 God said, ‘Do this in front of them. Then they will believe you. They will believe that I, the Lord God, have appeared to you. I am the God that their ancestors worshipped. I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob.’
6 Then the Lord said to Moses, ‘Put your hand inside your robe.’ So Moses did this. When he took his hand out again, the skin had become white, like snow. It was the bad disease called leprosy.
7 Then God said, ‘Put your hand back inside your robe again.’ So Moses did that. And when he took his hand out, it was well again, like the rest of his skin!
8 God said, ‘The leaders may not believe you. They may not think that the miracle with the stick shows anything. But they may believe you when you do the second miracle. 9 But they may still not listen to your message. If they will not even believe those two miracles, do this: Take some water from the River Nile and pour it on the dry ground. The water that you take from the river will become blood on the ground.’[a]
10 Then Moses said to the Lord, ‘My Lord, I cannot speak well. I speak slowly and I speak with difficulty. I never could speak well. And even now, when you have spoken to me, I still cannot speak well.’
11 Then the Lord said to Moses, ‘Who has made human mouths? Who makes a person that cannot speak? Who makes a person that cannot hear? Who makes a person who can see, or who cannot see? It is I, the Lord God! 12 Now go! I will help you to speak well. I will teach you what you must say.’
13 But Moses said, ‘My Lord, please send some other person. Do not send me!’
14 Then the Lord became angry with Moses. He said, ‘Aaron, the Levite, is your brother. I know that he can speak very well. Look! He is coming to meet you now. When he sees you, he will be very happy.
15 So this is what you must do. You must speak to him. You must tell him what to say. I will help both of you to speak. And I will teach both of you what you must do. 16 Aaron will speak to the people on your behalf. He will be like your mouth, to speak your message. And you will be like God to him. You will tell him what to say. 17 Take this stick with you and hold it in your hand. You will use it to do the miracles to show that I have sent you.’
Moses returns to Egypt
18 Then Moses went back to Jethro, his wife's father. Moses said to him, ‘Please let me return to my family in Egypt. I must see if they are still alive.’ So Jethro said to Moses, ‘Go in peace.’[b]
19 The Lord had said to Moses while he was still in Midian, ‘Go back to Egypt. All the men who tried to kill you are now dead.’ 20 So Moses put his wife and his sons on a donkey and they started on the journey back to Egypt. And Moses carried the stick of God in his hand.
21 Then the Lord said to Moses, ‘When you return to Egypt you must do the signs. Do all the signs that I gave you the power to do. Do them in front of Pharaoh. But I will make Pharaoh angry and cruel. Because of this, he will not let the people go.
22 Then you must speak to Pharaoh. You must say, “The Lord says, Israel is my first son. 23 I have already said to you, Let my son go so that he can worship me. But if you refuse to let him go, I will kill your first son.” ’
24 On the way to Egypt, there was a place where people could rest on their journey. The Lord met Moses there and he wanted to kill Moses. 25 But Zipporah took a sharp stone and she cut off her son's foreskin with the stone. She touched Moses' feet with the foreskin. She said, ‘You are a husband of blood to me.’ 26 So God did not do anything bad to Moses. Then Zipporah said to Moses, ‘You are a husband of blood, because of this circumcision.’[c]
27 The Lord said to Aaron, ‘Go into the desert to meet Moses.’ So Aaron went. He met Moses at the mountain of God and he kissed him. 28 Then Moses told Aaron all that the Lord had told him to say. He also told Aaron about all the special signs. God had commanded Moses to show these signs to the Israelites and to Pharaoh.
29 Then Moses and Aaron went to Egypt. They brought together all the leaders of the Israelites. 30 Aaron told them all the things that the Lord had said to Moses. Then Moses did the signs in front of the people. 31 And the people believed Aaron and Moses. They had heard that the Lord had come to his people. God had seen their hard life and he was sorry for them. They put their heads down and they worshipped God.
Footnotes
- 4:9 These miracles would show the Israelites that Moses spoke with the authority of God.
- 4:18 ‘Go in peace’ means that Jethro agreed with Moses. He wanted Moses to have a good journey and to arrive safely.
- 4:26 A long time before this, God had told Abraham that he must circumcise himself and every male person in his house. All the men that would be born into that family must obey that command. That was the sign of God's promise to Abraham and his family. Because Moses had not circumcised his son, he had not obeyed God's command. Zipporah circumcised their son because God would have killed Moses. Because she obeyed God, Moses did not die.
Exodus 4
Complete Jewish Bible
4 Moshe replied, “But I’m certain they won’t believe me, and they won’t listen to what I say, because they’ll say, ‘Adonai did not appear to you.’” 2 Adonai answered him, “What is that in your hand?” and he said, “A staff.” 3 He said, “Throw it on the ground!” and he threw it on the ground. It turned into a snake, and Moshe recoiled from it. 4 Then Adonai said to Moshe, “Put your hand out and take it by the tail.” He reached out with his hand and took hold of it, and it became a staff in his hand. 5 “This is so that they will believe that Adonai, the God of their fathers, the God of Avraham, the God of Yitz’chak and the God of Ya‘akov, has appeared to you!”
6 Furthermore Adonai said to him, “Now put your hand inside your coat.” He put his hand in his coat; and when he took it out his hand was leprous, as white as snow. 7 Then God said, “Now put your hand back in your coat.” He put his hand back in his coat; and when he took it out, it was as healthy as the rest of his body. 8 “If they won’t believe you or heed the evidence of the first sign, they will be convinced by the second. 9 But if they aren’t persuaded even by both these signs and still won’t listen to what you say, then take some water from the river, and pour it on the ground. The water you take from the river will turn into blood on the dry land.”
10 Moshe said to Adonai, “Oh, Adonai, I’m a terrible speaker. I always have been, and I’m no better now, even after you’ve spoken to your servant! My words come slowly, my tongue moves slowly.” 11 Adonai answered him, “Who gives a person a mouth? Who makes a person dumb or deaf, keen-sighted or blind? Isn’t it I, Adonai? 12 Now, therefore, go; and I will be with your mouth and will teach you what to say.”
13 But he replied, “Please, Lord, send someone else — anyone you want!” 14 At this, Adonai’s anger blazed up against Moshe; he said, “Don’t you have a brother, Aharon the Levi? I know that he’s a good speaker. In fact, here he is now, coming out to meet you; and he’ll be happy to see you. 15 You will speak to him and put the words in his mouth; and I will be with your mouth and his, teaching you both what to do. 16 Thus he will be your spokesman to the people, in effect; for you, he will be a mouth; and for him, you will be like God. 17 Now take this staff in your hand, because you need it to perform the signs.”
(vi) 18 Moshe left, returned to Yitro his father-in-law and said to him, “I beg you to let me go and return to my kinsmen in Egypt, to see if they are still alive.” Yitro said to Moshe, “Go in peace.” 19 Adonai said to Moshe in Midyan, “Go on back to Egypt, because all the men who wanted to kill you are dead.” 20 So Moshe took his wife and sons, put them on a donkey, and started out for Egypt. Moshe took God’s staff in his hand. 21 Adonai said to Moshe, “When you get back to Egypt, make sure that you do before Pharaoh every one of the wonders I have enabled you to do. Nevertheless, I am going to make him hardhearted, and he will refuse to let the people go. 22 Then you are to tell Pharaoh: ‘Adonai says, “Isra’el is my firstborn son. 23 I have told you to let my son go in order to worship me, but you have refused to let him go. Well, then, I will kill your firstborn son!”’”
24 At a lodging-place on the way, Adonai met Moshe and would have killed him, 25 had not Tzipporah taken a flintstone and cut off the foreskin of her son. She threw it at his feet, saying, “What a bloody bridegroom you are for me!” 26 But then, God let Moshe be. She added, “A bloody bridegroom because of the circumcision!”
27 Adonai said to Aharon, “Go into the desert to meet Moshe.” He went, met him at the mountain of God and kissed him. 28 Moshe told him everything Adonai had said in sending him, including all the signs he had ordered him to perform. 29 Then Moshe and Aharon went and gathered together all the leaders of the people of Isra’el. 30 Aharon said everything Adonai had told Moshe, who then performed the signs for the people to see. 31 The people believed; when they heard that Adonai had remembered the people of Isra’el and seen how they were oppressed, they bowed their heads and worshipped.
Exodus 4
King James Version
4 And Moses answered and said, But, behold, they will not believe me, nor hearken unto my voice: for they will say, The Lord hath not appeared unto thee.
2 And the Lord said unto him, What is that in thine hand? And he said, A rod.
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.
4 And the Lord said unto Moses, Put forth thine hand, and take it by the tail. And he put forth his hand, and caught it, and it became a rod in his hand:
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 unto thee.
6 And the Lord said furthermore unto him, Put now thine 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.
7 And he said, Put thine hand into thy bosom again. And he put his hand into his bosom again; and plucked it out of his bosom, and, behold, it was turned again as his other flesh.
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.
9 And it shall come to pass, if they will not believe also these two signs, neither hearken unto 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.
10 And Moses said unto the Lord, O my Lord, I am not eloquent, neither heretofore, nor since thou hast spoken unto thy servant: but I am slow of speech, and of a slow tongue.
11 And the Lord said unto 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?
12 Now therefore go, and I will be with thy mouth, and teach thee what thou shalt say.
13 And he said, O my Lord, send, I pray thee, by the hand of him whom thou wilt send.
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.
15 And thou shalt speak unto 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.
16 And he shall be thy spokesman unto 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.
17 And thou shalt take this rod in thine hand, wherewith thou shalt do signs.
18 And Moses went and returned to Jethro his father in law, and said unto him, Let me go, I pray thee, and return unto my brethren which are in Egypt, and see whether they be yet alive. And Jethro said to Moses, Go in peace.
19 And the Lord said unto Moses in Midian, Go, return into Egypt: for all the men are dead which sought thy life.
20 And Moses took his wife and his sons, and set them upon an ass, and he returned to the land of Egypt: and Moses took the rod of God in his hand.
21 And the Lord said unto Moses, When thou goest to return into Egypt, see that thou do all those wonders before Pharaoh, which I have put in thine hand: but I will harden his heart, that he shall not let the people go.
22 And thou shalt say unto Pharaoh, Thus saith the Lord, Israel is my son, even my firstborn:
23 And I say unto thee, Let my son go, that he may serve me: and if thou refuse to let him go, behold, I will slay thy son, even thy firstborn.
24 And it came to pass by the way in the inn, that the Lord met him, and sought to kill him.
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.
26 So he let him go: then she said, A bloody husband thou art, because of the circumcision.
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.
28 And Moses told Aaron all the words of the Lord who had sent him, and all the signs which he had commanded him.
29 And Moses and Aaron went and gathered together all the elders of the children of Israel:
30 And Aaron spake all the words which the Lord had spoken unto 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 children of Israel, and that he had looked upon their affliction, then they bowed their heads and worshipped.
Вихід 4
Ukrainian Bible: Easy-to-Read Version
Доказ для Мойсея
4 Мойсей відповів таке: «А якщо вони не повірять мені й не слухатимуть мене? Якщо скажуть, що не являвся мені Господь[a]?» 2 Господь мовив до нього: «Що це у тебе в руці?» Мойсей відповів: «Ціпок». 3 Той каже: «Кинь його на землю». То він кинув ціпок на землю, і перетворився він на гадюку. Мойсей утік від неї.
4 І сказав Господь Мойсею: «Простягни руку і вхопи її за хвіст». Коли той простяг руку і вхопив її, вона знову перетворилася на ціпок у його руці. 5 «Це щоб вони змогли повірити, що Господь Бог батьків їхніх, Бог Авраама, Ісаака та Якова, явився тобі,— 6 знову мовив до нього Господь,—засунь руку собі за пазуху». Засунув він руку за пазуху. Коли ж вийняв її, то рука стала білою, мов сніг, від прокази[b]. 7 Господь сказав: «Засунь знову руку за пазуху». Той знову засунув руку собі за пазуху. Як вийняв він її з-за пазухи, вона зцілилася, стала такою ж, як і все тіло.
8 «Отже, якщо вони не повірять тобі або знехтують першим знаменням, то зможуть повірити другому. 9 Якщо ж вони не повірять навіть цим двом знаменням або не послухаються тебе, то візьми трохи води з Нілу й вилий її на землю. Вода, що ти візьмеш із Нілу, перетвориться на землі на кров»,—сказав Господь.
10 Мойсей мовив Господу: «Змилуйся, Господи. Я ніколи не був красномовний[c]: ні в минулому, ні тоді, як Ти мовив до мене, бо я неквапливий і недорікуватий». 11 І сказав йому Господь: «Хто дав людині уста або зробив людину німою, глухою, кривою чи сліпою? Хіба не Я, Господь? 12 А тепер іди. Я буду з тобою, коли говоритимеш. Я навчу тебе, що казати». 13 Та Мойсей відповів: «Змилуйся, Господи. Пошли когось іншого».
14 Розлютився Господь на Мойсея і мовив: «Чи не твій то брат Аарон, левит? Я знаю, він уміє добре говорити. Він і сам уже йде тобі назустріч. А коли побачить тебе, то всім серцем зрадіє. 15 Ти можеш вкласти слова йому в уста. Я буду з тобою і з ним, коли ви будете говорити. Я навчу вас, що робити. 16 І він говоритиме за тебе з людьми. Він буде твоїми устами, а ти будеш йому Богом. 17 Візьми собі в руку цей ціпок, яким творитимеш знамення».
Повернення Мойсея до Єгипту
18 Мойсей повернувся до свого тестя Єтра і сказав йому: «Дозволь мені повернутися до моєї родини, що в Єгипті, подивитися, чи ще живі вони». Єтро відповів: «Іди з миром».
19 І сказав Господь Мойсеєві в землі Мидіанській: «Повертайся до Єгипту, бо мертві всі ті, хто зазіхав на твоє життя». 20 І взяв Мойсей свою дружину і своїх дітей, посадив їх на віслюка та й повернувся до Єгипту. Він також узяв Божий ціпок із собою. 21 Господь сказав Мойсеєві: «Коли повернешся до Єгипту, гляди, всі дива, що Я вклав у руку твою, здійсни перед фараоном. Як на Мене, то Я зроблю черствим серце його, так що він не відпустить людей. 22 Ти скажеш фараонові, що говорить Господь: „Ізраїль—мій первісток. 23 Тож кажу тобі, відпусти Мого сина, щоб він зміг служити Господу Всевишньому! Але якщо ти відмовишся відіслати його, то Я вб’ю твого первістка”».
Обрізання Мойсеєвого сина
24 Тож в дорозі на ночівлі Господь зустрів Мойсея і намагався вбити[d]. 25 Та Циппора взяла кам’яний ніж, обрізала крайню плоть свого сина й торкнулася нею ніг його. Вона мовила: «Ти мій наречений по крові». 26 І Він простив Мойсея, коли вона сказала, що Мойсей був «наречений по крові», маючи на увазі обрізання.
Мойсей і Аарон постають перед Богом
27 Господь сказав Ааронові: «Йди назустріч Мойсею в пустелі». І той пішов і зустрів його на Божій горі[e], й поцілував його. 28 Мойсей переказав Ааронові всі слова Господа, Який послав його, і про всі знамення, що Він заповідав йому. 29 І пішли Мойсей з Аароном, і зібрали всіх старійшин ізраїльського народу. 30 Аарон переказав усі слова, що Господь мовив Мойсею. Потім той здійснив дива на очах у людей. 31 І люди повірили. Та почувши, що Господь навідався до дітей Ізраїля, і пересвідчившись на власні очі, вони вклонилися.
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