Exodus 4

Revised Geneva Translation

4 Then Moses answered, and said, “But lo, they will neither believe me nor listen to my voice. For they will say, ‘The LORD has not appeared to you.’”

² And the LORD said to him, “What is that in your hand?” And he answered, “A rod.”

³ Then he said, “Cast it on the ground.” So, he cast it on the ground; and it was turned into a serpent. And Moses fled from it.

⁴ Again the LORD said to Moses, “Put forth your hand and take it by the tail.” Then he put forth his hand and caught it; and it was turned into a rod in his hand.

⁵ “Do this, so that they may believe that the LORD God of their fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob has appeared to you.”

⁶ And furthermore, the LORD said to him, “Now, thrust your hand into your bosom.” And he thrust his hand into his bosom. And when he took it out again, behold his hand was leprous as snow.

⁷ Moreover, He said, “Put your hand into your bosom again.” So, he put his hand into his bosom again and pulled it out of his bosom. And behold, it was turned back as his other flesh.

⁸ “So shall it be, if they will not believe you or obey the voice of the first sign, they shall still believe the voice of the second sign.

⁹ “But, if they will still not believe these two signs or obey your voice, then you shall take of the water of the river and pour it upon the dry land. So, the water which you shall take out of the river shall be turned to blood upon the dry land.”

¹⁰ But Moses said to the LORD, “Oh my LORD, I am not eloquent, neither before nor since You have spoken to Your servant. But I am slow of speech and slow of tongue.”

¹¹ Then the LORD said to him, “Who has given the mouth to man? Or, Who has made the dumb or the deaf or him who sees or the blind? Have not I, the LORD?

¹² “Therefore, go now; and I will be with your mouth and will teach you what you shall say.”

¹³ But he said, “Oh, my LORD. Please send by the hand of someone else.”

¹⁴ Then the LORD was very angry with Moses, and said, “Do not I know Aaron, your brother, the Levite; that he himself shall speak? For lo, he also comes forth to meet you. And when he sees you, he will be glad in his heart.

¹⁵ “Therefore, you shall speak to him and put the words in his mouth. And I will be with your mouth, and with his mouth, and will teach you what you ought to do.

¹⁶ “And he shall be your spokesman to the people. And he shall be, indeed he shall be as your mouth. And you shall be to him as God.

¹⁷ “Moreover, you shall take this rod in your hand, with which you shall do miracles.”

¹⁸ Therefore, Moses went and returned to Jethro, his father-in-law, and said to him, “Please, let me go and return to my brothers who are in Egypt and see whether they are still alive.” Then Jethro said to Moses, “Go in peace.”

¹⁹ (For the LORD had said to Moses in Midian, “Go, return to Egypt. For they are all dead who plotted to kill you.)

²⁰ Then Moses took his wife and his sons and put them on a donkey and returned toward the land of Egypt. And Moses took the rod of God in his hand.

²¹ And the LORD said to Moses, “When you have entered and come into Egypt again, see that you do before Pharaoh all the wonders which I have put in your hand. But I will harden his heart; and he shall not let the people go.

²² “Then you shall say to Pharaoh, ‘Thus says the LORD: “Israel is My son, My firstborn.

²³ “Therefore I say to you, ‘Let My son go, so that he may serve Me. If you refuse to let him go, behold, I will kill your son, your firstborn.’”’”

²⁴ And as he was on the way, in the Inn, the LORD met him, and would have killed him.

²⁵ Then Zipporah took a sharp knife and cut away the foreskin of her son and cast it at his feet, and said, “You are indeed a bloody husband to me.”

²⁶ So He departed from him. Then she said, “O bloody husband!” (because of the circumcision)

²⁷ Then the LORD said to Aaron, “Go meet Moses in the wilderness.” And he went and met him on the Mount of God and kissed him.

²⁸ Then Moses told Aaron all the words of the LORD Who had sent him, and all the signs with which He had charged him.

²⁹ So Moses and Aaron went and gathered all the elders of the children of Israel.

³⁰ And Aaron told all the words which the LORD had spoken to Moses. And he did the miracles 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 had looked upon their tribulation, they bowed down and worshipped.