Exodus 4

And Moses answered and said, “But look, they will not believe me, and they will not listen to my voice; for they will say, ‘God has not appeared to you.’”

And God said to him, “What is that in your hand?” And he said, “A staff.”

And he said, “Throw it to the ground.” And he threw it to the ground, and it became a snake. And Moses fled from its face. \*

And God said to Moses, “Reach out your hand and take it by its tail”—and he reached out his hand and he caught it to him, and it became a staff in his palm—

“in order to cause them to believe that God appeared to you, the God of their fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.” \*

And God also said to him, “Put your hand in your bosom.” And he put his hand in his bosom. And he brought it out, and behold, his hand was being struck with a skin disease like snow.

And he said, “Return your hand into your bosom.” And he returned his hand into his bosom, and he brought it out from his bosom, and behold, it was restored like his flesh. \*

“And it will be, if they do not believe you, and they do not listen to the voice of the first sign, then they will believe the voice of the following sign.

And it will be, if they do not believe even these two signs, and they do not listen to your voice, then you shall take from the water of the river and you shall pour it on the dry land. And it will happen, the water which you take from the river, that it will become blood on the dry land.” \*

And Moses said to God, “Oh my Lord, I am not a man of words; not since yesterday, nor since three days ago, nor since you spoke to your servant. For I am heavy of mouth and heavy of tongue.”

And God said to him, “Who put a mouth in mankind, or who makes a mute or a deaf or a seeing or a blind? Is it not I, God?

And now go! And I shall be with your mouth, and I shall teach you what you will speak.”

And he said, “Oh my Lord, please send by a hand you send.” \*

And the nose of God burned at Moses, and he said, “Is not Aaron, the Levite, your brother? I know that he can speak well. And even more, behold, he is coming to meet you, and he will see you and he will be glad in his heart.

And you shall speak to him, and you shall put the words in his mouth. And I am with your mouth and with his mouth, and I will teach you both what you should do.

And he will speak to the people for you. So it will be, he will be like a mouth for you, and you will be like God to him.

And you shall take in your hand this staff, with which you will do the signs.” \*

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

And God said to Moses in Midian, “Go! Return to Egypt! For all the men who were seeking your life are dead.”

And Moses took his wife and his sons and caused them to ride on a donkey, and he returned toward the land of Egypt. And Moses took the staff of God in his hand. \*

And God said to Moses, “While you are going to return to Egypt, see all the miracles that I put in your hand, and do them before the face of Pharaoh. But as for me, I shall strengthen his heart, and he will not let the people go.

And say to Pharaoh, ‘Thus says God: “Israel is my son, my firstborn,

and I said to you, ‘Let my son go that he may serve me.’ But you have refused to let him go. Behold, I shall kill your son, your firstborn.”’” \*

And it happened on the road, in the lodging-place, that he encountered God, and he sought to kill him.

And Zipporah took a flint, and she cut off the foreskin of her son, and she touched it to his feet, and she said, “Surely you are a bridegroom of blood to me.”

And he relented from him. That was when she said, “bridegroom of blood” because of the circumcision. \*

And God said to Aaron, “Go into the wilderness to meet Moses.” And he went, and he met him at the mountain of God, and he kissed him.

And Moses told Aaron all the words of God that he had sent him and all the signs that he commanded him. \*

And Moses and Aaron went, and they gathered all of the elders of the sons of Israel.

And Aaron spoke all of the words that God had spoken to Moses. And he did the signs before the eyes of the people,

and the people believed. And they heard that God had attended to the sons of Israel and that he had seen their affliction, and they bowed and prostrated themselves. \*