Exodus 4
Legacy Standard Bible
If They Will Not Believe These Signs
4 Then Moses answered and said, “What if they will not believe me and will not (A)listen to my voice? For they may say, ‘(B)Yahweh has not appeared to you.’” 2 And Yahweh said to him, “What is this in your hand?” And he said, “(C)A staff.” 3 Then He said, “Throw it on the ground.” So he threw it on the ground, and (D)it became a serpent; and Moses fled from it. 4 And Yahweh said to Moses, “Stretch out your hand and grasp it by its tail”—so he stretched out his hand and took hold of it, and it became a staff in his [a]hand— 5 “that (E)they may believe that (F)Yahweh, the God of their fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has appeared to you.”
6 And Yahweh furthermore said to him, “Now put your hand into your bosom.” So he put his hand into his bosom; then he took it out, and behold, his hand was (G)leprous like snow. 7 Then He said, “Return your hand into your bosom.” So he returned his hand into his bosom, and when he took it out of his bosom, behold, (H)it returned to being like the rest of his flesh. 8 “And so it will be, if they will not believe you or listen to the [b]witness of the first sign, they may believe the [c]witness of [d]this last sign. 9 But if it will be that they will not believe even these two signs and that they will not listen to your voice, then you shall take some water from the Nile and pour it on the dry land; and the water which you take from the Nile (I)will become blood on the dry land.”
Aaron to Speak for Moses
10 Then Moses said to Yahweh, “Please, Lord, (J)I have never been a man of words, neither [e]recently nor in time past, nor since You have spoken to Your slave; for I am one with a [f]hard mouth and a [g]hard tongue.” 11 And Yahweh said to him, “Who has made man’s mouth? Or (K)who makes him mute or deaf, or seeing or blind? Is it not I, Yahweh? 12 So now, go, and (L)I, even I, will be with your mouth and will (M)instruct you what you shall speak.” 13 But he said, “Please, Lord, [h]send now the message by whomever You will.” 14 Then the anger of Yahweh burned against Moses, and He said, “Is there not your brother Aaron the Levite? I know that [i]he can certainly speak. And moreover, behold, (N)he is coming out to meet you. And he will see you and be glad in his heart. 15 And you are to speak to him and (O)put the words in his mouth; and I, even I, will be with your mouth and with his mouth, and I will instruct [j]you in what you shall do. 16 Moreover, (P)he shall speak for you to the people; and he will become as a mouth for you, and you will become as God to him. 17 And you shall take in your hand (Q)this staff, (R)with which you shall do the signs.”
Moses Returns to Egypt
18 Then Moses went and returned to [k]Jethro (S)his father-in-law and said to him, “Please, let me go, that I may return to my brothers who are in Egypt and see if they are still alive.” And Jethro said to Moses, “Go in peace.” 19 And Yahweh said to Moses in Midian, “Go, return to Egypt, for (T)all the men who were seeking your life are dead.” 20 So Moses took his wife and his (U)sons and mounted them on a donkey and returned to the land of Egypt. Moses also took the (V)staff of God in his hand.
21 And Yahweh said to Moses, “When you go to return to Egypt, see to it that all (W)the miraculous wonders which I have put in your hand, that you do them before Pharaoh; but as for Me, (X)I will [l]harden his heart with strength so that he will not let the people go. 22 Then you shall say to Pharaoh, ‘Thus says Yahweh, “(Y)Israel is My son, My firstborn. 23 So I said to you, ‘(Z)Let My son go that he may serve Me’; but you have refused to let him go. Behold, (AA)I will kill your son, your firstborn.”’”
24 Now it happened at the lodging place on the way that Yahweh encountered him and (AB)sought to put him to death. 25 Then Zipporah took (AC)a flint and cut off her son’s foreskin and touched [m]his feet with it, and she said, “You are indeed a bridegroom of blood to me!” 26 So He let him alone. At that time she said, “You are a bridegroom of blood” with reference to the circumcision.
27 (AD)Then Yahweh said to Aaron, “Go to meet Moses in the wilderness.” So he went and encountered him at the (AE)mountain of God and kissed him. 28 (AF)And Moses told Aaron all the words of Yahweh with which He had sent him, and (AG)all the signs that He had commanded him to do. 29 Then Moses and Aaron went and (AH)gathered all the elders of the sons of Israel; 30 and (AI)Aaron spoke all the words which Yahweh had spoken to Moses. He then did the (AJ)signs in the sight of the people. 31 So (AK)the people believed; and they heard that Yahweh [n](AL)cared about the sons of Israel and that He had seen their affliction. So (AM)they bowed low and worshiped.
Footnotes
- Exodus 4:4 Lit palm
- Exodus 4:8 Lit voice, cf. 4:9
- Exodus 4:8 Lit voice, cf. 4:9
- Exodus 4:8 Lit the
- Exodus 4:10 Lit yesterday
- Exodus 4:10 Lit heavy
- Exodus 4:10 Lit heavy
- Exodus 4:13 Lit send by the hand which You send
- Exodus 4:14 Lit speaking he speaks
- Exodus 4:15 Lit you (plural)
- Exodus 4:18 Heb Jether
- Exodus 4:21 Lit strengthen
- Exodus 4:25 Moses’ feet
- Exodus 4:31 Lit had visited
Shemot 4
Orthodox Jewish Bible
4 And Moshe answered and said, But, what if they will not believe me, nor pay heed unto my voice but will say, Hashem hath not appeared unto thee.
2 And Hashem said unto him, What is that in thine yad? And he said, A matteh (a rod, staff).
3 And He said, Cast it on the ground. And he cast it on the ground, and it became a nachash; and Moshe fled from before it.
4 And Hashem said unto Moshe, Put forth thine yad, and take it by the tail. And he put forth his yad, and caught it, and it became a matteh in his yad;
5 That they may believe that Hashem Elohei Avotam, Elohei Avraham, Elohei Yitzchak, and Elohei Ya’akov, hath appeared unto thee.
6 And Hashem said furthermore unto him, Put now thine yad into thy kheyk. And he put his yad into his kheyk; and when he took it out, hinei, his yad was leprous as snow.
7 And He said, Put thine yad into thy kheyk again. And he put his yad into his kheyk again; and plucked it out of his kheyk, and, hinei, it was turned again as his other basar.
8 And it shall come to pass, if they will not believe thee, neither pay heed to the voice of haOt Harishon, that they will believe the voice of haOt haAcharon.
9 And it shall come to pass, if they will not believe also these two otot, neither pay heed unto thy voice, that thou shalt take of the mayim of the Nile, and pour it upon the yabashah (dry land); and the mayim which thou takest out of the Nile shall become dahm upon the yabashah.
10 And Moshe said unto Hashem, O Adonoi, I am not an ish devarim, neither heretofore, nor since Thou hast spoken unto Thy eved; but I am slow of speech, and of a slow lashon.
11 And Hashem said unto him, Who hath made man’s peh (mouth)? Or who maketh dumb, or deaf, or seeing, or blind? Is it not I, Hashem?
12 Now therefore go, and Eh-heh-yeh (I will be) with thy mouth, and teach thee what thou shalt say.
13 And he said, O Adonoi, send, now, by the yad of him whom Thou wilt send.
14 And the Af Hashem was kindled against Moshe, and He said, Is there not Aharon thy ach the Levi? I know that he can speak well. And also, hinei, he cometh forth to meet thee; and when he seeth thee, he will be glad in his lev.
15 And thou shalt speak unto him, and put words in his mouth; and Eh-heh-yeh (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 Elohim.
17 And thou shalt take this matteh in thine yad, wherewith thou shalt do haOtot.
18 And Moshe went and returned to Yitro his khoten (father-in-law), and said unto him, Let me go, now, and return unto my achim which are in Mitzrayim, and see whether they be yet alive. And Yitro said to Moshe, Lech l’shalom (go in peace).
19 And Hashem said unto Moshe in Midyan, Go, shuv (return) into Mitzrayim; for all the anashim are dead which sought thy life.
20 And Moshe took his isha and his banim, and set them upon a donkey, and he returned to Eretz Mitzrayim; and matteh HaElohim in his yad.
21 And Hashem said unto Moshe, When thou goest to return into Mitzrayim, see that thou do all those mofetim before Pharaoh, which I have put in thine yad: but I will harden his lev, that he shall not let HaAm go.
22 And thou shalt say unto Pharaoh, Thus saith Hashem, Yisroel is beni (My son), even My bechor (first-born):
23 And I say unto thee, Let beni (My son) go, that he may serve Me: and if thou refuse to let him go, hinei, I will slay thy ben, even thy bechor.
24 And it came to pass on the derech at the malon, that Hashem met him, and sought to kill him.
25 Then Tzipporah took a sharp stone, and cut off the arlat ben (foreskin of son) of her, and cast it at his feet, and said, Surely a choson damim (a bridegroom of blood) art thou to me.
26 So He let him go; then she said, A choson damim thou art, because of the circumcision (i.e., [bris] milah).
27 And Hashem said to Aharon, Go into the midbar to meet Moshe. And he went, and met him in the Har HaElohim, and kissed him.
28 And Moshe told Aharon kol divrei Hashem who had sent him, and all haOtot He had commanded him.
29 And Moshe and Aharon went and assembled together kol Ziknei Bnei Yisroel;
30 And Aharon spoke all hadevarim which Hashem had spoken unto Moshe; and he did haOtot before the eyes of HaAm.
31 And HaAm believed; and when they heard that Hashem had visited the Bnei Yisroel, and that He had looked upon their oni, then they bowed their heads and worshiped.
Exodus 4
Holman Christian Standard Bible
Miraculous Signs for Moses
4 Then Moses answered, “What if they won’t believe me and will not obey me but say, ‘The Lord did not appear(A) to you’?”
2 The Lord asked him, “What is that in your hand?”
“A staff,” he replied.
3 Then He said, “Throw it on the ground.” He threw it on the ground, and it became a snake. Moses ran from it, 4 but the Lord told him, “Stretch out your hand and grab it by the tail.” So he stretched out his hand and caught it, and it became a staff in his hand. 5 “This will take place,” He continued, “so they will believe that Yahweh, the God of their fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has appeared to you.”(B)
6 In addition the Lord said to him, “Put your hand inside your cloak.” So he put his hand inside his cloak, and when he took it out, his hand was diseased, white as snow.[a](C) 7 Then He said, “Put your hand back inside your cloak.” He put his hand back inside his cloak, and when he took it out,[b] it had again become like the rest of his skin.(D) 8 “If they will not believe you and will not respond to the evidence of the first sign, they may believe the evidence of the second sign. 9 And if they don’t believe even these two signs or listen to what you say, take some water from the Nile and pour it on the dry ground. The water you take from the Nile will become blood on the ground.”(E)
10 But Moses replied to the Lord, “Please, Lord, I have never been eloquent—either in the past or recently or since You have been speaking to Your servant[c]—because I am slow and hesitant in speech.”[d](F)
11 Yahweh said to him, “Who made the human mouth? Who makes him mute or deaf, seeing or blind? Is it not I, Yahweh?(G) 12 Now go! I will help[e] you speak and I will teach you what to say.”(H)
13 Moses said, “Please, Lord, send someone else.”[f]
14 Then the Lord’s anger burned against Moses, and He said, “Isn’t Aaron the Levite your brother? I know that he can speak well. And also, he is on his way now to meet you. He will rejoice when he sees you. 15 You will speak with him and tell him what to say.(I) I will help[g] both you and him to speak and will teach you both what to do. 16 He will speak to the people for you. He will be your spokesman, and you will serve as God to him. 17 And take this staff in your hand that you will perform the signs with.”(J)
Moses’ Return to Egypt
18 Then Moses went back to his father-in-law Jethro and said to him, “Please let me return to my relatives in Egypt and see if they are still living.”
Jethro said to Moses, “Go in peace.”
19 Now in Midian the Lord told Moses, “Return to Egypt, for all the men who wanted to kill you are dead.”(K) 20 So Moses took his wife and sons, put them on a donkey, and returned to the land of Egypt. And Moses took God’s staff(L) in his hand.
21 The Lord instructed Moses, “When you go back to Egypt, make sure you do all the wonders before Pharaoh that I have put within your power. But I will harden his heart[h](M) so that he won’t let the people go. 22 Then you will say to Pharaoh: This is what Yahweh says: Israel is My firstborn son.(N) 23 I told you: Let My son go so that he may worship Me, but you refused to let him go. Now I will kill your firstborn son!”(O)
24 On the trip, at an overnight campsite, it happened that the Lord confronted him and sought to put him to death. 25 So Zipporah took a flint, cut off her son’s foreskin, and threw it at Moses’ feet.[i] Then she said, “You are a bridegroom of blood to me!”(P) 26 So He let him alone. At that time she said, “You are a bridegroom of blood,” referring to the circumcision.[j]
Reunion of Moses and Aaron
27 Now the Lord had said to Aaron, “Go and meet Moses in the wilderness.” So he went and met him at the mountain of God and kissed him.(Q) 28 Moses told Aaron everything the Lord had sent him to say, and about all the signs He had commanded him to do. 29 Then Moses and Aaron went and assembled all the elders of the Israelites. 30 Aaron repeated everything the Lord had said to Moses and performed the signs before the people. 31 The people believed, and when they heard that the Lord had paid attention(R) to them and that He had seen their misery,(S) they bowed down and worshiped.
Footnotes
- Exodus 4:6 A reference to whiteness or flakiness of the skin
- Exodus 4:7 Lit out of his cloak
- Exodus 4:10 = Moses
- Exodus 4:10 Lit heavy of mouth and heavy of tongue
- Exodus 4:12 Lit will be with you
- Exodus 4:13 Lit send by the hand of whom You will send
- Exodus 4:15 Lit be with
- Exodus 4:21 Or will make him stubborn
- Exodus 4:25 Some interpret “feet” as a euphemism for genitals.
- Exodus 4:26 Zipporah appeased God on Moses’ behalf by circumcising Gershom.
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