¹⁰ Moses said to the Lord, “Pardon your servant, Lord. I have never been eloquent, neither in the past nor since you have spoken to your servant. I am slow of speech and tongue.”^(A)

⁶ “Alas, Sovereign Lord,” I said, “I do not know how to speak;^(A) I am too young.”^(B)

¹² But Moses said to the Lord, “If the Israelites will not listen^(A) to me, why would Pharaoh listen to me, since I speak with faltering lips^[a]?”^(B)

⁶ I may indeed be untrained as a speaker,^(A) but I do have knowledge.^(B) We have made this perfectly clear to you in every way.

²² Moses was educated in all the wisdom of the Egyptians^(A) and was powerful in speech and action.

Signs for Moses

4 Moses answered, “What if they do not believe me or listen^(A) to me and say, ‘The Lord did not appear to you’?”

2 And so it was with me, brothers and sisters. When I came to you, I did not come with eloquence or human wisdom^(A) as I proclaimed to you the testimony about God.^{[a] 2} For I resolved to know nothing while I was with you except Jesus Christ and him crucified.^{(B) 3} I came to you^(C) in weakness^(D) with great fear and trembling.^{(E) 4} My message and my preaching were not with wise and persuasive words,^(F) but with a demonstration of the Spirit’s power,^(G)

¹⁰ For some say, “His letters are weighty and forceful, but in person he is unimpressive^(A) and his speaking amounts to nothing.”^(B)