Exodus 4
Names of God Bible
4 “They will never believe me or listen to me!” Moses protested. “They will say, ‘Yahweh didn’t appear to you.’”
2 Then Yahweh asked him, “What’s that in your hand?”
He answered, “A shepherd’s staff.”
3 Yahweh said, “Throw it on the ground.”
When Moses threw it on the ground, it became a snake, and he ran away from it.
4 Then Yahweh said to Moses, “Reach out and grab the snake by its tail.” He reached out and grabbed it, and it turned back into a staff as he held it. 5 The Lord explained, “This is to convince the people that Yahweh Elohim of their ancestors, the Elohim of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, appeared to you.”
6 Yahweh said to him, “Put your hand inside your shirt.” So Moses did this, and when he took his hand out, it had a skin disease. It looked as flaky as snow. 7 “Now put your hand back inside your shirt,” Yahweh said. Moses put it back, and when he took it out this time, it was healthy again like the rest of his body.
8 Then the Lord said, “If they won’t believe you or pay attention to the first miraculous sign, they may believe the second. 9 But if they won’t believe these two miraculous signs or listen to you, take some water from the Nile River and pour it on the ground. The water you take from the Nile will turn into blood on the ground.”
10 Moses said to Yahweh, “Please, Adonay, I’m not a good speaker. I’ve never been a good speaker, and I’m not now, even though you’ve spoken to me. I speak slowly, and I become tongue-tied easily.”
11 Yahweh asked him, “Who gave humans their mouths? Who makes humans unable to talk or hear? Who gives them sight or makes them blind? It is I, Yahweh! 12 Now go, and I will help you speak and will teach you what to say.”
13 But Moses said, “Please, Adonay, send someone else.”
14 Then Yahweh became angry with Moses and asked, “What about your brother Aaron the Levite? I know he can speak well. He’s already on his way to meet you, and he will be very glad to see you. 15 You will speak to him and tell him what to say. I will help both of you speak, and I will teach you both what to do. 16 Aaron will speak to the people for you. He will be your spokesman, and you will be like Elohim. 17 Take that shepherd’s staff with you, and use it to do the miraculous signs.”
Moses Returns to Egypt
18 Then Moses went back to his father-in-law Jethro. Moses said to him, “Please let me go back to my own people in Egypt. I would like to see if they’re still alive.”
Jethro said to Moses, “You may go.”
19 Now, Yahweh had said to Moses in Midian, “Go back to Egypt, because all the men who wanted to kill you are dead.”
20 So Moses took his wife and sons, put them on a donkey, and started out for Egypt. He also brought with him the staff Elohim had told him to take.
21 Yahweh said to Moses, “When you get back to Egypt, see that you show Pharaoh all the amazing things that I have given you the power to do. But I will make him stubborn so that he will not let the people go. 22 Then tell Pharaoh, ‘This is what Yahweh says: Israel is my firstborn son. 23 I told you to let my son go so that he may worship me. But you refused to let him go. So now I’m going to kill your firstborn son.’”
24 Along the way they stopped for the night. Yahweh met Moses and tried to kill him. 25 Then Zipporah took a flint knife, cut off her son’s foreskin, and touched Moses’ feet with it. She said, “You are a bridegroom of blood to me!” 26 So Yahweh let him alone. It was because of the circumcision that she said at that time, “You are a bridegroom of blood!”
Moses and Aaron Tell the People What the Lord Said
27 Meanwhile, Yahweh had told Aaron to meet Moses in the desert.
When Aaron met Moses at the mountain of Elohim, he kissed him. 28 Moses told Aaron everything Yahweh had sent him to say and all the miraculous signs Yahweh had commanded him to do.
29 Then Moses and Aaron went to Egypt and assembled all the leaders of the people of Israel. 30 Aaron told them everything Yahweh had said to Moses. He also did the miraculous signs for the people, 31 and the people believed them. When they heard that Yahweh was concerned about the people of Israel and that he had seen their misery, they knelt, bowing with their faces touching the ground.
Exodus 4
New King James Version
Miraculous Signs for Pharaoh
4 Then Moses answered and said, “But suppose they will not believe me or listen to my voice; suppose they say, ‘The Lord has not appeared to you.’ ”
2 So the Lord said to him, “What is that in your hand?”
He said, “A rod.”
3 And He said, “Cast it on the ground.” So he cast it on the ground, and it became a serpent; and Moses fled from it. 4 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Reach out your hand and take it by the tail” (and he reached out his hand and caught it, and it became a rod in his hand), 5 “that they may (A)believe that the (B)Lord God of their fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has appeared to you.”
6 Furthermore the Lord said to him, “Now put your hand in your bosom.” And he put his hand in his bosom, and when he took it out, behold, his hand was leprous, (C)like snow. 7 And He said, “Put your hand in your bosom again.” So he put his hand in his bosom again, and drew it out of his bosom, and behold, (D)it was restored like his other flesh. 8 “Then it will be, if they do not believe you, nor heed the message of the (E)first sign, that they may believe the message of the latter sign. 9 And it shall be, if they do not believe even these two signs, or listen to your voice, that you shall take water from [a]the river and pour it on the dry land. (F)The water which you take from the river will become blood on the dry land.”
10 Then Moses said to the Lord, “O my Lord, I am not eloquent, neither before nor since You have spoken to Your servant; but (G)I am slow of speech and [b]slow of tongue.”
11 So the Lord said to him, (H)“Who has made man’s mouth? Or who makes the mute, the deaf, the seeing, or the blind? Have not I, the Lord? 12 Now therefore, go, and I will be (I)with your mouth and teach you what you shall say.”
13 But he said, “O my Lord, (J)please send by the hand of whomever else You may send.”
14 So (K)the anger of the Lord was kindled against Moses, and He said: “Is not Aaron the Levite your (L)brother? I know that he can speak well. And look, (M)he is also coming out to meet you. When he sees you, he will be glad in his heart. 15 Now (N)you shall speak to him and (O)put the words in his mouth. And I will be with your mouth and with his mouth, and (P)I will teach you what you shall do. 16 So he shall be your spokesman to the people. And he himself shall be as a mouth for you, and (Q)you shall be to him as God. 17 And you shall take this rod in your hand, with which you shall do the signs.”
Moses Goes to Egypt
18 So Moses went and returned to (R)Jethro his father-in-law, and said to him, “Please let me go and return to my brethren who are in Egypt, and see whether they are still alive.”
And Jethro said to Moses, (S)“Go in peace.”
19 Now the Lord said to Moses in (T)Midian, “Go, return to (U)Egypt; for all the men who (V)sought your life are dead.” 20 Then Moses (W)took his wife and his sons and set them on a donkey, and he returned to the land of Egypt. And Moses took (X)the rod of God in his hand.
21 And the Lord said to Moses, “When you go back to Egypt, see that you do all those (Y)wonders before Pharaoh which I have put in your hand. But (Z)I will harden his heart, so that he will not let the people go. 22 Then you shall (AA)say to Pharaoh, ‘Thus says the Lord: (AB)“Israel is My son, (AC)My firstborn. 23 So I say to you, let My son go that he may serve Me. But if you refuse to let him go, indeed (AD)I will kill your son, your firstborn.” ’ ”
24 And it came to pass on the way, at the (AE)encampment, that the Lord (AF)met him and sought to (AG)kill him. 25 Then (AH)Zipporah took (AI)a sharp stone and cut off the foreskin of her son and [c]cast it at [d]Moses’ feet, and said, “Surely you are a husband of blood to me!” 26 So He let him go. Then she said, “You are a [e]husband of blood!”—because of the circumcision.
27 And the Lord said to Aaron, “Go into the wilderness (AJ)to meet Moses.” So he went and met him on (AK)the mountain of God, and kissed him. 28 So Moses (AL)told Aaron all the words of the Lord who had sent him, and all the (AM)signs which He had commanded him. 29 Then Moses and Aaron (AN)went and gathered together all the elders of the children of Israel. 30 (AO)And Aaron spoke all the words which the Lord had spoken to Moses. Then he did the signs in the sight of the people. 31 So the people (AP)believed; and when they heard that the Lord had (AQ)visited the children of Israel and that He (AR)had looked on their affliction, then (AS)they bowed their heads and worshiped.
Footnotes
- Exodus 4:9 The Nile
- Exodus 4:10 heavy or dull of tongue; cannot talk very well
- Exodus 4:25 Lit. made it touch
- Exodus 4:25 Lit. his
- Exodus 4:26 bridegroom
The Names of God Bible (without notes) © 2011 by Baker Publishing Group.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
