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
Exodus 4
Christian Standard Bible
Miraculous Signs for Moses
4 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 “Throw it on the ground,” he said. So Moses threw it on the ground, it became a snake, and he ran from it. 4 The Lord told Moses, “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 that they will believe that the Lord, the God of their ancestors, 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, resembling snow.[a](C) 7 “Put your hand back inside your cloak,” he said. So he put his hand back inside his cloak, and when he took it out, 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—because my mouth and my tongue are sluggish.”[b](F)
11 The Lord said to him, “Who placed a mouth on humans? Who makes a person mute or deaf, seeing or blind? Is it not I, the Lord?(G) 12 Now go! I will help you speak[c] and I will teach you what to say.”(H)
13 Moses said, “Please, Lord, send someone else.”[d]
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 both you and him to speak[e] and will teach you both what to do. 16 He will speak to the people for you. He will serve as a mouth for you, 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’s 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 before Pharaoh all the wonders that I have put within your power. But I will harden his heart[f](M) so that he won’t let the people go. 22 And you will say to Pharaoh: This is what the Lord 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. Look, I am about to kill your firstborn son!” (O)
24 On the trip, at an overnight campsite, it happened that the Lord confronted him and intended to put him to death. 25 So Zipporah took a flint, cut off her son’s foreskin, threw it at Moses’s feet, and 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.
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 knelt low and worshiped.
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