Exodus 4
New American Standard Bible
Moses Given Signs
4 Then Moses said, “What if they will not believe me or (A)listen [a]to what I say? For they may say, ‘(B)The Lord has not appeared to you.’” 2 The Lord said to him, “What is that 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 turned into a serpent; and Moses fled from it. 4 But the Lord said to Moses, “Reach out with your hand and grasp it by its tail”—so he reached out with his hand and caught it, and it turned into a staff in his [b]hand— 5 “so that (E)they may believe that (F)the Lord, the God of their fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has appeared to you.”
6 The Lord furthermore said to him, “Now put your hand inside the fold of your robe.” So he put his hand inside the fold, and when he took it out, behold, his hand was (G)leprous like snow. 7 Then He said, “Put your hand inside the fold of your robe again.” So he put his hand into the fold again, and when he took it out of the fold, behold, (H)it was restored like the rest of his flesh. 8 “So if they will not believe you nor [c]pay attention to the [d]evidence of the first [e]sign, they may believe the [f]evidence of the last [g]sign. 9 But if they will not believe even these two [h]signs nor pay attention to what you say, then you shall take some water from the Nile and pour it on the dry ground; and the water which you take from the Nile (I)will turn into blood on the dry ground.”
10 Then Moses said to the Lord, “Please, Lord, (J)I have never been [i]eloquent, neither [j]recently nor in time past, nor since You have spoken to Your servant; for I am [k]slow of speech and [l]slow of tongue.” 11 But the Lord said to him, “Who has made the human mouth? Or (K)who makes anyone unable to speak or deaf, or able to see or blind? Is it not I, the Lord? 12 Now then go, and (L)I Myself will be with your mouth, and (M)instruct you in what you are to say.” 13 But he said, “Please, Lord, now send the message by [m]whomever You will.”
Aaron to Be Moses’ Mouthpiece
14 Then the anger of the Lord burned against Moses, and He said, “Is there not your brother Aaron the Levite? I know that [n]he speaks fluently. And moreover, behold, (N)he is coming out to meet you; when he sees you, he will be [o]overjoyed. 15 So you are to speak to him and (O)put the words in his mouth; and I Myself will be with your mouth and his mouth, and I will instruct you in what you are to do. 16 (P)He shall speak for you to the people; and he will be as a mouth for you and you will be as God to him. 17 And you shall take in your hand (Q)this staff, (R)with which you shall perform the signs.”
18 Then Moses departed and returned to (S)his father-in-law [p]Jethro, 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 Now the Lord said to Moses in Midian, “Go [q]back 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 the Lord said to Moses, “When you go [r]back to Egypt, see that you perform before Pharaoh all (W)the wonders which I have put in your [s]power; but (X)I will harden his heart so that he will not let the people go. 22 Then you shall say to Pharaoh, ‘This is what the Lord says: “(Y)Israel is My son, My firstborn. 23 So I said to you, ‘(Z)Let My son go so that he may serve Me’; but you have refused to let him go. Behold, (AA)I am going to kill your son, your firstborn.”’”
24 But it came about at the overnight encampment on the way, that the Lord met [t]Moses, and (AB)sought to put him to death. 25 So Zipporah took (AC)a flint and cut off her son’s foreskin and [u]threw it at Moses’ feet; and she said, “You are indeed a groom of blood to me!” 26 So He left him alone. At that time she said, “You are a groom of blood”—[v]because of the circumcision.
27 (AD)Now the Lord said to Aaron, “Go to meet Moses in the wilderness.” So he went and met him at the (AE)mountain of God and kissed him. 28 (AF)Moses told Aaron all the words of the Lord 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)assembled all the elders of the sons of Israel; 30 and (AI)Aaron spoke all the words which the Lord had spoken to Moses. He then performed the (AJ)signs in the sight of the people. 31 So (AK)the people believed; and when they heard that the Lord [w](AL)was concerned about the sons of Israel and that He had seen their affliction, (AM)they bowed low and worshiped.
Footnotes
- Exodus 4:1 Lit to my voice
- Exodus 4:4 Lit palm
- Exodus 4:8 Lit listen to
- Exodus 4:8 Lit voice
- Exodus 4:8 I.e., confirming miracle
- Exodus 4:8 Lit voice
- Exodus 4:8 I.e., confirming miracle
- Exodus 4:9 I.e., confirming miracles
- Exodus 4:10 Lit a man of words
- Exodus 4:10 Lit yesterday
- Exodus 4:10 Lit heavy
- Exodus 4:10 Lit heavy
- Exodus 4:13 Lit the hand You send
- Exodus 4:14 Lit speaking he speaks
- Exodus 4:14 Lit joyful in his heart
- Exodus 4:18 Heb Jether
- Exodus 4:19 Lit return
- Exodus 4:21 Lit to return
- Exodus 4:21 Lit hand
- Exodus 4:24 Lit him
- Exodus 4:25 Lit made it touch at his feet
- Exodus 4:26 Lit with reference to
- Exodus 4:31 Lit had visited
Exodus 4
Easy-to-Read Version
Proof for Moses
4 Then Moses said to God, “But the Israelites will not believe me when I tell them that you sent me. They will say, ‘The Lord[a] did not appear to you.’”
2 But the Lord said to Moses, “What is that you have in your hand?”
Moses answered, “It is my walking stick.”
3 Then God said, “Throw your walking stick on the ground.”
So Moses threw his walking stick on the ground, and it became a snake. Moses ran from it, 4 but the Lord said to him, “Reach out and grab the snake by its tail.”
When Moses reached out and caught the snake’s tail, the snake became a walking stick again. 5 Then God said, “Use your stick in this way, and the people will believe that you saw the Lord, the God of your ancestors, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.”
6 Then the Lord said to Moses, “I will give you another proof. Put your hand under your robe.”
So Moses opened his robe and put his hand inside. Then he brought his hand out of the robe and it was changed. His hand was covered with spots that were white like snow.
7 Then God said, “Now put your hand into your robe again.” So Moses put his hand into his robe again. Then he brought his hand out, and his hand was changed. Now his hand was good again, as it was before.
8 Then God said, “If the people don’t believe you when you use your walking stick, then they will believe you when you show them this sign. 9 If they still refuse to believe after you show them both of these signs, then take some water from the Nile River. Pour the water on the ground, and as soon as it touches the ground, it will become blood.”
10 Then Moses said to the Lord, “But, Lord, I am telling you, I am not a good speaker. I have never been able to speak well. And that hasn’t changed since you started talking to me. I am still not a good speaker. You know that I speak slowly and don’t use the best words.”[b]
11 Then the Lord said to him, “Who made a person’s mouth? And who can make someone deaf or not able to speak? Who can make a person blind? Who can make a person able to see? I am the one. I am the Lord. 12 So go. I will be with you when you speak. I will give you the words to say.”
13 But Moses said, “My Lord, I beg you to send someone else, not me.”
14 Then the Lord became angry with Moses and said, “All right! I’ll give you someone to help you. Aaron the Levite is your brother, isn’t he? He is a good speaker. In fact, Aaron is already coming to meet you, and he will be happy to see you. 15 I will tell you what to say. Then you will tell Aaron, and I will help him say it well. I will tell both of you what to do. 16 So Aaron will speak for you. Like God, you will speak to him, and he will tell the people what you say. 17 So go and carry your walking stick with you. Use it and the other miracles to show the people that I am with you.”
Moses Leaves Midian
18 Then Moses went back to Jethro, his father-in-law. Moses said to him, “Please let me go back to Egypt. I want to see if my people are still alive.”
Jethro said to Moses, “Go in peace.”
19 Then, while Moses was still in Midian, the Lord said to him, “It is safe for you to go back to Egypt now. The men who wanted to kill you are now dead.”
20 So Moses put his wife and children on the donkey and returned to Egypt. He carried his walking stick with him—the walking stick with the power of God.
21 While Moses was traveling back to Egypt, the Lord spoke to him, “When you talk to Pharaoh remember to show him all the miracles that I have given you the power to do. But I will cause Pharaoh to be very stubborn. He will not let the people go. 22 Then you should say to Pharaoh, ‘This is what the Lord says: Israel is my firstborn son. 23 And I am telling you to let my son go and worship me. If you refuse to let Israel go, then I will kill your firstborn son.’”
Moses’ Son Circumcised
24 On the way to Egypt, Moses stopped at a place to spend the night. The Lord met Moses at that place and tried to kill him.[c] 25 But Zipporah took a flint knife[d] and circumcised her son. She took the skin and touched his feet. Then she said to Moses, “You are a bridegroom of blood to me.” 26 Zipporah said this because she had to circumcise her son. So God let Moses live.[e]
Moses Arrives in Egypt
27 The Lord had spoken to Aaron and told him, “Go out into the desert and meet Moses.” So Aaron went and met Moses at the Mountain of God.[f] He saw Moses and kissed him. 28 Moses told Aaron everything the Lord had commanded him to say and all the miracles he must do to prove that God had sent him.
29 So Moses and Aaron went and gathered together all the elders of the Israelites. 30 Then Aaron spoke to the people and told them everything the Lord had told Moses. Then Moses did the miracles for all the people to see, 31 and they believed what they had heard. Then the Israelites understood that the Lord had seen their troubles and had come to help them. So they bowed down and worshiped God.
Footnotes
- Exodus 4:1 The Lord Or “Yahweh.” See “Yahweh” in the Word List.
- Exodus 4:10 I speak … words Or “I stutter and don’t speak clearly.”
- Exodus 4:24 tried to kill him Or possibly, “wanted to circumcise him.”
- Exodus 4:25 flint knife A sharp knife made from flint rock.
- Exodus 4:26 Or “And he was healed. She said, ‘You are a bridegroom of blood’ because of the circumcision.”
- Exodus 4:27 Mountain of God That is, Mount Horeb (Sinai).
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