⁹ The cry of the Israelites has now come to me; I have also seen how the Egyptians oppress them.^{(A) 10} Now go, I am sending you to Pharaoh to bring my people, the Israelites, out of Egypt.”^{(B) 11} But Moses said to God, “Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh and bring the Israelites out of Egypt?” ¹² He said, “I will be with you, and this shall be the sign for you that it is I who sent you: when you have brought the people out of Egypt, you shall serve God on this mountain.”^(C)

Moses’s Miraculous Power

4 Then Moses answered, “But look, they may not believe me or listen to me but say, ‘The Lord did not appear to you.’ ”^{(A) 2} The Lord said to him, “What is that in your hand?” He said, “A staff.”^{(B) 3} And he said, “Throw it on the ground.” So he threw the staff on the ground, and it became a snake, and Moses drew back from it. ⁴ Then the Lord said to Moses, “Reach out your hand and seize it by the tail”—so he reached out his hand and grasped it, and it became a staff in his hand—

¹⁰ But Moses said to the Lord, “O my Lord, I have never been eloquent, neither in the past nor even now that you have spoken to your servant, but I am slow of speech and slow of tongue.”^{(A) 11} Then the Lord said to him, “Who gives speech to mortals? Who makes them mute or deaf, seeing or blind? Is it not I, the Lord?^{(B) 12} Now go, and I will be with your mouth and teach you what you are to speak.”^{(C) 13} But he said, “O my Lord, please send someone else.”