Exodus 4

New International Version

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’?”

²Then the Lord said to him, “What is that in your hand?”

“A staff,”^(B) he replied.

³The Lord said, “Throw it on the ground.”

Moses threw it on the ground and it became a snake,^(C) and he ran from it. ⁴Then the Lord said to him, “Reach out your hand and take it by the tail.” So Moses reached out and took hold of the snake and it turned back into a staff in his hand. ⁵“This,” said the Lord, “is so that they may believe^(D) that the Lord, the God of their fathers—the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob—has appeared to you.”

⁶Then the Lord said, “Put your hand inside your cloak.” So Moses put his hand into his cloak, and when he took it out, the skin was leprous^[a]—it had become as white as snow.^(E)

⁷“Now put it back into your cloak,” he said. So Moses put his hand back into his cloak, and when he took it out, it was restored,^(F) like the rest of his flesh.

⁸Then the Lord said, “If they do not believe^(G) you or pay attention to the first sign,^(H) they may believe the second. ⁹But if they do not believe these two signs or listen to you, take some water from the Nile and pour it on the dry ground. The water you take from the river will become blood^(I) on the ground.”

¹⁰Moses 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.”^(J)

¹¹The Lord said to him, “Who gave human beings their mouths? Who makes them deaf or mute?^(K) Who gives them sight or makes them blind?^(L) Is it not I, the Lord? ¹²Now go;^(M) I will help you speak and will teach you what to say.”^(N)

¹³But Moses said, “Pardon your servant, Lord. Please send someone else.”^(O)

¹⁴Then the Lord’s anger burned^(P) against Moses and he said, “What about your brother, Aaron the Levite? I know he can speak well. He is already on his way to meet^(Q) you, and he will be glad to see you. ¹⁵You shall speak to him and put words in his mouth;^(R) I will help both of you speak and will teach you what to do. ¹⁶He will speak to the people for you, and it will be as if he were your mouth^(S) and as if you were God to him.^(T) ¹⁷But take this staff^(U) in your hand^(V) so you can perform the signs^(W) with it.”

Moses Returns to Egypt

¹⁸Then Moses went back to Jethro his father-in-law and said to him, “Let me return to my own people in Egypt to see if any of them are still alive.”

Jethro said, “Go, and I wish you well.”

¹⁹Now the Lord had said to Moses in Midian, “Go back to Egypt, for all those who wanted to kill^(X) you are dead.^(Y)” ²⁰So Moses took his wife and sons,^(Z) put them on a donkey and started back to Egypt. And he took the staff^(AA) of God in his hand.

²¹The Lord said to Moses, “When you return to Egypt, see that you perform before Pharaoh all the wonders^(AB) I have given you the power to do. But I will harden his heart^(AC) so that he will not let the people go.^(AD) ²²Then say to Pharaoh, ‘This is what the Lord says: Israel is my firstborn son,^(AE) ²³and I told you, “Let my son go,^(AF) so he may worship^(AG) me.” But you refused to let him go; so I will kill your firstborn son.’”^(AH)

²⁴At a lodging place on the way, the Lord met Moses^[b] and was about to kill^(AI) him. ²⁵But Zipporah^(AJ) took a flint knife, cut off her son’s foreskin^(AK) and touched Moses’ feet with it.^[c] “Surely you are a bridegroom of blood to me,” she said. ²⁶So the Lord let him alone. (At that time she said “bridegroom of blood,” referring to circumcision.)

²⁷The Lord said to Aaron, “Go into the wilderness to meet Moses.” So he met Moses at the mountain^(AL) of God and kissed^(AM) him. ²⁸Then Moses told Aaron everything the Lord had sent him to say, and also about all the signs he had commanded him to perform.

²⁹Moses and Aaron brought together all the elders^(AN) of the Israelites, ³⁰and Aaron told them everything the Lord had said to Moses. He also performed the signs^(AO) before the people, ³¹and they believed.^(AP) And when they heard that the Lord was concerned^(AQ) about them and had seen their misery,^(AR) they bowed down and worshiped.^(AS)

Footnotes

Exodus 4:6 The Hebrew word for leprous was used for various diseases affecting the skin.
Exodus 4:24 Hebrew him
Exodus 4:25 The meaning of the Hebrew for this clause is uncertain.

Job 21

New International Version

Job

21 Then Job replied:

²“Listen carefully to my words;^(A)
let this be the consolation you give me.^(B)
³Bear with me while I speak,
and after I have spoken, mock on.^(C)

⁴“Is my complaint^(D) directed to a human being?
    Why should I not be impatient?^(E)
⁵Look at me and be appalled;
    clap your hand over your mouth.^(F)
⁶When I think about this, I am terrified;^(G)
    trembling seizes my body.^(H)
⁷Why do the wicked live on,
    growing old and increasing in power?^(I)
⁸They see their children established around them,
    their offspring before their eyes.^(J)
⁹Their homes are safe and free from fear;^(K)
    the rod of God is not on them.^(L)
¹⁰Their bulls never fail to breed;
    their cows calve and do not miscarry.^(M)
¹¹They send forth their children as a flock;^(N)
    their little ones dance about.
¹²They sing to the music of timbrel and lyre;^(O)
    they make merry to the sound of the pipe.^(P)
¹³They spend their years in prosperity^(Q)
    and go down to the grave^(R) in peace.^[a]^(S)
¹⁴Yet they say to God, ‘Leave us alone!^(T)
    We have no desire to know your ways.^(U)
¹⁵Who is the Almighty, that we should serve him?
    What would we gain by praying to him?’^(V)
¹⁶But their prosperity is not in their own hands,
    so I stand aloof from the plans of the wicked.^(W)

¹⁷“Yet how often is the lamp of the wicked snuffed out?^(X)
    How often does calamity^(Y) come upon them,
    the fate God allots in his anger?^(Z)
¹⁸How often are they like straw before the wind,
    like chaff^(AA) swept away^(AB) by a gale?^(AC)
¹⁹It is said, ‘God stores up the punishment of the wicked for their children.’^(AD)
    Let him repay the wicked, so that they themselves will experience it!^(AE)
²⁰Let their own eyes see their destruction;^(AF)
    let them drink^(AG) the cup of the wrath of the Almighty.^(AH)
²¹For what do they care about the families they leave behind^(AI)
    when their allotted months^(AJ) come to an end?^(AK)

²²“Can anyone teach knowledge to God,^(AL)
    since he judges even the highest?^(AM)
²³One person dies in full vigor,^(AN)
    completely secure and at ease,^(AO)
²⁴well nourished^(AP) in body,^[b]
    bones^(AQ) rich with marrow.^(AR)
²⁵Another dies in bitterness of soul,^(AS)
    never having enjoyed anything good.
²⁶Side by side they lie in the dust,^(AT)
    and worms^(AU) cover them both.^(AV)

²⁷“I know full well what you are thinking,
    the schemes by which you would wrong me.
²⁸You say, ‘Where now is the house of the great,^(AW)
    the tents where the wicked lived?’^(AX)
²⁹Have you never questioned those who travel?
    Have you paid no regard to their accounts—
³⁰that the wicked are spared from the day of calamity,^(AY)
    that they are delivered from^[c] the day of wrath?^(AZ)
³¹Who denounces their conduct to their face?
    Who repays them for what they have done?^(BA)
³²They are carried to the grave,
    and watch is kept over their tombs.^(BB)
³³The soil in the valley is sweet to them;^(BC)
    everyone follows after them,
    and a countless throng goes^[d] before them.^(BD)

³⁴“So how can you console me^(BE) with your nonsense?
Nothing is left of your answers but falsehood!”^(BF)

Footnotes

Job 21:13 Or in an instant
Job 21:24 The meaning of the Hebrew for this word is uncertain.
Job 21:30 Or wicked are reserved for the day of calamity, / that they are brought forth to
Job 21:33 Or them, / as a countless throng went

Psalm 52

New International Version

Psalm 52^[a]

For the director of music. A maskil^[b] of David. When Doeg the Edomite^(A) had gone to Saul and told him: “David has gone to the house of Ahimelek.”

¹Why do you boast of evil, you mighty hero?
    Why do you boast^(B) all day long,^(C)
    you who are a disgrace in the eyes of God?
²You who practice deceit,^(D)
    your tongue plots destruction;^(E)
    it is like a sharpened razor.^(F)
³You love evil^(G) rather than good,
    falsehood^(H) rather than speaking the truth.^[c]
⁴You love every harmful word,
    you deceitful tongue!^(I)

⁵Surely God will bring you down to everlasting ruin:
    He will snatch you up and pluck^(J) you from your tent;
    he will uproot^(K) you from the land of the living.^(L)
⁶The righteous will see and fear;
    they will laugh^(M) at you, saying,
⁷“Here now is the man
    who did not make God his stronghold^(N)
but trusted in his great wealth^(O)
    and grew strong by destroying others!”

⁸But I am like an olive tree^(P)
    flourishing in the house of God;
I trust^(Q) in God’s unfailing love
    for ever and ever.
⁹For what you have done I will always praise you^(R)
    in the presence of your faithful people.^(S)
And I will hope in your name,^(T)
    for your name is good.^(U)

Footnotes

Psalm 52:1 In Hebrew texts 52:1-9 is numbered 52:3-11.
Psalm 52:1 Title: Probably a literary or musical term
Psalm 52:3 The Hebrew has Selah (a word of uncertain meaning) here and at the end of verse 5.