4 And Moses answered, ^[a]But behold, they will not believe me or listen to and obey my voice; for they will say, The Lord has not appeared to you.

² And the Lord said to him, What is that in your hand? And he said, A rod.

³ And He said, Cast it on the ground. And he did so and it became a serpent [the symbol of royal and divine power worn on the crown of the Pharaohs]; and Moses fled from before it.

⁴ And the Lord said to Moses, Put forth your hand and take it by the tail. And he stretched out his hand and caught it, and it became a rod in his hand,

⁵ [This you shall do, said the Lord] that the elders may believe that the Lord, the God of their fathers, of Abraham, of Isaac, and of Jacob, has indeed appeared to you.

⁶ The Lord said also to him, Put your hand into your bosom. He put his hand into his bosom, and when he took it out, behold, his hand was leprous, as white as snow.

⁷ [God] said, Put your hand into your bosom again. So he put his hand back into his bosom, and when he took it out, behold, it was restored as the rest of his flesh.

⁸ [Then God said] If they will not believe you or heed the voice or the testimony of the first sign, they may believe the voice or the witness of the second sign.

⁹ But if they will also not believe these two signs or heed your voice, you shall take some water of the river [Nile] and pour it upon the dry land; and the water which you take out of the river [Nile] shall become blood on the dry land.

¹⁰ And Moses said to the Lord, O Lord, I am not eloquent or a man of words, neither before nor since You have spoken to Your servant; for I am slow of speech and have a heavy and awkward tongue.

¹¹ And the Lord said to him, Who has made man’s mouth? Or who makes the dumb, or the deaf, or the seeing, or the blind? Is it not I, the Lord?

¹² Now therefore go, and I will be with your mouth and will teach you what you shall say.

¹³ And he said, Oh, my Lord, I pray You, send by the hand of [some other] whom You will [send].

¹⁴ Then the anger of the Lord blazed against Moses; He said, Is there not Aaron your brother, the Levite? I know he can speak well. Also, he is coming out to meet you, and when he sees you, he will be overjoyed.

¹⁵ You must speak to him and put the words in his mouth; and I will be with your mouth and with his mouth and will teach you what you shall do.

¹⁶ He shall speak for you to the people, acting as a mouthpiece for you, and you shall be as God to him.

¹⁷ And you shall take this rod in your hand with which you shall work the signs [that prove I sent you].

5 Hiram king of Tyre sent his servants to Solomon, when he heard that he was anointed king in place of his father, for Hiram always loved David.

² And Solomon sent to Hiram, saying,

³ You know how David my father could not build a house to the Name of the Lord his God because wars were about him on every side, until the Lord put his foes under his feet.^(A)

⁴ But now the Lord my God has given me rest on every side, so that there is neither adversary nor evil confronting me.

⁵ And I purpose to build a house to the Name of the Lord my God, as the Lord said to David my father, Your son whom I will set on your throne in your place shall build the house to My Name and Presence.

⁶ So, Hiram, command them to hew me cedar trees out of Lebanon; my servants shall join yours, and I will give you whatever wages you set for your servants. For you know that no one among us can equal the skill of the Sidon men in cutting timber.

⁷ When Hiram heard the words of Solomon, he rejoiced greatly and said, Blessed be the Lord this day, Who has given David a wise son to be over this great people.

⁸ And Hiram sent to Solomon, saying, I have considered the things for which you sent to me; I will do all you wish concerning the cedar and cypress timber.

⁹ My servants shall bring the logs down from Lebanon to the sea, make them into rafts, and float them by sea to the place that you direct. I will have them released there, and you shall take them away. And you shall fulfill my desire by providing food for my household.

¹⁰ So Hiram gave Solomon all the cedar and cypress trees he desired,

¹¹ And Solomon gave Hiram 20,000 measures of wheat for food for his household, and 20 measures of pure, beaten oil. He gave these to Hiram yearly.

¹² The Lord gave Solomon wisdom, as He promised him; and there was peace between Hiram and Solomon, and they made a treaty.

⁴⁰ And a leper came to Him, begging Him on his knees and saying to Him, If You are willing, You are able to make me clean.

⁴¹ And being moved with pity and sympathy, Jesus reached out His hand and touched him, and said to him, I am willing; be made clean!

⁴² And at once the leprosy [completely] left him and he was made clean [by being healed].

⁴³ And Jesus charged him sternly (sharply and threateningly, and with earnest admonition) and [acting with deep feeling thrust him forth and] sent him away at once,

⁴⁴ And said to him, See that you tell nothing [of this] to anyone; but begone, show yourself to the priest, and offer for your purification what Moses commanded, as a proof (an evidence and witness) to the people [that you are really healed].^(A)

⁴⁵ But he went out and began to talk so freely about it and blaze abroad the news [spreading it everywhere] that [Jesus] could no longer openly go into a town but was outside in [lonely] desert places. But the people kept on coming to Him from ^[a]all sides and every quarter.