Exodus 4
Names of God Bible
4 “They will never believe me or listen to me!” Moses protested. “They will say, ‘Yahweh didn’t appear to you.’”
2 Then Yahweh asked him, “What’s that in your hand?”
He answered, “A shepherd’s staff.”
3 Yahweh said, “Throw it on the ground.”
When Moses threw it on the ground, it became a snake, and he ran away from it.
4 Then Yahweh said to Moses, “Reach out and grab the snake by its tail.” He reached out and grabbed it, and it turned back into a staff as he held it. 5 The Lord explained, “This is to convince the people that Yahweh Elohim of their ancestors, the Elohim of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, appeared to you.”
6 Yahweh said to him, “Put your hand inside your shirt.” So Moses did this, and when he took his hand out, it had a skin disease. It looked as flaky as snow. 7 “Now put your hand back inside your shirt,” Yahweh said. Moses put it back, and when he took it out this time, it was healthy again like the rest of his body.
8 Then the Lord said, “If they won’t believe you or pay attention to the first miraculous sign, they may believe the second. 9 But if they won’t believe these two miraculous signs or listen to you, take some water from the Nile River and pour it on the ground. The water you take from the Nile will turn into blood on the ground.”
10 Moses said to Yahweh, “Please, Adonay, I’m not a good speaker. I’ve never been a good speaker, and I’m not now, even though you’ve spoken to me. I speak slowly, and I become tongue-tied easily.”
11 Yahweh asked him, “Who gave humans their mouths? Who makes humans unable to talk or hear? Who gives them sight or makes them blind? It is I, Yahweh! 12 Now go, and I will help you speak and will teach you what to say.”
13 But Moses said, “Please, Adonay, send someone else.”
14 Then Yahweh became angry with Moses and asked, “What about your brother Aaron the Levite? I know he can speak well. He’s already on his way to meet you, and he will be very glad to see you. 15 You will speak to him and tell him what to say. I will help both of you speak, and I will teach you both what to do. 16 Aaron will speak to the people for you. He will be your spokesman, and you will be like Elohim. 17 Take that shepherd’s staff with you, and use it to do the miraculous signs.”
Moses Returns to Egypt
18 Then Moses went back to his father-in-law Jethro. Moses said to him, “Please let me go back to my own people in Egypt. I would like to see if they’re still alive.”
Jethro said to Moses, “You may go.”
19 Now, Yahweh had said to Moses in Midian, “Go back to Egypt, because all the men who wanted to kill you are dead.”
20 So Moses took his wife and sons, put them on a donkey, and started out for Egypt. He also brought with him the staff Elohim had told him to take.
21 Yahweh said to Moses, “When you get back to Egypt, see that you show Pharaoh all the amazing things that I have given you the power to do. But I will make him stubborn so that he will not let the people go. 22 Then tell Pharaoh, ‘This is what Yahweh says: Israel is my firstborn son. 23 I told you to let my son go so that he may worship me. But you refused to let him go. So now I’m going to kill your firstborn son.’”
24 Along the way they stopped for the night. Yahweh met Moses and tried to kill him. 25 Then Zipporah took a flint knife, cut off her son’s foreskin, and touched Moses’ feet with it. She said, “You are a bridegroom of blood to me!” 26 So Yahweh let him alone. It was because of the circumcision that she said at that time, “You are a bridegroom of blood!”
Moses and Aaron Tell the People What the Lord Said
27 Meanwhile, Yahweh had told Aaron to meet Moses in the desert.
When Aaron met Moses at the mountain of Elohim, he kissed him. 28 Moses told Aaron everything Yahweh had sent him to say and all the miraculous signs Yahweh had commanded him to do.
29 Then Moses and Aaron went to Egypt and assembled all the leaders of the people of Israel. 30 Aaron told them everything Yahweh had said to Moses. He also did the miraculous signs for the people, 31 and the people believed them. When they heard that Yahweh was concerned about the people of Israel and that he had seen their misery, they knelt, bowing with their faces touching the ground.
Exodus 4
Contemporary English Version
The Lord Gives Great Power to Moses
4 Moses asked the Lord, “Suppose everyone refuses to listen to my message, and no one believes that you really appeared to me?”
2 The Lord answered, “What's that in your hand?”
“A walking stick,” Moses replied.
3 “Throw it down!” the Lord commanded. So Moses threw the stick on the ground. It immediately turned into a snake, and Moses jumped back.
4 “Pick it up by the tail!” the Lord told him. And when Moses did this, the snake turned back into a walking stick.
5 “Do this,” the Lord said, “and the Israelites will believe that you have seen me, the God who was worshiped by their ancestors Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.”
6 Next, the Lord commanded Moses, “Put your hand inside your shirt.” Moses obeyed, and when he took it out, his hand had turned white as snow—like someone with leprosy.[a]
7 “Put your hand back inside your shirt,” the Lord told him. Moses did so, and when he took it out again, it was as healthy as the rest of his body.
8-9 Then the Lord said, “If no one believes either of these miracles, take some water from the Nile River and pour it on the ground. The water will immediately turn into blood.”
10 Moses replied, “I have never been a good speaker. I wasn't one before you spoke to me, and I'm not one now. I am slow at speaking, and I can never think of what to say.”
11 But the Lord answered, “Who makes people able to speak or makes them deaf or unable to speak? Who gives them sight or makes them blind? Don't you know that I am the one who does these things? 12 Now go! When you speak, I will be with you and give you the words to say.”
13 Moses begged, “Lord, please send someone else to do it.”
14 The Lord became angry with Moses and said:
What about your brother Aaron, the Levite? I know he is a good speaker. He is already on his way here to visit you, and he will be happy to see you again. 15-16 Aaron will speak to the people for you, and you will be like me, telling Aaron what to say. I will be with both of you as you speak, and I will tell each of you what to do. 17 Now take this walking stick and use it to perform miracles.
Moses Returns to Egypt
18 Moses went to his father-in-law Jethro and asked, “Please let me return to Egypt to see if any of my people are still alive.”
“All right,” Jethro replied. “I hope all goes well.”
19 But even before this, the Lord had told Moses, “Leave the land of Midian and return to Egypt. Everyone who wanted to kill you is now dead.” 20 So Moses put his wife and sons on donkeys and headed for Egypt, holding the walking stick that had the power of God.
21 On the way the Lord said to Moses:
When you get to Egypt, go to the king and work the miracles I have shown you. But I will make him so stubborn that he will refuse to let my people go. 22 Then tell him that I have said, “Israel is my first-born son, 23 (A) and I commanded you to release him, so he could worship me. But you refused, and now I will kill your first-born son.”
Zipporah's Son Is Circumcised
24 One night while Moses was in camp, the Lord was about to kill him. 25 But Zipporah[b] circumcised her son with a flint knife. She touched his[c] legs with the skin she had cut off and said, “My dear son, this blood will protect you.”[d] 26 So the Lord did not harm Moses. Then Zipporah said, “Yes, my dear, you are safe because of this circumcision.”[e]
Aaron Is Sent To Meet Moses
27 The Lord sent Aaron to meet Moses in the desert. So Aaron met Moses at Mount Sinai[f] and greeted him with a kiss. 28 Moses told Aaron what God had sent him to say; he also told him about the miracles God had given him the power to perform.
29 Later they brought together the leaders of Israel, 30 and Aaron told them what the Lord had sent Moses to say. Then Moses worked the miracles for the people, 31 and everyone believed. They bowed down and worshiped the Lord because they knew that he had seen their suffering and was going to help them.
Footnotes
- 4.6 leprosy: The word translated “leprosy” was used for many different kinds of skin diseases.
- 4.25 Zipporah: The wife of Moses (see 2.16-21).
- 4.25 his: Either Moses or the boy.
- 4.25 My dear son … you: Or “My dear husband, you are a man of blood” (meaning Moses).
- 4.26 you are … circumcision: Or “you are a man of blood.”
- 4.27 Mount Sinai: Hebrew “the mountain of God.”
The Names of God Bible (without notes) © 2011 by Baker Publishing Group.
Copyright © 1995 by American Bible Society For more information about CEV, visit www.bibles.com and www.cev.bible.
