Shemot 4
Orthodox Jewish Bible
4 And Moshe answered and said, But, what if they will not believe me, nor pay heed unto my voice but will say, Hashem hath not appeared unto thee.
2 And Hashem said unto him, What is that in thine yad? And he said, A matteh (a rod, staff).
3 And He said, Cast it on the ground. And he cast it on the ground, and it became a nachash; and Moshe fled from before it.
4 And Hashem said unto Moshe, Put forth thine yad, and take it by the tail. And he put forth his yad, and caught it, and it became a matteh in his yad;
5 That they may believe that Hashem Elohei Avotam, Elohei Avraham, Elohei Yitzchak, and Elohei Ya’akov, hath appeared unto thee.
6 And Hashem said furthermore unto him, Put now thine yad into thy kheyk. And he put his yad into his kheyk; and when he took it out, hinei, his yad was leprous as snow.
7 And He said, Put thine yad into thy kheyk again. And he put his yad into his kheyk again; and plucked it out of his kheyk, and, hinei, it was turned again as his other basar.
8 And it shall come to pass, if they will not believe thee, neither pay heed to the voice of haOt Harishon, that they will believe the voice of haOt haAcharon.
9 And it shall come to pass, if they will not believe also these two otot, neither pay heed unto thy voice, that thou shalt take of the mayim of the Nile, and pour it upon the yabashah (dry land); and the mayim which thou takest out of the Nile shall become dahm upon the yabashah.
10 And Moshe said unto Hashem, O Adonoi, I am not an ish devarim, neither heretofore, nor since Thou hast spoken unto Thy eved; but I am slow of speech, and of a slow lashon.
11 And Hashem said unto him, Who hath made man’s peh (mouth)? Or who maketh dumb, or deaf, or seeing, or blind? Is it not I, Hashem?
12 Now therefore go, and Eh-heh-yeh (I will be) with thy mouth, and teach thee what thou shalt say.
13 And he said, O Adonoi, send, now, by the yad of him whom Thou wilt send.
14 And the Af Hashem was kindled against Moshe, and He said, Is there not Aharon thy ach the Levi? I know that he can speak well. And also, hinei, he cometh forth to meet thee; and when he seeth thee, he will be glad in his lev.
15 And thou shalt speak unto him, and put words in his mouth; and Eh-heh-yeh (I will be) with thy mouth, and with his mouth, and will teach you what ye shall do.
16 And he shall be thy spokesman unto the people; and he shall be, even he shall be to thee instead of a mouth, and thou shalt be to him instead of Elohim.
17 And thou shalt take this matteh in thine yad, wherewith thou shalt do haOtot.
18 And Moshe went and returned to Yitro his khoten (father-in-law), and said unto him, Let me go, now, and return unto my achim which are in Mitzrayim, and see whether they be yet alive. And Yitro said to Moshe, Lech l’shalom (go in peace).
19 And Hashem said unto Moshe in Midyan, Go, shuv (return) into Mitzrayim; for all the anashim are dead which sought thy life.
20 And Moshe took his isha and his banim, and set them upon a donkey, and he returned to Eretz Mitzrayim; and matteh HaElohim in his yad.
21 And Hashem said unto Moshe, When thou goest to return into Mitzrayim, see that thou do all those mofetim before Pharaoh, which I have put in thine yad: but I will harden his lev, that he shall not let HaAm go.
22 And thou shalt say unto Pharaoh, Thus saith Hashem, Yisroel is beni (My son), even My bechor (first-born):
23 And I say unto thee, Let beni (My son) go, that he may serve Me: and if thou refuse to let him go, hinei, I will slay thy ben, even thy bechor.
24 And it came to pass on the derech at the malon, that Hashem met him, and sought to kill him.
25 Then Tzipporah took a sharp stone, and cut off the arlat ben (foreskin of son) of her, and cast it at his feet, and said, Surely a choson damim (a bridegroom of blood) art thou to me.
26 So He let him go; then she said, A choson damim thou art, because of the circumcision (i.e., [bris] milah).
27 And Hashem said to Aharon, Go into the midbar to meet Moshe. And he went, and met him in the Har HaElohim, and kissed him.
28 And Moshe told Aharon kol divrei Hashem who had sent him, and all haOtot He had commanded him.
29 And Moshe and Aharon went and assembled together kol Ziknei Bnei Yisroel;
30 And Aharon spoke all hadevarim which Hashem had spoken unto Moshe; and he did haOtot before the eyes of HaAm.
31 And HaAm believed; and when they heard that Hashem had visited the Bnei Yisroel, and that He had looked upon their oni, then they bowed their heads and worshiped.
Exodus 4
New King James Version
Miraculous Signs for Pharaoh
4 Then Moses answered and said, “But suppose they will not believe me or listen to my voice; suppose they say, ‘The Lord has not appeared to you.’ ”
2 So the Lord said to him, “What is that in your hand?”
He said, “A rod.”
3 And He said, “Cast it on the ground.” So he cast it on the ground, and it became a serpent; and Moses fled from it. 4 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Reach out your hand and take it by the tail” (and he reached out his hand and caught it, and it became a rod in his hand), 5 “that they may (A)believe that the (B)Lord God of their fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has appeared to you.”
6 Furthermore the Lord said to him, “Now put your hand in your bosom.” And he put his hand in his bosom, and when he took it out, behold, his hand was leprous, (C)like snow. 7 And He said, “Put your hand in your bosom again.” So he put his hand in his bosom again, and drew it out of his bosom, and behold, (D)it was restored like his other flesh. 8 “Then it will be, if they do not believe you, nor heed the message of the (E)first sign, that they may believe the message of the latter sign. 9 And it shall be, if they do not believe even these two signs, or listen to your voice, that you shall take water from [a]the river and pour it on the dry land. (F)The water which you take from the river will become blood on the dry land.”
10 Then Moses said to the Lord, “O my Lord, I am not eloquent, neither before nor since You have spoken to Your servant; but (G)I am slow of speech and [b]slow of tongue.”
11 So the Lord said to him, (H)“Who has made man’s mouth? Or who makes the mute, the deaf, the seeing, or the blind? Have not I, the Lord? 12 Now therefore, go, and I will be (I)with your mouth and teach you what you shall say.”
13 But he said, “O my Lord, (J)please send by the hand of whomever else You may send.”
14 So (K)the anger of the Lord was kindled against Moses, and He said: “Is not Aaron the Levite your (L)brother? I know that he can speak well. And look, (M)he is also coming out to meet you. When he sees you, he will be glad in his heart. 15 Now (N)you shall speak to him and (O)put the words in his mouth. And I will be with your mouth and with his mouth, and (P)I will teach you what you shall do. 16 So he shall be your spokesman to the people. And he himself shall be as a mouth for you, and (Q)you shall be to him as God. 17 And you shall take this rod in your hand, with which you shall do the signs.”
Moses Goes to Egypt
18 So Moses went and returned to (R)Jethro his father-in-law, and said to him, “Please let me go and return to my brethren who are in Egypt, and see whether they are still alive.”
And Jethro said to Moses, (S)“Go in peace.”
19 Now the Lord said to Moses in (T)Midian, “Go, return to (U)Egypt; for all the men who (V)sought your life are dead.” 20 Then Moses (W)took his wife and his sons and set them on a donkey, and he returned to the land of Egypt. And Moses took (X)the rod of God in his hand.
21 And the Lord said to Moses, “When you go back to Egypt, see that you do all those (Y)wonders before Pharaoh which I have put in your hand. But (Z)I will harden his heart, so that he will not let the people go. 22 Then you shall (AA)say to Pharaoh, ‘Thus says the Lord: (AB)“Israel is My son, (AC)My firstborn. 23 So I say to you, let My son go that he may serve Me. But if you refuse to let him go, indeed (AD)I will kill your son, your firstborn.” ’ ”
24 And it came to pass on the way, at the (AE)encampment, that the Lord (AF)met him and sought to (AG)kill him. 25 Then (AH)Zipporah took (AI)a sharp stone and cut off the foreskin of her son and [c]cast it at [d]Moses’ feet, and said, “Surely you are a husband of blood to me!” 26 So He let him go. Then she said, “You are a [e]husband of blood!”—because of the circumcision.
27 And the Lord said to Aaron, “Go into the wilderness (AJ)to meet Moses.” So he went and met him on (AK)the mountain of God, and kissed him. 28 So Moses (AL)told Aaron all the words of the Lord who had sent him, and all the (AM)signs which He had commanded him. 29 Then Moses and Aaron (AN)went and gathered together all the elders of the children of Israel. 30 (AO)And Aaron spoke all the words which the Lord had spoken to Moses. Then he did the signs in the sight of the people. 31 So the people (AP)believed; and when they heard that the Lord had (AQ)visited the children of Israel and that He (AR)had looked on their affliction, then (AS)they bowed their heads and worshiped.
Footnotes
- Exodus 4:9 The Nile
- Exodus 4:10 heavy or dull of tongue; cannot talk very well
- Exodus 4:25 Lit. made it touch
- Exodus 4:25 Lit. his
- Exodus 4:26 bridegroom
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Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
