Exodus 4:1-9
World English Bible
4 Moses answered, “But, behold, they will not believe me, nor listen to my voice; for they will say, ‘Yahweh has not appeared to you.’”
2 Yahweh said to him, “What is that in your hand?”
He said, “A rod.”
3 He said, “Throw it on the ground.”
He threw it on the ground, and it became a snake; and Moses ran away from it.
4 Yahweh said to Moses, “Stretch out your hand, and take it by the tail.”
He stretched out his hand, and took hold of it, and it became a rod in his hand.
5 “This is so that they may believe that Yahweh, the God of their fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has appeared to you.” 6 Yahweh said furthermore to him, “Now put your hand inside your cloak.”
He put his hand inside his cloak, and when he took it out, behold, his hand was leprous, as white as snow.
7 He said, “Put your hand inside your cloak again.”
He put his hand inside his cloak again, and when he took it out of his cloak, behold, it had turned again as his other flesh.
8 “It will happen, if they will not believe you or listen to the voice of the first sign, that they will believe the voice of the latter sign. 9 It will happen, if they will not believe even these two signs or listen to your voice, that you shall take of the water of the river, and pour it on the dry land. The water which you take out of the river will become blood on the dry land.”
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Exodus 4:1-9
International Standard Version
Moses Argues with God
4 Then Moses answered, “Look, they won’t believe me and they won’t listen to me.[a] Instead, they’ll say, ‘The Lord didn’t appear to you.’”
2 “What’s that in your hand?” the Lord asked him.
Moses[b] answered, “A staff.”[c]
3 Then God[d] said, “Throw it to the ground.” He threw it to the ground and it became a snake. Moses ran away from it.
4 Then God told Moses, “Reach out[e] and grab its tail.” So he reached out, grabbed it, and it became a staff[f] in his hand. 5 God said, “I’ve done this[g] so that they may believe that the Lord God of their ancestors—the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob—has appeared to you.”
6 Again the Lord told him, “Put your hand into your bosom.”[h] He put his hand into his bosom and as soon as he brought it out it was leprous, like snow.[i] 7 Then God[j] said, “Put your hand back into your bosom.” He returned it[k] to his bosom and as soon as he brought it out,[l] it was restored like the rest of[m] his skin.[n]
8 “Then if they don’t believe you and respond to the first sign, they may respond to the second[o] sign. 9 But if they don’t believe even these two signs, and won’t listen to you, then take some water out of the Nile River[p] and pour it on the dry ground. The water you took from the Nile River[q] will turn into blood on the dry ground.”
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- Exodus 4:1 Lit. to my voice. And so through the passage
- Exodus 4:2 Lit. he
- Exodus 4:2 Or rod
- Exodus 4:3 Lit. he
- Exodus 4:4 Lit. Stretch out your hand
- Exodus 4:4 Or rod
- Exodus 4:5 The Heb. lacks God said, “I have done this
- Exodus 4:6 I.e. under the folds of the garment at the chest
- Exodus 4:6 I.e. his hand was white
- Exodus 4:7 Lit. He
- Exodus 4:7 Lit. his hand
- Exodus 4:7 Lit. out from his bosom
- Exodus 4:7 The Heb. lacks the rest of
- Exodus 4:7 Lit. flesh
- Exodus 4:8 Lit. latter
- Exodus 4:9 The Heb. lacks River
- Exodus 4:9 The Heb. lacks River
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