Exodus 4:18-28

Evangelical Heritage Version

Moses Returns to Egypt

¹⁸ Then Moses went back to his father-in-law Jethro and said to him, “Let me go and return to my own people, who are in Egypt, and see whether they are still alive.”

Jethro said to Moses, “Go in peace.”

¹⁹ The Lord said to Moses in Midian, “Go, return to Egypt, for everyone who wanted to kill you is dead.”

²⁰ So Moses took his wife and his sons, placed them on a donkey, and set out to return to the land of Egypt. Moses took the staff of God in his hand.

²¹ The Lord said to Moses, “When you go back to Egypt, make sure that you perform in the presence of Pharaoh all the wonders which I have put into your hand. However, I will make his heart hard,^[a] and he will not let the people go. ²² You will then say to Pharaoh, ‘The Lord says: Israel is my son, my firstborn, ²³ and I have said to you, “Let my son go to serve me,” but you have refused to let him go. Watch out. I will kill your son, your firstborn.’”

²⁴ At a lodging place along the way, the Lord confronted him and sought to kill him.^{[b] 25} Then Zipporah took a flint blade, cut off her son’s foreskin, and cast it at his feet. Then she said, “Surely you are a bridegroom of blood to me.”

²⁶ So the Lord left him alone. (At that time she said “bridegroom of blood,” referring to circumcision.)

Reunion of Moses and Aaron

²⁷ The Lord had said to Aaron, “Go into the wilderness to meet Moses.”

So he went, met Moses at the mountain of God, and kissed him. ²⁸ Moses told Aaron all the words that the Lord had sent him to speak and all the signs he had commanded him to perform.