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Moses Returns to Egypt

18 Then Moses went and returned to [a]Jethro (A)his father-in-law and said to him, “Please, let me go, that I may return to my brothers who are in Egypt and see if they are still alive.” And Jethro said to Moses, “Go in peace.” 19 And Yahweh said to Moses in Midian, “Go, return to Egypt, for (B)all the men who were seeking your life are dead.” 20 So Moses took his wife and his (C)sons and mounted them on a donkey and returned to the land of Egypt. Moses also took the (D)staff of God in his hand.

21 And Yahweh said to Moses, “When you go to return to Egypt, see to it that all (E)the miraculous wonders which I have put in your hand, that you do them before Pharaoh; but as for Me, (F)I will [b]harden his heart with strength so that he will not let the people go. 22 Then you shall say to Pharaoh, ‘Thus says Yahweh, “(G)Israel is My son, My firstborn. 23 So I said to you, ‘(H)Let My son go that he may serve Me’; but you have refused to let him go. Behold, (I)I will kill your son, your firstborn.”’”

24 Now it happened at the lodging place on the way that Yahweh encountered him and (J)sought to put him to death. 25 Then Zipporah took (K)a flint and cut off her son’s foreskin and touched [c]his feet with it, and she said, “You are indeed a bridegroom of blood to me!” 26 So He let him alone. At that time she said, “You are a bridegroom of blood” with reference to the circumcision.

27 (L)Then Yahweh said to Aaron, “Go to meet Moses in the wilderness.” So he went and encountered him at the (M)mountain of God and kissed him. 28 (N)And Moses told Aaron all the words of Yahweh with which He had sent him, and (O)all the signs that He had commanded him to do.

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Footnotes

  1. Exodus 4:18 Heb Jether
  2. Exodus 4:21 Lit strengthen
  3. Exodus 4:25 Moses’ feet

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.

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Footnotes

  1. Exodus 4:21 Exodus uses three words for hardening or hardness of heart. The most common one chazaq is translated harden. The other two, kabad and qashah, are translated unyielding and stubborn. The verbs seem interchangeable.
  2. Exodus 4:24 Interpreters disagree whether it was Moses or one of his sons that God was about to kill. The whole account is cryptic.