Old/New Testament
4 Moses: What if they don’t trust me? What if they don’t listen to a single word I say? They are more likely to reply: “The Eternal has not revealed Himself to you.”
The Eternal One answered Moses.
Eternal One: 2 What do you have in your hand?
Moses: My shepherd’s staff.
Eternal One: 3 Throw your staff down on the ground.
God has been called by many names and titles, and those reflect to some extent aspects of God’s nature and character. In this encounter, God reveals to Moses His name. This is a special name by which God invites His covenant partners to know and call on Him for all time. It sometimes appears in books or translations as YHWH or Yahweh, but this is only a transliteration of the four letters in Hebrew; it’s not a translation of its meaning. The name is built on the Hebrew verb “to be” and refers to the fact that God is the Self-existent One—“I AM WHO I AM.” Many translations render the divine name “Lord” (in capital and small capital letters), but this translation uses “the Eternal One,” for at the heart of the name is the notion that God has always been and always will be. God transcends time and existence; He is the ground of existence. Out of respect, the ancients would seldom speak or write the covenant name; they would use it only on the most solemn occasions. Still God is establishing a unique relationship with Abraham’s descendants, and it is time to reveal to them His name.
So Moses threw the staff on the ground, and it was transformed into a snake. Moses quickly jumped back in fear.
Eternal One: 4 Reach out and grab it by the tail.
Despite his natural fears, Moses reached out and grabbed the snake; and as he held it, it changed back into a shepherd’s staff.
Eternal One: 5 This sign is so the people will believe that I, the God of their fathers—Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob—have revealed Himself to you.
6 Now for the second sign. Put your hand on your chest inside your shirt.
Moses did as the Eternal instructed; and when he pulled his hand out, his hand was covered with some disease that made it look as white as snow.
Eternal One: 7 Put your hand back inside your clothes.
Moses again did as He instructed, and when he removed his hand from his shirt, it returned to normal like the rest of his skin.
Eternal One: 8-9 If they refuse to believe you, and are not persuaded after you perform the first sign, perhaps they will be after the second sign. But if they refuse to believe you and are not persuaded after you perform the first two signs, then here is a third sign: Take some water from the Nile and pour it out onto the ground. The water you take from the Nile will become blood on the ground.
Moses: 10 Please, Lord, I am not a talented speaker. I have never been good with words. I wasn’t when I was younger and I haven’t gotten any better since You revealed Yourself to me. I stutter and stammer. My words get all twisted.
Eternal One: 11 Who is it that gives a person a mouth? Who determines whether one person speaks and another doesn’t? Why is it that one person hears and another doesn’t? And why can one person see and another doesn’t? Isn’t it because of Me, the Eternal? You know it is. 12 Go now, and I will be there to give you the words to speak; I will tell you what to say.
Moses: 13 Please, Lord, I beg you to send Your message through someone else, anyone else.
14 Then the Eternal became angry with Moses.
Eternal One: How about your brother—Aaron the Levite? I know he speaks eloquently. And look, he is already on his way to meet you. When he sees you, his heart will be delighted. 15 I want you to talk to him and put the right words in his mouth. I will guide your mouth and his mouth and instruct you both on what you should do. 16 He will address the people as your spokesman. He will serve as your mouth; and you will instruct him in what he is to say as if you were God to him.
17 Take this staff in your hand, and use it to perform the signs I have shown you.
18 Barely convinced, Moses went back to his father-in-law, Jethro.
Moses (to Jethro): Please let me leave now, so that I can go back to my Hebrew brothers and sisters in Egypt and find out if they are still alive.
Jethro: You may go now with my blessing and peace.
19 The Eternal spoke to Moses while he was still in Midian.
Eternal One: Go back to Egypt. I assure you, all the men who wanted to kill you are no longer alive.
20 Moses placed his wife and sons on a donkey, and he started on the long journey back to Egypt. As he walked, he carried God’s staff—his shepherd’s staff—with him.
Eternal One: 21 When you arrive in Egypt, I want you to pay Pharaoh a visit. Make sure you perform all the wonders that I have entrusted to your hand. But I am going to harden Pharaoh’s stony heart, so that he will not free the people. 22 Then I want you to give Pharaoh a message for Me. Tell him, “This is what the Eternal says: ‘Israel is My firstborn son. 23 I say to you, “Release My son, so that he may serve Me,” but in your stubbornness you refused to free him; therefore, I am going to kill your firstborn son.’”
24 While on their way to Egypt, they stopped at a place to rest. But the Eternal met Moses, and it seemed like He was about to kill him, 25 when Zipporah grabbed a flint knife and quickly cut off her son’s foreskin. She dropped it at Moses’ feet.
Zipporah: Certainly you are a bridegroom of blood to me.
26 So the Eternal released Moses from this offense. When Zipporah made the remark, “a bridegroom of blood,” she was talking about the circumcision.
This strange episode is difficult to understand. There is much here that is unexplainable. What is clear is that Moses has been called by God to challenge Pharaoh—one of the most powerful men in history—and to rescue hundreds of thousands of Hebrew slaves from lives of hard labor. On a human level, at least, this seems like risky business. But Moses’ mission is something else entirely; it is God’s business, involving promises made by a holy God to Abraham hundreds of years earlier, promises to provide for and protect His people. One key aspect of that covenant is the obligation of all males to be circumcised. Apparently Moses has neglected to circumcise his son, a fact that could jeopardize the entire mission. So when Zipporah realizes the gravity of the situation, she takes action and circumcises him. With their covenant responsibilities now met, Moses is free to continue the mission.
Eternal One (to Aaron): 27 Go into the wilderness and meet Moses.
So Aaron journeyed to meet Moses, and they met at the mountain of God. When he saw his brother, he kissed him. 28 During their joyful reunion, Moses told Aaron everything that the Eternal had sent him to do, and he explained the miraculous signs He had instructed him to perform.
29 Moses and Aaron then traveled back to Egypt and gathered together all of the elders of Israel’s people. 30 Aaron gave a speech that conveyed all the words that the Eternal had given to Moses and then performed the miraculous signs in front of the people. 31 The people believed Moses and Aaron. When everyone heard that the Eternal was concerned about the Israelites and that He had observed their oppression, they bowed down and began to worship with grateful hearts.
5 Not long after, Moses and Aaron confronted Pharaoh.
Moses and Aaron: The Eternal, Israel’s God, has a message for you: “Release My people, so that they may go and celebrate a feast in My honor in the desert.”
Pharaoh: 2 And who is this god you call “the Eternal One” that I should heed His message and release His people Israel? I do not know any god by that name, and furthermore I do not intend to release Israel.
Moses and Aaron: 3 The God of the Hebrews has visited us. We ask that you allow us to travel three days’ distance into the desert to sacrifice to the Eternal our God. Otherwise, He may become angry and come after us with disease or sword.
Pharaoh: 4 Moses and Aaron, why are you distracting people from their work? Stop wasting time, and get back to your labor!
5 Look, there are vast numbers of people in this land who should be working; instead they are all idle because of you.
6 That same day, Pharaoh gave instructions to the slave drivers who were over the people and their supervisors.
Pharaoh: 7 Don’t supply the people with any more straw to make bricks as you have been doing. Let them go out and find their own straw. 8 But I still want you to expect the same number of bricks from them as before. Even though the task will be harder, do not lessen their load! They are lazy and are asking for time off, saying, “Release us so that we can go sacrifice to our God in the desert and feast in His honor.” 9 Therefore, make the work so heavy that the men don’t have the energy to do anything but work; perhaps then they won’t be distracted by these lies!
Slave Drivers and Supervisors (to the people): 10 Pharaoh has a message for you: “I am not going to supply you with any more straw. 11 You must go out and get it for yourselves—wherever you can find it—but you must produce the same number of bricks as before. Your workload will not be reduced.”
12 The people quickly and desperately spread out across the land of Egypt looking for dry stalks of grain to use for straw. 13 The slave drivers pushed them hard.
Slave Drivers: Hurry, you must meet your quotas. You must produce the same number of bricks as you did before when we provided you with straw.
14 Plus they beat and interrogated the supervisors of the Israelites, the Hebrews whom the slave drivers had appointed over the workers.
Slave Drivers: Why are you lagging behind? Why haven’t you met your quotas of bricks yesterday or today as you did before?
15 The supervisors of the Israelites were unable to meet the demands and so they appealed to Pharaoh.
Supervisors (pleading with Pharaoh): Why are you treating your servants this way? 16 No more straw is being provided to your servants, yet the slave drivers keep yelling at us, “Make bricks!” And then your servants are beaten; it is your people who are at fault here, not us.
Pharaoh: 17 No. It is you. You are lazy! You are all so very lazy! You try to escape your work by making up excuses, saying, “Please release us so that we may go sacrifice to the Eternal.” 18 Leave me now, and get back to work, you indolent whiners! You will not be provided any straw, and you must make the same number of bricks as before.
19 The supervisors of the Israelites knew they were in deep trouble when they were told, “You are not to lessen the workload. You must still make the same number of bricks every day as you did before.” 20 After the supervisors left Pharaoh, they went directly to Moses and Aaron who were already waiting for them.
Supervisors (to Moses and Aaron): 21 May the Eternal see and judge what you have done. Now because of you Pharaoh and all who serve him look on us as if we were some kind of disgusting odor. You might as well have put the sword in their hands they will use to kill us.
22 Moses went back to meet with the Eternal One.
Moses: Eternal, these are Your people. Why have You brought so much trouble on them? And why have You sent me here? 23 Ever since I approached Pharaoh to speak in Your name, he has done more harm to them than ever before. And You have done absolutely nothing to rescue Your people.
6 The Eternal One spoke to Moses.
Eternal One: Now you will see what I have in store for Pharaoh. When Pharaoh sees the power of My hand, he will not only send My people from this land, he will drive them out.
2 (pointedly to Moses) I am the Eternal. 3 I revealed Myself to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, as God-All-Powerful;[a] but I did not reveal My name, the Eternal One, to them. 4 I also made My covenant with them. I promised I would give them Canaan—the land where their ancestors lived as strangers. 5 In addition, I have heard the constant cries of the Israelites who have been enslaved by the Egyptians. I have remembered My covenant; 6 go now and tell the people of Israel, “I am the Eternal, and I will rescue you from the heavy load the Egyptians have laid on you. I will liberate you from their oppression. I will stretch out my powerful arm and free you with amazing acts of judgment. 7 Then I will gather you to Me as My people, and I will be your God. You will know that I am the Eternal who rescued you from the heavy load the Egyptians have put on you. 8 I will lead you into Canaan—the very land I promised Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. I will give it to you as a possession for I am the Eternal.”
9 So Moses went and told these things to the Israelites, but they turned a deaf ear to him because they were in such low spirits and exhausted from their harsh labor.
10 The Eternal One once again instructed Moses.
Eternal One: 11 Go speak with Pharaoh, the king of Egypt, and tell him to release the Israelites from his land.
Moses: 12 The Israelites haven’t paid attention to anything I’ve said. How do You expect Pharaoh to listen to me if my own people won’t? I am not fit to speak for You.
13 The Eternal then addressed Moses and Aaron and gave them instructions about dealing with the Israelites and Pharaoh, king of Egypt. The instructions had to do with bringing the Israelites out of Egypt.
14 These are the heads of their fathers’ families: The sons of Reuben, who was the firstborn of Israel—Hanoch and Pallu, Hezron and Carmi. This is the clan of Reuben. 15 Simeon’s sons—Jemuel, Jamin, Ohad, Jachin, Zohar, and Shaul (a Canaanite woman’s son). 16 Levi’s sons (according to the genealogical records)—Gershon, Kohath, and Merari. Levi lived to be 137 years old. 17 Gershon’s sons—Libni and Shimei; each became the head of a clan. 18 Kohath’s sons—Amram, Izhar, Hebron, and Uzziel. Kohath lived to be 133 years old. 19 Merari’s sons—Mahli and Mushi. These are the clans of Levi according to the genealogical records. 20 Amram married his father’s sister, Jochebed, and she gave birth to his sons Aaron and Moses. Amram lived to be 137 years old. 21 Izhar’s sons—Korah, Nepheg, and Zichri. 22 Uzziel’s sons—Mishael, Elzaphan, and Sithri. 23 Aaron married Elisheba (Amminadab’s daughter and Nahshon’s sister). Elisheba gave birth to his sons Nadab, Abihu, Eleazar, and Ithamar. 24 Korah’s sons—Assir, Elkanah, and Abiasaph. The clans of Korah descended from these. 25 Aaron’s son, Eleazar, married one of Putiel’s daughters, and she gave birth to his son Phinehas. These are the ancestors which founded the various clans of the Levites.
Up until this point in the story, Moses has taken the lead in rescuing the people of Israel from Egyptian bondage. But this genealogy signals that Aaron will play an increasingly important role in the days ahead. Both Moses and Aaron are descended from Levi—whose children are set aside to serve Israel as priests—but the genealogy traces Aaron’s lineage, not Moses’. Later generations will look back at Aaron as the ideal priest.
26-27 These are the same Aaron and Moses whom the Eternal directed, “Lead the people of Israel out of the land of Egypt like a victorious army.” These two brothers spoke to Pharaoh, Egypt’s king, about releasing the Israelites from Egypt.
28-29 One day the Eternal visited Moses in Egypt and said to him,
Eternal One: I am the Eternal. Go tell Pharaoh, Egypt’s king, everything that I tell you.
Moses: 30 Please, I am not fit to speak for You. How do You expect Pharaoh to listen to me?
22 Immediately Jesus made the disciples get into the boat and go on to the other side of the sea while He dismissed the crowd. 23 Then, after the crowd had gone, Jesus went up to a mountaintop alone (as He had intended from the start). As evening descended, He stood alone on the mountain, praying.
In the midst of the burdens of life and ministry, like when news of John’s death reaches Him, Jesus seeks refreshment in solitary prayer.
24 The boat was in the water, some distance from land, buffeted and pushed around by waves and wind. 25 Deep in the night, when He had concluded His prayers, Jesus walked out on the water to His disciples in their boat. 26 The disciples saw a figure moving toward them and were terrified.
Disciple: It’s a ghost!
Another Disciple: A ghost? What will we do?
Jesus: 27 Be still. It is I. You have nothing to fear.
Peter: 28 Lord, if it is really You, then command me to meet You on the water.
Jesus: 29 Indeed, come.
Peter stepped out of the boat onto the water and began walking toward Jesus. 30 But when he remembered how strong the wind was, his courage caught in his throat and he began to sink.
Peter: Master, save me!
31 Immediately Jesus reached for Peter and caught him.
Jesus: O you of little faith. Why did you doubt and dance back and forth between following Me and heeding fear?
32 Then Jesus and Peter climbed in the boat together, and the wind became still. 33 And the disciples worshiped Him.
Disciples: Truly You are the Son of God.
34 All together, Jesus and the disciples crossed to the other side of the sea. They landed at Gennesaret, an area famous for its princely gardens. 35 The people of Gennesaret recognized Jesus, and they spread word of His arrival all over the countryside. People brought the sick and wounded to Him 36 and begged Him for permission to touch the fringes of His robe. Everyone who touched Him was healed.
The Voice Bible Copyright © 2012 Thomas Nelson, Inc. The Voice™ translation © 2012 Ecclesia Bible Society All rights reserved.