THE BOOK OF EXODUS

 

Exodus Chapter 4

1 ¶ Then Moses answered, But they will not believe me, or listen to me: for they will say, The LORD has not appeared to you.

2 And the LORD said to him, What is in your hand? And he said, A rod.

3 And he said, Cast it on the ground. And he threw it on the ground, and it became a serpent; and Moses ran from it.

4 And the LORD said to Moses, Put out your hand, and take it by the tail. And he put out his hand, and caught it, and it became a rod in his hand:

5 This will convince them that the LORD God of their fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has appeared to you.

6 The LORD also said to him, Now put your hand into your bosom. And he put his hand into his bosom: and when he took it out, his hand was leprous, white as snow.

7 And he said, Put your hand into your bosom again. And he put his hand into his bosom again; and drew it out of his bosom, and it was again like the rest of his body.

8 Then God said, If they will not believe you, or be persuaded by the first miracle, they may believe the second one.

9 But, if they will also not believe these two signs, or heed your voice, you shall take some water from the river, and pour it on the dry land: and the water that you took out of the river will become blood on the dry land.

10 ¶ And Moses said to the LORD, O my Lord, I am not eloquent, not in the past, nor since you have spoken to your servant: for I am slow of speech, and of a slow tongue.

11 And the LORD said to him, Who has made man’s mouth? or who makes the dumb, or deaf, or the seeing, or the blind? is it not I the LORD?

12 Therefore go, and I will be with your mouth, and will teach you what you shall say.

13 But he said, O my Lord, I pray you, send some other person.

14 Then the anger of the LORD was kindled against Moses, and he said, Is not Aaron the Levite your brother? I know that he can speak well. And he is also coming out to meet you: and when he sees you, he will be overjoyed.

15 And you will speak to him, and tell him what to say: and I will be with you as you talk, and with him as he talks, and will teach you what you shall do.

16 And he will speak for you to the people: and he shall act as your spokesman, and you will speak to him instead of God.

17 And you shall take this rod in your hand, with which you will do signs.

18 ¶ And Moses returned to Jethro his father in law, and said to him, Let me return to my family in Egypt, and see if they are still alive. And Jethro said to Moses, Go in peace.

19 And the LORD said to Moses in Midian, Go back into Egypt: for all the men who sought your life are dead.

20 And Moses took his wife and his sons, and set them upon a donkey, and returned to the land of Egypt: and Moses took the rod of God in his hand.

21 And the LORD said to Moses, When you return to Egypt, see that you do before Pharaoh all those miracles that I gave you power to do: but I will harden his heart, so that he will not let the people go.

22 And you will say to Pharaoh, Thus says the LORD, Israel is my son, even my firstborn:

23 And I say to you, Let my son go, that he may serve me: and if you refuse to let him go, behold, I will slay your son, even your firstborn.

24 ¶ And it came to pass at a lodging place along the way, that the LORD met Moses, and sought to kill him.

25 Then Zipporah took a flint knife, and cut off the foreskin of her son, and threw it at his feet, and said, You are surely a bloody husband to me.

26 Then he let him alone: when she said, You are a bloody husband, because of the circumcision.

27 And the LORD said to Aaron, Go and meet Moses in the desert. And he went, and met him at the mountain of God, and kissed him.

28 Moses then told Aaron everything the LORD had sent him to say, and about all the signs that he had commanded him to do.

29 Then Moses and Aaron went and gathered together all the elders of the children of Israel:

30 And Aaron spoke all the words that the LORD had spoken to Moses, and did the signs in the sight of the people.

31 And the people believed: and when they heard that the LORD had visited the children of Israel, and that he had looked on their affliction, then they bowed their heads and worshipped.