1 T hen Moses answered, “What if they will not believe me or listen to me? They might say, ‘The Lord has not shown Himself to you.’”

And Moses answered and said, But, behold, they will not believe me, nor hearken unto my voice: for they will say, The Lord hath not appeared unto thee.

2 T he Lord said to him, “What is that in your hand?” Moses said, “A stick.”

And the Lord said unto him, What is that in thine hand? And he said, A rod.

3 T hen the Lord said, “Throw it on the ground.” So Moses threw it on the ground, and it became a snake. And Moses ran from it.

And he said, Cast it on the ground. And he cast it on the ground, and it became a serpent; and Moses fled from before it.

4 B ut the Lord said to Moses, “Put out your hand and take it by its tail.” So Moses put out his hand and caught it. And it became a stick in his hand.

And the Lord said unto Moses, Put forth thine hand, and take it by the tail. And he put forth his hand, and caught it, and it became a rod in his hand:

5 T he Lord said, “By seeing this they may believe that the Lord, the God of their fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has shown Himself to you.”

that they may believe that the Lord God of their fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, hath appeared unto thee.

6 T he Lord said to him, “Put your hand inside your coat.” So Moses put his hand inside his coat. When he took it out, his hand had a bad skin disease and was white as snow.

And the Lord said furthermore unto him, Put now thine hand into thy bosom. And he put his hand into his bosom: and when he took it out, behold, his hand was leprous as snow.

7 T hen God said, “Put your hand inside your coat again.” So Moses put his hand inside his coat again. When he took it out of his coat, he saw that it had become like his other flesh.

And he said, Put thine hand into thy bosom again. And he put his hand into his bosom again; and plucked it out of his bosom, and, behold, it was turned again as his other flesh.

8 G od said, “If they will not listen to you or believe you when they are shown the first thing, they may believe when this is shown to them.

And it shall come to pass, if they will not believe thee, neither hearken to the voice of the first sign, that they will believe the voice of the latter sign.

9 B ut they might not believe even these two things or listen to what you say. So then take some water from the Nile and pour it on the dry ground. And the water you take from the Nile will become blood on the dry ground.”

And it shall come to pass, if they will not believe also these two signs, neither hearken unto thy voice, that thou shalt take of the water of the river, and pour it upon the dry land: and the water which thou takest out of the river shall become blood upon the dry land.

10 M oses said to the Lord, “Lord, I am not a man of words. I have never been. Even now since You spoke to Your servant, I still am not. For I am slow in talking and it is difficult for me to speak.”

And Moses said unto the Lord, O my Lord, I am not eloquent, neither heretofore, nor since thou hast spoken unto thy servant: but I am slow of speech, and of a slow tongue.

11 T hen the Lord said to him, “Who has made man’s mouth? Who makes a man not able to speak or hear? Who makes one blind or able to see? Is it not I, the Lord?

And the Lord said unto him, Who hath made man’s mouth? or who maketh the dumb, or deaf, or the seeing, or the blind? have not I the Lord ?

12 S o go now. And I will be with your mouth. I will teach you what to say.”

Now therefore go, and I will be with thy mouth, and teach thee what thou shalt say.

13 B ut Moses said, “O Lord, I ask of You, send some other person.”

And he said, O my Lord, send, I pray thee, by the hand of him whom thou wilt send.

14 T hen the anger of the Lord burned against Moses. He said, “Is not Aaron the Levite your brother? I know he can speak well. Also, he is coming to meet you. And when he sees you, he will be glad in his heart.

And the anger of the Lord was kindled against Moses, and he said, Is not Aaron the Levite thy brother? I know that he can speak well. And also, behold, he cometh forth to meet thee: and when he seeth thee, he will be glad in his heart.

15 Y ou must speak to him and put the words in his mouth. I will be with your mouth and his mouth. I will teach you what you are to do.

And thou shalt speak unto him, and put words in his mouth: and I will be with thy mouth, and with his mouth, and will teach you what ye shall do.

16 H e will speak to the people for you. He will be a mouth for you. And you will be as God to him.

And he shall be thy spokesman unto the people: and he shall be, even he shall be to thee instead of a mouth, and thou shalt be to him instead of God.

17 Y ou will take this special stick in your hand. And you will use it to make the special things happen for the people to see.” Moses Returns to Egypt

And thou shalt take this rod in thine hand, wherewith thou shalt do signs.

18 T hen Moses left and returned to Jethro his father-in-law, and said to him, “I ask of you, let me return to my brothers in Egypt to see if they are still alive.” And Jethro said to Moses, “Go in peace.”

And Moses went and returned to Jethro his father in law, and said unto him, Let me go, I pray thee, and return unto my brethren which are in Egypt, and see whether they be yet alive. And Jethro said to Moses, Go in peace.

19 T he Lord said to Moses in Midian, “Return to Egypt. For all the men who wanted to kill you are dead.”

And the Lord said unto Moses in Midian, Go, return into Egypt: for all the men are dead which sought thy life.

20 S o Moses took his wife and sons and put them on a donkey, and he returned to the land of Egypt. Moses also took the special stick of God in his hand.

And Moses took his wife and his sons, and set them upon an ass, and he returned to the land of Egypt: and Moses took the rod of God in his hand.

21 T he Lord said to Moses, “When you return to Egypt, make sure you show Pharaoh all the works that I have placed in your power. But I will make his heart hard so that he will not let the people go.

And the Lord said unto Moses, When thou goest to return into Egypt, see that thou do all those wonders before Pharaoh, which I have put in thine hand: but I will harden his heart, that he shall not let the people go.

22 T hen say to Pharaoh, ‘The Lord says this: “Israel is My son, My first-born.

And thou shalt say unto Pharaoh, Thus saith the Lord, Israel is my son, even my firstborn:

23 A nd I say to you, ‘Let My son go. Let him work for Me.’ But if you will not let him go, I will kill your son, your first-born.”’”

and I say unto thee, Let my son go, that he may serve me: and if thou refuse to let him go, behold, I will slay thy son, even thy firstborn.

24 T he Lord met Moses at a resting place on the way and would have put him to death.

And it came to pass by the way in the inn, that the Lord met him, and sought to kill him.

25 B ut Zipporah took a knife and cut off her son’s piece of skin and threw it at Moses’ feet. And she said, “For sure you are a husband of blood to me.”

Then Zipporah took a sharp stone, and cut off the foreskin of her son, and cast it at his feet, and said, Surely a bloody husband art thou to me.

26 T hen the Lord let him alone. Zipporah said, “You are a husband of blood,” because of the religious act of becoming a Jew.

So he let him go: then she said, A bloody husband thou art, because of the circumcision.

27 T he Lord said to Aaron, “Go to meet Moses in the desert.” So he went and met him at the mountain of God and kissed him.

And the Lord said to Aaron, Go into the wilderness to meet Moses. And he went, and met him in the mount of God, and kissed him.

28 M oses told Aaron all the words of the Lord with which He had sent him. And he told him about all the special works that the Lord had told him to do.

And Moses told Aaron all the words of the Lord who had sent him, and all the signs which he had commanded him.

29 T hen Moses and Aaron went and gathered together all the leaders of the people of Israel.

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

30 A aron spoke all the words which the Lord had spoken to Moses. Then he did all the special works for the people to see.

and Aaron spake all the words which the Lord had spoken unto Moses, and did the signs in the sight of the people.

31 S o the people believed. When they heard that the Lord cared about the people of Israel and had seen their suffering, they bowed to the ground and worshiped.

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