Exodus 4

Chapter 4

Signs of the LORD’s Power

1 But Moses protested again, “What if they won’t believe me or listen to me? What if they say, ‘The LORD never appeared to you’?”

2 Then the LORD asked him, “What is that in your hand?”
“A shepherd’s staff,” Moses replied.

3 “Throw it down on the ground,” the LORD told him. So Moses threw down the staff, and it turned into a snake! Moses jumped back.

4 Then the LORD told him, “Reach out and grab its tail.” So Moses reached out and grabbed it, and it turned back into a shepherd’s staff in his hand.

5 “Perform this sign,” the LORD told him. “Then they will believe that the LORD, the God of their ancestors—the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob—really has appeared to you.”
6 Then the LORD said to Moses, “Now put your hand inside your cloak.” So Moses put his hand inside his cloak, and when he took it out again, his hand was white as snow with a severe skin disease.t

7 “Now put your hand back into your cloak,” the LORD said. So Moses put his hand back in, and when he took it out again, it was as healthy as the rest of his body.
8 The LORD said to Moses, “If they do not believe you and are not convinced by the first miraculous sign, they will be convinced by the second sign.

9 And if they don’t believe you or listen to you even after these two signs, then take some water from the Nile River and pour it out on the dry ground. When you do, the water from the Nile will turn to blood on the ground.”

10 But Moses pleaded with the LORD, “O Lord, I’m not very good with words. I never have been, and I’m not now, even though you have spoken to me. I get tongue-tied, and my words get tangled.”
11 Then the LORD asked Moses, “Who makes a person’s mouth? Who decides whether people speak or do not speak, hear or do not hear, see or do not see? Is it not I, the LORD?

12 Now go! I will be with you as you speak, and I will instruct you in what to say.”

13 But Moses again pleaded, “Lord, please! Send anyone else.”
14 Then the LORD became angry with Moses. “All right,” he said. “What about your brother, Aaron the Levite? I know he speaks well. And look! He is on his way to meet you now. He will be delighted to see you.15 Talk to him, and put the words in his mouth. I will be with both of you as you speak, and I will instruct you both in what to do.16 Aaron will be your spokesman to the people. He will be your mouthpiece, and you will stand in the place of God for him, telling him what to say.

17 And take your shepherd’s staff with you, and use it to perform the miraculous signs I have shown you.”

Moses Returns to Egypt

18 So Moses went back home to Jethro, his father-in-law. “Please let me return to my relatives in Egypt,” Moses said. “I don’t even know if they are still alive.”
“Go in peace,” Jethro replied.

19 Before Moses left Midian, the LORD said to him, “Return to Egypt, for all those who wanted to kill you have died.”

20 So Moses took his wife and sons, put them on a donkey, and headed back to the land of Egypt. In his hand he carried the staff of God.
21 And the LORD told Moses, “When you arrive back in Egypt, go to Pharaoh and perform all the miracles I have empowered you to do. But I will harden his heart so he will refuse to let the people go.22 Then you will tell him, ‘This is what the LORD says: Israel is my firstborn son.

23 I commanded you, “Let my son go, so he can worship me.” But since you have refused, I will now kill your firstborn son!’”
24 On the way to Egypt, at a place where Moses and his family had stopped for the night, the LORD confronted him and was about to kill him.25 But Moses’ wife, Zipporah, took a flint knife and circumcised her son. She touched his feett with the foreskin and said, “Now you are a bridegroom of blood to me.”

26 (When she said “a bridegroom of blood,” she was referring to the circumcision.) After that, the LORD left him alone.
27 Now the LORD had said to Aaron, “Go out into the wilderness to meet Moses.” So Aaron went and met Moses at the mountain of God, and he embraced him.

28 Moses then told Aaron everything the LORD had commanded him to say. And he told him about the miraculous signs the LORD had commanded him to perform.
29 Then Moses and Aaron returned to Egypt and called all the elders of Israel together.30 Aaron told them everything the LORD had told Moses, and Moses performed the miraculous signs as they watched.

31 Then the people of Israel were convinced that the LORD had sent Moses and Aaron. When they heard that the LORD was concerned about them and had seen their misery, they bowed down and worshiped.

EXODUS 4

The [Lord] Gives //Great Power //to Moses

1 Moses asked the [Lord], “Suppose everyone refuses to listen to my message, and no one believes that you really appeared to me?”

2 The [Lord] answered, “What's that in your hand?”
“A walking stick,” Moses replied.

3 “Throw it down!” the [Lord] commanded. So Moses threw the stick on the ground. It immediately turned into a snake, and Moses jumped back.

4 “Pick it up by the tail!” the [Lord] told him. And when Moses did this, the snake turned back into a walking stick.

5 “Do this,” the [Lord] said, “and the Israelites will believe that you have seen me, the God who was worshiped by their ancestors Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.”

6 Next, the [Lord] commanded Moses, “Put your hand inside your shirt.” Moses obeyed, and when he took it out, his hand had turned white as snow—like someone with leprosy.t

7 “Put your hand back inside your shirt,” the [Lord] told him. Moses did so, and when he took it out again, it was as healthy as the rest of his body.

8-9 Then the [Lord] said, “If no one believes either of these miracles, take some water from the Nile River and pour it on the ground. The water will immediately turn into blood.”

10 Moses replied, “I have never been a good speaker. I wasn't one before you spoke to me, and I'm not one now. I am slow at speaking, and I can never think of what to say.”
11 But the [Lord] answered, “Who makes people able to speak or makes them deaf or unable to speak? Who gives them sight or makes them blind? Don't you know that I am the one who does these things?

12 Now go! When you speak, I will be with you and give you the words to say.”

13 Moses begged, “[Lord], please send someone else to do it.”

14 The [Lord] became angry with Moses and said:
What about your brother Aaron, the Levite? I know he is a good speaker. He is already on his way here to visit you, and he will be happy to see you again. 15-16 Aaron will speak to the people for you, and you will be like me, telling Aaron what to say. I will be with both of you as you speak, and I will tell each of you what to do.

17 Now take this walking stick and use it to perform miracles.

Moses Returns to Egypt

18 Moses went to his father-in-law Jethro and asked, “Please let me return to Egypt to see if any of my people are still alive.”
“All right,” Jethro replied. “I hope all goes well.”
19 But even before this, the [Lord] had told Moses, “Leave the land of Midian and return to Egypt. Everyone who wanted to kill you is now dead.”

20 So Moses put his wife and sons on donkeys and headed for Egypt, holding the walking stick that had the power of God.

21 On the way the [Lord] said to Moses:
When you get to Egypt, go to the king and work the miracles I have shown you. But I will make him so stubborn that he will refuse to let my people go. 22 Then tell him that I have said, “Israel is my first-born son,

23 t and I commanded you to release him, so he could worship me. But you refused, and now I will kill your first-born son.”

Zipporah's Son //Is Circumcised

26 So the [Lord] did not harm Moses. Then Zipporah said, “Yes, my dear, you are safe because of this circumcision.”t

Aaron Is Sent //To Meet Moses

28 Moses told Aaron what God had sent him to say; he also told him about the miracles God had given him the power to perform.
29 Later they brought together the leaders of Israel, 30 and Aaron told them what the [Lord] had sent Moses to say. Then Moses worked the miracles for the people, 31 and everyone believed. They bowed down and worshiped the [Lord] because they knew that he had seen their suffering and was going to help them.