4:1 And Moses answered and said, “And if¹ they do not believe me or

respond to me, ² but say, ‘Yahweh has not appeared to you’?” 4:2 And Yahweh said to him, “What is that in your hand?” And he said, “A rod.”³ 4:3 And he said, “Cast it to the ground.” And he cast it to the ground, and it became a serpent.⁴ And Moses fled from before it. 4:4 But Yahweh said to Moses, “Stretch out your hand and seize it by the tail.” So he stretched out his hand and caught it. And it became a rod in his hand.⁵ 4:5 “That they may believe that Yahweh, the God of their fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has appeared to you.”

4:6 And Yahweh said to him again, “Put your hand into your bosom.” So he put his hand into his bosom; and when he brought it out—it⁶ was leprous as snow!”⁷ 4:7 And he said, “Put your hand back into your bosom.” So he put his hand into his bosom; and when he brought it out from his bosom—it was restored⁸ as his other skin.⁹ 4:8 “And if¹⁰ they do not believe you or respond to¹¹ the former sign, then they may¹² believe the voice of the latter sign. 4:9 And¹³ if they do not believe these two signs, nor respond to you,¹⁴ then take¹⁵ some water from the Nile and pour it out on the dry ground. And the water that you take out of the Nile will become blood on the dry land.¹⁶

4:10 Then Moses said to Yahweh,¹⁷ “O¹⁸ my Lord,¹⁹ I am not an eloquent man,²⁰ neither in the past nor since you have spoken to your servant; but I am slow of speech and heavy of tongue.”²¹

4:11 And Yahweh said to him, “Who gave²² a mouth to man, or who makes him deaf or dumb, or seeing or blind? Is it not I, Yahweh?²³ 4:12 So now, go, and I will be with your mouth,²⁴ and I will teach you²⁵ what you must say.”²⁶

4:13 But Moses said,²⁷ “O my Lord, please send anyone else whom you wish to send.”²⁸

4:14 Then the anger of Yahweh broke out²⁹ against Moses, and he said, “Is not Aaron the Levite³⁰ your brother? I know that he can speak very well.³¹ Moreover, he is coming³² to meet you, and when he sees you he will be glad in his heart.³³

4:15 So you will speak to him, and you will put the words in his mouth. And I will be with your mouth,³⁴ and with his mouth,³⁵ and I will teach you what you must do.³⁶ 4:16 And he³⁷ will speak for you to the people. It will be as if³⁸ he, even he,³⁹ will be your mouth,⁴⁰ but you will be his god.⁴¹ 4:17 And this rod you will take in your hand, with which you will do the signs.”⁴²

4:18 So Moses went back⁴⁴ to Jethro, his father-in-law; and he said to him, “Let me go that I may return⁴⁵ to my brothers who are in Egypt, and see⁴⁶ if they are yet alive.” And Jethro said to Moses, “Go in peace.” 4:19 And Yahweh said to Moses in Midian, “Go back⁴⁷ to Egypt, because all the men who were seeking⁴⁸ your life are dead.”⁴⁹ 4:20 Then Moses took⁵⁰ his wife and his sons,⁵¹ and put them on a donkey, and headed back⁵² to the land of Egypt. And Moses took the rod of God in his hand. 4:21 And Yahweh said to Moses, “When you go back to Egypt,⁵³ see that you⁵⁴ do before Pharaoh all the wonders that I have put in your hand.⁵⁵ But I will harden his heart⁵⁶ and⁵⁷ he will not let the people go. 4:22 And you will say⁵⁸ to Pharaoh, ‘Thus says⁵⁹ Yahweh, Israel is my firstborn son;⁶⁰ 4:23 and I say to you, Let my son go that he may serve⁶¹ me, but if⁶² you refuse to let him go,⁶³ then I will surely kill⁶⁴ your firstborn son’.”

4:24 Now it happened on the way at the inn that Yahweh met Moses and sought to kill him.⁶⁵ 4:25 But Zipporah took a flint knife and cut off the foreskin of her son and touched it to his feet,⁶⁶ and said, “Surely you are a bridegroom of blood⁶⁷ to me.” 4:26 So Yahweh⁶⁸ let him alone. Then⁶⁹ she said, “[You are] a bridegroom of blood,” referring to⁷⁰ the circumcision.

4:27 Yahweh said to Aaron, “Go to the wilderness to meet Moses. So he went, and met him in the mount of God,⁷¹ and kissed him. 4:28 And Moses told Aaron all the words of Yahweh who had⁷² sent him, and all the signs which he had commanded him. 4:29 Then Moses and Aaron went and gathered all the elders⁷³ of the Israelites. 4:30 And Aaron spoke all the words which Yahweh had spoken to Moses, and did the signs in the sight of the people. 4:31 And the people believed! And when they heard⁷⁴ that Yahweh had intervened for⁷⁵ the Israelites, and that he had seen their affliction, they bowed down close to the ground.⁷⁶