Exodus 4 | King James Version

King James Version

1 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 And the LORD said unto him, What is that in thine hand? And he said, A rod. 3 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 And the LORD said unto him, Who hath made man' mouth? or who maketh the dumb, or deaf, or the seeing, or the blind? have not I the LORD? 12 Now therefore go, and I will be with thy mouth, and teach thee what thou shalt say. 13 And he said, O my Lord, send, I pray thee, by the hand of him whom thou wilt send. 14 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 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 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 And thou shalt take this rod in thine hand, wherewith thou shalt do signs. 18 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 And the LORD said unto Moses in Midian, Go, return into Egypt: for all the men are dead which sought thy life. 20 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 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 And thou shalt say unto Pharaoh, Thus saith the LORD, Israel is my son, even my firstborn: 23 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 And it came to pass by the way in the inn, that the LORD met him, and sought to kill him. 25 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 So he let him go: then she said, A bloody husband thou art , because of the circumcision. 27 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 And Moses told Aaron all the words of the LORD who had sent him, and all the signs which he had commanded him. 29 And Moses and Aaron went and gathered together all the elders of the children of Israel: 30 And Aaron spake all the words which the LORD had spoken unto 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 upon their affliction, then they bowed their heads and worshipped.

New International Reader’s Version

Signs for Moses to do

1 Moses answered, ‘What if the elders of Israel won’t believe me? What if they won’t listen to me? Suppose they say, “The LORD didn’t appear to you.” Then what should I do?’ 2 The LORD said to him, ‘What do you have in your hand?’ ‘A walking stick,’ he said. 3 The LORD said, ‘Throw it on the ground.’ So Moses threw it on the ground. It turned into a snake. He ran away from it. 4 Then the LORD said to Moses, ‘Reach your hand out. Take the snake by the tail.’ So he reached out and grabbed the snake. It turned back into a walking stick in his hand. 5 The LORD said, ‘When they see this sign, they will believe that I appeared to you. I am the LORD, the God of their fathers. I am the God of Abraham. I am the God of Isaac. And I am the God of Jacob.’ 6 Then the LORD said, ‘Put your hand inside your coat.’ So Moses put his hand inside his coat. When he took it out, the skin had become as white as snow. His hand was covered with a skin disease. 7 ‘Now put it back into your coat,’ the LORD said. So Moses put his hand back into his coat. When he took it out, the skin was healthy again. His hand was like the rest of his skin. 8 Then the LORD said, ‘Suppose they do not believe you or pay attention to the first sign. Then maybe they will believe the second one. 9 But suppose they do not believe either sign. Suppose they will not listen to you. Then get some water from the River Nile. Pour it on the dry ground. The water you take from the river will turn into blood on the ground.’ 10 Moses spoke to the LORD. He said, ‘Lord, I’ve never been a good speaker. And I haven’t got any better since you spoke to me. I don’t speak very well at all.’ 11 The LORD said to him, ‘Who makes human beings able to talk? Who makes them unable to hear or speak? Who makes them able to see? Who makes them blind? It is I, the LORD. 12 Now go. I will help you speak. I will teach you what to say.’ 13 But Moses said, ‘Lord, please send someone else to do it.’ 14 Then the LORD became very angry with Moses. He said, ‘What about your brother, Aaron the Levite? I know he can speak well. He is already on his way to meet you. He will be glad to see you. 15 Speak to him. Tell him what to say. I will help both of you speak. I will teach you what to do. 16 He will speak to the people for you. He will be like your mouth. And you will be like God to him. 17 But take this walking stick in your hand. You will be able to do signs with it.’

Moses returns to Egypt

18 Then Moses went back to his father-in-law Jethro. He said to him, ‘Let me return to my own people in Egypt. I want to see if any of them are still alive.’ Jethro said, ‘Go. I hope everything goes well with you.’ 19 The LORD had said to Moses in Midian, ‘Go back to Egypt. All those who wanted to kill you are dead.’ 20 So Moses got his wife and sons. He put them on a donkey. Together they started back to Egypt. And he took the walking stick in his hand. It was the stick God would use in a powerful way. 21 The LORD spoke to Moses. He said, ‘When you return to Egypt, do all the amazing things I have given you the power to do. Do them in the sight of Pharaoh. But I will make him stubborn. He will not let the people go. 22 Then say to Pharaoh, “The LORD says, ‘Israel is like an eldest son to me. 23 I told you, “Let my son go. Then he will be able to worship me.” But you refused to let him go. So I will kill your eldest son.’ ” ’ 24 On the way to Egypt, Moses stopped for the night. There the LORD met him and was about to kill him. 25 But Zipporah got a knife made out of flint. She circumcised her son with it. Then she touched Moses’ feet with the skin she had cut off. ‘Surely, you are a husband who has forced me to spill my son’s blood,’ she said. 26 So the LORD didn’t kill Moses. When she said ‘husband who has forced me to spill my son’s blood,’ she was talking about circumcision. 27 The LORD said to Aaron, ‘Go into the desert to see Moses.’ So Aaron greeted Moses at the mountain of God and kissed him. 28 Then Moses told Aaron everything the LORD had sent him to say. Moses also told him about all the signs the LORD had commanded him to do. 29 Moses and Aaron gathered all the elders of Israel together. 30 Aaron told them everything the LORD had said to Moses. He also performed the signs in the sight of the people. 31 And they believed. They heard that the LORD was concerned about them. He had seen their suffering. So they bowed down and worshipped him.