¹Moses answered , “But , behold , they will not believe me , nor listen to my voice ; for they will say , ‘The LORD has not appeared to you .’”

²The LORD said to him , “What is that in your hand ?”

He said, “A rod .”

³He said, “Throw it on the ground .”

He threw it on the ground , and it became a snake ; and Moses ran away from it .

⁴The LORD said to Moses , “Stretch out your hand , and take it by the tail .”

He stretched out his hand , and took hold of it , and it became a rod in his hand .

⁵“This is so that 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 appeared to you .”

⁶The LORD said furthermore to him , “Now put your hand inside your cloak.”

He put his hand inside his cloak, and when he took it out , behold , his hand was leprous , as white as snow .

⁷He said , “Put your hand inside your cloak again .”

He put his hand inside his cloak again , and when he took it out of his cloak, behold , it had turned again as his other flesh .

⁸“It will happen , if they will not believe you or listen to the voice of the first sign, that they will believe the voice of the latter sign.

⁹It will happen , if they will not believe even these two signs or listen to your voice , that you shall take of the water of the river , and pour it on the dry land . The water which you take out of the river will become blood on the dry land .”

¹⁰Moses said to the LORD , “O Lord , I am not eloquent , neither before now , nor since you have spoken to your servant ; for I am slow of speech , and of a slow tongue .”[#4:10 The word translated “Lord” is “Adonai”.]

¹¹The LORD said to him , “Who made man ’s mouth ? Or who makes one mute, or deaf , or seeing , or blind ? Isn’t it I , the LORD ?

¹²Now therefore go , and I will be with your mouth , and teach you what you shall speak .”

¹³Moses said, “Oh , Lord, please send someone else .”

¹⁴The LORD ’s anger burnt against Moses , and he said , “What about Aaron, your brother, the Levite ? I know that he can speak well . Also , behold , he is coming out to meet you . When he sees you , he will be glad in his heart .

¹⁵You shall speak to him , and put the words in his mouth . I will be with your mouth , and with his mouth , and will teach you what you shall do .

¹⁶He will be your spokesman to the people . It will happen that he will be to you a mouth , and you will be to him as God.

¹⁷You shall take this rod in your hand , with which you shall do the signs.”

¹⁸Moses went and returned to Jethro his father-in-law , and said to him , “Please let me go and return to my brothers who are in Egypt , and see whether they are still alive .”

Jethro said to Moses , “Go in peace .”

¹⁹The LORD said to Moses in Midian , “Go , return into Egypt ; for all the men who sought your life are dead .”

²⁰Moses took his wife and his sons , and set them on a donkey , and he returned to the land of Egypt . Moses took God ’s rod in his hand .

²¹The LORD said to Moses , “When you go back into Egypt , see that you do before Pharaoh all the wonders which I have put in your hand , but I will harden his heart and he will not let the people go .

²²You shall tell Pharaoh , ‘The LORD says , Israel is my son , my firstborn ,

²³and I have said to you , “Let my son go , that he may serve me ;” and you have refused to let him go . Behold , I will kill your firstborn son .’”

²⁴On the way at a lodging place , the LORD met Moses and wanted to kill him .

²⁵Then Zipporah took a flint , and cut off the foreskin of her son , and cast it at his feet ; and she said, “Surely you are a bridegroom of blood to me .”

²⁶So he let him alone . Then she said, “You are a bridegroom of blood ,” because of the circumcision .

²⁷The LORD said to Aaron, “Go into the wilderness to meet Moses .”

He went , and met him on God ’s mountain , and kissed him .

²⁸Moses told Aaron all the LORD ’s words with which he had sent him , and all the signs with which he had instructed him .

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

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

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