Then Moses answered the LORD and said, “What if they will not believe me or ^atake seriously what I say? For they may say, ‘^bThe LORD has not appeared to you.’” 2 And the LORD said to him, “What is that in your hand?” And he said, “^aA staff.” 3 Then He said, “Throw it on the ground.” So Moses threw it on the ground, and ^ait became a living serpent like the royal symbol on the crown of Pharaoh; and Moses ran from it. 4 But the LORD said to Moses, “Reach out your hand and grasp it by the tail.” So he reached out his hand and caught it, and it became a staff in his hand— 5 “You shall do this,” said the LORD, “so that ^athe elders may believe that ^bthe LORD, the God of their fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has most certainly appeared to you.”

6 The LORD also said to him, “Put your hand into your robe where it covers your chest.” So he put his hand into his robe, and when he took it out, his hand was ^1aleprous, as white as snow. 7 Then God said, “Put your hand into your robe again.” So he put his hand back into his robe, and when he took it out, ^ait was restored and was like the rest of his body. 8 “If they will not believe you or pay attention to the evidence of the first sign, they may believe the evidence of the second sign. 9 But if they will not believe these two signs or pay attention to what you say, you are to take some water from the Nile and pour it on the dry ground; and the water which you take out of the river ^awill turn into blood on the dry ground.”

10 Then Moses said to the LORD, “Please, Lord, ^aI am not a man of words (eloquent, fluent) , neither before nor since You have spoken to Your servant; for I am ¹slow of speech and tongue.” 11 The LORD said to him, “Who has made man’s mouth? Or ^awho makes the mute or the deaf, or the seeing or the blind? Is it not I, the LORD? 12 Now then go, and ^aI, even I, will be with your mouth, and will ^bteach you what you shall say.” 13 But he said, “Please my Lord, send the message of rescue to Israel by someone else, whomever else You will choose.”

14 Then the anger of the LORD was kindled and burned against Moses; He said, “Is there not your brother, Aaron the Levite? I know that he speaks fluently. Also, ^ahe is coming out to meet you, and when he sees you, he will be overjoyed. 15 You must speak to him and ^aput the words in his mouth; I, even I, will be with your mouth and with his mouth, and I will teach you what you are to do. 16 ^aMoreover, he shall speak for you to the people; he will act as a mouthpiece for you, and you will be as God to him telling him what I say to you. 17 You shall take in your hand ^athis staff, ^bwith which you shall perform the signs the miracles which prove I sent you.”

18 Then Moses went away and returned to Jethro ^ahis father-in-law, and said to him, “Please, let me go back so that I may return to my ¹relatives in Egypt, and see if they are still alive.” And Jethro said to Moses, “Go in peace.” 19 Then the LORD said to Moses in Midian, “Go back to Egypt, for ^aall the men who were seeking your life for killing the Egyptian are dead.” Ex 2:11, 12 20 So Moses took his wife Zipporah and his ^asons Gershom and Eliezer and seated them on donkeys, and returned to the land of Egypt. Moses also took the ^bstaff of God in his hand.

21 The LORD said to Moses, “When you return to Egypt, see that you perform before Pharaoh ^aall the wonders (miracles) which I have put in your hand, but ^bI will harden his heart and make him stubborn so that he will not let the people go. 22 Then you shall say to Pharaoh, ‘Thus says the LORD, “^aIsrael is My son, My firstborn. 23 So I say to you, ‘^aLet My son go so that he may serve Me’; and if you refuse to let him go, behold, ^bI will kill your son, your firstborn.”’”

24 Now it happened at the lodging place, that the LORD met Moses and ^asought to kill him making him deathly ill because he had not circumcised one of his sons. Gen 17:9-14 25 ¹Then Zipporah took ^aa flint knife and cut off the foreskin of her son and threw it at Moses’ feet, and said, “Indeed you are a husband of blood to me!” 26 So He let Moses alone to recover. At that time Zipporah said, “You are a husband of blood”—because of the circumcision.

27 ^aThe LORD said to Aaron, “Go into the wilderness to meet Moses.” So he went and met him at the ^bmountain of God (Sinai) and kissed him. 28 ^aMoses told Aaron all the words of the LORD with which He had sent him, and ^ball the signs that He had commanded him to do. 29 Then Moses and Aaron went into Egypt and ^aassembled all the elders of the Israelites; 30 ^aand Aaron said all the words which the LORD had spoken to Moses. Then Moses performed the ^bsigns given to him by God before the people. 31 So ^athe people believed; and when they heard that the LORD ^bwas concerned about the Israelites and that He had looked with compassion on their suffering, then ^cthey bowed their heads and worshiped the LORD.

Then Moses said, “What if they will not believe me or ^alisten ¹to what I say? For they may say, ‘^bThe LORD has not appeared to you.’” 2 The LORD said to him, “What is that in your hand?” And he said, “^aA staff.” 3 Then He said, “Throw it on the ground.” So he threw it on the ground, and ^ait turned into a serpent; and Moses fled from it. 4 But the LORD said to Moses, “Reach out with your hand and grasp it by its tail”—so he reached out with his hand and caught it, and it turned into a staff in his ¹hand— 5 “so that ^athey may believe that ^bthe LORD, the God of their fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has appeared to you.”

6 The LORD furthermore said to him, “Now put your hand inside the fold of your robe.” So he put his hand inside the fold, and when he took it out, behold, his hand was ^aleprous like snow. 7 Then He said, “Put your hand inside the fold of your robe again.” So he put his hand into the fold again, and when he took it out of the fold, behold, ^ait was restored like the rest of his flesh. 8 “So if they will not believe you nor ¹pay attention to the ²evidence of the first ³sign, they may believe the ⁴evidence of the last ⁵sign. 9 But if they will not believe even these two ¹signs nor pay attention to what you say, then you shall take some water from the Nile and pour it on the dry ground; and the water which you take from the Nile ^awill turn into blood on the dry ground.”

10 Then Moses said to the LORD, “Please, Lord, ^aI have never been ¹eloquent, neither ²recently nor in time past, nor since You have spoken to Your servant; for I am ³slow of speech and ⁴slow of tongue.” 11 But the LORD said to him, “Who has made the human mouth? Or ^awho makes anyone unable to speak or deaf, or able to see or blind? Is it not I, the LORD? 12 Now then go, and ^aI Myself will be with your mouth, and ^binstruct you in what you are to say.” 13 But he said, “Please, Lord, now send the message by ¹whomever You will.”

14 Then the anger of the LORD burned against Moses, and He said, “Is there not your brother Aaron the Levite? I know that ¹he speaks fluently. And moreover, behold, ^ahe is coming out to meet you; when he sees you, he will be ²overjoyed. 15 So you are to speak to him and ^aput the words in his mouth; and I Myself will be with your mouth and his mouth, and I will instruct you in what you are to do. 16 ^aHe shall speak for you to the people; and he will be as a mouth for you and you will be as God to him. 17 And you shall take in your hand ^athis staff, ^bwith which you shall perform the signs.”

18 Then Moses departed and returned to ^ahis father-in-law ¹Jethro, and said to him, “Please, let me go, that I may return to my brothers who are in Egypt, and see if they are still alive.” And Jethro said to Moses, “Go in peace.” 19 Now the LORD said to Moses in Midian, “Go ¹back to Egypt, for ^aall the men who were seeking your life are dead.” 20 So Moses took his wife and his ^asons and mounted them on a donkey, and returned to the land of Egypt. Moses also took the ^bstaff of God in his hand.

21 And the LORD said to Moses, “When you go ¹back to Egypt, see that you perform before Pharaoh all ^athe wonders which I have put in your ²power; but ^bI will harden his heart so that he will not let the people go. 22 Then you shall say to Pharaoh, ‘This is what the LORD says: “^aIsrael is My son, My firstborn. 23 So I said to you, ‘^aLet My son go so that he may serve Me’; but you have refused to let him go. Behold, ^bI am going to kill your son, your firstborn.”’”

24 But it came about at the overnight encampment on the way, that the LORD met ¹Moses, and ^asought to put him to death. 25 So Zipporah took ^aa flint and cut off her son’s foreskin and ¹threw it at Moses’ feet; and she said, “You are indeed a groom of blood to me!” 26 So He left him alone. At that time she said, “You are a groom of blood”—¹because of the circumcision.

27 ^aNow the LORD said to Aaron, “Go to meet Moses in the wilderness.” So he went and met him at the ^bmountain of God and kissed him. 28 ^aMoses told Aaron all the words of the LORD with which He had sent him, and ^ball the signs that He had commanded him to do. 29 Then Moses and Aaron went and ^aassembled all the elders of the sons of Israel; 30 and ^aAaron spoke all the words which the LORD had spoken to Moses. He then performed the ^bsigns in the sight of the people. 31 So ^athe people believed; and when they heard that the LORD ^1bwas concerned about the sons of Israel and that He had seen their affliction, ^cthey bowed low and worshiped.

Then Moses said, “What if they will not believe me or ^alisten ¹to what I say? For they may say, ‘^bThe LORD has not appeared to you.’” 2 The LORD said to him, “What is that in your hand?” And he said, “^aA staff.” 3 Then He said, “Throw it on the ground.” So he threw it on the ground, and ^ait became a serpent; and Moses fled from it. 4 But the LORD said to Moses, “Stretch out your hand and grasp it by its tail”—so he stretched out his hand and caught it, and it became a staff in his ¹hand— 5 “that ^athey may believe that ^bthe LORD, the God of their fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has appeared to you.”

6 The LORD furthermore said to him, “Now put your hand into your bosom.” So he put his hand into his bosom, and when he took it out, behold, his hand was ^aleprous like snow. 7 Then He said, “Put your hand into your bosom again.” So he put his hand into his bosom again, and when he took it out of his bosom, behold, ^ait was restored like the rest of his flesh. 8 “If they will not believe you or ¹heed the ²witness of the first sign, they may believe the ³witness of the last sign. 9 But if they will not believe even these two signs or heed what you say, then you shall take some water from the Nile and pour it on the dry ground; and the water which you take from the Nile ^awill become blood on the dry ground.”

10 Then Moses said to the LORD, “Please, Lord, ^aI have never been ¹eloquent, neither ²recently nor in time past, nor since You have spoken to Your servant; for I am ³slow of speech and ⁴slow of tongue.” 11 The LORD said to him, “Who has made man’s mouth? Or ^awho makes him mute or deaf, or seeing or blind? Is it not I, the LORD? 12 Now then go, and ^aI, even I, will be with your mouth, and ^bteach you what you are to say.” 13 But he said, “Please, Lord, now ¹send the message by whomever You will.”

14 Then the anger of the LORD burned against Moses, and He said, “Is there not your brother Aaron the Levite? I know that ¹he speaks fluently. And moreover, behold, ^ahe is coming out to meet you; when he sees you, he will be glad in his heart. 15 You are to speak to him and ^aput the words in his mouth; and I, even I, will be with your mouth and his mouth, and I will teach you what you are to do. 16 Moreover, ^ahe shall speak for you to the people; and he will be as a mouth for you and you will be as God to him. 17 You shall take in your hand ^athis staff, ^bwith which you shall perform the signs.”

18 Then Moses departed and returned to ¹Jethro ^ahis father-in-law and said to him, “Please, let me go, that I may return to my brethren who are in Egypt, and see if they are still alive.” And Jethro said to Moses, “Go in peace.” 19 Now the LORD said to Moses in Midian, “Go ¹back to Egypt, for ^aall the men who were seeking your life are dead.” 20 So Moses took his wife and his ^asons and mounted them on a donkey, and returned to the land of Egypt. Moses also took the ^bstaff of God in his hand.

21 The LORD said to Moses, “When you go ¹back to Egypt see that you perform before Pharaoh all ^athe wonders which I have put in your ²power; but ^bI will harden his heart so that he will not let the people go. 22 Then you shall say to Pharaoh, ‘Thus says the LORD, “^aIsrael is My son, My firstborn. 23 So I said to you, ‘^aLet My son go that he may serve Me’; but you have refused to let him go. Behold, ^bI will kill your son, your firstborn.”’”

24 Now it came about at the lodging place on the way that the LORD met him and ^asought to put him to death. 25 Then Zipporah took ^aa flint and cut off her son’s foreskin and ¹threw it at Moses’ feet, and she said, “You are indeed a bridegroom of blood to me.” 26 So He let him alone. At that time she said, “You are a bridegroom of blood”—¹because of the circumcision.

27 ^aNow the LORD said to Aaron, “Go to meet Moses in the wilderness.” So he went and met him at the ^bmountain of God and kissed him. 28 ^aMoses told Aaron all the words of the LORD with which He had sent him, and ^ball the signs that He had commanded him to do. 29 Then Moses and Aaron went and ^aassembled all the elders of the sons of Israel; 30 and ^aAaron spoke all the words which the LORD had spoken to Moses. He then performed the ^bsigns in the sight of the people. 31 So ^athe people believed; and when they heard that the LORD ^1bwas concerned about the sons of Israel and that He had seen their affliction, then ^cthey bowed low and worshiped.