Exodus 4

NEW JERUSALEM	KING JAMES BIBLE
1 Moses replied as fol ows, 'But suppose they wil not believe me or listen to my words, and say to me,"Yahweh has not appeared to you"?'	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 Yahweh then said, 'What is that in your hand?' 'A staff,' he said.	2 And the LORD said unto him, What is that in thine hand? And he said, A rod.
3 'Throw it on the ground,' said Yahweh. Moses threw it on the ground; the staff turned into a snake andMoses recoiled from it.	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 Yahweh then said to Moses, 'Reach out your hand and catch it by the tail.' He reached out his hand,caught it, and in his hand it turned back into a staff.	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 'Thus they may believe that Yahweh, the God of their ancestors, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaacand the God of Jacob, has appeared to you.'	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 Next, Yahweh said to him, 'Put your hand inside your tunic.' He put his hand inside his tunic, then drewit out again: and his hand was diseased, white as snow.	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 Yahweh then said, 'Put your hand back inside your tunic.' He put his hand back inside his tunic andwhen he drew it out, there it was restored, just like the rest of his flesh.	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 'Even so: should they not believe you nor be convinced by the first sign, the second sign wil convincethem;	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 but should they not be convinced by either of these two signs and refuse to listen to what you say, youare to take some water from the River and pour it on the ground, and the water you have taken from the Riverwil turn to blood on the dry land.'	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 Moses said to Yahweh, 'Please, my Lord, I have never been eloquent, even since you have spoken toyour servant, for I am slow and hesitant of speech.'	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 'Who gave a person a mouth?' Yahweh said to him. 'Who makes a person dumb or deaf, gives sight ormakes blind? Is it not I, Yahweh?	11 And the LORD said unto him, Who hath made man's mouth? or who maketh the dumb, or deaf, or the seeing, or the blind? have not I the LORD?
12 Now go, I shall help you speak and instruct you what to say.'	12 Now therefore go, and I will be with thy mouth, and teach thee what thou shalt say.
13 'Please, my Lord,' Moses replied, 'send anyone you decide to send!'	13 And he said, O my Lord, send, I pray thee, by the hand of him whom thou wilt send.
14 At this, Yahweh's anger kindled against Moses, and he said to him, 'There is your brother Aaron theLevite, is there not? I know that he is a good speaker. Here he comes to meet you. When he sees you, his heartwil be full of joy.	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 You will speak to him and tel him what message to give. I shal help you speak, and him too, andinstruct you what to do.	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 He will speak to the people in your place; he wil be your mouthpiece, and you wil be as the godinspiring him.	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 take this staff in your hand; with this you will perform the signs.'	17 And thou shalt take this rod in thine hand, wherewith thou shalt do signs.
18 Moses went back to his father-in-law Jethro and said to him, 'Give me leave to return to my kinsmen inEgypt and see if they are stil alive.' And Jethro said to Moses, 'Go in peace.'	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 Yahweh said to Moses in Midian, 'Go, return to Egypt, for all those who wanted to kil you are dead.'	19 And the LORD said unto Moses in Midian, Go, return into Egypt: for all the men are dead which sought thy life.
20 So Moses took his wife and his son and, putting them on a donkey, started back for Egypt; and Mosestook the staff of God in his hand.	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 Yahweh said to Moses, 'Think of the wonders I have given you power to perform, once you are back inEgypt! You are to perform them before Pharaoh, but I myself shal make him obstinate, and he wil not let thepeople go.	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 You will then say to Pharaoh, "This is what Yahweh says: Israel is my first-born son.	22 And thou shalt say unto Pharaoh, Thus saith the LORD, Israel is my son, even my firstborn:
23 I told you: Let my son go and worship me; but since you refuse to let him go, well then! I shall put yourfirst-born son to death." '	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 On the journey, when he had halted for the night, Yahweh encountered him and tried to kil him.	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, taking up a flint, cut off her son's foreskin and with it touched his feet and said, 'Youare my blood-bridegroom!'	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. She said, 'Blood-bridegroom' then, with reference to the circumcision.	26 So he let him go: then she said, A bloody husband thou art, because of the circumcision.
27 Yahweh said to Aaron, 'Go into the desert to meet Moses.' So he went, and met him at the mountainof God and kissed him.	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 Moses then told Aaron al that Yahweh had said when sending him and al the signs he had orderedhim to perform.	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 Moses and Aaron then went and gathered al the elders of the Israelites together,	29 And Moses and Aaron went and gathered together all the elders of the children of Israel:
30 and Aaron repeated everything that Yahweh had said to Moses, and in the sight of the peopleperformed the signs.	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 The people were convinced, and they rejoiced that Yahweh had visited the Israelites and seen theirmisery, and they bowed to the ground in worship.	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.