Exodus 4

NEW JERUSALEM	NEW AMERICAN 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 "But," objected Moses, "suppose they will not believe me, nor listen to my plea? For they may say, 'The LORD did not appear to you.'"
2 Yahweh then said, 'What is that in your hand?' 'A staff,' he said.	2 The LORD therefore asked him, "What is that in your hand?" "A staff," he answered.
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 The LORD then said, "Throw it on the ground." When he threw it on the ground it was changed into a serpent, and Moses shied away from 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 "Now, put out your hand," the LORD said to him, "and take hold of its tail." So he put out his hand and laid hold of it, and it became a staff 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 "This will take place so that they may believe," he continued, "that the LORD, the God of their fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, the God of Jacob, did appear to you."
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 Again the LORD said to him, "Put your hand in your bosom." He put it in his bosom, and when he withdrew it, to his surprise his hand was leprous, like 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 The LORD then said, "Now, put your hand back in your bosom." Moses put his hand back in his bosom, and when he withdrew it, to his surprise it was again like the rest of his body.
8 'Even so: should they not believe you nor be convinced by the first sign, the second sign wil convincethem;	8 "If they will not believe you, nor heed the message of the first sign, they should believe the message of the second.
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 if they will not believe even these two signs, nor heed your plea, take some water from the river and pour it on the dry land. The water you take from the river will become blood on 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 Moses, however, said to the LORD, "If you please, LORD, I have never been eloquent, neither in the past, nor recently, nor now that you have spoken to your servant; but I am slow of speech and 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 The LORD said to him, "Who gives one man speech and makes another deaf and dumb? Or who gives sight to one and makes another blind? Is it not I, the LORD?
12 Now go, I shall help you speak and instruct you what to say.'	12 Go, then! It is I who will assist you in speaking and will teach you what you are to say."
13 'Please, my Lord,' Moses replied, 'send anyone you decide to send!'	13 Yet he insisted, "If you please, Lord, send someone else!"
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 Then the LORD became angry with Moses and said, "Have you not your brother, Aaron the Levite? I know that he is an eloquent speaker. Besides, he is now on his way to meet you.
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 When he sees you, his heart will be glad. You are to speak to him, then, and put the words in his mouth. I will assist both you and him in speaking and will teach the two of you what you are to 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 He shall speak to the people for you: he shall be your spokesman, and you shall be as God to him.
17 And take this staff in your hand; with this you will perform the signs.'	17 Take this staff in your hand; with it you are to perform the 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 After this Moses returned to his father-in-law Jethro and said to him, "Let me go back, please, to my kinsmen in Egypt, to see whether they are still living." Jethro replied, "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 In Midian the LORD said to Moses, "Go back to Egypt, for all the men who sought your life are dead."
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 So Moses took his wife and his sons, and started back to the land of Egypt, with them riding the ass. The staff of God he carried with him.
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 The LORD said to him, "On your return to Egypt, see that you perform before Pharaoh all the wonders I have put in your power. I will make him obstinate, however, so that he will not let the people go.
22 You will then say to Pharaoh, "This is what Yahweh says: Israel is my first-born son.	22 So you shall say to Pharaoh: Thus says the LORD: Israel is my son, my first-born.
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 Hence I tell you: Let my son go, that he may serve me. If you refuse to let him go, I warn you, I will kill your son, your first-born."
24 On the journey, when he had halted for the night, Yahweh encountered him and tried to kil him.	24 On the journey, at a place where they spent the night, the Lord came upon Moses and would have killed 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 But Zipporah took a piece of flint and cut off her son's foreskin and, touching his person, she said, "You are a spouse of blood to me."
26 So he let him go. She said, 'Blood-bridegroom' then, with reference to the circumcision.	26 Then God let Moses go. At that time she said, "A spouse of blood," in regard to 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 The LORD said to Aaron, "Go into the desert to meet Moses." So he went, and when they met at the mountain of God, Aaron 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 Moses informed him of all the LORD had said in sending him, and of the various signs he had enjoined upon him.
29 Moses and Aaron then went and gathered al the elders of the Israelites together,	29 Then Moses and Aaron went and assembled all the elders of the Israelites.
30 and Aaron repeated everything that Yahweh had said to Moses, and in the sight of the peopleperformed the signs.	30 Aaron told them everything the LORD had said to Moses, and he performed the signs before 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 The people believed, and when they heard that the LORD was concerned about them and had seen their affliction, they bowed down in worship.