Exodus 4

NEW JERUSALEM	CATHOLIC PUBLIC DOMAIN
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 Responding, Moses said, “They will not believe me, and they will not listen to my voice, but they will say: ‘The Lord has not appeared to you.’ ”
2 Yahweh then said, 'What is that in your hand?' 'A staff,' he said.	2 Therefore, he said to him, “What is that you hold in your hand?” He answered, “A staff.”
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 the Lord said, “Cast it down upon the ground.” He cast it down, and it was turned into a snake, so that Moses fled away.
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, “Reach out your hand, and take hold of its tail.” He reached out his hand and took hold, and it was turned into a staff.
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 “So may they believe,” he said, “that the Lord God of their fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has appeared 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 And the Lord said again, “Put your hand into your bosom.” And when he had put it into his bosom, he brought it out leprous, resembling 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 “Put your hand back,” he said, “into your bosom.” He put it back and brought it out again, and it was like the rest of his flesh.
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,” he said, “and will not listen to the sermon of the first sign, then they will believe the word of the subsequent 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 But if they will not believe even these two signs, and they will not listen to your voice: take from the water of the river, and pour it upon the dry land, and whatever you will have drawn from the river will be turned into blood.”
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 said: “I beg you, O Lord, I was not eloquent yesterday or the day before. And from the time that you have spoken to your servant, I have a greater impediment and slowness of 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 made the mouth of man? And who has formed the mute and the deaf, the seeing and the blind? Was it not I?
12 Now go, I shall help you speak and instruct you what to say.'	12 Go on, therefore, and I will be in your mouth. And I will teach you what you shall say.”
13 'Please, my Lord,' Moses replied, 'send anyone you decide to send!'	13 But he said, “I beg you, O Lord, send whomever else you would 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 The Lord, being angry at Moses, said: “Aaron the Levite is your brother. I know that he is eloquent. Behold, he is going out to meet you, and seeing you, he will rejoice in 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 Speak to him, and put my words in his mouth. And I will be in your mouth and in his mouth, and I will reveal to you what you must 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 will speak for you to the people, and he will be your mouth. But you will be with him in those things that pertain to God.
17 And take this staff in your hand; with this you will perform the signs.'	17 Also, take this staff into your hand; with it you will accomplish 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 Moses went forth, and he returned to Jethro, his father in law, and he said to him, “I shall go and return to my brothers in Egypt, so that I may see if they are still alive.” And Jethro said to him, “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 so the Lord said to Moses in Midian: “Go, and return to Egypt. For all those who sought your life have died.”
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 Therefore, Moses took his wife and his sons, and he placed them upon a donkey, and he returned into Egypt, carrying the staff 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 to him, as he was returning to Egypt: “See that you accomplish, in the sight of Pharaoh, all the wonders that I have placed in your hand. I will harden his heart, and he will not release the people.
22 You will then say to Pharaoh, "This is what Yahweh says: Israel is my first-born son.	22 And you shall say to him: ‘Thus says the Lord: Israel is my firstborn son.
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 I have said to you: Release my son, so that he may serve me. And you were not willing to release him. Behold, I will put to death your firstborn son.’ ”
24 On the journey, when he had halted for the night, Yahweh encountered him and tried to kil him.	24 And while he was on the journey, at an inn, the Lord met him, and he was willing 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 For this reason, Zipporah took a very sharp stone, and she circumcised the foreskin of her son, and she touched his feet, and she said, “You are a bloody spouse to me.”
26 So he let him go. She said, 'Blood-bridegroom' then, with reference to the circumcision.	26 And he released him, after she had said, “You are a bloody spouse,” 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 Then the Lord said to Aaron, “Go into the desert to meet Moses.” And he went directly to meet him on the mountain of God, and he 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 explained to Aaron all the words of the Lord, by which he had sent him, and the signs which he had commanded.
29 Moses and Aaron then went and gathered al the elders of the Israelites together,	29 And they arrived at the same time, and they gathered together all the elders of the sons 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 spoke all the words which the Lord had said to Moses. And he accomplished 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 they heard that the Lord had visited the sons of Israel, and that he had looked with favor upon their affliction. And falling prostrate, they worshiped.