Exodus 4

VULGATA	NEW AMERICAN BIBLE
1 Respondens Moyses ait : Non credent mihi, neque audient vocem meam, sed dicent : Non apparuit tibi Dominus.	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 Dixit ergo ad eum : Quid est quod tenes in manu tua ? Respondit : Virga.	2 The LORD therefore asked him, "What is that in your hand?" "A staff," he answered.
3 Dixitque Dominus : Projice eam in terram. Projecit, et versa est in colubrum, ita ut fugeret Moyses.	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 Dixitque Dominus : Extende manum tuam, et apprehende caudam ejus. Extendit, et tenuit, versaque est in virgam.	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 Ut credant, inquit, quod apparuerit tibi Dominus Deus patrum suorum, Deus Abraham, Deus Isaac et Deus Jacob.	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 Dixitque Dominus rursum : Mitte manum tuam in sinum tuum. Quam cum misisset in sinum, protulit leprosam instar nivis.	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 Retrahe, ait, manum tuam in sinum tuum. Retraxit, et protulit iterum, et erat similis carni reliquæ.	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 Si non crediderint, inquit, tibi, neque audierint sermonem signi prioris, credent verbo signi sequentis.	8 "If they will not believe you, nor heed the message of the first sign, they should believe the message of the second.
9 Quod si nec duobus quidem his signis crediderint, neque audierint vocem tuam : sume aquam fluminis, et effunde eam super aridam, et quidquid hauseris de fluvio, vertetur in sanguinem.	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 Ait Moyses : Obsecro, Domine, non sum eloquens ab heri et nudiustertius : et ex quo locutus es ad servum tuum, impeditioris et tardioris linguæ sum.	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 Dixit Dominus ad eum : Quis fecit os hominis ? aut quis fabricatus est mutum et surdum, videntem et cæcum ? nonne ego ?	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 Perge, igitur, et ego ero in ore tuo : doceboque te quid loquaris.	12 Go, then! It is I who will assist you in speaking and will teach you what you are to say."
13 At ille : Obsecro, inquit, Domine, mitte quem missurus es.	13 Yet he insisted, "If you please, Lord, send someone else!"
14 Iratus Dominus in Moysen, ait : Aaron frater tuus Levites, scio quod eloquens sit : ecce ipse egreditur in occursum tuum, vidensque te lætabitur corde.	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 Loquere ad eum, et pone verba mea in ore ejus : et ego ero in ore tuo, et in ore illius, et ostendam vobis quid agere debeatis.	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 Ipse loquetur pro te ad populum, et erit os tuum : tu autem eris ei in his quæ ad Deum pertinent.	16 He shall speak to the people for you: he shall be your spokesman, and you shall be as God to him.
17 Virgam quoque hanc sume in manu tua, in qua facturus es signa.	17 Take this staff in your hand; with it you are to perform the signs."
18 Abiit Moyses, et reversus est ad Jethro socerum suum, dixitque ei : Vadam et revertar ad fratres meos in Ægyptum, ut videam si adhuc vivant. Cui ait Jethro : Vade in pace.	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 Dixit ergo Dominus ad Moysen in Madian : Vade, et revertere in Ægyptum, mortui sunt enim omnes qui quærebant animam tuam.	19 In Midian the LORD said to Moses, "Go back to Egypt, for all the men who sought your life are dead."
20 Tulit ergo Moyses uxorem suam, et filios suos, et imposuit eos super asinum : reversusque est in Ægyptum, portans virgam Dei in manu sua.	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 Dixitque ei Dominus revertenti in Ægyptum : Vide ut omnia ostenta quæ posui in manu tua, facias coram Pharaone : ego indurabo cor ejus, et non dimittet populum.	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 Dicesque ad eum : Hæc dicit Dominus : Filius meus primogenitus Israël.	22 So you shall say to Pharaoh: Thus says the LORD: Israel is my son, my first-born.
23 Dixi tibi : Dimitte filium meum ut serviat mihi ; et noluisti dimittere eum : ecce ego interficiam filium tuum primogenitum.	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 Cumque esset in itinere, in diversorio occurrit ei Dominus, et volebat occidere eum.	24 On the journey, at a place where they spent the night, the Lord came upon Moses and would have killed him.
25 Tulit idcirco Sephora acutissimam petram, et circumcidit præputium filii sui, tetigitque pedes ejus, et ait : Sponsus sanguinum tu mihi es.	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 Et dimisit eum postquam dixerat : Sponsus sanguinum ob circumcisionem.	26 Then God let Moses go. At that time she said, "A spouse of blood," in regard to the circumcision.
27 Dixit autem Dominus ad Aaron : Vade in occursum Moysi in desertum. Qui perrexit obviam ei in montem Dei, et osculatus est eum.	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 Narravitque Moyses Aaron omnia verba Domini quibus miserat eum, et signa quæ mandaverat.	28 Moses informed him of all the LORD had said in sending him, and of the various signs he had enjoined upon him.
29 Veneruntque simul, et congregaverunt cunctos seniores filiorum Israël.	29 Then Moses and Aaron went and assembled all the elders of the Israelites.
30 Locutusque est Aaron omnia verba quæ dixerat Dominus ad Moysen : et fecit signa coram populo,	30 Aaron told them everything the LORD had said to Moses, and he performed the signs before the people.
31 et credidit populus. Audieruntque quod visitasset Dominus filios Israël, et respexisset afflictionem illorum : et proni adoraverunt.	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.