Exodus 4:1–3

1 Moses answered, “What if they do not believe me or listen to me and say, ‘The Lord did not appear to you’?”

2 Then the Lord said to him, “What is that in your hand?”

“A staff,” he replied.

3 The Lord said, “Throw it on the ground.”

Moses threw it on the ground and it became a snake, and he ran from it.

1 Then Moses answered, “But behold, they will not believe me or listen to my voice, for they will say, ‘The Lord did not appear to you.’ ” 2 The Lord said to him, “What is that in your hand?” He said, “A staff.” 3 And he said, “Throw it on the ground.” So he threw it on the ground, and it became a serpent, and Moses ran from it.

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 And the Lord said unto him, What is that in thine hand? And he said, A rod. 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.

1 But Moses protested again, “What if they won’t believe me or listen to me? What if they say, ‘The Lord never appeared to you’?”

2 Then the Lord asked him, “What is that in your hand?”

“A shepherd’s staff,” Moses replied.

3 “Throw it down on the ground,” the Lord told him. So Moses threw down the staff, and it turned into a snake! Moses jumped back.

1 Then Moses answered, “What if the people of Israel do not believe me or listen to me? What if they say, ‘The Lord did not appear to you’?”

2 The Lord said to him, “What is that in your hand?”

Moses answered, “It is my walking stick.”

3 The Lord said, “Throw it on the ground.”

So Moses threw it on the ground, and it became a snake. Moses ran from the snake,

1 And Moses answered and said, But, behold, they will not believe me, nor hearken unto my voice; for they will say, Jehovah hath not appeared unto thee. 2 And Jehovah said unto him, What is that in thy hand? And he said, A rod. 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.

1 And Moses answered and said, But behold, they will not believe me, nor hearken unto my voice; for they will say, Jehovah has not appeared to thee. 2 And Jehovah said to him, What is that in thy hand? And he said, A staff. 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.

1 “They will never believe me or listen to me!” Moses protested. “They will say, ‘The Lord didn’t appear to you.’ ” 

2 Then the Lord asked him, “What’s that in your hand?” 

He answered, “A shepherd’s staff.” 

3 The Lord said, “Throw it on the ground.” 

When Moses threw it on the ground, it became a snake, and he ran away from it. 

1 Then Moses answered, “What if they won’t believe me and will not obey me but say, ‘The Lord did not appear to you’?”

2 The Lord asked him, “What is that in your hand?”

“A staff,” he replied.

3 Then He said, “Throw it on the ground.” He threw it on the ground, and it became a snake. Moses ran from it,

1 Then Moses answered, “But look, they may not believe me or listen to me but say, ‘The Lord did not appear to you.’ ” 2 The Lord said to him, “What is that in your hand?” He said, “A staff.” 3 And he said, “Throw it on the ground.” So he threw the staff on the ground, and it became a snake, and Moses drew back from it.

1 And Moses answered, and he said, “And if they do not believe me and they do not listen to my voice, but they say, ‘Yahweh did not appear to you?’ ” 2 And Yahweh said to him, “What is this in your hand?” And he said, “A staff.” 3 And he said, “Throw it onto the ground.” And he threw it onto the ground, and it became a snake, and Moses fled from it.

1 Moses answered, “What if the elders of Israel won’t believe me? What if they won’t listen to me? Suppose they say, ‘The Lord didn’t appear to you.’ Then what should I do?”

2 The Lord said to him, “What do you have in your hand?”

“A wooden staff,” he said.

3 The Lord said, “Throw it on the ground.”

So Moses threw it on the ground. It turned into a snake. He ran away from it.

1 Then Moses said, “What if they will not believe me or listen to what I say? For they may say, ‘The Lord has not appeared to you.’ ”

2 The Lord said to him, “What is that in your hand?” And he said, “A staff.”

3 Then He said, “Throw it on the ground.” So he threw it on the ground, and it became a serpent; and Moses fled from it.