³“Throw it on the ground,” he said. So Moses threw it on the ground, it became a snake, and he ran from it. ⁴The Lord told Moses, “Stretch out your hand and grab it by the tail.” So he stretched out his hand and caught it, and it became a staff in his hand. ⁵“This will take place,” he continued, “so that they will believe that the Lord, the God of their ancestors, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has appeared to you.”^h

⁶In addition the Lord said to him, “Put your hand inside your cloak.” So he put his hand inside his cloak, and when he took it out, his hand was diseased, resembling snow.^Aⁱ ⁷“Put your hand back inside your cloak,” he said. So he put his hand back inside his cloak, and when he took it out, it had again become like the rest of his skin.^j ⁸“If they will not believe you and will not respond to the evidence of the first sign, they may believe the evidence of the second sign. ⁹And if they don’t believe even these two signs or listen to what you say, take some water from the Nile and pour it on the dry ground. The water you take from the Nile will become blood on the ground.”^k

¹⁰But Moses replied to the Lord, “Please, Lord, I have never been eloquent—either in the past or recently or since you have been speaking to your servant—because my mouth and my tongue are sluggish.”^B^l

¹¹The Lord said to him, “Who placed a mouth on humans? Who makes a person mute or deaf, seeing or blind? Is it not I, the Lord?^m ¹²Now go! I will help you speak^C and I will teach you what to say.”ⁿ

¹³Moses said, “Please, Lord, send someone else.”^D

¹⁴Then the Lord’s anger burned against Moses, and he said, “Isn’t Aaron the Levite your brother? I know that he can speak well. And also, he is on his way now to meet you. He will rejoice when he sees you. ¹⁵You will speak with him and tell him what to say.^o I will help both you and him to speak^A and will teach you both what to do. ¹⁶He will speak to the people for you. He will serve as a mouth for you, and you will serve as God to him. ¹⁷And take this staff in your hand that you will perform the signs with.”^p

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Footnotes

AA reference to whiteness or flakiness of the skin
B heavy of mouth and heavy of tongue
C will be with your mouth
D send by the hand of whom you will send
A will be with your mouth and with his mouth

Cross references

g Ex 3:18; 6:30
h Ex 3:6,15; 4:17,20; 19:9
i Lv 13:3–4; Nm 12:10; 2Kg 5:27
j Nm 12:13–14; Dt 32:39; 2Kg 5:14
k Ex 7:19
l Ex 6:12; Jr 1:6
m Ps 94:9
n Is 50:4; Jr 1:9; Mt 10:19–20; Mk 13:11; Lk 12:11–12; 21:14–15
o Ex 7:1–2; Nm 23:5,12,16
p Ex 4:2; 7:15