Exodus 4:1–8

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

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

He answered, “A shepherd’s staff.” 

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

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

⁴Then the Lord said to Moses, “Reach out and grab the snake by its tail.” He reached out and grabbed it, and it turned back into a staff as he held it. ⁵⸤The Lord explained,⸥ “This is to convince the people that the Lord God of their ancestors, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, appeared to you.” 

⁶The Lord said to him, “Put your hand inside your shirt.” So Moses did this, and when he took his hand out, it had a skin disease. It looked as ⸤flaky as⸥ snow. ⁷“Now put your hand back inside your shirt,” the Lord said. Moses put it back, and when he took it out this time, it was healthy again like the rest of his body. 

⁸⸤Then the Lord said,⸥ “If they won’t believe you or pay attention to the first miraculous sign, they may believe the second.