Exodus 3:19–31:18

19 But I myself know that the king of Egypt will not allow you to go ⌊unless compelled by a strong hand⌋.w 20 And I will stretch out my hand, and I will strike Egypt with all of my wonders that I will do in its midst, and ⌊afterward⌋x he will release you. 21 And I will give this people favor in the eyes of the Egyptians, ⌊and then⌋y when you go, you will not go empty-handed. 22 And a woman will ask from her neighbor and from the woman dwelling as an alien in her house for objects of silver and objects of gold and garments, and you will put them on your sons and on your daughters; and you will plunder Egypt.”

Yahweh Provides Signs and Help for Speaking

4 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. 4 And Yahweh said to Moses, “Reach out your hand and grasp it by its tail”—” (And he reached out his hand and grabbed it, and it became a staff in his palm.)—5 “so that they may believe that Yahweh, the God of their ancestors,a appeared to you, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.”

6 And Yahweh said to him again, “Put your hand into the fold of your garment.” And he put his hand into the fold of his garment, and he took it out, and, ⌊to his surprise⌋,b his hand was afflicted with a skin disease, like snow. 7 And he said, “Return your hand to the fold of your garment.” And he returned his hand to the fold of his garment, and he took it out from the fold of his garment, and, ⌊to his surprise⌋,c it was restored like the rest of his body. 8 “⌊And⌋d if they do not believe you and they will not listen to the voice of the former sign, then they will believe the voice of the latter sign. 9 ⌊And⌋e if they also do not believe the second of these signs and they will not listen to your voice, then you must take water from the Nile and pour it onto the dry ground, and the water that you take from the Nile will become blood on the dry ground.”

10 And Moses said to Yahweh, “Please, Lord, I am not a man of words, ⌊neither recently nor in the past nor since your speaking⌋f to your servant, because I am heavy of mouth and of tongue.” 11 And Yahweh said to him, “Who gave a mouth to humankind, or who makes mute or deaf or sighted or blind? Is it not I, Yahweh? 12 So then go, and I myself will be with your mouth, and I will teach you what you must speak.” 13 And he said, “Please, Lord, do send ⌊anyone else whom you wish to send⌋.”g 14 ⌊And Yahweh was angry with⌋h Moses and said, “Is there not Aaron your brother the Levite? I know that he certainly can speak, and also there he is coming out to meet you, and when he sees you, he will rejoice in his heart. 15 And you will speak to him, and you will put words in his mouth, and I myself will be with your mouth and with his mouth, and I will teach you what you must do. 16 And he will speak for you to the people, ⌊and then⌋i he will be to you as a mouth, and you will be to him as a god. 17 And you must take this staff in your hand, with which you will do the signs.”

Moses Leaves Midian and Returns to Egypt

18 And Moses went, and he returned to Jethro his father-in-law, and he said to him, “Please let me go, and let me return to my brothers who are in Egypt, and let me see whether they are yet alive. And Jethro said to Moses, “Go in peace.” 19 And Yahweh said to Moses in Midian, “Go, return to Egypt because all the men have died who were seeking your life.”

20 And Moses took his wife and his sons and had them ride on the donkey, and he returned to the land of Egypt, and Moses took the staff of God in his hand. 21 And Yahweh said to Moses, “When you go to return to Egypt, see all of the wonders that I have put in your hand, and do them before Pharaoh, and I myself will harden his heart, and he will not release the people. 22 And you must say to Pharaoh, ‘Thus says Yahweh, “Israel is my son, my firstborn.” 23 And I said to you, “Release my son and let him serve me,” but you refused to release him. Look, I am about to kill your son, your firstborn.’ ”

24 ⌊And⌋j on the way, at the place of overnight lodging, Yahweh encountered him and sought to kill him. 25 But Zipporah took a flint knife, and she cut off the foreskin of her son, and she touched his feet, and she said, “Yes, you are a bridegroom of blood to me.” 26 And he left him alone. At that time she said, “A bridegroom of blood,” because of the circumcision.k

27 And Yahweh said to Aaron, “Go to the desert to meet Moses.” And he went and encountered him at the mountain of God and kissed him. 28 And Moses told Aaron all the words of Yahweh, who had sent him—and all the signs that he had commanded him.

29 And Moses and Aaron went, and they gathered all of the elders of the ⌊Israelites⌋.l 30 And Aaron spoke all the words that Yahweh had spoken to Moses, and he did the signs before the eyes of the people. 31 And the people believed when they heard that Yahweh had attended to the ⌊Israelites⌋m and that he had seen their misery, and they knelt down and they worshiped.

Pharaoh Rejects Yahweh’s Authority and Makes Israel’s Troubles Worse

5 And afterward, Moses and Aaron went, and they said to Pharaoh, “Thus says Yahweh the God of Israel, ‘Release my people so that they may hold a festival for me in the desert.’ ” 2 And Pharaoh said, “Who is Yahweh that I should listen to his voice to release Israel? I do not know Yahweh, and also I will not release Israel.”

3 And they said, “The God of the Hebrews has met with us. Please let us go on a three-day journey into the desert, and let us sacrifice to Yahweh our God, lest he strike us with plague or with sword.” 4 And the king of Egypt said, “Why, Moses and Aaron, do you takea the people from their work? Go to your ⌊forced labor⌋!”b 5 And Pharaoh said, “Look, the people of the land are now many, and you want to stop them from their ⌊forced labor⌋.”c

6 And on that day Pharaoh commanded the slave drivers over the people and his foremen, saying, 7 “You must no longer give straw to the people to make the bricks like ⌊before⌋.d Let them go and gather straw for themselves. 8 But the quota of the bricks that they were making ⌊before⌋e ⌊you must require of them⌋.f You must not reduce from it, because they are lazy. Therefore they are crying out, saying, ‘Let us go and sacrifice to our God.’ 9 Let the work be heavier on the men so that they will do it and not pay attention to words of deception.”

10 And the slave drivers of the people and their foremen went out, and they spoke to the people, saying, “Thus says Pharaoh, ‘I am not giving you straw. 11 You go, get straw for yourselves from whatever you find because not a thing is being reduced from your work.’ ” 12 And the people spread out in all the land of Egypt to gather stubble for the straw. 13 And the slave drivers were insisting, saying, “Finish your work ⌊for each day⌋g on its day, as ⌊when there was straw⌋.”h 14 And the foremen of the ⌊Israelites⌋,i whom Pharaoh’s slave drivers had appointed over them, were beaten by men who were saying, “Why have you not completed your portion of brickmaking ⌊as before, both yesterday and today⌋?”j

The Foremen Complain to Pharaoh and Moses, and Moses Complains to Yahweh

15 And the foremen of the ⌊Israelites⌋k came and cried out to Pharaoh, saying, “Why do you treat your servants like this? 16 Straw is not being given to your servants, but they are saying to us, ‘Make bricks!’ and, look, your servants are being beaten, but it is the fault ofl your people.” 17 And he said, “You are lazy, lazy! Therefore you are saying, ‘Let us go; let us sacrifice to Yahweh.’ 18 And now go, work, but straw will not be given to you, and you must give the full quota of bricks.”

19 And the foremen of the ⌊Israelites⌋m saw they were in trouble ⌊with the saying⌋,n “You will not reduce from your bricks ⌊for each day⌋o on its day.” 20 And they met Moses and Aaron, who were waiting to meet them when they were going out from Pharaoh. 21 And they said to them, “May Yahweh look upon you and judge because you have caused our fragrance to stink in the eyes of Pharaoh and in the eyes of his servants so as to put a sword into their hand to kill us.” 22 And Moses returned to Yahweh and said, “Lord, why have you brought trouble to this people? Why ever did you send me? 23 And from the time I came to Pharaoh to speak in your name, he has brought trouble to this people, and you have certainly not delivered your people.”

Yahweh Discusses His Name and Israel’s Future

6 And Yahweh said to Moses, “Now you will see what I will do to Pharaoh, because with a strong hand he will release them, and with a strong hand he will drive them out from his land.”

2 And God spoke to Moses, and he said to him, “I am Yahweh. 3 And I appeared to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob as God Shaddai,a but by my name Yahweh I was not known to them. 4 And I not only established my covenant with them to give to them the land of Canaan, the land of their sojournings, in which they dwelt as aliens, 5 but also I myself heard the groaning of the ⌊Israelites⌋,b whom the Egyptians are making to work, and I remembered my covenant. 6 Therefore say to the ⌊Israelites⌋,c ‘I am Yahweh, and I will bring you out from under the ⌊forced labor⌋d of Egypt, and I will deliver you from their slavery, and I will redeem you with an outstretched arm and with great punishments. 7 And I will take you ⌊as my people⌋,e and I will be ⌊your God⌋,f and you will know that I am Yahweh your God, who brought you out from under the ⌊forced labor⌋g of Egypt. 8 And I will bring you to the land ⌊that I swore⌋h to give to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, and I will give it to you as a possession. I am Yahweh.”

9 And Moses spoke thus to the ⌊Israelites⌋,i but they did not listen to Moses, because of ⌊discouragement⌋j …