Chapter 4

Moses Given Powers

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

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

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

4 But the Lord said to Moses, “Stretch out your hand and grasp it by its tail”—so he stretched out his hand and caught it, and it became a staff in his 1hand—

5 “that athey may believe that bthe Lord, the God of their fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has appeared to you.”

6 The Lord furthermore said to him, “Now put your hand into your bosom.” So he put his hand into his bosom, and when he took it out, behold, his hand was aleprous like snow.

7 Then He said, “Put your hand into your bosom again.” So he put his hand into his bosom again, and when he took it out of his bosom, behold, ait was restored like the rest of his flesh.

8 “If they will not believe you or 1heed the 2witness of the first sign, they may believe the 2witness of the last sign.

9 “But if they will not believe even these two signs or heed what you say, then you shall take some water from the Nile and pour it on the dry ground; and the water which you take from the Nile awill become blood on the dry ground.”

10 Then Moses said to the Lord, “Please, Lord, aI have never been 1eloquent, neither 2recently nor in time past, nor since You have spoken to Your servant; for I am 3slow of speech and 3slow of tongue.”

11 The Lord said to him, “Who has made man’s mouth? Or awho makes him mute or deaf, or seeing or blind? Is it not I, the Lord?

12 “Now then go, and aI, even I, will be with your mouth, and bteach you what you are to say.”

13 But he said, “Please, Lord, now 1send the message by whomever You will.”

Aaron to Be Moses’ Mouthpiece

14 Then the anger of the Lord burned against Moses, and He said, “Is there not your brother Aaron the Levite? I know that 1he speaks fluently. And moreover, behold, ahe is coming out to meet you; when he sees you, he will be glad in his heart.

15 “You are to speak to him and aput the words in his mouth; and I, even I, will be with your mouth and his mouth, and I will teach you what you are to do.

16 “Moreover, ahe shall speak for you to the people; and he will be as a mouth for you and you will be as God to him.

17 “You shall take in your hand athis staff, bwith which you shall perform the signs.”

18 Then Moses departed and returned to 1Jethro ahis father-in-law and said to him, “Please, let me go, that I may return to my brethren who are in Egypt, and see if they are still alive.” And Jethro said to Moses, “Go in peace.”

19 Now the Lord said to Moses in Midian, “Go 1back to Egypt, for aall the men who were seeking your life are dead.”

20 So Moses took his wife and his asons and mounted them on a donkey, and returned to the land of Egypt. Moses also took the bstaff of God in his hand.

21 The Lord said to Moses, “When you go 1back to Egypt see that you perform before Pharaoh all athe wonders which I have put in your 2power; but bI will harden his heart so that he will not let the people go.

22 “Then you shall say to Pharaoh, ‘Thus says the Lord, “aIsrael is My son, My firstborn.

23 “So I said to you, ‘aLet My son go that he may serve Me’; but you have refused to let him go. Behold, bI will kill your son, your firstborn.” ’ ”

24 Now it came about at the lodging place on the way that the Lord met him and asought to put him to death.

25 Then Zipporah took aa flint and cut off her son’s foreskin and 1threw it at Moses’ feet, and she said, “You are indeed a bridegroom of blood to me.”

26 So He let him alone. At that time she said, “You are a bridegroom of blood”—1because of the circumcision.

27 aNow the Lord said to Aaron, “Go to meet Moses in the wilderness.” So he went and met him at the bmountain of God and kissed him.

28 aMoses told Aaron all the words of the Lord with which He had sent him, and ball the signs that He had commanded him to do.

29 Then Moses and Aaron went and aassembled all the elders of the sons of Israel;

30 and aAaron spoke all the words which the Lord had spoken to Moses. He then performed the bsigns in the sight of the people.

31 So athe people believed; and when they heard that the Lord 1bwas concerned about the sons of Israel and that He had seen their affliction, then cthey bowed low and worshiped.

Chapter 5

Israel’s Labor Increased

1 And afterward Moses and Aaron came and said to Pharaoh, “aThus says the Lord, the God of Israel, ‘bLet My people go that they may celebrate a feast to Me in the wilderness.’ ”

2 But Pharaoh said, “aWho is the Lord that I should obey His voice to let Israel go? I do not know the Lord, and besides, bI will not let Israel go.”

3 Then they said, “aThe God of the Hebrews has met with us. Please, let us go a three days’ journey into the wilderness that we may sacrifice to the Lord our God, otherwise He will fall upon us with pestilence or with the sword.”

4 But the king of Egypt said to them, “Moses and Aaron, why do you 1draw the people away from their 2work? Get back to your 3alabors!”

5 Again Pharaoh said, “Look, athe people of the land are now many, and you would have them cease from their labors!”

6 So the same day Pharaoh commanded athe taskmasters over the people and their bforemen, saying,

7 “You are no longer to give the people straw to make brick as previously; let them go and gather straw for themselves.

8 “But the quota of bricks which they were making previously, you shall impose on them; you are not to reduce any of it. Because they are alazy, therefore they cry out, ‘1Let us go and sacrifice to our God.’

9 “Let the labor be heavier on the men, and let them work at it so that they will pay no attention to false words.”

10 So athe taskmasters of the people and their foremen went out and spoke to the people, saying, “Thus says Pharaoh, ‘I am not going to give you any straw.

11 ‘You go and get straw for yourselves wherever you can find it, but none of your labor will be reduced.’ ”

12 So the people scattered through all the land of Egypt to gather stubble for straw.

13 The taskmasters pressed them, saying, “Complete your 1work quota, 2your daily amount, just as when 3you had straw.”

14 Moreover, athe foremen of the sons of Israel, whom Pharaoh’s taskmasters had set over them, bwere beaten 1and were asked, “Why have you not completed your required amount either yesterday or today in making brick as previously?”

15 Then the foremen of the sons of Israel came and cried out to Pharaoh, saying, “Why do you deal this way with your servants?

16 “There is no straw given to your servants, yet they keep saying to us, ‘Make bricks!’ And behold, your servants are being beaten; but it is the fault of your own people.”

17 But he said, “You are alazy, very lazy; therefore you say, ‘Let us go and sacrifice to the Lord.’

18 “So go now and work; for you will be given no straw, yet you must deliver the quota of bricks.”

19 The foremen of the sons of Israel saw that they were in trouble 1because they were told, “You must not reduce 2your daily amount of bricks.”

20 When they left Pharaoh’s presence, they met Moses and Aaron as they were 1waiting for them.

21 aThey said to them, “bMay the Lord look upon you and judge you, for you have cmade 1us odious in Pharaoh’s sight and in the sight of his servants, to put a sword in their hand to kill us.”

22 Then Moses returned to the Lord and said, “aO Lord, why have You brought harm to this people? Why did You ever send me?

23 “Ever since I came to Pharaoh to speak in Your name, he has done harm to this people, aand You have not delivered Your people at all.”

Chapter 6

God Promises Action

1 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Now you shall see what I will do to Pharaoh; for 1aunder compulsion he will let them go, and 1under compulsion he will drive them out of his land.”

2 God spoke further to Moses and said to him, “I am athe Lord;

3 and I appeared to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, as 1aGod Almighty, but by bMy name, 2Lord, I did not make Myself known to them.

4 “I also established aMy covenant with them, to give them the land of Canaan, the 1land in which they sojourned.

5 “Furthermore I have aheard the groaning of the sons of Israel, because the Egyptians are holding them in bondage, and I have remembered My covenant.

6 “Say, therefore, to the sons of Israel, ‘aI am the Lord, and bI will bring you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians, and I will deliver you from their bondage. I will also credeem you with dan outstretched arm and with great judgments.

7 ‘Then I will take you 1afor My people, and bI will be 2your God; and cyou shall know that I am the Lord your God, who brought you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians.

8 ‘I will bring you to the land which aI 1swore to give to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and bI will give it to you for a possession; cI am the Lord.’ ”

9 So Moses spoke thus to the sons of Israel, but they did not listen to Moses on aaccount of their 1despondency and cruel bondage.

10 Now the Lord spoke to Moses, saying,

11 “aGo, 1tell Pharaoh king of Egypt 2to let the sons of Israel go out of his land.”

12 But Moses spoke before the Lord, saying, “Behold, the sons of Israel have not listened to me; ahow then will Pharaoh listen to me, for I am 1bunskilled in speech?”

13 Then the Lord spoke to Moses and to Aaron, and gave them a charge to the sons of Israel and to Pharaoh king of Egypt, to bring the sons of Israel out of the land of Egypt.

The Heads of Israel

14 These are the heads of their fathers’ households. aThe sons of Reuben, Israel’s firstborn: Hanoch and Pallu, Hezron and Carmi; these are the families of Reuben.

15 The asons of Simeon: Jemuel and Jamin and Ohad and Jachin and Zohar and Shaul the son of a Canaanite woman; these are the families of Simeon.

16 These are the names of athe sons of Levi according to their generations: Gershon and Kohath and Merari; and the 1length of Levi’s life was one