Exodus 4:1–17

Moses Given Powers

¹Then 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.’ ”

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

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

⁴But 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.”

⁶The 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.

⁷Then 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 witness 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.”

¹⁰Then 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 slow of tongue.”

¹¹The 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.”

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

Aaron to Be Moses’ Mouthpiece

¹⁴Then 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.”