4Moses answered, “What if the elders of Israel won’t believe me? What if they won’t listen to me? Suppose they say, ‘The Lord didn’t appear to you.’ Then what should I do?”

²The Lord said to him, “What do you have in your hand?”

“A wooden staff,” he said.

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

So Moses threw it on the ground. It turned into a snake. He ran away from it. ⁴Then the Lord said to Moses, “Reach your hand out. Take the snake by the tail.” So he reached out and grabbed hold of the snake. It turned back into a staff in his hand.

⁵The Lord said, “When they see this miraculous sign, they will believe that I appeared to you. I am the God of their fathers. I am the God of Abraham. I am the God of Isaac. And I am the God of Jacob.”

⁶Then the Lord said, “Put your hand inside your coat.” So Moses put his hand inside his coat. When he took it out, it was as white as snow. It was covered with a skin disease.

⁷“Now put it back into your coat,” the Lord said. So Moses put his hand back into his coat. When he took it out, the skin was healthy again. His hand was like the rest of his skin.

⁸Then the Lord said, “Suppose they do not believe you or pay attention to the first miracle. Then maybe they will believe the second one.

⁹“But suppose they do not believe either miracle. Suppose they will not listen to you. Then get some water from the Nile River. Pour it on the dry ground. The water you take from the river will turn to blood on the ground.”

¹⁰Moses spoke to the Lord. He said, “Lord, I’ve never been a good speaker. And I haven’t gotten any better since you spoke to me. I don’t speak very well at all.”

¹¹The Lord said to him, “Who makes a man able to talk? Who makes him unable to hear or speak? Who makes him able to see? Who makes him blind? It is I, the Lord. ¹²Now go. I will help you speak. I will teach you what to say.”

¹³But Moses said, “Lord, please send someone else to do it.”

¹⁴Then the Lord’s anger burned against Moses. He said, “What about your brother, Aaron the Levite? I know he can speak well. He is already on his way to meet you. He will be glad to see you. ¹⁵Speak to him. Put your words in his mouth. Tell him what to say. I will help both of you speak. I will teach you what to do. ¹⁶He will speak to the people for you. He will be like your mouth. And you will be like God to him.

¹⁷“But take this wooden staff in your hand. You will be able to do miraculous signs with it.”

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