Exodus 3–12

¹And Moses hath been feeding the flock of Jethro his father-in-law, priest of Midian, and he leadeth the flock behind the wilderness, and cometh in unto the mount of God, to Horeb; ²and there appeareth unto him a messenger of Jehovah in a flame of fire, out of the midst of the bush, and he seeth, and lo, the bush is burning with fire, and the bush is not consumed. ³And Moses saith, ‘Let me turn aside, I pray thee, and I see this great appearance; wherefore is the bush not burned?’ ⁴and Jehovah seeth that he hath turned aside to see, and God calleth unto him out of the midst of the bush, and saith, ‘Moses, Moses;’ and he saith, ‘Here am I.’ ⁵And He saith, ‘Come not near hither: cast thy shoes from off thy feet, for the place on which thou art standing is holy ground.’ ⁶He saith also, ‘I am the God of thy father, God of Abraham, God of Isaac, and God of Jacob;’ and Moses hideth his face, for he is afraid to look towards God.

⁷And Jehovah saith, ‘I have certainly seen the affliction of My people who are in Egypt, and their cry I have heard, because of its exactors, for I have known its pains; ⁸and I go down to deliver it out of the hand of the Egyptians, and to cause it to go up out of the land, unto a land good and broad, unto a land flowing with milk and honey—unto the place of the Canaanite, and the Hittite, and the Amorite, and the Perizzite, and the Hivite, and the Jebusite.

⁹‘And now, lo, the cry of the sons of Israel hath come in unto Me, and I have also seen the oppression with which the Egyptians are oppressing them, ¹⁰and now, come, and I send thee unto Pharaoh, and bring thou out My people, the sons of Israel, out of Egypt.’

¹¹And Moses saith unto God, ‘Who am I, that I go unto Pharaoh, and that I bring out the sons of Israel from Egypt?’ ¹²and He saith, ‘Because I am with thee, and this is to thee the sign that I have sent thee: in thy bringing out the people from Egypt—ye do serve God on this mount.’ ¹³And Moses saith unto God, ‘Lo, I am coming unto the sons of Israel, and have said to them, The God of your fathers hath sent me unto you, and they have said to me, What is His name? what do I say unto them?’ ¹⁴And God saith unto Moses, ‘I AM THAT WHICH I AM;’ He saith also, ‘Thus dost thou say to the sons of Israel, I AM hath sent me unto you.’ ¹⁵And God saith again unto Moses, ‘Thus dost thou say unto the sons of Israel, Jehovah, God of your fathers, God of Abraham, God of Isaac, and God of Jacob, hath sent me unto you; this is My name—to the age, and this My memorial, to generation—generation.

¹⁶‘Go, and thou hast gathered the elders of Israel, and hast said unto them: Jehovah, God of your fathers, hath appeareth unto me, God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, saying, I have certainly inspected you, and that which is done to you in Egypt; ¹⁷and I say, I bring you up out of the affliction of Egypt, unto the land of the Canaanite, and the Hittite, and the Amorite, and the Perizzite, and the Hivite, and the Jebusite, unto a land flowing with milk and honey.

¹⁸‘And they have hearkened to thy voice, and thou hast entered, thou and the elders of Israel, unto the king of Egypt, and ye have said unto him, Jehovah, God of the Hebrews, hath met with us; and now, let us go, we pray thee, a journey of three days into the wilderness, and we sacrifice to Jehovah our God.

¹⁹‘And I—I have known that the king of Egypt doth not permit you to go, unless by a strong hand, ²⁰and I have put forth My hand, and have smitten Egypt with all My wonders, which I do in its midst—and afterwards he doth send you away.

²¹‘And I have given the grace of this people in the eyes of the Egyptians, and it hath come to pass, when ye go, ye go not empty; ²²and every woman hath asked from her neighbour, and from her who is sojourning in her house, vessels of silver, and vessels of gold, and garments, and ye have put them on your sons and on your daughters, and have spoiled the Egyptians.’

Chapter 4

¹And Moses answereth and saith, ‘And, if they do not give credence to me, nor hearken to my voice, and say, Jehovah hath not appeared unto thee?’ ²And Jehovah saith unto him, ‘What is this in thy hand?’ and he saith, ‘A rod;’ ³and He saith, ‘Cast it to the earth;’ and he casteth it to the earth, and it becometh a serpent—and Moses fleeth from its presence. ⁴And Jehovah saith unto Moses, ‘Put forth thy hand, and lay hold on the tail of it;’ and he putteth forth his hand, and layeth hold on it, and it becometh a rod in his hand— ⁵‘—so that they believe that Jehovah, God of their fathers, hath appeared unto thee, God of Abraham, God of Isaac, and God of Jacob.’ ⁶And Jehovah saith to him again, ‘Put in, I pray thee, thy hand into thy bosom;’ and he putteth in his hand into his bosom, and he bringeth it out, and lo, his hand is leprous as snow; ⁷and He saith, ‘Put back thy hand unto thy bosom;’ and he putteth back his hand unto his bosom, and he bringeth it out from his bosom, and lo, it hath turned back as his flesh— ⁸‘—and it hath come to pass, if they do not give credence to thee, and hearken not to the voice of the first sign, that they have given credence to the voice of the latter sign.

⁹‘And it hath come to pass, if they do not give credence even to these two signs, nor hearken to thy voice, that thou hast taken of the waters of the River, and hast poured on the dry land, and the waters which thou takest from the River have been, yea, they have become—blood on the dry land.’

¹⁰And Moses saith unto Jehovah, ‘O, my Lord, I am not a man of words, either yesterday, or before, or since Thy speaking unto Thy servant, for I am slow of mouth, and slow of tongue.’ ¹¹And Jehovah saith unto him, ‘Who appointed a mouth for man? or who appointeth the dumb, or deaf, or open, or blind? is it not I, Jehovah? ¹²and now, go, and I—I am with thy mouth, and have directed thee that which thou speakest;’ ¹³and he saith, ‘O, my Lord, send, I pray thee, by the hand Thou dost send.’ ¹⁴And the anger of Jehovah burneth against Moses, and He saith, ‘Is not Aaron the Levite thy brother? I have known that he speaketh well, and also, lo, he is coming out to meet thee; when he hath seen thee, then he hath rejoiced in his heart, ¹⁵and thou hast spoken unto him, and hast set the words in his mouth, and I—I am with thy mouth, and with his mouth, and have directed you that which ye do; ¹⁶and he, he hath spoken for thee unto the people, and it hath come to pass, he—he is to thee for a mouth, and thou—thou art to him for God; ¹⁷and this rod thou dost take in thy hand, with which thou doest the signs.’

¹⁸And Moses goeth and turneth back unto Jethro his father-in-law, and saith to him, ‘Let me go, I pray thee, and I turn back unto my brethren who are in Egypt, and I see whether they are yet alive.’ And Jethro saith to Moses, ‘Go in peace.’ ¹⁹And Jehovah saith unto Moses in Midian, ‘Go, turn back to Egypt, for all the men have died who seek thy life;’ ²⁰and Moses taketh his wife, and his sons, and causeth them to ride on the ass, and turneth back to the land of Egypt, and Moses taketh the rod of God in his hand. ²¹And Jehovah saith unto Moses, ‘In thy going to turn back to Egypt, see—all the wonders which I have put in thy hand—that thou hast done them before Pharaoh, and I—I strengthen his heart, and he doth not send the people away; ²²and thou hast said unto Pharaoh, Thus said Jehovah, My son, My first-born is Israel, ²³and I say unto thee, Send away My son, and he doth serve Me; and—thou dost refuse to send him away—lo, I am slaying thy son, thy first-born.’

²⁴And it cometh to pass in the way, in a lodging place, that Jehovah meeteth him, and seeketh to put him to death; ²⁵and Zipporah taketh a flint, and cutteth off the foreskin of her son, and causeth it to touch his feet, and saith, ‘Surely a bridegroom of blood art thou to me;’ ²⁶and He desisteth from him: then she said, ‘A bridegroom of blood,’ in reference to the circumcision. ²⁷And Jehovah saith unto Aaron, ‘Go to meet Moses into the wilderness;’ and he goeth, and meeteth him in the mount of God, and kisseth him, ²⁸and Moses declareth to Aaron all the words of Jehovah with which He hath sent him, and all the signs with which He hath charged him. ²⁹And Moses goeth—Aaron also—and they gather all the elders of the sons of Israel, ³⁰and Aaron speaketh all the words which Jehovah hath spoken unto Moses, and doth the signs before the eyes of the people; ³¹and the people believe when they hear that Jehovah hath looked after the sons of Israel, and that He hath seen their affliction; and they bow and do obeisance.

Chapter 5

¹And afterwards have Moses and Aaron entered, and they say unto Pharaoh, ‘Thus said Jehovah, God of Israel, Send My people away, and they keep a feast to Me in the wilderness;’ ²and Pharaoh saith, ‘Who is Jehovah, that I hearken to His voice, to send Israel away? I have not known Jehovah, and Israel also I do not send away.’

³And they say, ‘The God of the Hebrews hath met with us, let us go, we pray thee, a journey of three days into the wilderness, and we sacrifice to Jehovah our God, lest He meet us with pestilence or with sword.’ ⁴And the king of Egypt saith unto them, ‘Why, Moses and Aaron, do ye free the people from its works? go to your burdens.’ ⁵Pharaoh also saith, ‘Lo, numerous now is the people of the land, and ye have caused them to cease from their burdens!’ ⁶And Pharaoh commandeth, on that day, the exactors among the people and its authorities, saying, ⁷‘Ye do not add to give straw to the people for the making of the bricks, as heretofore—they go and have gathered straw for themselves; ⁸and the proper quantity of the bricks which they are making heretofore ye do put on them, ye do not diminish from it, for they are remiss, therefore they are crying, saying, Let us go, let us sacrifice to our God; ⁹let the service be heavy on the men, and let them work at it, and not be dazzled by lying words.’

¹⁰And the exactors of the people, and its authorities, go out, and speak unto the people, saying, ‘Thus said Pharaoh, I do not…