Exodus 4

The Source of Sufficiency

4:1¹ Moses answered again,² “And if³ they do not believe me or pay attention to me,⁴ but say, ‘The Lord has not appeared to you’?” 4:2 The Lord said to him, “What is that in your hand?” He said, “A staff.”⁵ 4:3 The Lord⁶ said, “Throw it to the ground.” So he threw it to the ground, and it became a snake,⁷ and Moses ran from it. 4:4 But the Lord said to Moses, “Put out your hand and grab it by the tail” – so he put out his hand and caught it, and it became a staff in his hand⁸ – 4:5 “that they may believe that the Lord, the God of their fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has appeared to you.”

4:6 The Lord also said to him, “Put your hand into your robe.”⁹ So he put his hand into his robe, and when he brought it out – there was his hand,¹⁰ leprous like snow!¹¹ 4:7 He said, “Put your hand back into your robe.” So he put his hand back into his robe, and when he brought it out from his robe – there it was,¹² restored¹³ like the rest of his skin!¹⁴ 4:8 “If¹⁵ they do not believe you or pay attention to¹⁶ the former sign, then they may¹⁷ believe the latter sign.¹⁸ 4:9 And if¹⁹ they do not believe even these two signs or listen to you,²⁰ then take²¹ some water from the Nile and pour it out on the dry ground. The water you take out of the Nile will become blood on the dry ground.”²²

4:10 Then Moses said to the Lord,²³ “O²⁴ my Lord,²⁵ I am not an eloquent man,²⁶ neither in the past²⁷ nor since you have spoken to your servant, for I am slow of speech and slow of tongue.”²⁸

4:11 The Lord said to him, “Who gave²⁹ a mouth to man, or who makes a person mute or deaf or seeing or blind? Is it not I, the Lord?³⁰ 4:12 So now go, and I will be with your mouth³¹ and will teach you³² what you must say.”³³

4:13 But Moses said,³⁴ “O³⁵ my Lord, please send anyone else whom you wish to send!”³⁶

4:14 Then the Lord became angry with³⁷ Moses, and he said, “What about³⁸ your brother Aaron the Levite?³⁹ I know that he can speak very well.⁴⁰ Moreover, he is coming⁴¹ to meet you, and when he sees you he will be glad in his heart.⁴²

4:15 “So you are to speak to him and put the words in his mouth. And as for me, I will be with your mouth⁴³ and with his mouth,⁴⁴ and I will teach you both⁴⁵ what you must do.⁴⁶ 4:16 He⁴⁷ will speak for you to the people, and it will be as if⁴⁸ he⁴⁹ were your mouth⁵⁰ and as if you were his God.⁵¹ 4:17 You will also take in your hand this staff, with which you will do the signs.”⁵²

The Return of Moses

4:18⁵³ So Moses went back⁵⁴ to his father-in-law Jethro and said to him, “Let me go, so that I may return⁵⁵ to my relatives⁵⁶ in Egypt and see⁵⁷ if they are still alive.” Jethro said to Moses, “Go in peace.” 4:19 The Lord said to Moses in Midian, “Go back⁵⁸ to Egypt, because all the men who were seeking your life are dead.”⁵⁹ 4:20 Then Moses took⁶⁰ his wife and sons⁶¹ and put them on a donkey and headed back⁶² to the land of Egypt, and Moses took the staff of God in his hand. 4:21 The Lord said⁶³ to Moses, “When you go back to Egypt,⁶⁴ see that you⁶⁵ do before Pharaoh all the wonders I have put under your control.⁶⁶ But I will harden⁶⁷ his heart⁶⁸ and⁶⁹ he will not let the people go. 4:22 You must say⁷⁰ to Pharaoh, ‘Thus says⁷¹ the Lord, “Israel is my son, my firstborn,⁷² 4:23 and I said to you, ‘Let my son go that he may serve⁷³ me,’ but since you have refused to let him go,⁷⁴ I will surely kill⁷⁵ your son, your firstborn!”’”

4:24 Now on the way, at a place where they stopped for the night,⁷⁶ the Lord met Moses and sought to kill him.⁷⁷ 4:25 But Zipporah took a flint knife, cut off the foreskin of her son and touched it to Moses’ feet,⁷⁸ and said, “Surely you are a bridegroom of blood⁷⁹ to me.” 4:26 So the Lord⁸⁰ let him alone. (At that time⁸¹ she said, “A bridegroom of blood,” referring to⁸² the circumcision.)

4:27 The Lord said⁸³ to Aaron, “Go to the wilderness to meet Moses. So he went and met him at the mountain of God⁸⁴ and greeted him with a kiss.⁸⁵ 4:28 Moses told Aaron all the words of the Lord who had⁸⁶ sent him and all the signs that he had commanded him. 4:29 Then Moses and Aaron went and brought together all the Israelite elders.⁸⁷ 4:30 Aaron spoke⁸⁸ all the words that the Lord had spoken to Moses and did the signs in the sight of the people, 4:31 and the people believed. When they heard⁸⁹ that the Lord had attended to⁹⁰ the Israelites and that he had seen their affliction, they bowed down close to the ground.⁹¹

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