Exodus 4

Moses Receives Signs and Aaron as His Spokesman to Lead the Israelites Out of Egypt.

4 min read

1 And Moses answered and said, But, behold, they will not believe me, nor listen to my voice: for they will say, The LORD has not appeared to you.
2 And the LORD said to him, What is that in your hand? And he said, A rod.
3 And he said, Cast it on the ground. And he cast it on the ground, and it became a serpent; and Moses fled from before it.
4 And the LORD said to Moses, Put forth your hand, and take it by the tail. And he put forth his hand, and caught it, and it became a rod in his hand:
5 That they may believe that the LORD God of their fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has appeared to you. ¶
6 And the LORD said furthermore to him, Put now your hand into your bosom. And he put his hand into his bosom: and when he took it out, behold, his hand was leprous as snow.
7 And he said, Put your hand into your bosom again. And he put his hand into his bosom again; and plucked it out of his bosom, and, behold, it was turned again as his other flesh.
8 And it shall come to pass, if they will not believe you, neither listen to the voice of the first sign, that they will believe the voice of the latter sign.
9 And it shall come to pass, if they will not believe also these two signs, neither listen to your voice, that you shall take of the water of the river, and pour it on the dry land: and the water which you take out of the river shall become blood on the dry land. ¶
10 And Moses said to the LORD, O my LORD, I am not eloquent, neither heretofore, nor since you have spoken to your servant: but I am slow of speech, and of a slow tongue.
11 And the LORD said to him, Who has made man’s mouth? or who makes the dumb, or deaf, or the seeing, or the blind? have not I the LORD?
12 Now therefore go, and I will be with your mouth, and teach you what you shall say.
13 And he said, O my LORD, send, I pray you, by the hand of him whom you will send.
14 And the anger of the LORD was kindled against Moses, and he said, Is not Aaron the Levite your brother? I know that he can speak well. And also, behold, he comes forth to meet you: and when he sees you, he will be glad in his heart.
15 And you shall speak to him, and put words in his mouth: and I will be with your mouth, and with his mouth, and will teach you what you shall do.
16 And he shall be your spokesman to the people: and he shall be, even he shall be to you instead of a mouth, and you shall be to him instead of God.
17 And you shall take this rod in your hand, with which you shall do signs. ¶
18 And Moses went and returned to Jethro his father in law, and said to him, Let me go, I pray you, and return to my brothers which are in Egypt, and see whether they be yet alive. And Jethro said to Moses, Go in peace.
19 And the LORD said to Moses in Midian, Go, return into Egypt: for all the men are dead which sought your life.
20 And Moses took his wife and his sons, and set them on an ass, and he returned to the land of Egypt: and Moses took the rod of God in his hand.
21 And the LORD said to Moses, When you go to return into Egypt, see that you do all those wonders before Pharaoh, which I have put in your hand: but I will harden his heart, that he shall not let the people go.
22 And you shall say to Pharaoh, Thus says the LORD, Israel is my son, even my firstborn:
23 And I say to you, Let my son go, that he may serve me: and if you refuse to let him go, behold, I will slay your son, even your firstborn. ¶
24 And it came to pass by the way in the inn, that the LORD met him, and sought to kill him.
25 Then Zipporah took a sharp stone, and cut off the foreskin of her son, and cast it at his feet, and said, Surely a bloody husband are you to me.
26 So he let him go: then she said, A bloody husband you are, because of the circumcision. ¶
27 And the LORD said to Aaron, Go into the wilderness to meet Moses. And he went, and met him in the mount of God, and kissed him.
28 And Moses told Aaron all the words of the LORD who had sent him, and all the signs which he had commanded him. ¶
29 And Moses and Aaron went and gathered together all the elders of the children of Israel:
30 And Aaron spoke all the words which the LORD had spoken to Moses, and did the signs in the sight of the people.
31 And the people believed: and when they heard that the LORD had visited the children of Israel, and that he had looked on their affliction, then they bowed their heads and worshipped.
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