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1 And Moses answered and said, If they believe me not, and do not hearken to my voice (for they will say, God has not appeared to thee), what shall I say to them? 2 And the Lord said to him, What is this thing that is in thine 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 it. 4 And the Lord said to Moses, Stretch forth thine hand, and take hold of its tail: so he stretched forth his hand and took hold of the tail, 5 and it became a rod in his hand,—that they may believe thee, that the God of thy fathers has appeared to thee, the God of Abraam, and God of Isaac, and God of Jacob. 6 And the Lord said again to him, Put thine hand into thy bosom; and he put his hand into his bosom, and brought his hand out of his bosom, and his hand became as snow. 7 And he said again, Put thy hand into thy bosom; and he put his hand into his bosom, and brought his hand out of his bosom, and it was again restored to the complexion of his other flesh. 8 And if they will not believe thee, nor hearken to the voice of the first sign, they will believe thee because of the voice of the second sign. 9 And it shall come to pass if they will not believe thee for these two signs, and will not hearken to thy voice, that thou shalt take of the water of the river and pour it upon the dry land, and the water which thou shalt take from the river shall be blood upon the dry land. 10 And Moses said to the Lord, I pray, Lord, I have not been sufficient in *former times, neither from the time that thou hast begun to speak to thy servant: I am weak in speech, and slow-tongued. 11 And the Lord said to Moses, Who has given a mouth to man, and who has made the very hard of hearing, and the deaf, the seeing and the blind? have not I, God? 12 And now go and I will open thy mouth, and will †instruct thee in what thou shalt say. 13 And Moses said, I pray thee, Lord, appoint another able person whom thou shalt send. 14 And the Lord was greatly angered against Moses, and said, Lo! is not Aaron the Levite thy brother? I know that he will surely speak to thee; and, behold, he will come forth to meet thee, and beholding thee he will rejoice within himself. 15 And thou shalt speak to him; and thou shalt put my words into his mouth, and I will open thy mouth and his mouth, and I will instruct you in what ye shall do. 16 And he shall speak for thee to the people, and he shall be thy mouth, and thou shalt be for him in things pertaining to God. 17 And this rod that was turned into a serpent thou shalt take in thine hand, wherewith thou shalt work miracles.
18 And Moses went and returned to Jothor his father-in-law, and says, I will go and return to my brethren in Egypt, and will see if they are yet living. And Jothor said to Moses, Go in health. And in those days after some time, the king of Egypt died. 19 And the Lord said to Moses in Madiam, Go, depart into Egypt, for all that sought thy life are dead. 20 And Moses took his wife and his children, and mounted them on the beasts, and returned to Egypt; and Moses took the rod which he had from God in his hand. 21 And the Lord said to Moses, When thou goest and returnest to Egypt, see—all the miracles I have ‡charged thee with, thou shalt work before Pharao: and I will harden his heart, and he shall certainly not send away the people. 22 And thou shalt say to Pharao, These things saith the Lord, Israel is my first-born. 23 And I said to thee, Send away my people, that they may serve me: now if thou wilt not send them away, see, I will slay thy first-born son. 24 And it came to pass that the angel of the Lord met him by the way in the inn, and sought to slay him. 25 And Sepphora having taken a stone cut off the foreskin of her son, and fell at his feet and said, The blood of the circumcision of my son is staunched: 26 and he departed from him, because she said, The blood of the circumcision of my son is staunched. 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 they kissed each other. 28 And Moses reported to Aaron all the words of the Lord, which he sent, and all the things which he charged him. 29 And Moses and Aaron went and gathered the elders of the children of Israel. 30 And Aaron spoke all these words, which God spoke to Moses, and wrought the miracles before the people. 31 And the people believed and rejoiced, because God visited the children of Israel, and because he saw their affliction: and the people bowed and worshipped.
* 4:10 Gr. before yesterday, neither before the third day. † 4:12 See 1 Cor 2. 16. Gr. ‡ 4:21 Lit. put into thine hands.