4

¹And Moses answered, and he said, “And here, they won’t believe me and won’t listen to my voice, because they’ll say, ‘YHWH hasn’t appeared to you!’”

²And YHWH said to him, “What’s this in your hand?”

And he said, “A staff.”

³And He said, “Throw it to the ground.”

And he threw it to the ground. And it became a snake! And Moses fled from it.

⁴And YHWH said to Moses, “Put out your hand and take hold of its tail.”

And he put out his hand and held on to it, and it became a staff in his hand.

⁵“So that they will believe that YHWH, their fathers’ God, Abraham’s God, Isaac’s God, and Jacob’s God, has appeared to you!”

⁶And YHWH said to him further, “Bring your hand into your bosom.”

And he brought his hand into his bosom. And he brought it out; and, here, his hand was leprous like snow!

⁷And He said, “Put your hand back to your bosom.”

And he put his hand back to his bosom. And he brought it out from his bosom; and, here, it had gone back like its flesh.

⁸“And it will be, if they won’t believe you and won’t listen to the voice of the first sign, then they’ll believe the voice of the latter one. ⁹And it will be, if they also won’t believe in these two signs and won’t listen to your voice, then you’ll take some of the water of the Nile and spill it on the dry ground. And it will be water that you’ll take from the Nile, and it will become blood on the dry ground.”

¹⁰And Moses said to YHWH, “Please, my Lord, I’m not a man of words. Neither yesterday nor the day before—nor since you spoke to your servant! Because I’m heavy of mouth and heavy of tongue.”

“And YHWH said to him, “Who set a mouth for humans? Or who will set a mute or deaf or seeing or blind? Is it not I, YHWH? ¹²And now go, and I’ll be with your mouth, and I’ll instruct you what you shall speak.”

¹³And he said, “Please, my Lord, send by the hand you’ll send.”

¹⁴And YHWH’s anger flared at Moses, and He said, “Isn’t Aaron your Levite brother?^* I knew that he will speak! And also here he is, coming out toward you! And he’ll see you and be happy in his heart. ¹⁵And you’ll speak to him and set the words in his mouth, and I, I shall be with your mouth and with his mouth, and I shall instruct you what you shall do. ¹⁶And he will speak for you to the people. And it will be: he will become a mouth for you, and you will become a god for him! ¹⁷And you shall take this staff in your hand, by which you’ll do the signs.”

^l8And Moses went.

And he went back to Jether, his father-in-law, and said to him, “Let me go so I may go back to my brothers who are in Egypt and see if they’re still living.”

And Jethro said to Moses, “Go in peace.”

¹⁹And YHWH said to Moses in Midian, “Go. Go back to Egypt, because all the people who sought your life have died.” ²⁰And Moses took his wife and his sons* and rode them on an ass, and he went back to the land of Egypt. And Moses took the staff of God in his hand. ²¹And YHWH said to Moses, “When you’re going to go back to Egypt, see all the wonders that I’ve set in your hand, and you shall do them in front of Pharaoh. And I: I’ll strengthen his heart, and he won’t let the people go.^{** 22}And you shall say to Pharaoh, ‘YHWH said this: My child, my firstborn, is Israel. ²³And I’ve said to you: Let my child go and serve me. And should you refuse to let it go, here: I’m killing your child, your firstborn!’”

²⁴And he was on the way, at a lodging place, and YHWH met him, and he asked to kill him. ²⁵And Zipporah took a flint and cut her son’s foreskin and touched his feet, and she said, “Because you’re a bridegroom of blood to me.” ²⁶And he held back from Him. Then she said, “A bridegroom of blood for circumcisions.”

²⁷And YHWH said to Aaron, “Go toward Moses, to the wilderness.” And he went, and he met him in the Mountain of God, and he kissed him. ²⁸And Moses told Aaron all YHWH’s words that He had sent him and all the signs that He had commanded him. ²⁹And Moses went, and Aaron, and they gathered all the elders of the children of Israel, ³⁰and Aaron spoke all the words that YHWH had spoken to Moses. And he did the signs before the people’s eyes. ³¹And the people believed, and they heard that YHWH had taken account of the children of Israel and that He had seen their degradation. And they knelt and bowed.