Exodus 4
4
Chapter 4
God shows Moses some strange things
1Then Moses replied, ‘Perhaps the leaders of Israel will not believe me. Perhaps they will not listen to my message. Perhaps they will say, “The Lord did not really appear to you.” ’
2Then the Lord said to Moses, ‘What is that thing in your hand?’ Moses answered, ‘It is a stick.’
3The Lord said, ‘Throw it down on the ground.’ So Moses threw it on the ground. Then the stick became a snake! Moses ran away from the snake. 4Then the Lord said to Moses, ‘Take hold of the snake's tail with your hand.’ So Moses caught the snake with his hand. Then it became a stick in his hand again. 5God said, ‘Do this in front of them. Then they will believe you. They will believe that I, the Lord God, have appeared to you. I am the God that their ancestors worshipped. I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob.’
6Then the Lord said to Moses, ‘Put your hand inside your robe.’ So Moses did this. When he took his hand out again, the skin had become white, like snow. It was the bad disease called leprosy.
7Then God said, ‘Put your hand back inside your robe again.’ So Moses did that. And when he took his hand out, it was well again, like the rest of his skin!
8God said, ‘The leaders may not believe you. They may not think that the miracle with the stick shows anything. But they may believe you when you do the second miracle. 9But they may still not listen to your message. If they will not even believe those two miracles, do this: Take some water from the River Nile and pour it on the dry ground. The water that you take from the river will become blood on the ground.’ #4:9 These miracles would show the Israelites that Moses spoke with the authority of God.
10Then Moses said to the Lord, ‘My Lord, I cannot speak well. I speak slowly and I speak with difficulty. I never could speak well. And even now, when you have spoken to me, I still cannot speak well.’
11Then the Lord said to Moses, ‘Who has made human mouths? Who makes a person that cannot speak? Who makes a person that cannot hear? Who makes a person who can see, or who cannot see? It is I, the Lord God! 12Now go! I will help you to speak well. I will teach you what you must say.’
13But Moses said, ‘My Lord, please send some other person. Do not send me!’
14Then the Lord became angry with Moses. He said, ‘Aaron, the Levite, is your brother. I know that he can speak very well. Look! He is coming to meet you now. When he sees you, he will be very happy.
15So this is what you must do. You must speak to him. You must tell him what to say. I will help both of you to speak. And I will teach both of you what you must do. 16Aaron will speak to the people on your behalf. He will be like your mouth, to speak your message. And you will be like God to him. You will tell him what to say. 17Take this stick with you and hold it in your hand. You will use it to do the miracles to show that I have sent you.’
Moses returns to Egypt
18Then Moses went back to Jethro, his wife's father. Moses said to him, ‘Please let me return to my family in Egypt. I must see if they are still alive.’ So Jethro said to Moses, ‘Go in peace.’ #4:18 ‘Go in peace’ means that Jethro agreed with Moses. He wanted Moses to have a good journey and to arrive safely.
19The Lord had said to Moses while he was still in Midian, ‘Go back to Egypt. All the men who tried to kill you are now dead.’ 20So Moses put his wife and his sons on a donkey and they started on the journey back to Egypt. And Moses carried the stick of God in his hand.
21Then the Lord said to Moses, ‘When you return to Egypt you must do the signs. Do all the signs that I gave you the power to do. Do them in front of Pharaoh. But I will make Pharaoh angry and cruel. Because of this, he will not let the people go.
22Then you must speak to Pharaoh. You must say, “The Lord says, Israel is my first son. 23I have already said to you, Let my son go so that he can worship me. But if you refuse to let him go, I will kill your first son.” ’
24On the way to Egypt, there was a place where people could rest on their journey. The Lord met Moses there and he wanted to kill Moses. 25But Zipporah took a sharp stone and she cut off her son's foreskin with the stone. She touched Moses' feet with the foreskin. She said, ‘You are a husband of blood to me.’ 26So God did not do anything bad to Moses. Then Zipporah said to Moses, ‘You are a husband of blood, because of this circumcision.’ #4:26 A long time before this, God had told Abraham that he must circumcise himself and every male person in his house. All the men that would be born into that family must obey that command. That was the sign of God's promise to Abraham and his family. Because Moses had not circumcised his son, he had not obeyed God's command. Zipporah circumcised their son because God would have killed Moses. Because she obeyed God, Moses did not die.
27The Lord said to Aaron, ‘Go into the desert to meet Moses.’ So Aaron went. He met Moses at the mountain of God and he kissed him. 28Then Moses told Aaron all that the Lord had told him to say. He also told Aaron about all the special signs. God had commanded Moses to show these signs to the Israelites and to Pharaoh.
29Then Moses and Aaron went to Egypt. They brought together all the leaders of the Israelites. 30Aaron told them all the things that the Lord had said to Moses. Then Moses did the signs in front of the people. 31And the people believed Aaron and Moses. They had heard that the Lord had come to his people. God had seen their hard life and he was sorry for them. They put their heads down and they worshipped God.
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Exodus 4
4
The Lord Gives Great Power to Moses
1Moses asked the Lord, “Suppose everyone refuses to listen to my message, and no one believes that you really appeared to me?”
2The Lord answered, “What's that in your hand?”
“A walking stick,” Moses replied.
3“Throw it down!” the Lord commanded. So Moses threw the stick on the ground. It immediately turned into a snake, and Moses jumped back.
4“Pick it up by the tail!” the Lord told him. And when Moses did this, the snake turned back into a walking stick.
5“Do this,” the Lord said, “and the Israelites will believe that you have seen me, the God who was worshiped by their ancestors Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.”
6Next, the Lord commanded Moses, “Put your hand inside your shirt.” Moses obeyed, and when he took it out, his hand had turned white as snow—like someone with leprosy.#4.6 leprosy: The word translated “leprosy” was used for many different kinds of skin diseases.
7“Put your hand back inside your shirt,” the Lord told him. Moses did so, and when he took it out again, it was as healthy as the rest of his body.
8-9Then the Lord said, “If no one believes either of these miracles, take some water from the Nile River and pour it on the ground. The water will immediately turn into blood.”
10Moses replied, “I have never been a good speaker. I wasn't one before you spoke to me, and I'm not one now. I am slow at speaking, and I can never think of what to say.”
11But the Lord answered, “Who makes people able to speak or makes them deaf or unable to speak? Who gives them sight or makes them blind? Don't you know that I am the one who does these things? 12Now go! When you speak, I will be with you and give you the words to say.”
13Moses begged, “Lord, please send someone else to do it.”
14The Lord became angry with Moses and said:
What about your brother Aaron, the Levite? I know he is a good speaker. He is already on his way here to visit you, and he will be happy to see you again. 15-16Aaron will speak to the people for you, and you will be like me, telling Aaron what to say. I will be with both of you as you speak, and I will tell each of you what to do. 17Now take this walking stick and use it to perform miracles.
Moses Returns to Egypt
18Moses went to his father-in-law Jethro and asked, “Please let me return to Egypt to see if any of my people are still alive.”
“All right,” Jethro replied. “I hope all goes well.”
19But even before this, the Lord had told Moses, “Leave the land of Midian and return to Egypt. Everyone who wanted to kill you is now dead.” 20So Moses put his wife and sons on donkeys and headed for Egypt, holding the walking stick that had the power of God.
21On the way the Lord said to Moses:
When you get to Egypt, go to the king and work the miracles I have shown you. But I will make him so stubborn that he will refuse to let my people go. 22Then tell him that I have said, “Israel is my first-born son, 23#Ex 12.29. and I commanded you to release him, so he could worship me. But you refused, and now I will kill your first-born son.”
Zipporah's Son Is Circumcised
24One night while Moses was in camp, the Lord was about to kill him. 25But Zipporah#4.25 Zipporah: The wife of Moses (see 2.16-21). circumcised her son with a flint knife. She touched his#4.25 his: Either Moses or the boy. legs with the skin she had cut off and said, “My dear son, this blood will protect you.”#4.25 My dear son … you: Or “My dear husband, you are a man of blood” (meaning Moses). 26So the Lord did not harm Moses. Then Zipporah said, “Yes, my dear, you are safe because of this circumcision.”#4.26 you are … circumcision: Or “you are a man of blood.”
Aaron Is Sent To Meet Moses
27The Lord sent Aaron to meet Moses in the desert. So Aaron met Moses at Mount Sinai#4.27 Mount Sinai: Hebrew “the mountain of God.” and greeted him with a kiss. 28Moses told Aaron what God had sent him to say; he also told him about the miracles God had given him the power to perform.
29Later they brought together the leaders of Israel, 30and Aaron told them what the Lord had sent Moses to say. Then Moses worked the miracles for the people, 31and everyone believed. They bowed down and worshiped the Lord because they knew that he had seen their suffering and was going to help them.
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Contemporary English Version, Second Edition (CEV®)
© 2006 American Bible Society. All rights reserved.