Exodus 4

Miraculous Signs for Pharaoh

1 Then Moses answered and said, "But suppose they will not believe me or listen to my voice; suppose they say, ‘The Lord has not appeared to you.’ "

2 So the Lord said to him, "What is that in your hand?"

He said, "A rod."

3 And He said, "Cast it on the ground." So he cast it on the ground, and it became a serpent; and Moses fled from it. 4 Then the Lord said to Moses, "Reach out your hand and take it by the tail" (and he reached out his hand and caught it, and it became a rod in his hand), 5 "that they may *Ex. 4:31; 19:9believe that the *Gen. 28:13; 48:15; Ex. 3:6, 15Lord God of their fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has appeared to you."

6 Furthermore the Lord said to him, "Now put your hand in your bosom." And he put his hand in his bosom, and when he took it out, behold, his hand was leprous, *Num. 12:10; 2 Kin. 5:27like snow. 7 And He said, "Put your hand in your bosom again." So he put his hand in his bosom again, and drew it out of his bosom, and behold, *Num. 12:13–15; Deut. 32:39it was restored like his other flesh. 8 "Then it will be, if they do not believe you, nor heed the message of the *Ex. 7:6–13first sign, that they may believe the message of the latter sign. 9 And it shall be, if they do not believe even these two signs, or listen to your voice, that you shall take water from the river and pour it on the dry land.*Ex. 7:19, 20The water which you take from the river will become blood on the dry land."

10 Then Moses said to the Lord, "O my Lord, I am not eloquent, neither before nor since You have spoken to Your servant; but *Ex. 3:11; 4:1; 6:12; Jer. 1:6I am slow of speech and slow of tongue."

11 So the Lord said to him, *Ps. 94:9; 146:8; Matt. 11:5; Luke 1:20, 64"Who has made man’s mouth? Or who makes the mute, the deaf, the seeing, or the blind? Have not I, the Lord? 12 Now therefore, go, and I will be *Ex. 4:15, 16; Deut. 18:18; Is. 50:4; Jer. 1:9; (Matt. 10:19; Mark 13:11; Luke 12:11, 12; 21:14, 15)with your mouth and teach you what you shall say."

13 But he said, "O my Lord, *Jon. 1:3please send by the hand of whomever else You may send."

14 So *Num. 11:1, 33the anger of the Lord was kindled against Moses, and He said: "Is not Aaron the Levite your *Num. 26:59brother? I know that he can speak well. And look, *Ex. 4:27; 1 Sam. 10:2, 3, 5he is also coming out to meet you. When he sees you, he will be glad in his heart. 15 Now *Ex. 4:12, 30; 7:1, 2you shall speak to him and *Num. 23:5, 12; Deut. 18:18; 2 Sam. 14:3, 19; Is. 51:16; 59:21; Jer. 1:9put the words in his mouth. And *Deut. 5:31I will be with your mouth and with his mouth, and I will teach you what you shall do. 16 So he shall be your spokesman to the people. And he himself shall be as a mouth for you, and *Ex. 7:1, 2you shall be to him as God. 17 And you shall take this rod in your hand, with which you shall do the signs."

Moses Goes to Egypt

18 So Moses went and returned to *Ex. 2:21; 3:1; 4:18Jethro his father-in-law, and said to him, "Please let me go and return to my brethren who are in Egypt, and see whether they are still alive."

And Jethro said to Moses, *Gen. 43:23; Judg. 18:6"Go in peace."

19 Now the Lord said to Moses in *Ex. 3:1; 18:1Midian, "Go, return to *Gen. 46:3, 6Egypt; for all the men who *Ex. 2:15, 23; Matt. 2:20sought your life are dead." 20 Then Moses *Ex. 18:2–5; Acts 7:29took his wife and his sons and set them on a donkey, and he returned to the land of Egypt. And Moses took *Ex. 4:17; 17:9; Num. 20:8, 9, 11the rod of God in his hand.

21 And the Lord said to Moses, "When you go back to Egypt, see that you do all those *Ex. 3:20; 11:9, 10wonders before Pharaoh which I have put in your hand. But *Ex. 7:3, 13; 9:12, 35; 10:1, 20, 27; 14:4, 8; Deut. 2:30; Josh. 11:20; 1 Sam. 6:6; Is. 63:17; John 12:40; Rom. 9:18I will harden his heart, so that he will not let the people go. 22 Then you shall *Ex. 5:1say to Pharaoh, ‘Thus says the Lord: *Is. 63:16; 64:8; Hos. 11:1; (Rom. 9:4; 2 Cor. 6:16, 18)"Israel is My son, *Jer. 31:9; (James 1:18)My firstborn. 23 So I say to you, let My son go that he may serve Me. But if you refuse to let him go, indeed *Ex. 11:5; 12:29; Ps. 105:36; 135:8; 136:10I will kill your son, your firstborn." ’ "

24 And it came to pass on the way, at the *Gen. 42:27encampment, that the Lord*Ex. 3:18; 5:3; Num. 22:22met him and sought to *Gen. 17:14kill him. 25 Then *Ex. 2:21; 18:2Zipporah took *Gen. 17:14; Josh. 5:2, 3a sharp stone and cut off the foreskin of her son and cast it at Moses’ feet, and said, "Surely you are a husband of blood to me!" 26 So He let him go. Then she said, "Youare a husband of blood!"—because of the circumcision.

27 And the Lord said to Aaron, "Go into the wilderness *Ex. 4:14to meet Moses." So he went and met him *Ex. 3:1; 18:5; 24:13on the mountain of God, and kissed him. 28 So Moses *Ex. 4:15, 16told Aaron all the words of the Lord who had sent him, and all the *Ex. 4:8, 9signs which He had commanded him. 29 Then Moses and Aaron *Ex. 3:16; 12:21went and gathered together all the elders of the children of Israel. 30 *Ex. 4:15, 16And Aaron spoke all the words which the Lord had spoken to Moses. Then he did the signs in the sight of the people. 31 So the people *Ex. 3:18; 4:8, 9; 19:9believed; and when they heard that the Lord had *Gen. 50:24; Ex. 3:16visited the children of Israel and that He *Ex. 2:25; 3:7had looked on their affliction, then *Gen. 24:26; Ex. 12:27; 1 Chr. 29:20they bowed their heads and worshiped.