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Exodus 4
1 Then Moses answered, ‘What if they will not believe me or listen to my words and say to me, “Yahweh has not appeared to you”?’
3 ‘Throw it on the ground’ said Yahweh; so Moses threw his staff on the ground – it turned into a serpent and he drew back from it.
4 ‘Put your hand out and catch it by the tail’ Yahweh said to him. And he put out his hand and caught it, and in his hand the serpent turned into a staff. . .
5 ‘so that they may believe that Yahweh, the God of their fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has really appeared to you.’
6 Again Yahweh spoke to Moses, ‘Put your hand into your bosom.’ He put his hand into his bosom and when he drew it out, his hand was covered with leprosy, white as snow.
7 ‘Put your hand back into your bosom.’ He put his hand back into his bosom and when he drew it out, there it was restored, just like the rest of his flesh.
8 ‘Even so: should they not believe you nor be convinced by the first sign, the second will convince them;
9 but if they should believe neither of these two signs and not listen to your words, you must take water from the river and pour it on the ground, and the water you have drawn from the river will turn to blood on the ground.’ Aaron, the mouthpiece of Moses
10 Moses said to Yahweh, ‘But, my Lord, never in my life have I been a man of eloquence, either before or since you have spoken to your servant. I am a slow speaker and not able to speak well.’
11 ‘Who gave man his mouth?’ Yahweh answered him. ‘Who makes him dumb or deaf, gives him sight or leaves him blind? Is it not I, Yahweh?
14 At this, the anger of Yahweh blazed out against Moses, and he said to him, ‘There is your brother Aaron the Levite, is there not? I know that he is a good speaker. Here he comes to meet you. When he sees you, his heart will be full of joy.
15 You will speak to him and tell him what message to give. I shall help you to speak, and him too, and instruct you what to do.
16 He himself is to speak to the people in your place; he will be your mouthpiece, and you will be as the god inspiring him.
17 And take this staff into your hand; with this you will perform the signs.’ Moses returns to Egypt. He leaves Midian
18 Moses went away and returned to his father-in-law Jethro, and said to him, ‘Give me leave to go back to my relatives in Egypt to see if they are still alive’. And Jethro said to Moses, ‘Go in peace’.
19 Yahweh said to Moses in Midian, ‘Go, return to Egypt, for all those who wanted to kill you are dead’.
20 So Moses took his wife and his son and, putting them on a donkey, started back for the land of Egypt; and Moses took in his hand the staff of God.
21 Yahweh said to Moses, ‘Now that you are going back to Egypt, be prepared to perform before Pharaoh all the marvels that I have given you power to do. I myself will harden his heart, and he will not let the people go.
22 Then you will say to Pharaoh, “This is what Yahweh says: Israel is my first-born son.
23 I ordered you to let my son go to offer me worship. You refuse to let him go. So be it! I shall put your first-born to death”.’ The son of Moses circumcised
24 On the journey, when Moses had halted for the night, Yahweh came to meet him and tried to kill him.
25 At once Zipporah, taking up a flint, cut off her son’s foreskin and with it she touched the genitals of Moses ‘Truly, you are a bride-groom of blood to me!’ she said.
26 And Yahweh let him live. It was then that she said, ‘bridegroom of blood’ on account of the circumcision. Moses meets Aaron
27 Yahweh said to Aaron, ‘Go into the wilderness to meet Moses’. And so he went, and met him at the mountain of God; and he kissed him.
28 Moses then told Aaron all that Yahweh had said when he set him his task and all the signs he had ordered him to perform.
30 and Aaron told all that Yahweh had said to Moses, and in the sight of the people he performed the signs.
31 The people were convinced, and they rejoiced that Yahweh had visited the sons of Israel and