Exodus 4

Moses Doubts Himself Again

1 Moses said, ‘But what if they do not believe me or listen to me, What if they say, The Lord did not appear to you,’

2 The Lord said, ‘What is that in your hand?’ Moses said, ‘A staff.’

3 God said, ‘Throw it on the ground.’ Moses threw it down, and it turned into a snake. Moses jumped back real quick.

4 Then God said, ‘Grab it by the tail.’ So Moses reached out, grabbed the snake, and it turned back into a staff in his hand.

5 God said, ‘This is so they will believe the Lord, the God of their ancestors, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, has appeared to you.’

More Signs for Moses

6 Then the Lord said, ‘Put your hand inside your cloak.’ Moses did, and when he pulled it out, his hand was covered in leprosy, it was white as snow.

7 ‘Now put it back in your cloak,’ God said. Moses did, and when he pulled it out again, it was normal, like the rest of his skin.

8 ‘If they do not believe the first sign,’ God said, ‘they will believe the second one.’

9 ‘And if they still do not believe, take some water from the Nile, pour it on the ground, and it will turn to blood.’

Moses Feels Inadequate

10 Moses said, ‘Lord, I am not good at talking. I never have been, and I am still not, even after You have spoken to me. I am slow with words and tongue-tied.’

11 The Lord said, ‘Who gave humans their mouths, Who makes them deaf, mute, or blind, Is it not Me, the Lord?’

12 ‘Now go! I will help you speak and teach you what to say.’

13 But Moses said, ‘Please, Lord, send someone else.’

14 God got frustrated and said, ‘Alright, what about your brother Aaron the Levite, He can speak well. He is already on his way to meet you, and he will be happy to see you.’

15 ‘You will talk to him, tell him what to say, and I will help both of you speak and teach you what to do.’

16 ‘Aaron will be your spokesperson. It will be like you are God to him, and he is your mouthpiece.’

17 ‘Now take that staff in your hand. You are going to use it to perform My signs.’

Moses Returns to Egypt

18 Moses went back to Jethro, his father-in-law, and said, ‘Let me go back to Egypt to check on my people and see if they are still alive.’ Jethro said, ‘Go in peace.’

19 While Moses was still in Midian, the Lord told him, ‘Go back to Egypt, because the people who wanted you dead are gone now.’

20 So Moses packed up his wife and sons, put them on a donkey, and started back to Egypt. He took the staff of God in his hand.

God Lays Out the Plan

21 The Lord said to Moses, ‘When you get back to Egypt, do all the miracles I gave you in front of Pharaoh. But I am going to harden his heart so he will not let the people go.’

22 ‘Then tell Pharaoh, This is what the Lord says: Israel is My firstborn son.’

23 ‘And I told you to let My son go so he can worship Me. If you refuse, I will kill your firstborn son.’

God Almost Kills Moses

24 On the way to Egypt, at a place where they stopped for the night, the Lord was about to kill Moses.

25 But Zipporah grabbed a sharp flint, circumcised her son, and touched Moses’s feet with it. She said, ‘You are a husband of blood to me!’

26 After that, the Lord let him go. Zipporah said, ‘You are a husband of blood,’ because of the circumcision.

Aaron Meets Moses

27 The Lord told Aaron, ‘Go out into the wilderness to meet Moses.’ So Aaron went, found Moses at the mountain of God, and hugged him.

28 Moses told Aaron everything the Lord had said and showed him all the signs He gave him to use.

29 Then Moses and Aaron went to Egypt and gathered all the elders of Israel.

30 Aaron told them everything the Lord had said to Moses, and Moses performed the signs in front of the people.

31 The people believed, and when they heard that the Lord cared about them and saw their misery, they bowed down and worshiped.