Moses’ Staff 1 ULT And Moses answered and said,“But look, they will not believe me, and they will not listen to my voice; for they will say,‘Yahweh has not appeared to you.’” BSB BSB: Then Moses answered, “What if they do not believe me or listen to my voice? For they may say, ‘The LORD has not appeared to you.’”
2 ULT And Yahweh said to him,“What is that in your hand?” And he said,“A staff.” BSB BSB: And the LORD asked him, “What is that in your hand?” “A staff,” he replied.
3 ULT And he said,“Throw it to the ground.” And he threw it to the ground, and it became a snake. And Moses fled from its face. BSB BSB: “Throw it on the ground,” said the LORD. So Moses threw it on the ground, and it became a snake, and he ran from it.
4 ULT And Yahweh said to Moses,“Reach out your hand and take it by its tail”— and he reached out his hand and he caught it to him, and it became a staff in his palm— BSB BSB: “Stretch out your hand and grab it by the tail,” the LORD said to Moses, who reached out his hand and caught the snake, and it turned back into a staff in his hand.
5 ULT “in order to cause them to believe that Yahweh appeared to you, the God of their fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.” BSB BSB: “This is so that they may believe that the LORD, the God of their fathers—the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob—has appeared to you.”
Moses’ Hand 6 ULT And Yahweh also said to him,“Put your hand in your bosom.” And he put his hand in his bosom. And he brought it out, and behold, his hand was being struck with a skin disease like snow. BSB BSB: Furthermore, the LORD said to Moses, “Put your hand inside your cloak.” So he put his hand inside his cloak, and when he took it out, his hand was leprous, white as snow.
7 ULT And he said,“Return your hand into your bosom.” And he returned his hand into his bosom, and he brought it out from his bosom, and behold, it was restored like his flesh. BSB BSB: “Put your hand back inside your cloak,” said the LORD. So Moses put his hand back inside his cloak, and when he took it out, it was restored, like the rest of his skin.
8 ULT “And it will be, if they do not believe you, and they do not listen to the voice of the first sign, then they will believe the voice of the following sign. BSB BSB: And the LORD said, “If they refuse to believe you or heed the witness of the first sign, they may believe that of the second.
9 ULT And it will be, if they do not believe even these two signs, and they do not listen to your voice, then you shall take from the water of the river and you shall pour it on the dry land. And it will happen, the water which you take from the river, that it will become blood on the dry land.” BSB BSB: But if they do not believe even these two signs or listen to your voice, take some water from the Nile and pour it on the dry ground. Then the water you take from the Nile will become blood on the ground.”
The Appointment of Aaron 10 ULT And Moses said to Yahweh,“Oh my Lord, I am not a man of words; not since yesterday, nor since three days ago, nor since you spoke to your servant. For I am heavy of mouth and heavy of tongue.” BSB BSB: “Please, Lord,” Moses replied, “I have never been eloquent, neither in the past nor since You have spoken to Your servant, for I am slow of speech and tongue.”
11 ULT And Yahweh said to him,“Who put a mouth in mankind, or who makes a mute or a deaf or a seeing or a blind? Is it not I, Yahweh? BSB BSB: And the LORD said to him, “Who gave man his mouth? Or who makes the mute or the deaf, the sighted or the blind? Is it not I, the LORD?
12 ULT And now go! And I shall be with your mouth, and I shall teach you what you will speak.” BSB BSB: Now go! I will help you as you speak, and I will teach you what to say.”
13 ULT And he said,“Oh my Lord, please send by a hand you send.” BSB BSB: But Moses replied, “Please, Lord, send someone else.”
14 ULT And the nose of Yahweh burned at Moses, and he said,“Is not Aaron, the Levite, your brother? I know that he can speak well. And even more, behold, he is coming to meet you, and he will see you and he will be glad in his heart. BSB BSB: Then the anger of the LORD burned against Moses, and He said, “Is not Aaron the Levite your brother? I know that he can speak well, and he is now on his way to meet you. When he sees you, he will be glad in his heart.
15 ULT And you shall speak to him, and you shall put the words in his mouth. And I am with your mouth and with his mouth, and I will teach you both what you should do. BSB BSB: You are to speak to him and put the words in his mouth. I will help both of you to speak, and I will teach you what to do.
16 ULT And he will speak to the people for you. So it will be, he will be like a mouth for you, and you will be like God to him. BSB BSB: He will speak to the people for you. He will be your spokesman, and it will be as if you were God to him.
17 ULT And you shall take in your hand this staff, with which you will do the signs.” BSB BSB: But take this staff in your hand so you can perform signs with it.”
Moses Leaves for Egypt 18 ULT And Moses went and returned to Jethro his father- in- law, and he said to him,“Please let me go, and let me return to my brothers who are in Egypt and see whether they are still alive.” And Jethro said to Moses,“Go in peace.” BSB BSB: Then Moses went back to his father-in-law Jethro and said to him, “Please let me return to my brothers in Egypt to see if they are still alive.” “Go in peace,” Jethro replied.
19 ULT And Yahweh said to Moses in Midian,“Go! Return to Egypt! For all the men who were seeking your life are dead.” BSB BSB: Now the LORD had said to Moses in Midian, “Go back to Egypt, for all the men who sought to kill you are dead.”
20 ULT And Moses took his wife and his sons and caused them to ride on a donkey, and he returned toward the land of Egypt. And Moses took the staff of God in his hand. BSB BSB: So Moses took his wife and sons, put them on a donkey, and headed back to Egypt. And he took the staff of God in his hand.
21 ULT And Yahweh said to Moses,“While you are going to return to Egypt, see all the miracles that I put in your hand, and do them before the face of Pharaoh. But as for me, I shall strengthen his heart, and he will not let the people go. BSB BSB: The LORD instructed Moses, “When you go back to Egypt, see that you perform before Pharaoh all the wonders that I have put within your power. But I will harden his heart so that he will not let the people go.
22 ULT And say to Pharaoh,‘Thus says Yahweh:“Israel is my son, my firstborn, BSB BSB: Then tell Pharaoh that this is what the LORD says: ‘Israel is My firstborn son,
23 ULT and I said to you,‘Let my son go that he may serve me.’ But you have refused to let him go. Behold, I shall kill your son, your firstborn.”’” BSB BSB: and I told you to let My son go so that he may worship Me. But since you have refused to let him go, behold, I will kill your firstborn son!’”
24 ULT And it happened on the road, in the lodging- place, that he encountered Yahweh, and he sought to kill him. BSB BSB: Now at a lodging place along the way, the LORD met Moses and was about to kill him.
25 ULT And Zipporah took a flint, and she cut off the foreskin of her son, and she touched it to his feet, and she said,“Surely you are a bridegroom of blood to me.” BSB BSB: But Zipporah took a flint knife, cut off her son’s foreskin, and touched it to Moses’ feet. “Surely you are a bridegroom of blood to me,” she said.
26 ULT And he relented from him. That was when she said,“bridegroom of blood” because of the circumcision. BSB BSB: So the LORD let him alone. (When she said, “bridegroom of blood,” she was referring to the circumcision.)
The People Believe Moses and Aaron 27 ULT And Yahweh said to Aaron,“Go into the wilderness to meet Moses.” And he went, and he met him at the mountain of God, and he kissed him. BSB BSB: Meanwhile, the LORD had said to Aaron, “Go and meet Moses in the wilderness.” So he went and met Moses at the mountain of God and kissed him.
28 ULT And Moses told Aaron all the words of Yahweh that he had sent him and all the signs that he commanded him. BSB BSB: And Moses told Aaron everything the LORD had sent him to say, and all the signs He had commanded him to perform.
29 ULT And Moses and Aaron went, and they gathered all of the elders of the sons of Israel. BSB BSB: Then Moses and Aaron went and assembled all the elders of the Israelites,
30 ULT And Aaron spoke all of the words that Yahweh had spoken to Moses. And he did the signs before the eyes of the people, BSB BSB: and Aaron relayed everything the LORD had said to Moses. And Moses performed the signs before the people,
31 ULT and the people believed. And they heard that Yahweh had attended to the sons of Israel and that he had seen their affliction, and they bowed and prostrated themselves. BSB BSB: and they believed. And when they heard that the LORD had attended to the Israelites and had seen their affliction, they bowed down and worshiped.