Moses is Unsure About Leading the Hebrews, but God Reassures Him |
Exodus 4:1-31 The Second Book of Moses Called Exodus |
Moses answered, [Suppose] they don’t believe me or [won’t listen] to my voice: for they will say, The Lord has not appeared to you. [So,] the Lord [asked] him, What is in your hand? [Moses] said, A rod [The Lord God told] Moses, Cast it on the ground & it became a serpent & Moses fled from it. |
The Lord said to Moses, Reach out your hand & take [the serpent] by its tail, [which Moses did] & it became a rod in his hand. The Lord said, [This is so] they believe that the Lord God of their [forefathers,] the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac & the God of Jacob has appeared to you. |
The Lord said to [Moses,] Put [you] hand [to your chest] & when he [took] it out, his hand was leperous [like] snow. [The Lord God] said, Put your hand [to] your [chest] again & [when he drew it back out, he saw that] it was [restored like] his other flesh. |
[Then] if they won’t believe you or [listen] to the message of the 1st sign, they may believe the [following] sign. If they won’t believe those 2 signs or [listen to you,] you shall take water from the [Nile] River & pour it on the dry land & the water will become blood upon the dry land. |
Moses said to the Lord, O my Lord, I am not [an] eloquent [speaker] & I am slow of speech & tongue & [have been since before you spoke to me.] The Lord said to him, Who [has] made man’s mouth? Or who makes the [mute,] the deaf, the seeing, or the blind? |
Have not I, the Lord? Now therefore go & I will be with your mouth & teach you what you shall say. [Moses] said, O my Lord, I pray You, please [send someone else.] The anger of the Lord was [growing] against Moses & He said, Isn’t Aaron, the Levite, your brother? |
I know he speaks well & look he is coming to meet you. When he sees you, he will be glad in his heart. You shall speak to [Aaron] & put the words in his mouth & I [the Lord God] will be with your mouth & his mouth & I will teach you what you shall do. |
[Aaron] shall be your spokesman to the people [in your place.] He shall even be instead of your mouth [for] you & you shall be instead of [God’s place] to [Aaron.] |
You shall take this rod in your hand to do the signs. Moses returned to his father-in-law, Jethro & asked, I pray [that] you let me go & return to Egypt & see if my brethren are [still] alive. And Jethro told him, Go in peace. |
The Lord said to Moses in Midian, Go, return to Egypt, [because] all the men who sought to [kill you] are dead. Moses took his wife & set his 2 sons on a [donkey] & returned to the land of Egypt. |
Moses took the rod of God in his hand & the Lord said to Moses, When you go to Egypt [make sure] you do all those wonders before Pharaoh [with the rod] I have put in your hand. *But I will harden his heart & he will not let the people go. [Exodus 5:2 And Pharaoh said, Who is the Lord, that I should obey His voice to let Israel go? I [don't] know the Lord & neither will I let Israel go.] |
You shall say to Pharaoh, The Lord says, Israel is My son. My firstborn; and I say to you, let My son go, [so] that he may serve Me. If you refuse to let him go, I will slay your son, your firstborn. |
[Exodus 12:29 And it came to pass, that at midnight, the Lord smote all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, from the firstborn of Pharaoh that sat on his throne, to the firstborn of the captive [who] was in the dungeon & all the firstborn of [livestock.] |
[After some time passed,] by the [road near] the inn [lodging place,] the Lord met [Moses] & sought to kill him. Then, [Moses’ wife,] Zipporah, took a sharp stone & cut off the foreskin of her son & cast it at [Moses’] feet & said, Surely you are a bloody husband to me! So [the Lord God] let him [Moses] go. Then she said, You are a bloody husband, because of the circumcision. |
The Lord [told] Aaron, Go & meet Moses in the wilderness. He went & met [Moses] on the [mountain] of God & kissed him. Moses told Aaron all the words of the Lord, [Who] had sent him & all the signs which the Lord had commanded him. [Then] Moses & Aaron went & gathered together all the elders of the children [people] of Israel. |
Aaron spoke all the words the Lord had spoken to Moses & did the signs in the sight of the people & [they] believed when they heard that the Lord had visited the children of Israel & [the Lord] had looked on their affliction. Then, they bowed their heads & worshiped. |