Exo 4 | NASB2020 | STEP | Then Moses said , “What if they will not believe me or listen to what I say ? For they may say , ‘ The Lord has not appeared to you.’”

Exodus 4

Moses Given Signs

1 Then Moses said, “What if they will not believe me or ^alisten ^{▼▼Lit to my voice}to what I say? For they may say, ‘ ^cThe Lord has not appeared to you.’” 2 The Lord said to him, “What is that in your hand?” And he said, “ ^dA staff.” 3 Then He said, “Throw it on the ground.” So he threw it on the ground, and ^eit turned into a serpent; and Moses fled from it. 4 But the Lord said to Moses, “Reach out with your hand and grasp it by its tail”--so he reached out with his hand and caught it, and it turned into a staff in his ^{▼▼Lit palm}hand-- 5 “so that ^gthey may believe that ^hthe Lord, the God of their fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has appeared to you.”

6 The Lord furthermore said to him, “Now put your hand inside the fold of your robe.” So he put his hand inside the fold, and when he took it out, behold, his hand was ⁱleprous like snow. 7 Then He said, “Put your hand inside the fold of your robe again.” So he put his hand into the fold again, and when he took it out of the fold, behold, ^jit was restored like the rest of his flesh. 8 “So if they will not believe you nor ^{▼▼Lit listen to}pay attention to the ^{▼▼Lit voice}evidence of the first ^{▼▼I.e., confirming miracle}sign, they may believe the ^{▼▼Lit voice}evidence of the last ^{▼▼I.e., confirming miracle}sign. 9 But if they will not believe even these two ^{▼▼I.e., confirming miracles}signs nor pay attention to what you say, then you shall take some water from the Nile and pour it on the dry ground; and the water which you take from the Nile ^qwill turn into blood on the dry ground.”

10 Then Moses said to the Lord, “Please, Lord, ^rI have never been ^{▼▼Lit a man of words}eloquent, neither ^{▼▼Lit yesterday}recently nor in time past, nor since You have spoken to Your servant; for I am ^{▼▼Lit heavy}slow of speech and ^{▼▼Lit heavy}slow of tongue.” 11 But the Lord said to him, “Who has made the human mouth? Or ^wwho makes anyone unable to speak or deaf, or able to see or blind? Is it not I, the Lord? 12 Now then go, and ^xI Myself will be with your mouth, and ^yinstruct you in what you are to say.” 13 But he said, “Please, Lord, now send the message by ^{▼▼Lit the hand You send}whomever You will.”

Aaron to Be Moses’ Mouthpiece

14 Then the anger of the Lord burned against Moses, and He said, “Is there not your brother Aaron the Levite? I know that ^{▼▼Lit speaking he speaks}he speaks fluently. And moreover, behold, ^abhe is coming out to meet you; when he sees you, he will be ^{▼▼Lit joyful in his heart}overjoyed. 15 So you are to speak to him and ^adput the words in his mouth; and I Myself will be with your mouth and his mouth, and I will instruct you in what you are to do. 16 ^aeHe shall speak for you to the people; and he will be as a mouth for you and you will be as God to him. 17 And you shall take in your hand ^afthis staff, ^agwith which you shall perform the signs.”

18 Then Moses departed and returned to ^ahhis father-in-law ^{▼▼Heb Jether}Jethro, and said to him, “Please, let me go, that I may return to my brothers who are in Egypt, and see if they are still alive.” And Jethro said to Moses, “Go in peace.” 19 Now the Lord said to Moses in Midian, “Go ^{▼▼Lit return}back to Egypt, for ^akall the men who were seeking your life are dead.” 20 So Moses took his wife and his ^alsons and mounted them on a donkey, and returned to the land of Egypt. Moses also took the ^amstaff of God in his hand.

21 And the Lord said to Moses, “When you go ^{▼▼Lit to return}back to Egypt, see that you perform before Pharaoh all ^aothe wonders which I have put in your ^{▼▼Lit hand}power; but ^aqI will harden his heart so that he will not let the people go. 22 Then you shall say to Pharaoh, ‘This is what the Lord says: “ ^arIsrael is My son, My firstborn. 23 So I said to you, ‘ ^asLet My son go so that he may serve Me’; but you have refused to let him go. Behold, ^atI am going to kill your son, your firstborn.”’”

24 But it came about at the overnight encampment on the way, that the Lord met ^{▼▼Lit him}Moses, and ^avsought to put him to death. 25 So Zipporah took ^awa flint and cut off her son’s foreskin and ^{▼▼Lit made it touch at his feet}threw it at Moses’ feet; and she said, “You are indeed a groom of blood to me!” 26 So He left him alone. At that time she said, “You are a groom of blood”-- ^{▼▼Lit with reference to}because of the circumcision.

27 ^azNow the Lord said to Aaron, “Go to meet Moses in the wilderness.” So he went and met him at the ^bamountain of God and kissed him. 28 ^bbMoses told Aaron all the words of the Lord with which He had sent him, and ^bcall the signs that He had commanded him to do. 29 Then Moses and Aaron went and ^bdassembled all the elders of the sons of Israel; 30 and ^beAaron spoke all the words which the Lord had spoken to Moses. He then performed the ^bfsigns in the sight of the people. 31 So ^bgthe people believed; and when they heard that the Lord ^{▼▼Lit had visited
,} ^biwas concerned about the sons of Israel and that He had seen their affliction, ^bjthey bowed low and worshiped.