1 And Moses answered and said, But, behold, they will not
believe me, nor hearken unto my voice: for they will say, The LORD hath not
appeared unto thee.
2 And
the LORD said unto him, What is that in thine hand? And he said, A
rod.
3 And
he said, Cast it on the ground. And he cast it on the ground, and it became a
serpent; and Moses fled from before it.
4 And
the LORD said unto Moses, Put forth thine hand, and take it by the tail. And he
put forth his hand, and caught it, and it became a rod in his hand:
5 That
they may believe that the LORD God of their fathers, the God of Abraham, the
God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, hath appeared unto thee.
6 And
the LORD said furthermore unto him, Put now thine hand into thy bosom. And he
put his hand into his bosom: and when he took it out, behold, his hand was leprous
as snow.
7 And
he said, Put thine hand into thy bosom again. And he put his hand into his
bosom again; and plucked it out of his bosom, and, behold, it was turned again
as his other flesh.
8 And
it shall come to pass, if they will not believe thee, neither hearken to the
voice of the first sign, that they will believe the voice of the latter sign.
9 And
it shall come to pass, if they will not believe also these two signs, neither
hearken unto thy voice, that thou shalt take of the water of the river, and
pour it upon
the dry land: and the water which thou takest out of the river
shall become blood upon the dry land.
10 And
Moses said unto the LORD, O my Lord, I am not eloquent, neither heretofore, nor
since thou hast spoken unto thy servant: but I am slow
of speech, and of a slow tongue.
11 And
the LORD said unto him, Who hath made man's mouth? or who maketh the dumb, or
deaf, or the seeing, or the blind? have not I the LORD?
12 Now
therefore go, and I will be with thy mouth, and teach thee what thou shalt say.
13 And
he said, O my Lord, send, I pray thee, by the hand of him whom thou
wilt send.
14 And
the anger of the LORD was kindled against Moses, and he said, Is not
Aaron the Levite thy brother? I know that he can speak well. And also, behold,
he cometh forth to meet thee: and when he seeth thee, he will be glad in his
heart.
15 And
thou shalt speak unto him, and put words in his mouth: and I will be with thy
mouth, and with his mouth, and will teach you what ye shall do.
16 And
he shall be thy spokesman unto the people: and he shall be, even he
shall be to thee instead of a mouth, and thou shalt be to him instead of God.
17 And
thou shalt take this rod in thine hand, wherewith thou shalt do signs.
18 And
Moses went and returned to Jethro his father in law, and said unto him, Let me
go, I pray thee, and return unto my brethren which are in
Egypt, and see whether they be yet alive. And Jethro said to Moses, Go in
peace.
19 And
the LORD said unto Moses in Midian, Go, return into Egypt: for all the men are
dead which sought thy life.
20 And
Moses took his wife and his sons, and set them upon an ass, and he returned to
the land of Egypt: and Moses took the rod of God in his hand.
21 And
the LORD said unto Moses, When thou goest to return into Egypt, see that thou
do all those wonders before Pharaoh, which I have put in thine hand: but I will
harden his heart, that he shall not let the people go.
22 And
thou shalt say unto Pharaoh, Thus saith the LORD, Israel is my
son, even my
firstborn:
23 And
I say unto thee, Let my son go, that he may serve me: and if thou refuse to let
him go, behold, I will slay thy son, even thy firstborn.
24 And
it came to pass by the way in the inn, that the LORD met him, and sought to
kill him.
25 Then
Zipporah took a sharp stone, and cut off the foreskin of her son, and cast it at his
feet, and said, Surely a bloody husband art thou to me.
26 So
he let him go: then she said, A bloody husband thou art, because of the circumcision.
27 And
the LORD said to Aaron, Go into the wilderness to meet Moses. And he went, and
met him in the mount of God, and kissed him.
28 And
Moses told Aaron all the words of the LORD who had sent him, and all the signs
which he had commanded him.
29 And
Moses and Aaron went and gathered together all the elders of the children of
Israel:
30 And
Aaron spake all the words which the LORD had spoken unto Moses, and did the
signs in the sight of the people.
31 And
the people believed: and when they heard that the LORD had visited the children
of Israel, and that he had looked upon their affliction, then they bowed their
heads and worshipped.
