Moses’ Staff

1And Moses answered and said, “And if they will not give credence to me and they will not listen to my voice, for they will say, ‘YHWH has not appeared to you.’”

2And YHWH said to him, “What is in your hand?”

And he said, “A staff.”

3And He said, “Cast it on the ground.” And he cast it to the earth, and it became a serpent,† and Moses fled from before it.

4And YHWH said to Moses, “Stretch out your hand and seize it by its tail”—and he stretched out his hand and grasped hold of it, and it became a staff in his palm— 5“so that they may believe that YHWH, the God of their fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has appeared to you.”

Moses’ Hand

6And furthermore YHWH said to him, “Put now your hand into your bosom.†” And he put his hand into his bosom, and he took it out, and behold, his hand was leprous,† like snow.

7And He said, “Return your hand into your bosom.”

And he returned his hand into his bosom and he took it out from his bosom, and behold, it was restored like his flesh.

8“And it shall come to pass, if they will not give credence to you and they will not listen to the voice of the first sign, then they will give credence to the voice of the latter sign. 9And it shall come to pass, if they will not give credence even to these two signs and will not listen to your voice, then you shall take from the waters of the River and you shall pour them on the dry land, and it will happen that the waters which you take from the River, they will become blood on the dry land.”

The Appointment of Aaron

10And Moses said to YHWH, “Please, my Lord, I am not a man of words, neither from yesterday nor from the day before yesterday nor from the time You have spoken to Your servant. For I am slow of mouth and slow of tongue.”

11And YHWH said to him, “Who has made a mouth for the man? Or who makes mute, or deaf, or seeing, or blind? Is it not I, YHWH? 12And now go, and I—I will be with your mouth, and I will teach you what you shall say.”

13And he said, “Please, my Lord, send, please, by the hand of another whom You send.”

14And the anger of YHWH burned against Moses, and He said, “Is not Aaron the Levite your brother? I know that he surely speaks. And also, behold, he is coming out to meet you, and he will see you, and he will be glad in his heart. 15And you shall speak to him and put the words in his mouth, and I—I will be with your mouth and with his mouth, and I will teach you⁺ what you⁺ shall do. 16And he will speak for you to the people. And it shall come to pass that he shall be to you as a mouth, and you shall be to him as God. 17And this staff you shall take in your hand, with which you shall perform the signs.”

Moses Leaves for Egypt

18And Moses went and returned to Jethro his father-in-law† and said to him, “Let me go, please, and return to my brothers who are in Egypt, and see whether they are still alive.”

And Jethro said to Moses, “Go in peace.”

19And YHWH said to Moses in Midian, “Go, return to Egypt, for all the men who were seeking your life are dead.” 20And Moses took his wife and his sons, and he set them on the donkey, and he returned to the land of Egypt. And Moses took the staff of God in his hand.

21And YHWH said to Moses, “When you go to return to Egypt, see all the wonders that I have put in your hand, and you do them before the face of Pharaoh. And I will strengthen† his heart, and he will not send out. the people

22And you shall say to Pharaoh, ‘Thus says YHWH: My son, My firstborn is Israel. 23And I say to you, send out My son, that he may serve Me. And if you refuse to send him out, behold, I am killing your son, your firstborn.’”

24And it came to pass on the way, at the lodging place, that YHWH met him† and sought to put him to death. 25And Zipporah took a sharp stone and cut off the foreskin of her son, and she touched it to his feet† and said, “Surely you are a bridegroom of blood to me.”

26And He let him alone. (At that time she said, “You are a bridegroom of blood,” because of the circumcision.)

The People Believe Moses and Aaron

27And YHWH said to Aaron, “Go to meet Moses in the wilderness.” And he went, and he met him on the mountain of God, and he kissed him. 28And Moses told Aaron all the words of YHWH with which He had sent him, and all the signs which He had commanded him.

29And Moses went—and Aaron—and they gathered together all the elders of the sons of Israel. 30And Aaron spoke all the words that YHWH had spoken to Moses.

And he did the signs before the eyes of the people, 31and the people believed; and they heard that YHWH had visited the sons of Israel, and that He had seen their affliction. And they bowed and worshiped.

Footnotes:

3 Hebrew nachash, in contrast to Aaron’s staff, which became a tannin in Exodus 7:10
6 Or inside your cloak; twice in this verse and twice in verse 7
6 The Hebrew word traditionally translated as leprous was used for various skin diseases; see Leviticus 13.
18 Moses’ father-in-law Jethro was also called Reuel; see Exodus 2:18.
21 Or stiffen or harden
24 That is, met Moses
25 That is, Moses’ feet