Christian Standard Bible

King James Bible

1Moses answered, "What if they won't believe me and will not obey me but say, 'The LORD did not appear to you'?"

1And 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.

2The LORD asked him, "What is that in your hand?" "A staff," he replied.

2And the LORD said unto him, What is that in thine hand? And he said, A rod.

3"Throw it on the ground," he said. So Moses threw it on the ground, it became a snake, and he ran from it.

3And 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.

4The LORD told Moses, "Stretch out your hand and grab it by the tail." So he stretched out his hand and caught it, and it became a staff in his hand.

4And 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"This will take place," he continued, "so that they will 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."

5That 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.

6In addition the LORD said to him, "Put your hand inside your cloak." So he put his hand inside his cloak, and when he took it out, his hand was diseased, resembling snow.

6And 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"Put your hand back inside your cloak," he said. So he put his hand back inside his cloak, and when he took it out, it had again become like the rest of his skin.

7And 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"If they will not believe you and will not respond to the evidence of the first sign, they may believe the evidence of the second sign.

8And 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.

9And if they don't believe even these two signs or listen to what you say, take some water from the Nile and pour it on the dry ground. The water you take from the Nile will become blood on the ground."

9And 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.

10But Moses replied to the LORD, "Please, Lord, I have never been eloquent--either in the past or recently or since you have been speaking to your servant--because my mouth and my tongue are sluggish."

10And 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.

11The LORD said to him, "Who placed a mouth on humans? Who makes a person mute or deaf, seeing or blind? Is it not I, the LORD?

11And 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?

12Now go! I will help you speak and I will teach you what to say."

12Now therefore go, and I will be with thy mouth, and teach thee what thou shalt say.

13Moses said, "Please, Lord, send someone else."

13And he said, O my Lord, send, I pray thee, by the hand of him whom thou wilt send.

14Then the LORD's anger burned against Moses, and he said, "Isn't Aaron the Levite your brother? I know that he can speak well. And also, he is on his way now to meet you. He will rejoice when he sees you.

14And 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.

15You will speak with him and tell him what to say. I will help both you and him to speak and will teach you both what to do.

15And 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.

16He will speak to the people for you. He will serve as a mouth for you, and you will serve as God to him.

16And 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.

17And take this staff in your hand that you will perform the signs with."

17And thou shalt take this rod in thine hand, wherewith thou shalt do signs.

18Then Moses went back to his father-in-law Jethro and said to him, "Please let me return to my relatives in Egypt and see if they are still living." Jethro said to Moses, "Go in peace."

18And 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.

19Now in Midian the LORD told Moses, "Return to Egypt, for all the men who wanted to kill you are dead."

19And the LORD said unto Moses in Midian, Go, return into Egypt: for all the men are dead which sought thy life.

20So Moses took his wife and sons, put them on a donkey, and returned to the land of Egypt. And Moses took God's staff in his hand.

20And 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.

21The LORD instructed Moses, "When you go back to Egypt, make sure you do before Pharaoh all the wonders that I have put within your power. But I will harden his heart so that he won't let the people go.

21And 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.

22And you will say to Pharaoh: This is what the LORD says: Israel is my firstborn son.

22And thou shalt say unto Pharaoh, Thus saith the LORD, Israel is my son, even my firstborn:

23I told you: Let my son go so that he may worship me, but you refused to let him go. Look, I am about to kill your firstborn son!"

23And 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.

24On the trip, at an overnight campsite, it happened that the LORD confronted him and intended to put him to death.

24And it came to pass by the way in the inn, that the LORD met him, and sought to kill him.

25So Zipporah took a flint, cut off her son's foreskin, threw it at Moses's feet, and said, "You are a bridegroom of blood to me!"

25Then 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.

26So he let him alone. At that time she said, "You are a bridegroom of blood," referring to the circumcision.

26So he let him go: then she said, A bloody husband thou art, because of the circumcision.

27Now the LORD had said to Aaron, "Go and meet Moses in the wilderness." So he went and met him at the mountain of God and kissed him.

27And 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.

28Moses told Aaron everything the LORD had sent him to say, and about all the signs he had commanded him to do.

28And Moses told Aaron all the words of the LORD who had sent him, and all the signs which he had commanded him.

29Then Moses and Aaron went and assembled all the elders of the Israelites.

29And Moses and Aaron went and gathered together all the elders of the children of Israel:

30Aaron repeated everything the LORD had said to Moses and performed the signs before the people.

30And Aaron spake all the words which the LORD had spoken unto Moses, and did the signs in the sight of the people.

31The people believed, and when they heard that the LORD had paid attention to them and that he had seen their misery, they knelt low and worshiped.

31And 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.

The Christian Standard Bible. Copyright © 2017 by Holman Bible Publishers. Used by permission.

King James Bible, text courtesy of BibleProtector.com.