| New International Version | NET Bible |
| 1Moses answered, "What if they do not believe me or listen to me and say, 'The LORD did not appear to you'?" | 1Moses answered again, "And if they do not believe me or pay attention to me, but say, 'The LORD has not appeared to you'?" |
| 2Then the LORD said to him, "What is that in your hand?" "A staff," he replied. | 2The LORD said to him, "What is that in your hand?" He said, "A staff." |
| 3The LORD said, "Throw it on the ground." Moses threw it on the ground and it became a snake, and he ran from it. | 3The LORD said, "Throw it to the ground." So he threw it to the ground, and it became a snake, and Moses ran from it. |
| 4Then the LORD said to him, "Reach out your hand and take it by the tail." So Moses reached out and took hold of the snake and it turned back into a staff in his hand. | 4But the LORD said to Moses, "Put out your hand and grab it by the tail"--so he put out his hand and caught it, and it became a staff in his hand-- |
| 5"This," said the LORD, "is so that they may 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." | 5"that they may 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." |
| 6Then the LORD said, "Put your hand inside your cloak." So Moses put his hand into his cloak, and when he took it out, the skin was leprous --it had become as white as snow. | 6The LORD also said to him, "Put your hand into your robe." So he put his hand into his robe, and when he brought it out--there was his hand, leprous like snow! |
| 7"Now put it back into your cloak," he said. So Moses put his hand back into his cloak, and when he took it out, it was restored, like the rest of his flesh. | 7He said, "Put your hand back into your robe." So he put his hand back into his robe, and when he brought it out from his robe--there it was, restored like the rest of his skin! |
| 8Then the LORD said, "If they do not believe you or pay attention to the first sign, they may believe the second. | 8"If they do not believe you or pay attention to the former sign, then they may believe the latter sign. |
| 9But if they do not believe these two signs or listen to you, take some water from the Nile and pour it on the dry ground. The water you take from the river will become blood on the ground." | 9And if they do not believe even these two signs or listen to you, then take some water from the Nile and pour it out on the dry ground. The water you take out of the Nile will become blood on the dry ground." |
| 10Moses said to the LORD, "Pardon your servant, Lord. I have never been eloquent, neither in the past nor since you have spoken to your servant. I am slow of speech and tongue." | 10Then Moses said to the LORD, "O my Lord, I am not an eloquent man, neither in the past nor since you have spoken to your servant, for I am slow of speech and slow of tongue." |
| 11The LORD said to him, "Who gave human beings their mouths? Who makes them deaf or mute? Who gives them sight or makes them blind? Is it not I, the LORD? | 11The LORD said to him, "Who gave a mouth to man, or who makes a person mute or deaf or seeing or blind? Is it not I, the LORD? |
| 12Now go; I will help you speak and will teach you what to say." | 12So now go, and I will be with your mouth and will teach you what you must say." |
| 13But Moses said, "Pardon your servant, Lord. Please send someone else." | 13But Moses said, "O my Lord, please send anyone else whom you wish to send!" |
| 14Then the LORD's anger burned against Moses and he said, "What about your brother, Aaron the Levite? I know he can speak well. He is already on his way to meet you, and he will be glad to see you. | 14Then the LORD became angry with Moses, and he said, "What about your brother Aaron the Levite? I know that he can speak very well. Moreover, he is coming to meet you, and when he sees you he will be glad in his heart. |
| 15You shall speak to him and put words in his mouth; I will help both of you speak and will teach you what to do. | 15"So you are to speak to him and put the words in his mouth. And as for me, I will be with your mouth and with his mouth, and I will teach you both what you must do. |
| 16He will speak to the people for you, and it will be as if he were your mouth and as if you were God to him. | 16He will speak for you to the people, and it will be as if he were your mouth and as if you were his God. |
| 17But take this staff in your hand so you can perform the signs with it." | 17You will also take in your hand this staff, with which you will do the signs." |
| 18Then Moses went back to Jethro his father-in-law and said to him, "Let me return to my own people in Egypt to see if any of them are still alive." Jethro said, "Go, and I wish you well." | 18So Moses went back to his father-in-law Jethro and said to him, "Let me go, so that I may return to my relatives in Egypt and see if they are still alive." Jethro said to Moses, "Go in peace." |
| 19Now the LORD had said to Moses in Midian, "Go back to Egypt, for all those who wanted to kill you are dead." | 19The LORD said to Moses in Midian, "Go back to Egypt, because all the men who were seeking your life are dead." |
| 20So Moses took his wife and sons, put them on a donkey and started back to Egypt. And he took the staff of God in his hand. | 20Then Moses took his wife and sons and put them on a donkey and headed back to the land of Egypt, and Moses took the staff of God in his hand. |
| 21The LORD said to Moses, "When you return to Egypt, see that you perform before Pharaoh all the wonders I have given you the power to do. But I will harden his heart so that he will not let the people go. | 21The LORD said to Moses, "When you go back to Egypt, see that you do before Pharaoh all the wonders I have put under your control. But I will harden his heart and he will not let the people go. |
| 22Then say to Pharaoh, 'This is what the LORD says: Israel is my firstborn son, | 22You must say to Pharaoh, 'Thus says the LORD, "Israel is my son, my firstborn, |
| 23and I told you, "Let my son go, so he may worship me." But you refused to let him go; so I will kill your firstborn son.'" | 23and I said to you, 'Let my son go that he may serve me,' but since you have refused to let him go, I will surely kill your son, your firstborn!"'" |
| 24At a lodging place on the way, the LORD met Moses and was about to kill him. | 24Now on the way, at a place where they stopped for the night, the LORD met Moses and sought to kill him. |
| 25But Zipporah took a flint knife, cut off her son's foreskin and touched Moses' feet with it. "Surely you are a bridegroom of blood to me," she said. | 25But Zipporah took a flint knife, cut off the foreskin of her son and touched it to Moses' feet, and said, "Surely you are a bridegroom of blood to me." |
| 26So the LORD let him alone. (At that time she said "bridegroom of blood," referring to circumcision.) | 26So the LORD let him alone. (At that time she said, "A bridegroom of blood," referring to the circumcision.) |
| 27The LORD said to Aaron, "Go into the wilderness to meet Moses." So he met Moses at the mountain of God and kissed him. | 27The LORD said to Aaron, "Go to the wilderness to meet Moses. So he went and met him at the mountain of God and greeted him with a kiss. |
| 28Then Moses told Aaron everything the LORD had sent him to say, and also about all the signs he had commanded him to perform. | 28Moses told Aaron all the words of the LORD who had sent him and all the signs that he had commanded him. |
| 29Moses and Aaron brought together all the elders of the Israelites, | 29Then Moses and Aaron went and brought together all the Israelite elders. |
| 30and Aaron told them everything the LORD had said to Moses. He also performed the signs before the people, | 30Aaron spoke all the words that the LORD had spoken to Moses and did the signs in the sight of the people, |
| 31and they believed. And when they heard that the LORD was concerned about them and had seen their misery, they bowed down and worshiped. | 31and the people believed. When they heard that the LORD had attended to the Israelites and that he had seen their affliction, they bowed down close to the ground. |
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