Exodus 4 · Parashat Shemot

And Moshe answered and said, But, behold they will not believe me, nor hearken to my voice: for they will say, The Lord has not appeared to thee.

And the Lord said to him, What is that in thy hand?

And he said, A rod. And he said, Cast it on the ground. And he cast it on the ground, and it turned into a snake; and Moshe fled from it.

And the Lord said to Moshe, Put out thy hand, and take it by its tail. And he put out his hand, and caught it, and it became a rod in his hand:

that they may believe that the Lord God of their fathers, the God of Avraham, the God of Yiżĥaq, and the God of Ya῾aqov, has appeared to thee.

And the Lord said furthermore to him, Put now thy hand into thy bosom. And he put his hand into his bosom: and when he took it out, behold, his hand was diseased, as white as snow.

And he said, Put thy hand into thy bosom again. And he put his hand into his bosom again; and when he took it out of his bosom, behold, it was turned again as his other flesh.

And it shall come to pass, if they will not believe thee, nor hearken to the voice of the first sign, that they will believe the voice of the latter sign.

And it shall come to pass, if they will not believe even these two signs, nor hearken to thy voice, that thou shalt take of the water of the River, and pour it upon the dry land: and the water which thou dost take out of the River shall become blood on the dry land.

And Moshe said to the Lord, O my Lord, I am not an eloquent man, neither yesterday nor the day before, nor since thou hast spoken to thy servant: but I am slow of speech, and of a slow tongue.

And the Lord said to him, Who has made man’s mouth? or who makes a man dumb, or deaf, or seeing, or blind? is it not I the Lord?

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

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

And the anger of the Lord burned against Moshe, and he said, Is not Aharon the Levite thy brother? I know that he can speak well. And also, behold, he comes to meet thee: and when he sees thee, he will be glad in his heart.

And thou shalt speak to him, and put the words in his mouth: and I will be with thy mouth, and with his mouth, and will teach you what you shall do.

And he shall be thy spokesman to the people: and he shall be to thee instead of a mouth, and thou shalt be to him instead of God.

And thou shalt take this rod in thy hand, with which thou shalt do the signs.

And Moshe went and returned to Yeter his father in law, and said to him, Let me go, I pray thee, and return to my brethren who are in Miżrayim, and see whether they are still alive. And Yitro said to Moshe, Go in peace.

And the Lord said to Moshe in Midyan, Go return to Miżrayim: for all the men are dead who sought thy life.

And Moshe took his wife and his sons, and set them upon an ass, and he returned to the land of Miżrayim: and Moshe took the rod of God in his hand.

And the Lord said to Moshe, When thou goest to return to Miżrayim, see that thou do before Par῾o all those wonders which I have put in thy hand: but I will harden his heart, that he shall not let the people go.

And thou shalt say to Par῾o, Thus says the Lord, Yisra᾽el is my son, my firstborn:

and I say to thee, Let my son go, that he may serve me: and if thou refuse to let him go, behold, I will slay thy son, thy firstborn.

And it came to pass on the way, in the place where they spent the night, that the Lord met him, and sought to kill him.

Then Żippora took a sharp stone, and cut off the foreskin of her son, and cast it at his feet, and said, Surely a bloody bridegroom art thou to me.

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

And the Lord said to Aharon, Go to the wilderness to meet Moshe. And he went, and met him in the mount of God, and kissed him.

And Moshe told Aharon all the words of the Lord who had sent him, and all the signs which he had commanded him.

And Moshe and Aharon went and gathered together all the elders of the children of Yisra᾽el:

and Aharon spoke all the words which the Lord had spoken to Moshe, and did the signs in the sight of the people.

And the people believed: and when they heard that the Lord had visited the children of Yisra᾽el, and that he had looked upon their affliction, then they bowed their heads and worshipped.