Exodus

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.

1Moses answered, "But they will not believe me. They will not listen to me. They will say, 'The LORD did not show himself to you.'"

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

2The LORD said to him, "What is that in your hand?" Moses said, "A rod." It was a long walking stick.

NoteA "rod" was a long wooden stick. Shepherds like Moses carried one for walking and for guiding sheep.

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.

3God said, "Throw it on the ground." Moses threw it down. It turned into a snake. Moses ran away from it.

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:

4The LORD said, "Reach out your hand and grab it by the tail." Moses reached out and caught it. In his hand it turned back into a stick.

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.

5God said, "Do this so the people will believe me. Then they will know I showed myself to you. I am the God their fathers knew, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob."

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.

6The LORD said something more to him. "Put your hand inside your coat." Moses did. When he pulled it out, his hand was sick and white as snow.

NoteThe old word here is "leprous." Leprosy was a bad skin sickness that turned the skin white and did not go away.

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.

7God said, "Put your hand back inside your coat." Moses did. When he pulled it out, his hand was well again, like the rest of his skin.

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.

8God said, "They may not believe you or trust the first sign. Then they will believe the second sign."

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.

9"They may not believe either sign, or listen to you. Then take water from the river. Pour it on the dry ground. That water will turn into blood on the ground."

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.

10Moses said, "Please, Lord, I am not good with words. I never was. I still am not, even now that you have talked to me. I speak slowly, and words come out hard."

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?

11The LORD said to him, "Who made a person's mouth? Who makes someone unable to speak or to hear? Who makes someone able to see, or not see? I do. I am the LORD."

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

12"So go now. I will help you when you speak. I will teach you what to say."

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

13Moses said, "Please, Lord, send somebody else instead of me."

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.

14Then the LORD grew angry with Moses. He said, "What about your brother Aaron, from the family of Levi? I know he speaks well. He is already on his way to meet you. When he sees you, he will be glad."

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.

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

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.

16"He will speak to the people for you. He will be like a mouth for you. And you will be like God to him."

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

17"Take this stick in your hand. You will do the signs with it."

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.

18Moses went back to Jethro, his wife's father. He said, "Please let me go back to my own people in Egypt. I want to see if they are still alive." Jethro said, "Go in peace."

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

19The LORD had said to Moses in Midian, "Go back to Egypt. All the men who wanted to kill you are dead."

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.

20Moses took his wife and his sons. He put them on a donkey. They started back to the land of Egypt. Moses carried God's stick in his hand.

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.

21The LORD said to Moses, "When you get back to Egypt, do every wonder I gave you power to do. Do them in front of Pharaoh, the king of Egypt. But I will make his heart hard. He will not let the people go."

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

22"Say to Pharaoh, 'This is what the LORD says. Israel is my son, my oldest 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.

23"'I told you to let my son go so he can serve me. You said no. So I will kill your son, your oldest son.'"

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

24On the way, they stopped at a place to sleep. There the LORD met Moses and was about to kill him.

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.

25Then Zipporah took a sharp stone. She cut the skin off her son, the way God's people did. She touched it to Moses' feet. She said, "You are a husband of blood to me."

NoteCutting off this small piece of skin is called circumcision. It was a mark God told his people to give their baby boys.

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

26So the LORD let him go. She had said "husband of blood" because of that cutting.

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.

27The LORD said to Aaron, "Go out to the dry, empty land to meet Moses." Aaron went. He met Moses at God's mountain and kissed him.

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

28Moses told Aaron everything the LORD had said when he sent him. He told him about all the signs God said to do.

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

29Then Moses and Aaron went and called together all the leaders of the people of Israel.

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

30Aaron told them every word the LORD had said to Moses. He also did the signs where the people could see.

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.

31The people believed. They heard that the LORD had come to help them. He had seen how much they were hurting. So they bowed their heads low and worshipped.