Exodus 4 NIV NLT Parallel

◄ Exodus 4 ►

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1Moses answered, "What if they do not believe me or listen to me and say, 'The LORD did not appear to you'?"

1But Moses protested again, “What if they won’t believe me or listen to me? What if they say, ‘The LORD never appeared to you’?”

2Then the LORD said to him, "What is that in your hand?" "A staff," he replied.

2Then the LORD asked him, “What is that in your hand?” “A shepherd’s staff,” Moses replied.

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

3“Throw it down on the ground,” the LORD told him. So Moses threw down the staff, and it turned into a snake! Moses jumped back.

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.

4Then the LORD told him, “Reach out and grab its tail.” So Moses reached out and grabbed it, and it turned back into a shepherd’s 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“Perform this sign,” the LORD told him. “Then they will believe that the LORD, the God of their ancestors—the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob—really 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.

6Then the LORD said to Moses, “Now put your hand inside your cloak.” So Moses put his hand inside his cloak, and when he took it out again, his hand was white as snow with a severe skin disease.

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.

7“Now put your hand back into your cloak,” the LORD said. So Moses put his hand back in, and when he took it out again, it was as healthy as the rest of his body.

8Then the LORD said, "If they do not believe you or pay attention to the first sign, they may believe the second.

8The LORD said to Moses, “If they do not believe you and are not convinced by the first miraculous sign, they will be convinced by the second 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 don’t believe you or listen to you even after these two signs, then take some water from the Nile River and pour it out on the dry ground. When you do, the water from the Nile will turn to blood on the 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."

10But Moses pleaded with the LORD, “O Lord, I’m not very good with words. I never have been, and I’m not now, even though you have spoken to me. I get tongue-tied, and my words get tangled.”

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?

11Then the LORD asked Moses, “Who makes a person’s mouth? Who decides whether people speak or do not speak, hear or do not hear, see or do not see? Is it not I, the LORD?

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

12Now go! I will be with you as you speak, and I will instruct you in what to say.”

13But Moses said, "Pardon your servant, Lord. Please send someone else."

13But Moses again pleaded, “Lord, please! Send anyone else.”

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. “All right,” he said. “What about your brother, Aaron the Levite? I know he speaks well. And look! He is on his way to meet you now. He will be delighted to see you.

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.

15Talk to him, and put the words in his mouth. I will be with both of you as you speak, and I will instruct you both in what to 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.

16Aaron will be your spokesman to the people. He will be your mouthpiece, and you will stand in the place of God for him, telling him what to say.

17But take this staff in your hand so you can perform the signs with it."

17And take your shepherd’s staff with you, and use it to perform the miraculous signs I have shown you.” Moses Returns to Egypt

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 home to Jethro, his father-in-law. “Please let me return to my relatives in Egypt,” Moses said. “I don’t even know if they are still alive.” “Go in peace,” Jethro replied.

19Now the LORD had said to Moses in Midian, "Go back to Egypt, for all those who wanted to kill you are dead."

19Before Moses left Midian, the LORD said to him, “Return to Egypt, for all those who wanted to kill you have died.”

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.

20So Moses took his wife and sons, put them on a donkey, and headed back to the land of Egypt. In his hand he carried the staff of God.

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.

21And the LORD told Moses, “When you arrive back in Egypt, go to Pharaoh and perform all the miracles I have empowered you to do. But I will harden his heart so he will refuse to let the people go.

22Then say to Pharaoh, 'This is what the LORD says: Israel is my firstborn son,

22Then you will tell him, ‘This is what the LORD says: Israel is my firstborn son.

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.'"

23I commanded you, “Let my son go, so he can worship me.” But since you have refused, I will now kill your firstborn son!’”

24At a lodging place on the way, the LORD met Moses and was about to kill him.

24On the way to Egypt, at a place where Moses and his family had stopped for the night, the LORD confronted him and was about 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 Moses’ wife, Zipporah, took a flint knife and circumcised her son. She touched his feet with the foreskin and said, “Now 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.)

26(When she said “a bridegroom of blood,” she was referring to the circumcision.) After that, the LORD left him alone.

27The LORD said to Aaron, "Go into the wilderness to meet Moses." So he met Moses at the mountain of God and kissed him.

27Now the LORD had said to Aaron, “Go out into the wilderness to meet Moses.” So Aaron went and met Moses at the mountain of God, and he embraced him.

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 then told Aaron everything the LORD had commanded him to say. And he told him about the miraculous signs the LORD had commanded him to perform.

29Moses and Aaron brought together all the elders of the Israelites,

29Then Moses and Aaron returned to Egypt and called all the elders of Israel together.

30and Aaron told them everything the LORD had said to Moses. He also performed the signs before the people,

30Aaron told them everything the LORD had told Moses, and Moses performed the miraculous signs as they watched.

31and they believed. And when they heard that the LORD was concerned about them and had seen their misery, they bowed down and worshiped.

31Then the people of Israel were convinced that the LORD had sent Moses and Aaron. When they heard that the LORD was concerned about them and had seen their misery, they bowed down and worshiped.

New International Version (NIV)

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