¶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.

And the LORD said unto him, What is that in thine hand? And he said, A rod².

And he said, Cast it on the ground. And he cast it on the ground, and it became³ a serpent; and Moses fled from before it.

And the LORD said unto Moses, Put forth⁴ thine hand, and take it by the tail. And he put⁵ forth his hand, and caught it, and it became a rod in his hand:

That they⁶ may believe that the LORD⁷ God of their fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, hath appeared unto thee.

And 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 snow⁸.

And 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 turned⁹ again as his other flesh.

And it shall come to pass, if they¹⁰ will not believe thee, neither hearken to the voice of the first sign, that they¹¹ will believe the voice of the latter sign.

And 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 water¹² of the river, and pour it upon the dry land: and the water which thou takest out of the river shall become¹³ blood upon the dry land.

¶ And Moses said unto the LORD, O my Lord, I am not eloquent¹⁴, neither heretofore¹⁵, nor since thou hast spoken unto thy servant: but I am slow of speech, and of a slow tongue.

¹⁶And 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?

¹⁷Now therefore go, and I will be with thy mouth, and teach thee what thou shalt say.

And he said, O my Lord, send¹⁸, I pray thee, by the hand of him whom thou wilt send¹⁹.

And the anger²⁰ 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 cometh²¹ forth to meet thee: and when he seeth thee, he will be glad in his heart.

And thou shalt speak unto him, and put²² words in his mouth: and I²³ will be with thy mouth, and with his mouth, and will teach²⁴ you what ye shall do.

²⁵And 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.

²⁶And thou shalt take this rod in thine hand, wherewith thou shalt do signs.

¶ And Moses went and returned to Jethro²⁷ his father in law, and said unto him, Let me go²⁸, I pray thee, and return unto my brethren which are in Egypt, and see²⁹ whether they be yet alive. And Jethro said to Moses, Go in peace³⁰.

And the LORD said unto Moses in Midian³¹, Go, return into Egypt: for all³² the men are dead which sought thy life.

¶ And 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 God³³ in his hand.

And the LORD said unto Moses, When thou goest to return into Egypt, see that thou do all those wonders³⁴ before Pharaoh, which I have put in thine hand: but I will harden³⁵ his heart, that he shall not let the people go.

And thou shalt say unto Pharaoh, Thus saith the LORD, Israel³⁶ is my son, even my firstborn:

³⁷And 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.

¶ And it came to pass by the way in the inn³⁸, that the LORD³⁹ met him, and sought⁴⁰ to kill him.

Then Zipporah took a sharp stone⁴¹, and cut off the foreskin of her son, and cast it⁴² at his feet, and said, Surely a bloody husband art thou to me.

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

And the LORD said to Aaron, Go into⁴³ the wilderness to meet Moses. And he went, and met him in the mount⁴⁴ of God, and kissed him⁴⁵.

And Moses told Aaron⁴⁶ all the words of the LORD who had sent him, and all⁴⁷ the signs which he had commanded him.

⁴⁸And Moses and Aaron went and gathered together all the elders of the children of Israel:

¶ And Aaron⁴⁹ spake all the words which the LORD had spoken unto Moses, and did the⁵⁰ signs in the sight of the people.

And the people believed⁵¹: and when they heard that the LORD had visited⁵² the children of Israel, and that he had looked⁵³ upon their affliction, then they bowed⁵⁴ their heads and worshipped.