EXODUS - Chapter 4

Then Moses said, "What if they will not believe me or listen to what I say? For they may say, 'YAHWEH has not appeared to you.'"

YAHWEH said to him, "What is that in your hand?"

And he said, "A staff."

Then He said, "Throw it on the ground."

So he threw it on the ground and it became a serpent; and Moses fled from it.

But YAHWEH said to Moses, "Stretch out your hand and grasp it by its tail"--so he stretched out his hand and caught it, and it became a staff in his hand--"that they may believe that YAHWEH, the Elohim of their fathers, the Elohim of Abraham, the Elohim of Isaac, and the Elohim of Jacob has appeared to you."

YAHWEH furthermore said to him, "Now put your hand into your bosom."

So he put his hand into his bosom, and when he took it out, behold, his hand was leprous like snow.

The He said, "Put your hand into your bosom again." So he put his hand into his bosom again, and when he took it out of his bosom, behold, it was restored like the rest of his flesh. "If they will not believe you or heed the witness of the first sign, they may believe the witness of the last sign. But if they will not believe even these two signs or heed what you say, then you shall take some water from the Nile and pour it on the dry ground: and the water which you take from the Nile will become blood on the dry ground."

Then Moses said to YAHWEH, "Please, Master, I have never been eloquent, neither recently nor in time past, nor since You have spoken to Your servant: for I am slow of speech and slow of tongue."

YAHWEH said to him, "Who has made man's mouth? Or who makes him mute or deaf, or seeing or blind? Is it not I, YAHWEH? Now then go, and I, even I, will be with your mouth, and teach you what you are to say."

But he said, "Please, Master, now send the messaage by whomever You will."

Then the anger of YAHWEH burned against Moses, and He said, "Is there not your brother Aaron the Levite? I know that he speaks fluently. And moreover, behold, he is coming out to meet you; when he sees you, he will be glad in his heart. You are to speak to him and put the words in his mouth: and I, even I, will be with your mouth and his mouth, and I will teach you what you are to do. Moreover, he shall speak for you to the people; and he will be as a mouth for you and you will be as Elohim to him. You shall take in your hand this staff, with which you shall perform the signs."

Then Moses departed and returned to Jethro his father-in-law and said to him, "Please, let me go, that I may return to my brethren who are in Egypt, and see if they are still alive." And Jethro said to Moses, "Go in peace."

Now YAHWEH said to Moses in Midian, "Go back to Egypt, for all the men who were seeking your life are dead."

So Moses took his wife and his sons and mounted them on a donkey, and returned to the land of Egypt. Moses also took the staff of Elohim in his hand.

YAHWEH said to Moses, "When you go back to Egypt see that you perform before Pharaoh all the wonders which I have put in your power: but I will harden his heart so that he will not let the people go. Then you shall say to Pharaoh, 'Thus says YAHWEH, "Israel is My son, My firstborn. So I said to you, 'Let My son go that he may serve Me'; but you have refused to let him go. Behold, I will kill your son, your firstborn."'"

Now it came about at the lodging place on the way that YAHWEH met him and sought to put him to death. Then Zipporah took a flint and cut off her son's foreskin and threw it at Moses' feet, and she said, "You are indeed a bridegroom of blood to me."

So He let him alone. At that time she said, "You are a bridegroom of blood"--because of the circumcision.

Now YAHWEH said to Aaron, "Go to meet Moses in the wilderness." So he went and met him at the mountain of Elohim and kissed hiim. Moses told Aaron all the words of YAHWEH with which He had sent him, and all the signs that He had commanded him to do.

The Moses and Aaron went and assembled all the elders of the sons of Israel: and Aaron spoke all the words which YAHWEH had spoken to Moses. He then performed the signs in the sight of the people. So the people believed: and when they heard that YAHWEH was concerned about the sons of Israel and that He had seen their affliction, then they bowed low and worshipped.

Chapter 5

And afterward Moses and Aaron came and said to Pharaoh, "Thus says YAHWEH, the Elohim of Israel, 'Let My people go that they may celebrate a feast to Me in the wilderness.'"

But Pharaoh said, "Who is YAHWEH that I should obey His voice to let Israel go? I do not know YAHWEH and besides, I will not let Israel go."

Then they said, "The Elohim of the Hebrews has met with us. Please, let us go a three days' journey into the wilderness that we may sacrifice to YAHWEH our Elohim, otherwise He will fall upon us with pestilence or with the sword."

But the king of Egypt said to them, "Moses and Aaron, why do you draw the people away from their work? Get back to your labors!"

Again Pharaoh said, "Look, the people of the land are now many, and you would have them cease from their labors!"

So the same day Pharaoh commanded the taskmasters over the people and their foremen, saying, "You are no longer to give the people straw to make bricks as previously; let them go and gather straw for themselves. But the quota of bricks which they were making previously, you shall impose on them: you are not to reduce any of it. Because they are lazy; therefore they cry out, 'Let us go and sacrifice to our Elohim.' let the labor be heavier on the men, and let them work at it so that they will pay no attention to false words."

So the taskmasters of the people and their foremen went out and spoke to the people, saying, "Thus says Pharaoh, 'I am not going to give you any straw. You go and get straw for yourselves wherever you can find it, but none of your labor will be reduced.'"

So the people scattered through all the land of Egypt to gather stubble for straw. The taskmasters pressed them, saying, "Complete your work quota, your daily amount, just as when you had straw."

Moreover, the foremen of the sons of Israel, whom Pharaoh's taskmasters had set over them, were beaten and were asked, "Why have you not completed your required amount either yesterday or today in making bricks as previously?"

Then the foremen of the sons of Israel came and cried out to Pharaoh, saying, "Why do you deal this way with your servants? There is no straw given to your servants, yet they keep saying to us, 'Make bricks!' And behold, your servants are being beaten; but it is the fault of your own people."

But he said, "You are lazy, very lazy; therefore you say, 'Let us go and sacrifice to YAHWEH.' so go now and work; for you will be given no straw, yet you must deliver the quota of bricks."

The foremen of the sons of Israel saw that they were in trouble because they were told, "You must not reduce your daily amount of bricks."

When they left Pharaoh's presence, they met Moses and Aaron as they were waiting for them. They said to them, "May YAHWEH look upon you and judge you, for you have made us odious in Pharaoh's sight and in the sight of his servants, to put a sword in their hand to kill us."

Then Moses returned to YAHWEH and said, "O Master, why have You brought harm to this people? Why did You ever send me? Ever since I came to Pharaoh to speak in Your name, he has done harm to this people, and You have not delivered Your people at all."

Chapter 6

Then YAHWEH said to Moses, "Now you shall see what I will do to Pharaoh: for under compulsion he will let them go, and under compulsion, he will drive them out of his land."

Elohim spoke further to Moses and said to him, "I am YAHWEH: and I appeared to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, as Elohim Almighty, but by My name, YAHWEH, did I not make Myself known to them? I also established My covenant with them, to give them the land of Canaan, the land in which they sojourned. Furthermore I have heard the groaning of the sons of Israel, because the Egyptians are holding them in bondage, and I have remembered My covenant. Say, therefore, to the sons of Israel, 'I am YAHWEH, and I will bring you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians, and I will deliver you from their bondage. I will also redeem you with an outstretched arm and with great judgments. Then I will take you for My people, and I will be your Elohim; and you shall know that I am YAHWEH your Elohim, who brought you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians. I will bring you to the land which I swore to give to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and I will give it to you for a possession. I am YAHWEH.'"

So Moses spoke thus to the sons of Israel, but they did not listen to Moses on account of their despondency and cruel bondage.

Now YAHWEH spoke to Moses, saying, "Go, tell Pharaoh king of Egypt to let the sons of Israel go out of his land."

But Moses spoke before YAHWEH, saying, "Behold, the sons of Israel have not listened to me; how then will Pharaoh listen to me, for I am unskilled in speech?"

Then YAHWEH spoke to Moses and to Aaron, and gave them a charge to the sons of Israel and to Pharaoh king of Egypt, to bring the sons of Israel out of the land of Egypt.

These are the heads of their fathers' households. The sons of Reuben, Israel's firstborn: Hanoch and Pallu, Hezron and Carml; these are the families of Reuben.

The sons of Simeon: Jemuel and Jamin and Ohad and Jachin and Zohar and Shaul the son of a Canaanite woman; these are the families of Simeon.

These are the names of the sons of Levi according to their generations: Gershon and Kohath and Merari; and the length of Levi's life was one hundred and thirty-seven years.

The sons of Gershon: Libni and Shimei, according to their families.

The sons of Kohath: Amram and Izhar and Hebron and Uzziel; and the length of Kohath's life was one hundred and thirty-three years.

The sons of Merari: Mahli and Mushi. These are the families of the Levites according to their generations.

Amram married his father's sister Jochebed, and she bore him Aaron and Moses: and the length of Amram's life was one hundred and thirty-seven years.

The sons of Ishar: Korah and Nepheg and Zichri.

The sons of Uzziel: Mishael and Elzaphan and Sithri.

Aaron married Elisheba, the daughter of Amminadab, the sister of Nahshon, and she bore him Nadab and Abihu, Eleazar and Ithamar.

The sons of Korah: Assir and Elkanah and Abiasaph; these are the families of the Korahites.

Aaron's son Eleazar married one of the daughters of Putiel, and she bore him Phinehas. These are the heads of the fathers' households of the Levites according to their families.

It was the same Aaron and Moses to whom YAHWEH said, "Bring out the sons of Israel from the land of Egypt according to their hosts." They were the ones who spoke to Pharaoh king of Egypt about bringing out the sons of Israel from Egypt; it was the same Moses and Aaron.

Now it came about on the day when YAHWEH spoke to Moses in the land of Egypt, that YAHWEH spoke to Moses, saying, "I am YAHWEH: speak to Pharaoh king of Egypt all that I speak to you."

But Moses said before YAHWEH, "Behold I am unskilled in speech: how then will Pharaoh listen to me?"

HalleluYah!