¹Then Moses said, "What if they will not believe me or listen to what I say? For they may say, `The LORD has not appeared to you.'" ²The LORD said to him, "What is that in your hand?" And he said, "A staff." ³Then He said, "Throw it on the ground." So he threw it on the ground, and it became a serpent; and Moses fled from it. ⁴But the LORD 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-- ⁵"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."

⁶The LORD 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. ⁷Then 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. ⁸"If they will not believe you or heed the witness of the first sign, they may believe the witness of the last sign. ⁹"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."

¹⁰Then Moses said to the LORD, "Please, Lord, 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." ¹¹The LORD said to him, "Who has made man's mouth? Or who makes him mute or deaf, or seeing or blind? Is it not I, the LORD? ¹²"Now then go, and I, even I, will be with your mouth, and teach you what you are to say." ¹³But he said, "Please, Lord, now send the message by whomever You will."

Aaron to Be Moses' Mouthpiece

¹⁴Then the anger of the LORD 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. ¹⁵"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. ¹⁶"Moreover, he shall speak for you to the people; and he will be as a mouth for you and you will be as God to him. ¹⁷"You shall take in your hand this staff, with which you shall perform the signs."

¹⁸Then 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." ¹⁹Now the LORD said to Moses in Midian, "Go back to Egypt, for all the men who were seeking your life are dead." ²⁰So 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 God in his hand.

²¹The LORD 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. ²²"Then you shall say to Pharaoh, `Thus says the LORD, "Israel is My son, My firstborn. <sup>23</sup>"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."'"

²⁴Now it came about at the lodging place on the way that the LORD met him and sought to put him to death. ²⁵Then 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." ²⁶So He let him alone. At that time she said, "You are a bridegroom of blood"--because of the circumcision.

²⁷Now the LORD said to Aaron, "Go to meet Moses in the wilderness." So he went and met him at the mountain of God and kissed him. ²⁸Moses told Aaron all the words of the LORD with which He had sent him, and all the signs that He had commanded him to do. ²⁹Then Moses and Aaron went and assembled all the elders of the sons of Israel; ³⁰and Aaron spoke all the words which the LORD had spoken to Moses. He then performed the signs in the sight of the people. ³¹So the people believed; and when they heard that the LORD was concerned about the sons of Israel and that He had seen their affliction, then they bowed low and worshiped.

¹And afterward Moses and Aaron came and said to Pharaoh, "Thus says the LORD, the God of Israel, `Let My people go that they may celebrate a feast to Me in the wilderness.'" <sup>2</sup>But Pharaoh said, "Who is the LORD that I should obey His voice to let Israel go? I do not know the LORD, and besides, I will not let Israel go." <sup>3</sup>Then they said, "The God of the Hebrews has met with us. Please, let us go a three days' journey into the wilderness that we may sacrifice to the LORD our God, otherwise He will fall upon us with pestilence or with the sword." <sup>4</sup>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!" <sup>5</sup>Again Pharaoh said, "Look, the people of the land are now many, and you would have them cease from their labors!" <sup>6</sup>So the same day Pharaoh commanded the taskmasters over the people and their foremen, saying, <sup>7</sup>"You are no longer to give the people straw to make brick as previously; let them go and gather straw for themselves. <sup>8</sup>"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 God.' ⁹"Let the labor be heavier on the men, and let them work at it so that they will pay no attention to false words."

¹⁰So 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. <sup>11</sup> `You go and get straw for yourselves wherever you can find it, but none of your labor will be reduced.'" ¹²So the people scattered through all the land of Egypt to gather stubble for straw. ¹³The taskmasters pressed them, saying, "Complete your work quota, your daily amount, just as when you had straw." ¹⁴Moreover, 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 brick as previously?"

¹⁵Then the foremen of the sons of Israel came and cried out to Pharaoh, saying, "Why do you deal this way with your servants? ¹⁶"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." <sup>17</sup>But he said, "You are lazy, very lazy; therefore you say, `Let us go and sacrifice to the LORD.' ¹⁸"So go now and work; for you will be given no straw, yet you must deliver the quota of bricks." ¹⁹The 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." ²⁰When they left Pharaoh's presence, they met Moses and Aaron as they were waiting for them. ²¹They said to them, "May the LORD 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."

²²Then Moses returned to the LORD and said, "O Lord, why have You brought harm to this people? Why did You ever send me? ²³"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."