1 Then Moses answered and said, But, behold, they will not believe me, nor hearken unto my voice, for they will say, The LORD has not appeared unto thee. 2 And the LORD said unto him, What is that in thy hand? And he said, A rod. 3 And 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. 4 And the LORD said unto Moses, Put forth thy hand, and take it by the tail. And he put forth his hand and caught it, and it became a rod in his hand. 5 Therefore they will believe that the LORD God of their fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has appeared unto thee. 6 And the LORD said furthermore unto him, Now put thy 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. 7 And he said, Put thy 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. 8 And 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. 9 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 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.
10 Then Moses said unto the LORD, O my Lord, I am not eloquent, neither up until now, nor since thou hast spoken unto thy slave; but I am slow of speech and of a slow tongue. 11 And the LORD said unto him, Who has made man’s mouth? Or who makes the dumb or the deaf or the seeing or the blind? Am not I the LORD? 12 Now therefore go and I will be with thy mouth and teach thee what thou shalt say. 13 And he said, O my Lord, send, I pray thee, by the hand of him whom thou wilt send. 14 Then the anger of the LORD was kindled against Moses, and he said, Do I not know thy brother Aaron, the Levite, and that he can speak well? And also, behold, he comes forth to meet thee, and when he sees thee, he will be glad in his heart. 15 And 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. 16 And he shall be thy spokesman unto the people; and he shall be unto thee as thy mouth, and thou shalt be unto him as God. 17 And thou shalt take this rod in thy hand with which thou shalt do the signs.
18 Thus Moses went and returned unto Jethro, his father-in-law, and said unto him, I shall go now and return unto my brethren who are in Egypt and see whether they are yet alive. And Jethro said to Moses, Go in peace. 19 And the LORD also said unto Moses in Midian, Go, return into Egypt, for all the men are dead who sought thy life. 20 Then 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.
21 And 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. 22 And thou shalt say unto Pharaoh, The LORD hath said thus: Israel is my son, even my firstborn. 23 And I have said unto thee, Let my son go that he may serve me, but thou hast refused to let him go; therefore, behold, I will slay thy son, even thy firstborn.
24 And it came to pass by the way in the inn, that the LORD met him and sought to kill him. 25 Then Zipporah took a sharp flint and cut off the foreskin of her son and cast it at his feet, saying, Surely a bloody husband art thou to me. 26 So he let him go: then she said, A bloody husband thou art, because of the circumcision.
27 And 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. 28 Then Moses told Aaron all the words of the LORD who had sent him and all the signs which he had commanded him. 29 And Moses and Aaron went and gathered together all the elders of the sons of Israel: 30 And Aaron spoke all the words which the LORD had spoken unto Moses and did the signs before the eyes of the people. 31 And the people believed; and hearing that the LORD had visited the sons of Israel and that he had seen their affliction, they bowed and worshipped.