Verse King James Version Proposed Conservative Translation Analysis

1 And 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. Moses said in answer, "But, Sir! They won't believe me, nor will they even listen to me, for they will say, 'The L ORD has not appeared to you.'" Excuses, excuses.

2 And the LORD said unto him, What is that in thine hand? And he said, A rod. The L ORD said to him, "What is that in your hand?" And he said, "A rod." It was probably Moses' shepherd's crook.

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. So He said, "Throw that on the ground." So he threw it on the ground, and it turned into a snake, and Moses ran from it.

4 And the LORD said unto Moses, Put forth thine hand, and take it by the tail. And he put forth his hand, and caught it, and it became a rod in his hand But the L ORD said to Moses, "Grab it with your hand, by its tail." So he grabbed it with his hand and held onto it, and it became a rod in the palm of his hand.

5 That they may believe that the LORD God of their fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, hath appeared unto thee. "This will make them believe that the L ORD God of their ancestors, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, has appeared to you."

6 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 snow. And the L ORD said more to him: "Put your hand inside your shirt." And he put his hand inside his shirt, and when he took it out, his hand was affected with leprosy, and white like snow. Leprosy, as used here, could be the name of any of a number of skin diseases, and not necessarily Hansen's Disease, caused by the leper's germ Mycobacterium leprae.

7 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 turned again as his other flesh. He said, "Put your hand inside your shirt again." And he put his hand inside his shirt again, and brought it out, and it was restored to health, like the rest of his skin.

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. "If they happen not to believe you, and are not convinced by the first sign, they will be convinced by the second."

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. "And if they don't believe either of these signs, and won't listen to you, then you shall take water from the river Nile, and pour it upon dry land, and the water you take out of the Nile shall become blood on the land." This prefigures the Plague Upon the Nile.

10 And Moses said unto the LORD, O my Lord, I am not eloquent, neither heretofore, nor since thou hast spoken unto thy servant: but I am slow of speech, and of a slow tongue. Moses said to the L ORD , "My Lord, I'm not eloquent, either before now, or even now that you have spoken to me, and I speak slowly, with a slow tongue." The Hebrew idiomatic phrase is "even from yesterday even from three days." Here Moses makes yet another excuse.

11 And 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? The L ORD said to him, "Who made men's mouths? Who makes the dumb, the deaf, or the seeing, or the blind? Was it not I, the L ORD ? Never plead a lack of qualification from you you'r made, not when you're talking to God--for God ought to know exactly what you're capable of, because He made you.

12 Now therefore go, and I will be with thy mouth, and teach thee what thou shalt say. Now go, and I'll be with you, and guide your mouth, and teach you what you to say."

13 And he said, O my Lord, send, I pray thee, by the hand of him whom thou wilt send. And he said, "My Lord, please send Your message by someone else." Moses moves from mere excuse-making to an attempt at resignation.

14 And the anger 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 cometh forth to meet thee and when he seeth thee, he will be glad in his heart. And the L ORD grew terrifically angry at Moses. He said, "The Levite Aaron is your brother; I know that he can speak well. In fact, he is coming out to meet you, and he will be very glad to see you." One does not resign a Divine commission!

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. "You will speak to him, and tell him what to say, and I'll be with both of you as you speak, and will teach you what to do."

16 And 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. "He will be your spokesman to the people, almost as your mouth, and you will stand in relation to him as I stand to you."

17 And thou shalt take this rod in thine hand, wherewith thou shalt do signs. "Now take this rod in your hands, with which you shall do miracles."

18 And Moses went and returned to Jethro his father in law, and said unto him, Let me go, I pray thee, and return unto my brethren which are in Egypt, and see whether they be yet alive. And Jethro said to Moses, Go in peace. So Moses returned to his father-in-law Jethro, and said to him, "I ask you, please, to let me leave, and return to my people in Egypt, and see if they are still alive." And Jethro said to Moses, "Go in peace."

19 And the LORD said unto Moses in Midian, Go, return into Egypt for all the men are dead which sought thy life. The L ORD said to Moses in Midian, "Go, return to Egypt, for all the men who wished to kill you have died." Amenemhet III, who had pronounced Moses' death warrant (see Chapter 2), had died.

20 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 God in his hand. So Moses took his wife and his sons, and rode with them on a donkey to Egypt, with 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. The L ORD said to Moses, "When you go to return into Egypt, see that you do the miracles before Pharaoh, with the staff I've put in your hand. But I'll harden his heart, and he won't dismiss the people."

22 And thou shalt say unto Pharaoh, Thus saith the LORD, Israel is my son, even my firstborn "You will say to Pharaoh, 'The L ORD says, "Israel is my son, as my firstborn."'"

23 And 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. "'"I say to you: dismiss my son, so that he may serve me: and if your refuse to dismiss him, I'll kill your firstborn son."'" A direct reference to the final Plague Upon the Firstborn.

24 And it came to pass by the way in the inn, that the LORD met him, and sought to kill him. Now it happened by the road to the lodging-house, the L ORD encountered him and was seeking to put him to death. Why? Because Moses had not circumcised his son. God required that Moses address that remaining issue.

25 Then Zipporah took a sharp stone, and cut off the foreskin of her son, and cast it at his feet, and said, Surely a bloody husband art thou to me. Then Zipporah took a stone knife, and cut off her son's foreskin, and touched it against his feet. She said, "You are a bridegroom of blood to me."

26 So he let him go then she said, A bloody husband thou art, because of the circumcision. And so she slacked off from him, saying, "You are a bridegroom of blood to me," on account of the circumcision. Moses and Zipporah had their first "spat", that would last until the Red Sea crossing.

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. The L ORD said to Aaron, "Go and meet Moses in the desert." And he went, and met him in the mountain of God, and kissed him.

28 And Moses told Aaron all the words of the LORD who had sent him, and all the signs which he had commanded him. Moses told Aaron all the words of the L ORD Who sent him, and all the signs with and in which He had instructed him.

29 And Moses and Aaron went and gathered together all the elders of the children of Israel. Moses and Aaron went and gathered all the elders of the Sons of Israel.

30 And Aaron spake all the words which the LORD had spoken unto Moses, and did the signs in the sight of the people. Aaron spoke all the words that the L ORD had spoken to Moses, and performed the signs in front of the people.