Then Moses answered and said, What if they do not believe me or listen to my voice, but say, Jehovah has not appeared to you?

And Jehovah said to him, What is this in your hand? And he said, A staff.

And He said, Throw it on the ground. And he threw it on the ground, and it became a  ¹serpent; and Moses recoiled from it.

And Jehovah said to Moses, Stretch out your hand, and take it by its tail — so he stretched out his hand and seized it, and it became a staff in his hand —

That they may believe that Jehovah, the God of their fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has appeared to you.

And Jehovah further said to him, Now put your hand into your bosom. And he put his hand into his bosom, and when he took it out, there his hand was, leprous, as white as snow.

And 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, there it was, restored like the rest of his flesh —

And if they do not believe you or  ¹heed the first sign, then they may  ²believe the next sign.

And if they will not believe even these two signs or listen to your voice, then you shall take some of the water of the River and pour it on the dry ground, and the water that you take out of the River will become blood upon the dry ground.

And Moses said to Jehovah, Please, Lord, I am not a man of words, neither in the past, nor since You have spoken to Your servant, for I am  ¹slow of speech and slow of tongue.

And Jehovah said to him, Who gave man a mouth? Or who makes him dumb or deaf or seeing or blind? Is it not I, Jehovah?

Now go therefore, and I will be with your mouth and will teach you what you shall speak.

And he said, Please, Lord, send word by sending someone else.

And the anger of Jehovah was kindled against Moses, and He said, Is there not  ¹Aaron your brother the Levite? I know that he can certainly speak. And even now he is coming out to meet you; and when he sees you, he will be glad in his heart.

And you shall speak to him and put the words in his mouth, and I will be with your mouth and with his mouth, and will teach you what you shall do.

And he shall speak for you to the people, and he shall be as a mouth for you, and you shall be as God to him.

And you shall take in your hand this staff, with which you shall perform the signs.

And Moses went back to Jethro his father-in-law. And he said to him, Please let me go and return to my brothers who are in Egypt and see whether they are still alive. And Jethro said to Moses, Go in peace.

And Jehovah said to Moses in Midian, Go, return to Egypt; for all the men who were seeking your life have died.

So Moses took his wife and his sons, and mounted them upon a donkey, and returned to the land of Egypt. And Moses took the staff of God in his hand.

And Jehovah said to Moses, When you go to return to Egypt, see that you perform before Pharaoh all the wonders which I have put in your power; but I will harden his heart, and he will not let the people go.

Then you shall say to Pharaoh, Thus says Jehovah, Israel is My son, My  ¹firstborn.

And I said to you, Let My son go that he may serve Me; but you have refused to let him go. I will now slay your son, your firstborn.

And at the lodging place on the way, Jehovah came upon him and sought to put him to death.

Then Zipporah took a flint and  ¹cut off her son's foreskin and cast it at Moses' feet, and she said, You are indeed a  ²bridegroom of blood to me!

So He let him alone. It was then that she said, A bridegroom of blood, because of the circumcision.

And Jehovah said to Aaron, Go into the wilderness to meet Moses. And he went and came upon him at the mountain of God, and he kissed him.

And Moses told Aaron all the words of Jehovah with which He had sent him and all the signs with which He had charged him.

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

And Aaron spoke all the words which Jehovah had spoken to Moses, and he performed the signs in the sight of the people.

And the people believed; and when they heard that Jehovah had visited the children of Israel and that He had seen their affliction, they bowed and worshipped.

And afterward Moses and Aaron came and said to  ¹Pharaoh, Thus says  ²Jehovah the God of Israel, Let My people go that they may hold a  ³feast to Me in the wilderness.

But Pharaoh said,  ¹Who is Jehovah that I should listen to His voice to let Israel go? I do not know Jehovah, and I also will not let Israel go.

And they said, The God of the Hebrews has met with us. Let us go a  ¹three days' journey into the wilderness that we may sacrifice to Jehovah our God; otherwise He will fall upon us with pestilence or sword.

Then the king of Egypt said to them, Moses and Aaron, why are you trying to release the people from their work? Get back to your burdens.

And Pharaoh said, Look, the people of the land are now many, yet you want them to cease from their burdens.

And the same day Pharaoh commanded the taskmasters of the people and their  ¹officers, saying,

You shall no longer give the people straw to make bricks as previously; let them go and gather straw for themselves.

And the quota of the bricks which they made previously, you shall still place upon them; you shall not diminish any of it, for they are idle; therefore they cry out, saying, Let us go and sacrifice to our God.

Let the work be laid more heavily upon such men, so that they do it and not pay attention to false words.

And the taskmasters of the people and their officers went out and spoke to the people, saying, Thus says Pharaoh, I will not give you straw.

You go and get your own straw wherever you can find it, for none of your work will be reduced.

So the people scattered throughout all the land of Egypt to gather stubble for straw.

And the taskmasters pressed them saying, Finish your work, the same daily assignment as when there was straw.

And the officers of the children of Israel, whom Pharaoh's taskmasters had set over them, were beaten and told, Why have you not finished, both yesterday and today, the amount of bricks required of you previously?

Then the officers of the children of Israel came and cried out to Pharaoh, saying, Why do you treat your servants this way?

No straw is given to your servants, and they say to us, Make bricks. And now your servants are being beaten, but it is the fault of your own people.

But he said, Idle is what you are, idle; therefore you say, Let us go and sacrifice to Jehovah.

So go now and work; and no straw shall be given you, but you shall deliver the quota of bricks.

And the officers of the children of Israel saw that they were in trouble, when it was said, You shall not diminish any of the daily assignment of your bricks.

And they came upon Moses and Aaron, who were standing there to meet them when they came forth from Pharaoh.

And they said to them, Jehovah look upon you and judge, because you have made us odious in the sight of Pharaoh and in the sight of his servants so as to put a sword in their hand to kill us.

Then Moses went back to Jehovah and said, Lord, why have You mistreated this people? Why is it that You have sent me?

Ever since I came to Pharaoh to speak in Your name, he has mistreated this people, and You have not delivered Your people at all.

And  ¹Jehovah said to Moses, Now you will see what I will do to Pharaoh; for because of a mighty hand he will let them go, and because of a mighty hand he will drive them out of his land.

And God spoke to Moses and said to him, I am Jehovah.

And I appeared to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob as the  ¹All-sufficient God; but by My name  ²Jehovah I did not make Myself known to them.

And I also established My covenant with them, to give them the land of Canaan, the land of their sojournings, in which they sojourned.

And I have also heard the groaning of the children of Israel, whom the Egyptians have enslaved; and I have remembered My covenant.

Therefore say to the children of Israel, I am Jehovah, and I will bring you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians, and I will deliver you from their bondage, and I will redeem you with an outstretched arm and with great acts of judgment.

And I will take you to Myself as My people, and I will be your God; and you shall know that I am Jehovah your God, the One who brought you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians.

And I will bring you to the land which I  ¹swore to give to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob; and I will give it to you as a possession. I am Jehovah.

And Moses spoke this to the children of Israel, but they did not listen to Moses on account of anguish of spirit and harsh bondage.

And Jehovah spoke to Moses, saying,

Go, speak to Pharaoh, the king of Egypt, that he let the children of Israel go out of his land.

And Moses spoke before Jehovah, saying, The children of Israel do not now listen to me. How then will Pharaoh listen to me, since I am of uncircumcised lips?

And Jehovah spoke to Moses and to Aaron and gave them a charge for the children of Israel and for Pharaoh, the king of Egypt, to bring the children of Israel out of the land of Egypt.

 ¹These are the heads of their fathers' houses. The sons of Reuben, the firstborn of Israel: Hanoch and Pallu, Hezron and Carmi; these are the families of Reuben.

And 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.

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

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

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

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

And Amram took Jochebed his father's sister for himself as wife, and she bore him Aaron and Moses; and the years of Amram's life were one hundred thirty-seven years.

And the sons of Izhar: Korah and Nepheg and Zichri.

And the sons of Uzziel: Mishael and Elzaphan and Sithri.

And Aaron took Elisheba, the daughter of Amminadab, the sister of Nahshon, for himself as wife; and she bore him Nadab and Abihu, Eleazar and Ithamar.

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

And Eleazar, Aaron's son, took for himself one of the daughters of Putiel as wife, and she bore him Phinehas. These are the heads of the fathers' houses of the Levites according to their families.

It was this same Aaron and Moses to whom Jehovah said, Bring out the children of Israel from the land of Egypt according to their armies.

It was they who spoke to Pharaoh, the king of Egypt, to bring out the children of Israel from Egypt; it is the same Moses and Aaron.

And on the day when Jehovah spoke to Moses in the land of Egypt,

Jehovah spoke to Moses, saying, I am Jehovah; speak to Pharaoh, the king of Egypt, all that I speak to you.

But Moses said before Jehovah, Behold, I am of uncircumcised lips. How then will Pharaoh listen to me?