1 And Moses answered and said, But behold, they will not believe me, nor hearken unto my voice; for they will say, Jehovah has not appeared to thee. 2 And Jehovah said to him, What is that in thy hand? And he said, A staff. 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 Jehovah said to Moses, Stretch out thy hand and take it by the tail — and he stretched out his hand and caught it, and it became a staff in his hand — 5 that they may believe that Jehovah, the God of their fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, hath appeared unto thee. 6 And Jehovah said moreover to him, Put now thy hand into thy bosom. And he put his hand into his bosom, and took it out, and 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 took it out of his bosom, and behold, it was turned again as his 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 other sign. 9 And it shall come to pass, if they will not believe also those two signs, neither hearken unto thy voice, that thou shalt take of the water of the river, and pour [it] on the dry [land]; and the water that thou takest out of the river shall become blood upon the dry [land]. 10 And Moses said to Jehovah, Ah Lord! I am not eloquent, neither heretofore nor since thou hast spoken to thy servant, for I am slow of speech and of a slow tongue. 11 And Jehovah said to him, Who gave man a mouth? or who maketh dumb, or deaf, or seeing, or blind? [have] not I, Jehovah? 12 And now go, and I will be with thy mouth, and will teach thee what thou shalt say. 13 And he said, Ah Lord! send, I pray thee, by the hand [of him whom] thou wilt send. 14 Then the anger of Jehovah 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 goeth out to meet thee; and when he seeth thee he will be glad in his heart. 15 And thou shalt speak unto him, and put the 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 speak for thee unto the people; and it shall come to pass that he shall be to thee for a mouth, and thou shalt be to him for God. 17 And thou shalt take this staff in thy hand, with which thou shalt do the signs. 18 And Moses went and returned to Jethro his father-in-law, and said to him, Let me go, I pray thee, and return to my brethren who are in Egypt, that I may see whether they are yet alive. And Jethro said to Moses, Go in peace. 19 And Jehovah said to Moses in Midian, Go, return to Egypt; for all the men are dead who sought thy life. 20 And Moses took his wife and his sons, and set them riding upon an ass, and he returned to the land of Egypt. And Moses took the staff of God in his hand. 21 And Jehovah said to Moses, When thou goest to return to Egypt, see that thou do all the wonders before Pharaoh that I have put in thy hand. And I will harden his heart, that he shall not let the people go. 22 And thou shalt say to Pharaoh, Thus saith Jehovah: Israel is my son, my firstborn. 23 And I say to thee, Let my son go, that he may serve me. And if thou refuse to let him go, behold, I will kill thy son, thy firstborn. 24 And it came to pass on the way, in the inn, that Jehovah came upon him, and sought to slay him. 25 Then Zipporah took a stone and cut off the foreskin of her son, and cast it at his feet, and said, A bloody husband indeed art thou to me! 26 And he let him go. Then she said, A bloody husband — because of the circumcision. 27 And Jehovah said to Aaron, Go into the wilderness to meet Moses. And he went, and met him on the mountain of God, and kissed him. 28 And Moses told Aaron all the words of Jehovah who had sent him, and all the signs that he had commanded him. 29 And Moses and Aaron went and gathered all the elders of the children of Israel; 30 and Aaron spoke all the words that Jehovah had spoken to Moses, and did the signs before the eyes of the people. 31 And the people believed. And when they heard that Jehovah had visited the children of Israel, and that he had seen their affliction, then they bowed their heads and worshipped.
Exodus 4 Darby Translation
Audio: World English Bible (WEB), read by Winfred W. Henson · About the recordings
People & places in this chapter
From this site's family tree and Bible maps, only where those guides cite this chapter.
People
Aaron
Moses' brother and spokesman, Israel's first high priest.
Cited in the guide: Exodus 4–40; Leviticus 8–10
Moses
Drawn from the Nile, he led Israel out of Egypt and received God's Law.
Cited in the guide: Exodus 2–Deuteronomy 34
Zipporah
The Midianite daughter of Jethro who became Moses' wife in the wilderness.
Cited in the guide: Exodus 2:16-22; Exodus 4:24-26; Exodus 18
Cross references (30)
Related passages for each verse, from the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge as collected and ranked by readers at OpenBible.info.
- 1 Exodus 3:18; Exodus 4:31; Jeremiah 1:6; Exodus 2:14; Acts 7:25
- 2 Exodus 4:20; Exodus 4:17; Psalm 110:2; Isaiah 11:4; Genesis 30:37
- 3 Exodus 7:10–15; Amos 5:19; Exodus 4:17
- 4 Mark 16:18; Acts 28:3–6; Luke 10:19; Psalm 91:13; John 2:5
- 5 Exodus 19:9; Genesis 26:2; Exodus 3:15; Genesis 12:7; Genesis 48:3
- 6 2 Kings 5:27; Numbers 12:10
- 7 2 Kings 5:14; Deuteronomy 32:39; Matthew 8:3; Numbers 12:13–15
- 8 Isaiah 28:10; Deuteronomy 32:39; Exodus 4:30–31; 2 Kings 5:7; Job 5:18
- 9 Exodus 1:22; Exodus 7:19–25; Matthew 7:2
- 10 Jeremiah 1:6; Exodus 6:12; Acts 7:22; Exodus 4:1; 2 Corinthians 11:6
- 11 Psalm 146:8; Isaiah 6:7; Amos 3:6; Psalm 94:9; Ezekiel 3:26–27
- 12 Jeremiah 1:9; Luke 12:11–12; Matthew 10:19–20; Luke 21:14–15; Mark 13:11
- 13 Jonah 1:3; Exodus 4:1; Ezekiel 3:14–15; Jonah 1:6; John 6:29
- 14 Mark 14:13–15; 1 Chronicles 21:7; Exodus 4:27; 2 Corinthians 7:6–7; Philippians 2:21
- 15 Isaiah 51:16; Deuteronomy 18:18; Numbers 23:16; Numbers 23:12; Luke 21:15
- 16 Exodus 7:1–2; Psalm 82:6; John 10:34–35; Exodus 18:19
- 17 Exodus 4:2; 1 Corinthians 1:27; Exodus 7:9–20
- 18 Exodus 3:1; Luke 7:50; 1 Timothy 6:1; Acts 16:36; Genesis 45:3
- 19 Matthew 2:20; Exodus 2:23; Exodus 2:15
- 20 Exodus 17:9; Numbers 20:8–9; Exodus 4:2; Exodus 18:3–4; Numbers 20:11
- 21 Romans 9:18; Joshua 11:20; Isaiah 63:17; Exodus 14:8; Exodus 7:13
- 22 Hosea 11:1; Romans 9:4; Jeremiah 31:9; Hebrews 12:23; Deuteronomy 14:1
- 23 Exodus 12:29; Exodus 11:5; Psalm 135:8; Psalm 105:36; Exodus 5:1
- 24 Genesis 17:14; Numbers 22:22–23; 1 Chronicles 21:16; Leviticus 10:3; Exodus 3:18
- 25 Joshua 5:2–3; Genesis 17:14; 2 Samuel 16:7
- 27 Exodus 3:1; Acts 10:5–6; Ecclesiastes 4:9; Exodus 20:18; Acts 10:20
- 28 Exodus 4:15–16; Exodus 4:8–9; Matthew 21:29; Jonah 3:2
- 29 Exodus 3:16; Exodus 24:11; Exodus 24:1
- 30 Exodus 4:16
- 31 Exodus 3:18; Exodus 12:27; Exodus 2:25; Psalm 106:12–13; Exodus 3:16
Cross references: OpenBible.info (CC BY), drawn mainly from the public-domain Treasury of Scripture Knowledge. · Sources & licences
What the Fathers said
Passages from the Church Fathers that expound or quote this chapter, verbatim from the public-domain Schaff edition (19th-century English translations).
How these were chosen
“Commentary” is the opening of a homily or exposition on this chapter (John Chrysostom’s homilies, Augustine’s tractates, sermons and expositions of the Psalms). “Quotes” are sentences where the edition’s own footnotes identify a quotation of a verse here, kept only when the wording matches the verse. Only works whose authorship is not in doubt are used. Psalms follow the Hebrew/English numbering (Augustine numbers them as the Septuagint does: his Psalm 50 is Psalm 51 here).
And nevertheless Moses feared and fled. What is it that Moses fled from that serpent?
Read in context · Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, series 1, vol. 8 (1888)
Thus Moses also first is in fear of the serpent, and not merely in fear, but even with much distress: and then he sees that strange thing come to pass. So these too, having first looked to perish, were then saved, that having confessed the danger, they might learn the greatness of the miracle.
Read in context · Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, series 1, vol. 10 (1888)
… have a thing which without doubt we can ascribe to them; the dyings of the beasts, the dyings of the first-born, and this especially whence all these things proceeded, namely, the hardening of heart, so that they would not let go the people of God. For when God is said to make this most iniquitous and malignant obstinacy, He maketh …
Read in context · Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, series 1, vol. 8 (1888)
… in behalf of heartless and disobedient men; and by the very persons who were saved by them, they were brought into extreme danger; and each of them wishing to withdraw men from idolatry; and each being unlearned; for the one was of a "slow tongue," and dull of speech, and the other for his part also somewhat of the rudest …
Read in context · Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, series 1, vol. 10 (1888)