1 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?
2 And Jehovah said to him, What is this in your hand? And he said, A staff.
3 And He said, Throw it on the ground. And he threw it on the ground, and it became a serpent; and Moses recoiled from it.
4 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 –
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, has appeared to you.
6 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 like snow.
7 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 –
8 And if they do not believe you or heed the first sign, then they may believe the next sign.
9 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.
10 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 slow of speech and slow of tongue.
11 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?
12 Now go therefore, and I will be with your mouth and will teach you what you shall speak.
13 And he said, Please, Lord, send word through someone else whom You will send.
14 And the anger of Jehovah was kindled against Moses, and He said, Is there not Aaron 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.
15 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.
16 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.
17 And you shall take in your hand this staff, with which you shall perform the signs.
18 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.
19 And Jehovah said to Moses in Midian, Go, return to Egypt; for all the men who were seeking your life have died.
20 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.
21 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.
22 Then you shall say to Pharaoh, Thus says Jehovah, Israel is My son, My firstborn.