¹⁸ Then ^(A)they will ^[a]pay attention to what you say; and ^(B)you with the elders of Israel will come to the king of Egypt, and you will say to him, ‘The Lord, the God of the Hebrews, has met with us. So now, please let us go a ^(C)three days’ journey into the wilderness, so that we may sacrifice to the Lord our God.’

⁸ “So if they will not believe you nor ^[a]pay attention to the ^[b]evidence of the first ^[c]sign, they may believe the ^[d]evidence of the last ^[e]sign. ⁹ But if they will not believe even these two ^[f]signs nor pay attention to what you say, then you shall take some water from the Nile and pour it on the dry ground; and the water which you take from the Nile ^(A)will turn into blood on the dry ground.”

¹⁰ Then Moses said to the Lord, “Please, Lord, ^(B)I have never been ^[g]eloquent, neither ^[h]recently nor in time past, nor since You have spoken to Your servant; for I am ^[i]slow of speech and ^[j]slow of tongue.” ¹¹ But the Lord said to him, “Who has made the human mouth? Or ^(C)who makes anyone unable to speak or deaf, or able to see or blind? Is it not I, the Lord? ¹² Now then go, and ^(D)I Myself will be with your mouth, and ^(E)instruct you in what you are to say.” ¹³ But he said, “Please, Lord, now send the message by ^[k]whomever You will.”

Aaron to Be Moses’ Mouthpiece

¹⁴ Then the anger of the Lord burned against Moses, and He said, “Is there not your brother Aaron the Levite? I know that ^[l]he speaks fluently. And moreover, behold, ^(F)he is coming out to meet you; when he sees you, he will be ^[m]overjoyed. ¹⁵ So you are to speak to him and ^(G)put the words in his mouth; and I Myself will be with your mouth and his mouth, and I will instruct you in what you are to do. ^16 (H)He shall speak for you to the people; and he will be as a mouth for you and you will be as God to him. ¹⁷ And you shall take in your hand ^(I)this staff, ^(J)with which you shall perform the signs.”

¹⁸ Then Moses departed and returned to ^(K)his father-in-law ^[n]Jethro, and said to him, “Please, let me go, that I may return to my brothers who are in Egypt, and see if they are still alive.” And Jethro said to Moses, “Go in peace.” ¹⁹ Now the Lord said to Moses in Midian, “Go ^[o]back to Egypt, for ^(L)all the men who were seeking your life are dead.” ²⁰ So Moses took his wife and his ^(M)sons and mounted them on a donkey, and returned to the land of Egypt. Moses also took the ^(N)staff of God in his hand.

²¹ And the Lord said to Moses, “When you go ^[p]back to Egypt, see that you perform before Pharaoh all ^(O)the wonders which I have put in your ^[q]power; but ^(P)I will harden his heart so that he will not let the people go. ²² Then you shall say to Pharaoh, ‘This is what the Lord says: “^(Q)Israel is My son, My firstborn. ²³ So I said to you, ‘^(R)Let My son go so that he may serve Me’; but you have refused to let him go. Behold, ^(S)I am going to kill your son, your firstborn.”’”

²⁴ But it came about at the overnight encampment on the way, that the Lord met ^[r]Moses, and ^(T)sought to put him to death. ²⁵ So Zipporah took ^(U)a flint and cut off her son’s foreskin and ^[s]threw it at Moses’ feet; and she said, “You are indeed a groom of blood to me!” ²⁶ So He left him alone. At that time she said, “You are a groom of blood”—^[t]because of the circumcision.

^27 (V)Now the Lord said to Aaron, “Go to meet Moses in the wilderness.” So he went and met him at the ^(W)mountain of God and kissed him. ^28 (X)Moses told Aaron all the words of the Lord with which He had sent him, and ^(Y)all the signs that He had commanded him to do. ²⁹ Then Moses and Aaron went and ^(Z)assembled all the elders of the sons of Israel; ³⁰ and ^(AA)Aaron spoke all the words which the Lord had spoken to Moses. He then performed the ^(AB)signs in the sight of the people. ³¹ So ^(AC)the people believed; and when they heard that the Lord ^[u](AD)was concerned about the sons of Israel and that He had seen their affliction, ^(AE)they bowed low and worshiped.

⁹ Then the Lord said to Moses, “Behold, I will come to you in ^(A)a thick cloud, so that the ^(B)people may hear when I speak with you and may also trust in you forever.” Then Moses told the words of the people to the Lord.