Read the Modern Pastor’s Version

Moses answered, "They will not believe me or listen to my voice; they will say, 'The Lord has not appeared to you.'"

The Lord asked him, "What's in your hand?" He replied, "A rod."

The Lord said, "Throw it on the ground," and Moses threw it down. It became a serpent, and Moses fled from it.

The Lord said to Moses, "Reach out and take hold of it by the tail." So Moses reached out and caught it, and it turned back into a rod in his hand.

Then the Lord instructed him, "Put your hand inside your cloak." Moses did so, and when he took it out again, his hand was covered with leprosy like snow.

The Lord told him to put his hand back inside his cloak. When he did, Moses pulled it out again, and it had returned to its natural color.

This will happen if they refuse to believe the first sign; they will be convinced by the second one. If they don't listen after seeing these two signs, you'll take water from the river and pour some onto the dry land. When you do this, the water you've taken out of the river will become blood.

Moses said to the Lord, "Lord, I'm not a skilled speaker. Before or since speaking with your servant, I've been slow-tongued."

The Lord replied, "Who gives people their voice? Who makes someone mute, deaf, blind, seeing, or able to speak? Is it not me, the Lord?"

I will be present with your mouth and teach you what to say. Moses said, "Lord, please send someone who speaks well in my place."

The anger of the Lord flared up against Moses, but then He said, "Is Aaron, your brother and a Levite, not capable of speaking? I know he can speak eloquently; behold, he's on his way to meet you, and when he sees you, he'll be glad in his heart."

You will speak to him and put words in his mouth. I will be with both your mouths. Aaron will serve as a spokesperson for the people, speaking in your place, and through him, God.

Take this rod in your hand with which you will perform miracles. Moses went back to Jethro, his father-in-law, saying, "Please let me go and return to my brothers who are in Egypt; I want to see if they're still alive."

Jethro said to Moses, "Go in peace." The Lord spoke to Moses in Midian, saying, "Return to Egypt. All those who sought your life are now dead."

Moses took his wife, sons, and placed them on an ass. He then returned to Egypt with the rod from God in hand.

When you go back into Egypt, make sure you perform all the wonders I've entrusted to your care before Pharaoh. But I will harden his heart so that he refuses to let the people go.

You'll say to Pharaoh, "The Lord says, Israel is my son, my firstborn. I will set my son free."

As Moses was traveling through a lodging area, the Lord encountered him and sought to destroy him. Zipporah took a sharp stone, circumcised her son's foreskin, cast it at his feet, and said, "You are indeed a bloody husband to me."

When he let him go, she said, "A bloody husband you are because of circumcision." The Lord said to Aaron, "Go into the wilderness to meet Moses," so he went out to meet him on Mount God, where they kissed each other.

Moses told Aaron about all the words the Lord had spoken and commanded. Then Moses and Aaron gathered together all the elders of the children of Israel.

Aaron spoke all the words the Lord had given to Moses, and performed miracles in front of the people. The people believed; when they heard that the Lord had visited the Israelites and looked upon their affliction, they bowed down to worship.