Exodus 4 - Wycliffe Bible (WYC)

4 Moses answered, and said, The commons shall not believe to me, neither they shall hear my voice; but they shall say, The Lord appeared not to thee.

² Therefore the Lord said to him, What is that that thou holdest in thine hand? Moses answered, A rod, that is, a shepherd’s staff.

³ And the Lord said, Cast it forth into the earth (Throw it down onto the ground); and he cast it forth, and it was turned into a serpent, so that Moses fled.

⁴ And the Lord said, Hold forth thine hand, and take the tail thereof; he stretched forth his hand, and held it, and it was turned again into a rod. (And the Lord said, Stretch forth thy hand, and take its tail; and he stretched forth his hand, and took hold of it, and it turned back into a staff.)

⁵ And the Lord said, (So) That they (shall) believe, that the Lord God of thy fathers appeared to thee, (yea, the) God of Abraham, God of Isaac, and God of Jacob.

⁶ And the Lord said again to Moses, Put thine hand into thy bosom; and when he had put it into his bosom, he brought forth it leprous, at the likeness of snow. (And the Lord said to Moses, Put thy hand inside thy cloak; and after he had put it inside his cloak, when he took it out again, he brought it forth leprous, and as white as snow.)

⁷ The Lord said, Again draw thine hand into thy bosom; Moses again drew (in) his hand, and brought it forth again, and it was like to the tother flesh. (And the Lord said, Put thy hand inside thy cloak again; and Moses put his hand inside his cloak, and when he took it out again, once more it was like his other flesh.)

⁸ The Lord said, If they shall not believe to thee, neither shall hear the word of the former sign, either miracle, they shall believe to the word of the sign following; (And the Lord said, If they do not believe thee, nor accept the proof of the first sign, or the first miracle, then they may believe the proof of the sign that followeth;)

⁹ that if they believe not to these two signs, neither hear thy voice, take thou water of the flood, and shedded out it on the dry land, and whatever thing thou shalt draw up of the flood, it shall be turned into blood. (but if they do not believe these two signs, nor will listen to thy voice, then take some water from the River, and pour it out onto the dry land; and whatever water thou shalt draw up out of the River, it shall be turned into blood, when it falleth onto the ground.)

¹⁰ Moses said, Lord, I beseech (thee), I am not eloquent, that is, a fair speaker, from yesterday and the third day ago; and since thou hast spoken to thy servant, I am of more hindered, and of slower tongue.

¹¹ The Lord said to him, Who made the mouth of [a] man, or who made a dumb man, and deaf, seeing, and blind? whether not I? (And the Lord said to him, Who gave speech to people, or who made anyone dumb, or deaf, or seeing, or blind? was it not I?)

¹² Therefore go thou, and I shall be in thy mouth, and I shall teach thee what thou shalt speak.

¹³ And Moses said, Lord, I beseech thee, send whom thou shalt.

¹⁴ And the Lord was wroth against Moses, and said, I know, that Aaron, thy brother, of the lineage of Levi, is eloquent, that is, a fair speaker; lo! he shall go out into thy coming, and he shall see thee, and he shall be glad in heart. (And the Lord was angry against Moses, and said, I know, that thy brother Aaron, of the tribe of Levi, is eloquent, that is, a fair speaker; lo! he is coming to meet thee, and he shall see thee, and he shall be glad in his heart.)

¹⁵ Speak thou to him, and put thou my words in his mouth, and I shall be in thy mouth, and in his mouth; and I shall show to you what ye ought to do.

¹⁶ He shall speak for thee to the people, and he shall be thy mouth; forsooth thou shalt be to him in these things, that pertain to God.

¹⁷ Also take thou this rod in thine hand, in which thou shalt do miracles. (And take thou this staff in thy hand, with which thou shalt do miracles.)

¹⁸ Moses went, and turned again to Jethro, his wife’s father, and said to him, I shall go, and turn again to my brethren into Egypt, that I see, whether they live yet. To whom Jethro said, Go thou in peace. (Then Moses went, and returned to Jethro, his father-in-law, and said to him, I shall go now, and return to my brothers in Egypt, so that I can see if they be alive or not. To whom Jethro said, Go in peace.)

¹⁹ Therefore the Lord said to Moses in Midian, Go thou, and turn again into Egypt; for all they be dead that sought thy life. (And so the Lord said to Moses in Midian, Go thou, and return to Egypt, for all those who sought thy life have now died.)

²⁰ Moses took his wife, and his sons, and set them on an ass, and he turned again into Egypt, and he bare the rod of God in his hand. (And Moses took his wife, and his sons, and put them on donkeys, and he returned to Egypt, holding the staff of God in his hand.)

²¹ And the Lord said to him turning again into Egypt, See, that thou do all the wonders, which I have put in thine hand, before Pharaoh; I shall make hard his heart, and he shall not deliver the people; (And the Lord said to him as he returned to Egypt, See, that thou do all the miracles before Pharaoh, which I have put in thy hand; but I shall harden his heart, and he shall not let the people go;)

²² and thou shalt say to him, The Lord saith these things, My first begotten son is Israel (Israel is my first-born son);

²³ I said to thee, Deliver thou my son, that he serve me, and thou wouldest not deliver him; lo! I shall slay thy first begotten son. (I said to thee, Let my son go, so that he can worship me, but thou wouldest not let him go; so now I shall kill thy first-born son.)

²⁴ And when Moses was in the way, in an inn, the Lord came to him, and would slay him. (And when Moses was on the way, at an inn, the Lord came to him, intending to kill him.)

²⁵ Zipporah took anon a most sharp stone, and circumcised the rod of her son; and she touched Moses’ feet (with the bloody piece of skin), and said, Thou art an husband of bloods to me. (But at once Zipporah took a most sharp stone, and circumcised her son’s rod; and she touched Moses’ feet with the bloody piece of skin, and said, Thou art a husband in blood to me.)

²⁶ And he let go him, after that she had said, Thou art an husband of bloods to me, for [the] circumcision. (And God let him go/And God let him live, after that she had said, Thou art a husband in blood to me, because of the rite of circumcision.)

²⁷ Forsooth the Lord said to Aaron, Go thou into the coming of Moses into desert; which went against Moses into the hill of God, and kissed him. (And the Lord said to Aaron, Go thou into the wilderness to meet Moses; and so he went to meet Moses at God’s mountain, and kissed him.)

²⁸ And Moses told to Aaron all the words of the Lord, for which he had sent Moses (that he had sent Moses to say); and he told (him about) the miracles, which the Lord had commanded (him to perform).

²⁹ And they came together, and gathered all the elder men of the sons of Israel. (And they came, and gathered together all the elders of the Israelites.)

³⁰ And Aaron spake all the words, which the Lord had said to Moses, and he did the signs before the people (and then Moses did all the miracles before the people);

³¹ and the people believed; and they heard, that the Lord had visited the sons of Israel, and that he had beheld the torment of them; and they worshipped low(ly), or meekly, the Lord. (and the people believed; and when they had heard, that the Lord had visited the Israelites, and that he had seen their torment, they lowly, or meekly, worshipped the Lord.)