The Bible in Basic English BBE
Good News Translation GNT
1 And Moses, answering, said, It is certain that they will not have faith in me or give ear to my voice; for they will say, You have not seen the Lord.
1
Then Moses answered the Lord, "But suppose the Israelites do not believe me and will not listen to what I say. What shall I do if they say that you did not appear to me?"
2 And the Lord said to him, What is that in your hand? And he said, A rod.
2
So the Lord asked him, "What are you holding?" "A walking stick," he answered.
3 And he said, Put it down on the earth. And he put it down on the earth and it became a snake; and Moses went running from it.
3
The Lord said, "Throw it on the ground." When Moses threw it down, it turned into a snake, and he ran away from it.
4 And the Lord said to Moses, Put out your hand and take it by the tail: (and he put out his hand and took a grip of it and it became a rod in his hand:)
4
Then the Lord said to Moses, "Reach down and pick it up by the tail." So Moses reached down and caught it, and it became a walking stick again.
5 So that they may be certain that the Lord, the God of their fathers, the God of Abraham, of Isaac, and of Jacob, has been seen by you.
5
The Lord said, "Do this to prove to the Israelites that the Lord, the God of their ancestors, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, has appeared to you."
6 Then the Lord said to him again, Put your hand inside your clothing. And he put his hand inside his robe: and when he took it out it was like the hand of a leper, as white as snow.
6
The Lord spoke to Moses again, "Put your hand inside your robe." Moses obeyed; and when he took his hand out, it was diseased, covered with white spots, like snow.
7 And he said, Put your hand inside your robe again. (And he put his hand into his robe again, and when he took it out he saw that it had become like his other flesh.)
7
Then the Lord said, "Put your hand inside your robe again." He did so, and when he took it out this time, it was healthy, just like the rest of his body.
8 And if they do not have faith in you or give ear to the voice of the first sign, they will have faith in the second sign.
8
The Lord said, "If they will not believe you or be convinced by the first miracle, then this one will convince them.
9 And if they have no faith even in these two signs and will not give ear to your voice, then you are to take the water of the Nile and put it on the dry land: and the water you take out of the river will become blood on the dry land.
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If in spite of these two miracles they still will not believe you, and if they refuse to listen to what you say, take some water from the Nile and pour it on the ground. The water will turn into blood."
10 And Moses said to the Lord, O Lord, I am not a man of words; I have never been so, and am not now, even after what you have said to your servant: for talking is hard for me, and I am slow of tongue.
10
But Moses said, "No, Lord, don't send me. I have never been a good speaker, and I haven't become one since you began to speak to me. I am a poor speaker, slow and hesitant."
11 And the Lord said to him, Who has made man's mouth? who takes away a man's voice or hearing, or makes him seeing or blind? Is it not I, the Lord?
11
The Lord said to him, "Who gives man his mouth? Who makes him deaf or dumb? Who gives him sight or makes him blind? It is I, the Lord.
12 So go now, and I will be with your mouth, teaching you what to say.
12
Now, go! I will help you to speak, and I will tell you what to say."
13 And he said, O Lord, send, if you will, by the hand of anyone whom it seems good to you to send.
13
But Moses answered, "No, Lord, please send someone else."
14 And the Lord was angry with Moses, and said, Is there not Aaron, your brother, the Levite? To my knowledge he is good at talking. And now he is coming out to you: and when he sees you he will be glad in his heart.
14
At this the Lord became angry with Moses and said, "What about your brother Aaron, the Levite? I know that he can speak well. In fact, he is now coming to meet you and will be glad to see you.
15 Let him give ear to your voice, and you will put my words in his mouth; and I will be with your mouth and with his, teaching you what you have to do.
15
You can speak to him and tell him what to say. I will help both of you to speak, and I will tell you both what to do.
16 And he will do the talking for you to the people: he will be to you as a mouth and you will be to him as God.
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He will be your spokesman and speak to the people for you. Then you will be like God, telling him what to say.
17 And take in your hand this rod with which you will do the signs.
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Take this walking stick with you; for with it you will perform miracles."
18 And Moses went back to Jethro, his father-in-law, and said to him, Let me go back now to my relations in Egypt and see if they are still living. And Jethro said to Moses, Go in peace.
18
Then Moses went back to Jethro, his father-in-law, and said to him, "Please let me go back to my relatives in Egypt to see if they are still alive." Jethro agreed and told him good-bye.
19 And the Lord said to Moses in Midian, Go back to Egypt, for all the men are dead who were attempting to take your life.
19
While Moses was still in Midian, the Lord said to him, "Go back to Egypt, for all those who wanted to kill you are dead."
20 And Moses took his wife and his sons and put them on an ass and went back to the land of Egypt: and he took the rod of God in his hand.
20
So Moses took his wife and his sons, put them on a donkey, and set out with them for Egypt, carrying the walking stick that God had told him to take.
21 And the Lord said to Moses, When you go back to Egypt, see that you do before Pharaoh all the wonders which I have given you power to do: but I will make his heart hard and he will not let the people go.
21
Again the Lord said to Moses, "Now that you are going back to Egypt, be sure to perform before the king all the miracles which I have given you the power to do. But I will make the king stubborn, and he will not let the people go.
22 And you are to say to Pharaoh, The Lord says, Israel is the first of my sons:
22
Then you must tell him that I, the Lord, say, "Israel is my first-born son.
23 And I said to you, Let my son go, so that he may give me worship; and you did not let him go: so now I will put the first of your sons to death.
23
I told you to let my son go, so that he might worship me, but you refused. Now I am going to kill your first-born son.' "
24 Now on the journey, at the night's resting-place, the Lord came in his way and would have put him to death.
24
At a camping place on the way to Egypt, the Lord met Moses and tried to kill him.
25 Then Zipporah took a sharp stone, and cutting off the skin of her son's private parts, and touching his feet with it, she said, Truly you are a husband of blood to me.
25
Then Zipporah, his wife, took a sharp stone, cut off the foreskin of her son, and touched Moses' feet with it. Because of the rite of circumcision she said to Moses, "You are a husband of blood to me." And so the Lord spared Moses' life.
26 So he let him go. Then she said, You are a husband of blood because of the circumcision.
27 And the Lord said to Aaron, Go into the waste land and you will see Moses. So he went and came across Moses at the mountain of God, and gave him a kiss.
27
Meanwhile the Lord had said to Aaron, "Go into the desert to meet Moses." So he went to meet him at the holy mountain; and when he met him, he kissed him.
28 And Moses gave Aaron an account of all the words of the Lord which he had sent him to say, and of all the signs which he had given him orders to do.
28
Then Moses told Aaron everything that the Lord had said when he told him to return to Egypt; he also told him about the miracles which the Lord had ordered him to perform.
29 Then Moses and Aaron went and got together all the chiefs of the children of Israel:
29
So Moses and Aaron went to Egypt and gathered all the Israelite leaders together.
30 And Aaron said to them all the words the Lord had said to Moses, and did the signs before all the people.
30
Aaron told them everything that the Lord had said to Moses, and then Moses performed all the miracles in front of the people.
31 And the people had faith in them; and hearing that the Lord had taken up the cause of the children of Israel and had seen their troubles, with bent heads they gave him worship.
31
They believed, and when they heard that the Lord had come to them and had seen how they were being treated cruelly, they bowed down and worshiped.
The Bible in Basic English is in the public domain.
Scripture taken from the Good News Translation - Second Edition, Copyright 1992 by American Bible Society. Used by Permission.