Peace of Our Savior Lutheran Church and Preschool - WELS

Exodus 9

The Fifth Plague: Death of Livestock

¹ Then the Lord said to Moses, “Go to Pharaoh and say to him, ‘This is what the Lord, the God of the Hebrews, says: Let my people go so that they may serve me. ² But if you refuse to let them go and keep holding them back, ³ watch out, because the hand of the Lord will bring a very severe disease on your livestock which is in the field. It will be on the horses, donkeys, camels, herds, and flocks. ⁴ But the Lord will make a distinction between the livestock of Israel and the livestock of the Egyptians so that not one of the Israelites’ livestock will die.’” ⁵ The Lord appointed a set time by saying, “Tomorrow the Lord will do this in the land.” ⁶ So the next day, that is what the Lord did, and all the livestock of the Egyptians died, but none of the livestock of the Israelites died. ⁷ Pharaoh checked and found out that not even one of the livestock of the Israelites had died. But Pharaoh’s heart was unyielding, and he did not let the people go.

The Sixth Plague: Boils

⁸ Then the Lord said to Moses and Aaron, “Take handfuls of soot from a kiln, and have Moses toss it toward the sky in the sight of Pharaoh. ⁹ It will become fine dust over the entire land of Egypt, and festering boils will break out on people and animals in the entire land of Egypt.”

¹⁰ So they took soot from a kiln and stood before Pharaoh. Moses tossed it toward the sky, and festering boils broke out on people and animals. ¹¹ The magicians could not stand in front of Moses because of the boils, since the boils were on the magicians and all the Egyptians. ¹² But the Lord hardened Pharaoh’s heart, and he did not listen to them, just as the Lord had said to Moses.

The Seventh Plague: Hail

¹³ Then the Lord said to Moses, “Get up early in the morning. Present yourself to Pharaoh, and tell him that this is what the Lord, the God of the Hebrews, says: Let my people go so that they may serve me. ¹⁴ For at this time I will send all my plagues against you yourself, your servants, and your people, so that you will know that there is no one like me in all the earth. ¹⁵ For by now I could have stretched out my hand and struck you and your people with a plague so that you would have been wiped off the earth. ¹⁶ However, for this very reason, I caused you to stand: ^[1] so that I could show you my power, and that my name would be made known over the entire earth. ¹⁷ You still are acting arrogantly against my people by not letting them go. ¹⁸ Watch out. At this time tomorrow I will rain down a very severe hailstorm, unlike any other in Egypt from the day it was founded until now. ¹⁹ Now give orders to bring your livestock and everything of yours that is in the open field into shelters. Every person and animal out in the open that is not brought inside will die when the hail falls down on them.”

²⁰ Those among Pharaoh’s officials who feared the word of the Lord made their servants and livestock take refuge inside. ²¹ But those who did not take the word of the Lord to heart left their servants and livestock in the field.

²² Then the Lord said to Moses, “Stretch out your hand toward the sky, and let there be hail in the entire land of Egypt: on the people, on the animals, and on every plant in the field throughout the land of Egypt.”

²³ Moses stretched out his staff toward the sky, and the Lord sent thunder and hail. Lightning also flashed down to the ground. The Lord rained down hail upon the land of Egypt. ²⁴ The hail, with lightning flashing through it, was very severe. Nothing like it had happened in the entire land of Egypt since it became a nation. ²⁵ Throughout the entire land, the hail struck everything that was in the field, both people and animals. The hail also struck every plant in the field and shattered every tree in the field. ²⁶ But in the land of Goshen, where the Israelites were, there was no hail.

²⁷ Pharaoh summoned Moses and Aaron. He said to them, “I have sinned this time. The Lord is the one who is in the right, and I and my people are in the wrong. ²⁸ Plead to the Lord, for there has been enough of God’s thunder and hail. I will let you go, and you do not have to stay here any longer.”

²⁹ Moses said to him, “When I have gone out of the city, I will spread out my hands to the Lord. The thunder will stop, and there will no longer be any hail, so that you may know that the earth belongs to the Lord. ³⁰ But as for you and your officials, I know that you still do not fear the Lord God.”

³¹ (The flax and the barley were destroyed, because the barley was ripe and the flax was in bloom. ³² But the wheat and the spelt were not destroyed, because they ripen later.)

³³ Moses went out from Pharaoh and from the city. He spread out his hands to the Lord. The thunder and hail stopped, and the rain no longer poured down on the ground. ³⁴ But when Pharaoh saw that the rain, hail, and thunder had stopped, he sinned again. He and his officials made their hearts unyielding. ^{[2] 35} Pharaoh’s heart was hard, and he did not let the Israelites go, just as the Lord had said through Moses.

Exodus 8

The Second Plague: Frogs

¹ Then the Lord said to Moses, “Go to Pharaoh, and tell him that this is what the Lord says: Let my people go so that they may serve me. ^{[1] 2} If you refuse to let them go, watch out. I will send a plague of frogs on your entire territory. ³ The Nile will teem with frogs. They will come up and enter into your palace, into your bedroom, onto your bed, into your servants’ houses, on your people, into your ovens, and into your kneading troughs. ⁴ The frogs will come up on you, your people, and all your servants.”

⁵ The Lord said to Moses, “Tell Aaron, ‘Stretch out your hand with your staff over the rivers, streams, and ponds, and bring frogs up onto the land of Egypt.’” ⁶ So Aaron stretched out his hand over the waters of Egypt. The frogs came up and covered the land of Egypt. ⁷ But the magicians did the same thing by their occult practices and brought frogs up onto the land of Egypt.

⁸ Then Pharaoh summoned Moses and Aaron and said, “Plead with the Lord to take the frogs away from me and my people, and I will let the people go to offer sacrifices to the Lord.”

⁹ Moses said to Pharaoh, “I give you the honor of setting the time when I should plead for you, your servants, and your people so that the Lord will rid you and your houses of the frogs. They will remain only in the Nile.”

¹⁰ Pharaoh said, “Tomorrow.”

Moses replied, “It will take place just as you have said, so that you may know that there is no one like the Lord our God. ¹¹ The frogs will leave you and your houses, your servants, and your people. They will remain only in the Nile.”

¹² Moses and Aaron went out from Pharaoh, and Moses cried out to the Lord about the frogs, which he had brought upon Pharaoh. ¹³ The Lord did as Moses said: The frogs from the houses, courtyards, and fields died. ¹⁴ The people piled them up into heaps, and the land stank. ¹⁵ But when Pharaoh saw that there was relief, he made his heart unyielding and did not listen to them, just as the Lord had said.

The Third Plague: Lice

¹⁶ Then the Lord said to Moses, “Tell Aaron: ‘Stretch out your staff, and strike the dust of the ground, and it will become lice ^[2] in the entire land of Egypt.’” ¹⁷ They did so. When Aaron stretched out his hand with his staff and struck the dust of the ground, there were lice on the people and animals. All the dust of the ground became lice in the entire land of Egypt. ¹⁸ The magicians tried to produce lice by their occult practices, but they could not. So there were lice on the people and on the animals. ¹⁹ The magicians said to Pharaoh, “This is the finger of God.” But Pharaoh’s heart was hard, and he did not listen to them, just as the Lord had said.

The Fourth Plague: Swarms of Flies

²⁰ Then the Lord said to Moses, “Get up early in the morning and present yourself to Pharaoh as he is going out to the water. Tell him this is what the Lord says: Let my people go so that they may serve me. ²¹ For if you will not let my people go, watch out. I will send swarms of flies ^[3] on you, your servants, and your people, and into your houses. The houses of the Egyptians will be full of flies. They will even cover the ground. ²² But on that day, I will deal differently with the land of Goshen, where my people are living. There will not be swarms of flies in Goshen. In this way, you will know that I am the Lord on the earth. ²³ I will make a distinction ^[4] between my people and your people. Tomorrow this sign will take place.”

²⁴ So that is what the Lord did. Thick swarms of flies went into Pharaoh’s palace and his officials’ houses. Throughout Egypt, the land was ruined because of the swarms of flies.

²⁵ Pharaoh summoned Moses and Aaron and said, “Go, offer sacrifices to your God in the land!”

²⁶ But Moses said, “It is not right to do that, because the sacrifices which we will offer to the Lord our God would be detestable to the Egyptians. If we offer sacrifices that are detestable to the Egyptians right in front of them, won’t they stone us? ²⁷ We will go on a three-day journey into the wilderness and offer sacrifices to the Lord our God, just as he tells us.”

²⁸ Pharaoh said, “I will let you go to offer sacrifices to the Lord your God in the wilderness, but do not go very far away. Plead for me.”

²⁹ Moses said, “All right. As soon as I leave you, I will plead to the Lord so that tomorrow the swarms of flies will depart from Pharaoh, his servants, and his people. Only do not let Pharaoh act deceitfully again by not letting the people go to offer sacrifices to the Lord.”

³⁰ Moses went out from Pharaoh and pleaded to the Lord. ³¹ The Lord did as Moses said, and he removed the swarms of flies from Pharaoh, his servants, and his people. Not a fly remained. ³² Pharaoh made his heart unyielding ^[5] this time also, and he did not let the people go.

Exodus 6:10 – 7:25

Exodus 6

¹⁰ The Lord spoke to Moses: ¹¹ “Go, tell Pharaoh, king of Egypt, to let the Israelites go from his land.”

¹² But Moses said in the Lord’s presence, “Look, the Israelites have not listened to me. Why would Pharaoh listen to me, since I am a poor speaker?” ^[1]

The Family Record of Moses and Aaron

¹³ The Lord again spoke to Moses and Aaron about the Israelites and about Pharaoh, king of Egypt. He commanded them to bring the Israelites out of the land of Egypt.

¹⁴ These were the heads of their fathers’ houses: ^[2]

These were the clans of the Levites according to their family records.

These were the heads of the fathers’ houses of the Levites that had become clans.

²⁶ These were the Aaron and Moses to whom the Lord said, “Bring out the Israelites from the land of Egypt according to their divisions.” ^{[4] 27} These were the same ones who spoke to Pharaoh, the king of Egypt, in order to bring the Israelites out from Egypt. These were that same Moses and Aaron.

²⁸ On the day that the Lord spoke to Moses in the land of Egypt, ²⁹ the Lord said to him, “I am the Lord. Tell Pharaoh, king of Egypt, everything that I tell you.”

³⁰ But Moses said in the Lord’s presence, “You see, I am a poor speaker. Why would Pharaoh listen to me?”

Moses and Aaron Appear Before Pharaoh

Exodus 7

¹ The Lord said to Moses, “Look, I have made you like God to Pharaoh, and Aaron your brother will be your prophet. ² You are to speak everything that I command you, and Aaron your brother is to speak to Pharaoh, so that he will let the Israelites go out from his land. ³ But I will make Pharaoh’s heart stubborn. ^[5] I will multiply my signs and wonders in the land of Egypt. ⁴ Pharaoh will not listen to you, so I will lay my hand on Egypt and bring my divisions, my people the Israelites, out of the land of Egypt by great acts of judgment. ⁵ The Egyptians will know that I am the Lord when I stretch out my hand over Egypt, and I bring out the Israelites from their midst.”

⁶ This is what Moses and Aaron did. Just as the Lord commanded them, that is exactly what they did. ⁷ Moses was eighty years old, and Aaron eighty-three years old when they spoke to Pharaoh.

Aaron’s Staff Becomes a Snake

⁸ The Lord said to Moses and to Aaron, ⁹ “When Pharaoh says to you, ‘Give us a warning sign,’ then you are to tell Aaron, ‘Take your staff and throw it down in front of Pharaoh, and it will become a snake.’”

¹⁰ Then Moses and Aaron went to Pharaoh. They did just as the Lord had commanded. Aaron threw down his staff in front of Pharaoh and his officials, and it became a snake. ¹¹ But then Pharaoh also called for his wise men and sorcerers. Those magicians ^[6] of Egypt did the same thing by their occult practices. ¹² They each threw down their staffs, and those staffs became snakes. However, Aaron’s staff swallowed up their staffs. ¹³ But Pharaoh’s heart was hard, ^[7] and he did not listen to them, just as the Lord had said.

The First Plague: Blood

¹⁴ Then the Lord said to Moses, “Pharaoh’s heart is unyielding. ^[8] He refuses to let the people go. ¹⁵ Go to Pharaoh in the morning. When he goes out by the water, stand on the bank of the Nile to meet him. Take in your hand the staff that was turned into a snake.

¹⁶ “You are to tell him: ‘The Lord, the God of the Hebrews, has sent me to you. He says, “Let my people go so that they may serve me in the wilderness.” But look, until now you have not listened. ¹⁷ So this is what the Lord says: “In this way, you will know that I am the Lord.” Look! With the staff that is in my hand, I will strike the water in the Nile, and it will be turned to blood. ¹⁸ The fish that are in the Nile will die, and the Nile will stink. The Egyptians will not be able to drink water from the Nile.’”

¹⁹ The Lord said to Moses, “Tell Aaron, ‘Take your staff, and stretch out your hand over the waters of Egypt—over its rivers, its streams, its ponds, and all the reservoirs—and they will become blood. There will be blood in the entire land of Egypt, even in containers made of wood and stone.’”

²⁰ Moses and Aaron did just as the Lord had commanded. In the sight of Pharaoh and his officials, Aaron lifted up the staff and struck the water that was in the Nile. All the water in the Nile was turned to blood. ²¹ The fish that were in the river died, and the river smelled so bad that the Egyptians were not able to drink water from the Nile. There was blood in the entire land of Egypt. ²² But the magicians of Egypt did the same thing by their occult practices. So Pharaoh’s heart was hard, and he did not listen to them, just as the Lord had told them. ²³ Pharaoh turned and went to his palace. He did not take to heart even this. ²⁴ All the Egyptians dug around the Nile for water to drink, because they were not able to drink the water from the Nile. ²⁵ Seven days passed after the Lord had struck the Nile.

Exodus 4:18 – 6:9

Exodus 4

Moses Returns to Egypt

¹⁸ Then Moses went back to his father-in-law Jethro and said to him, “Let me go and return to my own people, who are in Egypt, and see whether they are still alive.”

Jethro said to Moses, “Go in peace.”

¹⁹ The Lord said to Moses in Midian, “Go, return to Egypt, for everyone who wanted to kill you is dead.”

²⁰ So Moses took his wife and his sons, placed them on a donkey, and set out to return to the land of Egypt. Moses took the staff of God in his hand.

²¹ The Lord said to Moses, “When you go back to Egypt, make sure that you perform in the presence of Pharaoh all the wonders which I have put into your hand. However, I will make his heart hard, ^[1] and he will not let the people go. ²² You will then say to Pharaoh, ‘The Lord says: Israel is my son, my firstborn, ²³ and I have said to you, “Let my son go to serve me,” but you have refused to let him go. Watch out. I will kill your son, your firstborn.’”

²⁴ At a lodging place along the way, the Lord confronted him and sought to kill him. ^{[2] 25} Then Zipporah took a flint blade, cut off her son’s foreskin, and cast it at his feet. Then she said, “Surely you are a bridegroom of blood to me.”

²⁶ So the Lord left him alone. (At that time she said “bridegroom of blood,” referring to circumcision.)

Reunion of Moses and Aaron

²⁷ The Lord had said to Aaron, “Go into the wilderness to meet Moses.”

So he went, met Moses at the mountain of God, and kissed him. ²⁸ Moses told Aaron all the words that the Lord had sent him to speak and all the signs he had commanded him to perform. ²⁹ Moses and Aaron then went and gathered together every elder of the people of Israel. ³⁰ Aaron spoke all the words which the Lord had spoken to Moses and performed the signs in the sight of the people. ³¹ The people believed. When they heard that the Lord had paid attention to the Israelites and that he had seen their misery, they bowed down and worshipped.

Bricks Without Straw

Exodus 5

¹ Afterward Moses and Aaron went to Pharaoh and said, “This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says. Let my people go so that they may hold a festival for me in the wilderness.”

² Pharaoh said, “Who is the Lord that I should listen to his voice and let Israel go? I do not know the Lord, and I certainly will not let Israel go.”

³ They said, “The God of the Hebrews has met with us. Please let us go on a three-day journey into the wilderness, and let us sacrifice to the Lord, our God, so that he does not strike us with plague or sword.”

⁴ But the king of Egypt said to them, “Moses and Aaron, why are you taking the people away from their work? Get back to your forced labor!” ⁵ Pharaoh also said, “Look, the people of the land are now numerous, and you are stopping them from doing their forced labor.”

⁶ That same day Pharaoh commanded the people’s taskmasters and overseers, ⁷ “Do not give the people straw for making bricks anymore. Let them go and gather their own straw. ⁸ But require them to make the same number of bricks as they made before. Do not reduce it. You see, they are lazy. That is why they are crying out, ‘Let us go and sacrifice to our God.’ ⁹ Make the work harder for the people so that they do their work and do not pay attention to lying words.”

¹⁰ So the people’s taskmasters and overseers went out and told the people, “This is what Pharaoh says: ‘I will not give you straw. ¹¹ Go, get straw for yourselves wherever you can find it. But there will be no reduction at all in your work load.’” ¹² So the people scattered all over the land of Egypt to gather stubble for straw. ¹³ The taskmasters kept insisting, “Fulfill your daily quota just as you did when straw was provided!” ¹⁴ The overseers, whom Pharaoh’s taskmasters had placed over the Israelites, were beaten. The taskmasters demanded, “Why have you not fulfilled your quota yesterday and today, as you did previously?”

¹⁵ Then the Israelite overseers came and cried out to Pharaoh, “Why are you doing this to your servants? ¹⁶ No straw is given to your servants, yet they tell us, ‘Make bricks!’ Look, your servants are being beaten, but the fault is with your own people.”

¹⁷ But he said, “Lazy! You are lazy! That is why you are saying, ‘Let us go and sacrifice to the Lord.’ ¹⁸ Now go! Get to work! Straw will not be provided to you, but you will deliver the same quota of bricks!”

¹⁹ The Israelite overseers realized that they were in trouble when Pharaoh said, “You must not reduce anything from your daily number of bricks!”

²⁰ When they left Pharaoh, they met Moses and Aaron, who were waiting to meet them. ²¹ They said to Moses and Aaron, “May the Lord look at you and judge you, because you have made us a stench to Pharaoh and his officials and have put a sword into their hand to kill us.”

²² So Moses went back to the Lord and said, “Lord, why have you brought trouble on this people? Why did you send me? ²³ Ever since I came to Pharaoh to speak in your name, he has brought trouble on this people, and you have not rescued your people at all.”

Exodus 6

¹ The Lord said to Moses, “Now you will see what I will do to Pharaoh. Because of a mighty hand ^[3] he will send them away, and because of a mighty hand he will drive them out of his land.”

God Promises Deliverance

² Then God spoke to Moses, telling him, “I am the Lord. ³ I appeared to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, as God Almighty, but by my name, the Lord, I was not known to them. ^{[4] 4} I also established my covenant with them, to give them the land of Canaan, the land where they were residing as aliens. ⁵ I certainly have heard the groaning of the Israelites, whom the Egyptians have enslaved, and I have remembered my covenant.

⁶ “Therefore, tell the Israelites, ‘I am the Lord. I will bring you out from under the forced labor of the Egyptians. I will deliver you from being their slaves. I will redeem you with an outstretched arm and with great acts of judgment. ⁷ I will take you as my own people, and I will be your God. You will know that I am the Lord your God, the one who brought you out from under the forced labor of the Egyptians. ⁸ I will bring you to the land which I swore with uplifted hand to give to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob. I will give it to you as a possession. I am the Lord.’”

⁹ Moses spoke these words to the Israelites, but they did not listen to Moses because of their broken spirit and because of the hard labor.

Exodus 3:1 – 4:17

Moses and the Burning Bush

Exodus 3

¹ Now Moses was shepherding the flock of Jethro, his father-in-law, a priest of Midian, and he led the flock to the far side of the wilderness and came to Horeb, the mountain of God. ² The Angel of the Lord appeared to him in blazing fire from within a bush. Moses saw that the bush was on fire, but the bush was not burning up. ³ So he said, “I will go over and look at this amazing sight—to find out why the bush is not burning up.”

⁴ When the Lord saw that Moses had gone over to take a look, God called to him from the middle of the bush and said, “Moses! Moses!”

Moses said, “I am here.”

⁵ The Lord said, “Do not come any closer. Take your sandals off your feet, for the place where you are standing is holy ground.” ⁶ He then said, “I am the God of your fathers, ^[1] the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.”

Moses hid his face, because he was afraid to look at God.

⁷ The Lord said, “I have certainly seen the misery of my people in Egypt, and I have heard their cry for help because of their slave drivers. Yes, I am aware of their suffering. ⁸ So I have come down to deliver them from the hand of the Egyptians and to bring them up out of that land to a good and spacious land, to a land flowing with milk and honey, to the place of the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Amorites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites. ⁹ Now indeed, the Israelites’ cry for help has come to me. Yes, I have seen how the Egyptians are oppressing them. ¹⁰ Come now, I will send you to Pharaoh to bring my people, the Israelites, out of Egypt.”

¹¹ But Moses said to God, “Who am I, that I should go to Pharaoh, and that I should bring the Israelites out of Egypt?”

¹² So he said, “I will certainly be with you. This will be the sign to you that I have sent you: When you have brought the people out of Egypt, you will serve God on this mountain.”

¹³ But Moses said to God, “If I go to the Israelites and say to them, ‘The God of your fathers has sent me to you,’ and they ask me, ‘What is his name?’ what should I say to them?”

¹⁴ So God replied to Moses, “I am who I am.” ^[2] He also said, “You will say this to the Israelites: I am has sent me to you.”

¹⁵ God also told Moses, “Say this to the Israelites: ‘The Lord, the God of your fathers—the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob—has sent me to you. This is my name forever, and this is how I am to be remembered from generation to generation.’

¹⁶ “Go, gather the elders of Israel together and tell them: ‘The Lord, the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, of Isaac, and of Jacob, has appeared to me, saying: I have certainly been paying attention to you and to what they have done to you in Egypt. ¹⁷ So I have said that I will bring you up from the misery in Egypt to the land of the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Amorites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites, to a land flowing with milk and honey.’

¹⁸ “They will listen to your voice. Then you and the elders of Israel will go to the king of Egypt, and you will say to him, ‘The Lord, the God of the Hebrews, has met with us. Now let us go on a three-day journey into the wilderness so that we may sacrifice to the Lord, our God.’

¹⁹ “But I know that the king of Egypt will not allow you to go unless he is forced to do so by a powerful hand. ²⁰ So I will reach out my hand and strike Egypt with all my wonders which I will do in their midst. Afterward he will let you go.

²¹ “I will give this people favor with the Egyptians so that when you go, you will not go out empty-handed. ²² Each woman is to ask her neighbor, as well as any woman staying in her house, for articles of silver, articles of gold, and clothing. You are to put them on your sons and daughters. In this way you will plunder the Egyptians.”

Moses Is Given Miraculous Signs

Exodus 4

¹ But Moses responded, “What if they do not believe me and do not listen to my voice, but instead they say, ‘The Lord has not appeared to you’?”

² So the Lord said to him, “What is that in your hand?”

He said, “A staff.”

³ He said, “Throw it on the ground.”

Moses threw it on the ground, and it became a snake, so he ran away from it.

⁴ The Lord said to Moses, “Stretch out your hand and take it by the tail.”

He stretched out his hand and took hold of it, and it became a staff in his hand.

⁵ The Lord said, “This sign is being given to you so that the Israelites will believe that the Lord, the God of their fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has appeared to you.”

⁶ The Lord also said to him, “Put your hand inside your cloak.” So he put his hand inside his cloak, and when he took it out, his hand was leprous, ^[3] as white as snow.

⁷ Then the Lord said, “Put your hand back inside your cloak.” So he put his hand inside his cloak again, and when he took it out of his cloak, it was restored like the rest of his flesh.

⁸ The Lord said, “If they do not believe you or do not respond to the first sign, they might believe because of the second sign. ⁹ If they do not believe even these two signs or listen to your voice, you are to take some water from the Nile and pour it on the dry land. The water which you take from the Nile will become blood on the dry land.”

¹⁰ But Moses said to the Lord, “Please, Lord, I have never been eloquent, either in the past or more recently or even since you started speaking to your servant, for my mouth and tongue are slow and clumsy.” ^[4]

¹¹ So the Lord said to him, “Who made a mouth for people? Or who makes someone mute or deaf, able to see or blind? Is it not I, the Lord? ¹² Now go, and I will be with your mouth, and I will teach you what you will speak.”

¹³ But he said, “Please, Lord, send someone else.”

¹⁴ Then the Lord’s anger burned against Moses, and the Lord said, “What about Aaron, your brother, the Levite? I know that he can speak well. Look, he is already coming out to meet you. He will be very glad to see you. ¹⁵ You will speak to him and put the words into his mouth. I will be with your mouth and with his, and I will teach you what you are to do. ¹⁶ He will speak to the people for you so that it will be as if he were your mouth, and you were God to him. ¹⁷ You will also take this staff in your hand, the one with which you will perform the signs.”