And Moses answered, and he said, "And if they do not believe me and they do not listen to my voice, but they say, ‘Yahweh did not appear to you?’" And Yahweh said to him, "What is this in your hand?" And he said, "A staff." And he said, "Throw it onto the ground." And he threw it onto the ground, and it became a snake, and Moses fled from it. And Yahweh said to Moses, "Reach out your hand and grasp it by its tail"—" (And he reached out his hand and grabbed it, and it became a staff in his palm.)— "so that they may believe that Yahweh, the God of their ancestors, appeared to you, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob."

And Yahweh said to him again, "Put your hand into the fold of your garment." And he put his hand into the fold of his garment, and he took it out, and, to his surprise, his hand was afflicted with a skin disease, like snow. And he said, "Return your hand to the fold of your garment." And he returned his hand to the fold of his garment, and he took it out from the fold of his garment, and, to his surprise, it was restored like the rest of his body. "And if they do not believe you and they will not listen to the voice of the former sign, then they will believe the voice of the latter sign. And if they also do not believe the second of these signs and they will not listen to your voice, then you must take water from the Nile and pour it onto the dry ground, and the water that you take from the Nile will become blood on the dry ground."

And Moses said to Yahweh, "Please, Lord, I am not a man of words, neither recently nor in the past nor since your speaking to your servant, because I am heavy of mouth and of tongue." And Yahweh said to him, "Who gave a mouth to humankind, or who makes mute or deaf or sighted or blind? Is it not I, Yahweh? So then go, and I myself will be with your mouth, and I will teach you what you must speak." And he said, "Please, Lord, do send anyone else whom you wish to send." And Yahweh was angry with Moses and said, "Is there not Aaron your brother the Levite? I know that he certainly can speak, and also there he is coming out to meet you, and when he sees you, he will rejoice in his heart. And you will speak to him, and you will put words in his mouth, and I myself will be with your mouth and with his mouth, and I will teach you what you must do. And he will speak for you to the people, and then he will be to you as a mouth, and you will be to him as a god. And you must take this staff in your hand, with which you will do the signs."

And Moses went, and he returned to Jethro his father-in-law, and he said to him, "Please let me go, and let me return to my brothers who are in Egypt, and let me see whether they are yet alive. And Jethro said to Moses, "Go in peace." And Yahweh said to Moses in Midian, "Go, return to Egypt because all the men have died who were seeking your life."

And Moses took his wife and his sons and had them ride on the donkey, and he returned to the land of Egypt, and Moses took the staff of God in his hand. And Yahweh said to Moses, "When you go to return to Egypt, see all of the wonders that I have put in your hand, and do them before Pharaoh, and I myself will harden his heart, and he will not release the people. And you must say to Pharaoh, ‘Thus says Yahweh, "Israel is my son, my firstborn." And I said to you, "Release my son and let him serve me," but you refused to release him. Look, I am about to kill your son, your firstborn.’"

And on the way, at the place of overnight lodging, Yahweh encountered him and sought to kill him. But Zipporah took a flint knife, and she cut off the foreskin of her son, and she touched his feet, and she said, "Yes, you are a bridegroom of blood to me." And he left him alone. At that time she said, "A bridegroom of blood," because of the circumcision.

And Yahweh said to Aaron, "Go to the desert to meet Moses." And he went and encountered him at the mountain of God and kissed him. And Moses told Aaron all the words of Yahweh, who had sent him—and all the signs that he had commanded him.

And Moses and Aaron went, and they gathered all of the elders of the Israelites. And Aaron spoke all the words that Yahweh had spoken to Moses, and he did the signs before the eyes of the people. And the people believed when they heard that Yahweh had attended to the Israelites and that he had seen their misery, and they knelt down and they worshiped.

And afterward, Moses and Aaron went, and they said to Pharaoh, "Thus says Yahweh the God of Israel, ‘Release my people so that they may hold a festival for me in the desert.’" And Pharaoh said, "Who is Yahweh that I should listen to his voice to release Israel? I do not know Yahweh, and also I will not release Israel."

And they said, "The God of the Hebrews has met with us. Please let us go on a three-day journey into the desert, and let us sacrifice to Yahweh our God, lest he strike us with plague or with sword." And the king of Egypt said, "Why, Moses and Aaron, do you take the people from their work? Go to your forced labor!" And Pharaoh said, "Look, the people of the land are now many, and you want to stop them from their forced labor."

And on that day Pharaoh commanded the slave drivers over the people and his foremen, saying, "You must no longer give straw to the people to make the bricks like before. Let them go and gather straw for themselves. But the quota of the bricks that they were making before you must require of them. You must not reduce from it, because they are lazy. Therefore they are crying out, saying, ‘Let us go and sacrifice to our God.’ Let the work be heavier on the men so that they will do it and not pay attention to words of deception."

And the slave drivers of the people and their foremen went out, and they spoke to the people, saying, "Thus says Pharaoh, ‘I am not giving you straw. You go, get straw for yourselves from whatever you find because not a thing is being reduced from your work.’" And the people spread out in all the land of Egypt to gather stubble for the straw. And the slave drivers were insisting, saying, "Finish your work for each day on its day, as when there was straw." And the foremen of the Israelites, whom Pharaoh’s slave drivers had appointed over them, were beaten by men who were saying, "Why have you not completed your portion of brickmaking as before, both yesterday and today?"

And the foremen of the Israelites came and cried out to Pharaoh, saying, "Why do you treat your servants like this? Straw is not being given to your servants, but they are saying to us, ‘Make bricks!’ and, look, your servants are being beaten, but it is the fault of your people." And he said, "You are lazy, lazy! Therefore you are saying, ‘Let us go; let us sacrifice to Yahweh.’ And now go, work, but straw will not be given to you, and you must give the full quota of bricks."

And the foremen of the Israelites saw they were in trouble with the saying, "You will not reduce from your bricks for each day on its day." And they met Moses and Aaron, who were waiting to meet them when they were going out from Pharaoh. And they said to them, "May Yahweh look upon you and judge because you have caused our fragrance to stink in the eyes of Pharaoh and in the eyes of his servants so as to put a sword into their hand to kill us." And Moses returned to Yahweh and said, "Lord, why have you brought trouble to this people? Why ever did you send me? And from the time I came to Pharaoh to speak in your name, he has brought trouble to this people, and you have certainly not delivered your people."

And Yahweh said to Moses, "Now you will see what I will do to Pharaoh, because with a strong hand he will release them, and with a strong hand he will drive them out from his land."

And God spoke to Moses, and he said to him, "I am Yahweh. And I appeared to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob as God Shaddai, but by my name Yahweh I was not known to them. And I not only established my covenant with them to give to them the land of Canaan, the land of their sojournings, in which they dwelt as aliens, but also I myself heard the groaning of the Israelites, whom the Egyptians are making to work, and I remembered my covenant. Therefore say to the Israelites, ‘I am Yahweh, and I will bring you out from under the forced labor of Egypt, and I will deliver you from their slavery, and I will redeem you with an outstretched arm and with great punishments. And I will take you as my people, and I will be your God, and you will know that I am Yahweh your God, who brought you out from under the forced labor of Egypt. And I will bring you to the land that I swore to give to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, and I will give it to you as a possession. I am Yahweh."

And Moses spoke thus to the Israelites, but they did not listen to Moses, because of discouragement and because of hard work.

And Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, "Go, speak to Pharaoh, the king of Egypt, and let him release the Israelites from his land." And Moses spoke before Yahweh, saying, "Look, the Israelites do not listen to me, and how will Pharaoh listen to me, since I am a poor speaker?" And Yahweh spoke to Moses and to Aaron, and he commanded them to go to the Israelites and to Pharaoh, the king of Egypt, to bring the Israelites out from the land of Egypt.

These are the heads of their families.

The sons of Reuben, the firstborn of Israel, are Enoch and Pallu, Hezron and Carmi. These are the clans of Reuben.

And the sons of Simeon are Jemuel and Jamin and Ohad and Jakin and Zohar and Shaul the son of the Canaanitess. These are the clans of Simeon.

And these are the names of the sons of Levi according to their genealogies: Gershon and Kohath and Merari, and the years of the life of Levi were one hundred and thirty-seven years.

The sons of Gershon are Libni and Shimei according to their clans.

And the sons of Kohath are Amram and Izhar and Hebron and Uzziel, and the years of the life of Kohath were one hundred and thirty-three years.

And the sons of Merari are Mahli and Mushi. These are clans of the Levites according to their genealogies.

And Amram took Jochebed his aunt for himself as a wife, and she bore for him Aaron and Moses, and the years of the life of Amram were one hundred and thirty-seven years.

And the sons of Izhar are Korah and Nepheg and Zikri.

And the sons of Uzziel are Mishael and Elzaphan and Sithri.

And Aaron took Elisheba the daughter of Amminadab, the sister of Nahshon, for himself as a wife, and she bore for him Nadab and Abihu, Eleazar and Ithamar.

And the sons of Korah are Assir and Elkanah and Abiasaph. These are the clans of the Korahites.

And Eleazar the son of Aaron took for himself one from the daughters of Putiel as a wife, and she bore for him Phinehas. These are the heads of the families of the Levites according to their clans.

It was that Aaron and Moses to whom Yahweh said, "Bring the Israelites out from the land of Egypt according to their divisions." They were those who spoke to Pharaoh, the king of Egypt, in order to bring the Israelites out from Egypt. It was that Moses and Aaron.

And so it was on a certain day Yahweh spoke to Moses in the land of Egypt. And Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, "I am Yahweh. Speak to Pharaoh, the king of Egypt, all that I am speaking to you." And Moses said before Yahweh, "Look, I am a poor speaker. And how will Pharaoh listen to me?"

Brothers, even if a person is caught in some trespass, you who are spiritual restore such a person in a spirit of humility, looking out for yourself, lest you also be tempted. Carry the burdens of one another, and so fulfill the law of Christ. For if anyone thinks he is something although he is nothing, he is deceiving himself. But let each one examine his own work, and then he will have a reason for boasting in himself alone, and not in someone else. For each one will carry his own burden.

Now the one who is taught the word must share in all good things with the one who teaches. Do not be deceived: God is not to be mocked, for whatever a person sows, this he will also reap, because the one who sows to his own flesh will reap corruption from the flesh, but the one who sows to the Spirit will reap eternal life from the Spirit. And let us not grow weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap, if we do not give up. So then, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, and especially to those who belong to the household of faith.

See with what large letters I am writing to you with my own hand. As many as are wanting to make a good showing in the flesh, these are attempting to compel you to be circumcised, only so that they will not be persecuted for the cross of Christ. For not even those who are circumcised observe the law themselves, but they want you to be circumcised in order that they may boast in your flesh. But as for me, may it never be that I boast, except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world. For neither is circumcision anything nor uncircumcision, but a new creation. And all those who follow this rule, peace and mercy be on them and on the Israel of God.

Finally, let no one cause me trouble, for I carry on my body the marks of Jesus. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit, brothers. Amen.