Respondens Moyses ait: Non credent mihi, neque audient vocem meam, sed dicent: Non apparuit tibi Dominus.

But Moses still had his answer; What if they will not believe me, he said, or give a hearing? What if they tell me to my face that I never had any vision of the Lord?

Moses answered and said: They will not believe me, nor hear my voice, but they will say: The Lord hath not appeared to thee.

Dixit ergo ad eum: Quid est quod tenes in manu tua? Respondit: Virga.

What is that in thy hand? the Lord asked him. A staff, he said.

Then he said to him: What is that thou holdest in thy hand? He answered: A rod.

Dixitque Dominus: Projice eam in terram. Projecit, et versa est in colubrum, ita ut fugeret Moyses.

So the Lord bade him cast it on the ground, and when he did so, it turned into a serpent, and Moses shrank away.

And the Lord said: Cast it down upon the ground. He cast it down, and it was turned into a serpent: so that Moses fled from it.

Dixitque Dominus: Extende manum tuam, et apprehende caudam ejus. Extendit, et tenuit, versaque est in virgam.

Now put out thy hand, the Lord said, and catch it by the tail. He did so, and it turned to a staff in his hand.

And the Lord said: Put out thy hand and take it by the tail. He put forth his hand, and took hold of it, and it was turned into a rod.

Ut credant, inquit, quod apparuerit tibi Dominus Deus patrum suorum, Deus Abraham, Deus Isaac et Deus Jacob.

And the word came to him, Will they still doubt that the Lord God of their fathers, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob has appeared to thee?

That they may believe, saith he, that the Lord God of their fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, hath appeared to thee.

Dixitque Dominus rursum: Mitte manum tuam in sinum tuum. Quam cum misisset in sinum, protulit leprosam instar nivis.

And now the Lord had a fresh command for him, Put thy hand into thy bosom; and, doing so, he found that it came out a leper’s hand, white as snow.

And the Lord said again: Put thy hand into thy bosom. And when he had put it into his bosom, he brought it forth leprous as snow.

Retrahe, ait, manum tuam in sinum tuum. Retraxit, et protulit iterum, et erat similis carni reliquæ.

Now, said he, put it back in thy bosom again; so he put it back, and this time, when he brought it out, the skin on it was no different from the rest of his skin.

And he said: Put back thy hand into thy bosom. He put it back, and brought it out again, and it was like the other flesh.

Si non crediderint, inquit, tibi, neque audierint sermonem signi prioris, credent verbo signi sequentis.

And the Lord said, If credence and hearing thou canst not gain, with the first sign for thy warrant, the evidence of this second sign will make them believe thee.

If they will not believe thee, saith he, nor hear the voice of the former sign, they will believe the word of the latter sign.

Quod si nec duobus quidem his signis crediderint, neque audierint vocem tuam: sume aquam fluminis, et effunde eam super aridam, et quidquid hauseris de fluvio, vertetur in sanguinem.

And if even two signs are not enough to convince them and make them listen to thee, thou hast but to take water from the river and pour it out on the ground; the water thou hast drawn out of the river will turn into blood.

But if they will not even believe these two signs, nor hear thy voice: take of the river water, and pour it out upon the dry land, and whatsoever thou drawest out of the river shall be turned into blood.

Ait Moyses: Obsecro, Domine, non sum eloquens ab heri et nudiustertius: et ex quo locutus es ad servum tuum, impeditioris et tardioris linguæ sum.

Then Moses said, Lord, have patience with me; but all my life I have been a man of little eloquence, and now that thou, my Master, hast spoken to me, I am more faltering, more tongue-tied than ever.

Moses said: I beseech thee, Lord, I am not eloquent from yesterday and the day before: and since thou hast spoken to thy servant, I have more impediment and slowness of tongue.

Dixit Dominus ad eum: Quis fecit os hominis? aut quis fabricatus est mutum et surdum, videntem et cæcum? nonne ego?

Why, the Lord said to him, who was it that fashioned man’s mouth? Who is it that makes a man dumb or deaf, clear-sighted or blind, if not I?

The Lord said to him: Who made man’s mouth? or who made the dumb and the deaf, the seeing and the blind? did not I?

Perge, igitur, et ego ero in ore tuo: doceboque te quid loquaris.

Go as thou art bidden; I will speak with thy mouth, telling thee what words to utter.

Go therefore, and I will be in thy mouth: and I will teach thee what thou shalt speak.

At ille: Obsecro, inquit, Domine, mitte quem missurus es.

But still he said, Lord have patience with me; wilt thou not choose some fitting emissary?

But he said: I beseech thee, Lord, send whom thou wilt send.

Iratus Dominus in Moysen, ait: Aaron frater tuus Levites, scio quod eloquens sit: ecce ipse egreditur in occursum tuum, vidensque te lætabitur corde.

And now the Lord was angry with Moses; What of thy brother Aaron (the Levite)? he asked. I know him to be a man of ready speech. He is even now on his way to meet thee, and will give thee a joyful welcome when he finds thee.

The Lord being angry at Moses, said: Aaron the Levite is thy brother, I know that he is eloquent: behold he cometh forth to meet thee, and seeing thee shall be glad at heart.

Loquere ad eum, et pone verba mea in ore ejus: et ego ero in ore tuo, et in ore illius, et ostendam vobis quid agere debeatis.

To him thou shalt repeat my message, entrusting it to his lips; through his lips I will speak, and through thine, telling you what I would have you do.

Speak to him, and put my words in his mouth: and I will be in thy mouth, and in his mouth, and will shew you what you must do.

Ipse loquetur pro te ad populum, et erit os tuum: tu autem eris ei in his quæ ad Deum pertinent.

He shall be thy spokesman, giving out thy message to the people, and thou shalt be his representative with God.

He shall speak in thy stead to the people, and shall be thy mouth: but thou shalt be to him in those things that pertain to God.

Virgam quoque hanc sume in manu tua, in qua facturus es signa.

And take this staff of thine with thee; thou hast portents to bring about by means of it.

And take this rod in thy hand, wherewith thou shalt do the signs.

Abiit Moyses, et reversus est ad Jethro socerum suum, dixitque ei: Vadam et revertar ad fratres meos in Ægyptum, ut videam si adhuc vivant. Cui ait Jethro: Vade in pace.

Then Moses made his way back to his father-in-law, Jethro; Give me leave, he said, to return to Egypt, and see whether my brethren there are still living. And Jethro said, Go in peace.

Moses went his way, and returned to Jethro his father in law and said to him: I will go and return to my brethren into Egypt, that I may see if they be yet alive. And Jethro said to him: Go in peace.

Dixit ergo Dominus ad Moysen in Madian: Vade, et revertere in Ægyptum, mortui sunt enim omnes qui quærebant animam tuam.

From Madian, then, the Lord bade Moses return to Egypt; all those who had threatened his life were dead.

And the Lord said to Moses, in Madian: Go, and return into Egypt: for they are all dead that sought thy life.

Tulit ergo Moyses uxorem suam, et filios suos, et imposuit eos super asinum: reversusque est in Ægyptum, portans virgam Dei in manu sua.

So Moses took his wife and children, with his ass to carry them, and returned to Egypt, with the staff, divinely appointed, in his hand.

Moses therefore took his wife, and his sons, and set them upon an ass: and returned into Egypt, carrying the rod of God in his hand.

Dixitque ei Dominus revertenti in Ægyptum: Vide ut omnia ostenta quæ posui in manu tua, facias coram Pharaone: ego indurabo cor ejus, et non dimittet populum.

And as he went back to Egypt, the Lord said to him, Thy part is to do all the wonders I put it in thy power to do, in Pharao’s presence. But I mean to harden his heart, so that he refuses to let my people go;

And the Lord said to him as he was returning into Egypt: See that thou do all the wonders before Pharao, which I have put in thy hand: I shall harden his heart, and he will not let the people go.

Dicesque ad eum: Hæc dicit Dominus: Filius meus primogenitus Israël.

and then thou shalt give him this message: Israel, says the Lord, is my first-born son,

And thou shalt say to him: Thus saith the Lord: Israel is my son, my firstborn.

Dixi tibi: Dimitte filium meum ut serviat mihi; et noluisti dimittere eum: ecce ego interficiam filium tuum primogenitum.

and when I bade thee give this son of mine leave to go and worship me, that leave was refused; I come to claim the life of thy first-born in return.

I have said to thee: Let my son go, that he may serve me, and thou wouldst not let him go: behold I will kill thy son, thy firstborn.

Cumque esset in itinere, in diversorio occurrit ei Dominus, et volebat occidere eum.

On this journey, at one of his halting-places, the Lord came in his path and threatened him with death,

And when he was in his journey, in the inn, the Lord met him, and would have killed him.

Tulit idcirco Sephora acutissimam petram, et circumcidit præputium filii sui, tetigitque pedes ejus, et ait: Sponsus sanguinum tu mihi es.

until Sephora took a sharp stone, and circumcised her son with it; then, touching her husband’s feet with the flesh, she said, Now we are betrothed in blood.

Immediately Sephora took a very sharp stone, and circumcised the foreskin of her son, and touched his feet, and said: A bloody spouse art thou to me.

Et dimisit eum postquam dixerat: Sponsus sanguinum ob circumcisionem.

And as she said the words, Betrothed in blood, after the circumcision, the Lord consented to spare him.

And he let him go after she had said: A bloody spouse art thou to me, because of the circumcision.

Dixit autem Dominus ad Aaron: Vade in occursum Moysi in desertum. Qui perrexit obviam ei in montem Dei, et osculatus est eum.

Meanwhile the Lord had told Aaron to go out and meet Moses in the desert; so he set out and met him at God’s mountain, and greeted him with a kiss.

And the Lord said to Aaron: Go into the desert to meet Moses. And he went forth to meet him in the mountain of God, and kissed him.

Narravitque Moyses Aaron omnia verba Domini quibus miserat eum, et signa quæ mandaverat.

And Moses told Aaron all the message the Lord had entrusted to him, and the wonders he had commissioned him to perform.

And Moses told Aaron all the words of the Lord, by which he had sent him, and the signs that he had commanded.

Veneruntque simul, et congregaverunt cunctos seniores filiorum Israël.

So together they went and summoned all the elders of the Israelite race to meet them;

And they came together, and they assembled all the ancients of the children of Israel.

Locutusque est Aaron omnia verba quæ dixerat Dominus ad Moysen: et fecit signa coram populo,

and when Aaron told them all the Lord had said to Moses, and shewed the people the appointed signs,

And Aaron spoke all the words which the Lord had said to Moses: and he wrought the signs before the people,

et credidit populus. Audieruntque quod visitasset Dominus filios Israël, et respexisset afflictionem illorum: et proni adoraverunt.

the people were convinced. At last the Lord had come to enquire after the sons of Israel, and had witnessed their affliction; they would bow down and worship.

And the people believed. And they heard that the Lord had visited the children of Israel: and that he had looked upon their affliction: and falling down they adored.