Moyses receiving power to work miracles in confirmation of his mission, 14. and his brother Aaron being designed to assist him, 20. goeth with wife and children towards Egypt, 25. is in danger to be slain for not sooner circumcising his son. 27. Aaron meeteth him, 29. so they go together, and declare to the people, that God will deliver them.Moyses receiuing power to worke miracles in confirmation of his mission, 14. and his brother Aaron being designed to assist him, 20. goeth with wife and children towards Ægypt, 25. is in danger to be slaine for not sooner circumcising his sonne. 27. Aaron meeteth him, 29. so they goe together, and declare to the people, that God wil deliuer them.
Moyses answering said: They will not believe me, nor hear my voice, but they will say: Our Lord hath not appeared to thee.Moyses answering said: They wil not beleue me, nor heare my voice, but they wil say: Our Lord hath not appeared to thee.Respondens Moyses ait : Non credent mihi, neque audient vocem meam, sed dicent : Non apparuit tibi Dominus.
2Therefore he said to him: What is that thou holdest in thy hand? He answered: A rod.Therfore he sayd to him: What is that thou holdest in thy hand? He answered: A rodde.Dixit ergo ad eum : Quid est quod tenes in manu tua ? Respondit : Virga.
3And our Lord said: Cast it upon the ground. He did cast it, and it was turned into a serpent, so that Moyses fled.And our Lord sayd: Cast it vpon the ground. He did cast it, and it was turned into a serpent, so that Moyses fled.Dixitque Dominus : Projice eam in terram. Projecit, et versa est in colubrum, ita ut fugeret Moyses.
4And our Lord said: Stretch thy hand, and catch the tail thereof. He stretched it forth, and took hold of it, and it was turned into a rod.And our Lord sayd: Stretch thy hand, and catch the tayle therof. He stretched it forth, & tooke hold of it, and it was turned into a rodde.Dixitque Dominus : Extende manum tuam, et apprehende caudam ejus. Extendit, et tenuit, versaque est in virgam.
5That they may believe, quoth he, that the Lord God of their fathers hath appeared to thee, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.That they may beleue, quoth he, that the Lord God of their fathers hath appeared to thee, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, & the God of Iacob.Ut credant, inquit, quod apparuerit tibi Dominus Deus patrum suorum, Deus Abraham, Deus Isaac et Deus Jacob.
6And our Lord said again: Put thy hand into thy bosom. Which when he had put into his bosom, he brought it forth full of leprosy like snow.And our Lord sayd agayne: Put thy hand into thy bosome. Which when he had put into his bosome, he brought it forth ful of leprosie like snow.Dixitque Dominus rursum : Mitte manum tuam in sinum tuum. Quam cum misisset in sinum, protulit leprosam instar nivis.
7Draw back, quoth he, thy hand into thy bosom. He drew it back, and brought it forth again, and it was like the other flesh.Draw backe, quoth he, thy hand into thy bosome. He drew it backe, and brought it forth agayne, & it was like the other flesh.Retrahe, ait, manum tuam in sinum tuum. Retraxit, et protulit iterum, et erat similis carni reliquæ.
8If they will not believe thee, quoth he, nor hear the word of the former sign, they will believe the word of the sign following.If they wil not beleue thee, quoth he, nor heare the word of the former signe, they wil beleue the word of the signe folowing.Si non crediderint, inquit, tibi, neque audierint sermonem signi prioris, credent verbo signi sequentis.
9And if so be they will believe neither of these two signs, nor hear thy voice: take water of the river, and pour it out upon the dry land, and whatsoever thou drawest of the river, shall be turned into blood.And if so be they wil beleue neither of these two signes, nor heare thy voice: take water of the riuer, & powre it out vpon the drie land, and whatsoeuer thou drawest of the riuer, shal be turned into bloud.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.
10Moyses 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.Moyses sayd: I beseech thee, Lord, I am not eloquent from yesterday and the day before: and since thou hast spoken to thy seruant, I haue more impediment & slownes of tongue.Ait Moyses : Obsecro, Domine, non sum eloquens ab heri et nudiustertius : et ex quo locutus es ad servum tuum, impeditioris et tardioris linguæ sum.
11Our Lord said to him: Who made the mouth of man? or who framed the dumb and deaf, the seeing and the blind? did not I?Our Lord sayd to him: Who made the mouth of man? or who framed the dumme and deafe, the seeing and the blinde? did not I?Dixit Dominus ad eum : Quis fecit os hominis ? aut quis fabricatus est mutum et surdum, videntem et cæcum ? nonne ego ?
12Go on therefore, and I will be in thy mouth: and will teach thee what thou shalt speak.Goe on therfore, and I wil be in thy mouth: & wil teach thee what thou shalt speake.Perge, igitur, et ego ero in ore tuo : doceboque te quid loquaris.
13But he said: I beseech thee, Lord, send whom thou wilt send.But he sayd: I beseech thee, Lord, send whom thou wilt send.At ille : Obsecro, inquit, Domine, mitte quem missurus es.
14Our Lord being angry at Moyses, said: Aaron thy brother the levite, I know that he is eloquent: behold he cometh forth to meet thee, and seeing thee shall be glad at the heart.Our Lord being angrie at Moyses, sayd: Aaron thy brother the leuite, I know that he is eloquent: behold he cometh forth to meete thee, & seeing thee shal be glad at the hart.Iratus Dominus in Moysen, ait : Aaron frater tuus Levites, scio quod eloquens sit : ecce ipse egreditur in occursum tuum, vidensque te lætabitur corde.
15Speak 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 ye must do.Speake to him, and put my wordes in his mouth: & I wil be in thy mouth, and in his mouth, and wil shew you what yee must doe.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.
16He shall speak in thy in thy stead, in thy place · Vulgate: pro te to the people, and shall be thy mouth: but thou shalt be to him in those things that pertain to God.He shal speake in thy steed to the people, and shal be thy mouth: but thou shalt be to him in those thinges that perteine to God.Ipse loquetur pro te ad populum, et erit os tuum : tu autem eris ei in his quæ ad Deum pertinent.
17This rod also take in thy hand, wherewith thou shalt do the signs.This rodde also take in thy hand, wherwith thou shalt doe the signes.Virgam quoque hanc sume in manu tua, in qua facturus es signa.
18Moyses 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. To whom Jethro said: Go in peace:Moyses went his way, & returned to Iethro his father in law, and sayd to him: I wil goe and returne to my brethren into Ægypt, that I may see if they be yet aliue. To whom Iethro sayd: Goe in peace: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.
19Therefore our Lord said to Moyses in Madian: Go, and return into Egypt: for they are all dead that sought thy life.Therfore our Lord sayd to Moyses in Madian: Goe, and returne into Ægypt: for they are al dead that sought thy life.Dixit ergo Dominus ad Moysen in Madian : Vade, et revertere in Ægyptum, mortui sunt enim omnes qui quærebant animam tuam.
20Moyses therefore took his wife, and his children, and set them upon an ass: and returned into Egypt, carrying the rod of God in his hand.Moyses therfore tooke his wife, & his children, and set them vpon an asse: and returned into Ægypt, carying the rodde of God in his hand.Tulit ergo Moyses uxorem suam, et filios suos, et imposuit eos super asinum : reversusque est in Ægyptum, portans virgam Dei in manu sua.
21And our Lord said to him returning into Egypt: See that thou do all the wonders, which I have put in thy hand, before Pharao: I will harden, make stubborn · Vulgate: indurabo his heart, and he will not dismiss the people.And our Lord said to him returning into Ægypt: See that thou doe al the wonders, which I haue put in thy hand, before Pharao: I wil indurate his hart, and he wil not dismisse the people.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.
22And thou shalt say to him: This saith the Lord: My first begotten son is Israel.And thou shalt say to him: This sayth the Lord: My first begotten sonne is Israel.Dicesque ad eum : Hæc dicit Dominus : Filius meus primogenitus Israël.
23I said to thee: dismiss my son that he may serve me, and thou wouldest not dismiss him: behold I will kill thy first-begotten-son.I sayd to thee: dismisse my sonne that he may serue me, & thou wouldest not dismisse him: behold I wil kil thy first-begotten-sonne.Dixi tibi : Dimitte filium meum ut serviat mihi ; et noluisti dimittere eum : ecce ego interficiam filium tuum primogenitum.
24And when he was in his journey, in the Inn, our Lord met him, and would have killed him.And when he was in his iourney, in the Inne, our Lord mette him, and would haue killed him.Cumque esset in itinere, in diversorio occurrit ei Dominus, et volebat occidere eum.
25Sephora at once, immediately, not the modern "eventually/later" · no single Vulgate lemma (Douay idiom) and by took a very sharp stone, and circumcided the Vulgate: præputium: the foreskin of her son, and touched his feet, and said: A bloody spouse thou art to me.Sephora by & by tooke a very sharp stone, and circumcided the prepuce of her sonne, & touched his feete, and sayd: A blouddie spouse thou art to me.Tulit idcirco Sephora acutissimam petram, et circumcidit præputium filii sui, tetigitque pedes ejus, et ait : Sponsus sanguinum tu mihi es.
26And he let him go after she had said, A bloody spouse thou art to me, because of the circumcision.And he let him goe after she had said, A blouddie spouse thou art to me, because of the circumcision.Et dimisit eum postquam dixerat : Sponsus sanguinum ob circumcisionem.
27And our Lord said to Aaron: Go to Moyses into the desert. Who went forth to meet him unto the Mountain of God, and kissed him.And our Lord said to Aaron: Goe to Moyses into the desert. Who went forth to mete him vnto the Mountaine of God, and kissed him.Dixit autem Dominus ad Aaron : Vade in occursum Moysi in desertum. Qui perrexit obviam ei in montem Dei, et osculatus est eum.
28And Moyses told Aaron all the words of our Lord, by which he had sent him, and the signs that he had commanded.And Moyses told Aaron al the wordes of our Lord, by which he had sent him, & the signes that he had commanded.Narravitque Moyses Aaron omnia verba Domini quibus miserat eum, et signa quæ mandaverat.
29And they came together, and gathered together all the elders · Vulgate: seniores of the children of Israel.And they came together, and gathered together al the ancientes of the children of Israel.Veneruntque simul, et congregaverunt cunctos seniores filiorum Israël.
30And Aaron spake all the words which our Lord had said to Moyses: and he wrought the signs before the people,And Aaron spake al the wordes which our Lord had said to Moyses: and he wrought the signes before the people,Locutusque est Aaron omnia verba quæ dixerat Dominus ad Moysen : et fecit signa coram populo,
31and the people believed. And they heard that our Lord had visited the children of Israel, and that he had looked upon their affliction: and they adored prostrate.and the people beleued. And they heard that our Lord had visited the children of Israel, and that he had looked vpon their affliction: & they adored prostrate.et credidit populus. Audieruntque quod visitasset Dominus filios Israël, et respexisset afflictionem illorum : et proni adoraverunt.
Annotations
4:1They will not believe me. Moyses wisely considering that the children of Israel, much less Pharao, would hardly believe his bare word, affirming that he was sent to them by God, proposed this difficulty before he took the Embassy upon him. For without good proof both the Israelites, and Egyptians might have rejected him, as seeming to come of his own private spirit, being no ordinary superior, neither of the whole people, nor of his own tribe, nor first of his family; for Aaron was his elder brother. Therefore God gave him power of working miracles, to prove his extraordinary mission true and lawful. Which sufficed to make even Pharao himself to know, that he was sent from God almighty, though it mollified not his stubborn heart, to obey God's commandment: and it fully satisfied the children of Israel touching all things which he denounced, believing him that God mercifully looked upon their affliction and would deliver them. Whereupon they adored prostrate, as the last words of this chapter testify. Where we see both the necessity, and sufficiency of miracles to prove the extraordinary vocation of such as preach otherwise than was taught before. For this cause our Saviour himself confirming his doctrine by miracles, said to the Jews: If you will not believe me, believe by works. Again he said of them: If I had not done among them works that no other man hath done, they should not have sin. And conformably sending his Apostles to preach the Gospel, gave them power to work miracles in his name. So did St. Peter and St. John heal the lame. Acts 3. And St. Paul avouched miracles for the signs of his Apostleship. 2 Cor. 12.