ldest in thine hand? He
answered: A rod. Our Lord said: Cast it on the ground. He threw it down
and it turned into a serpent, whereof Moses was afeard and would have
fled. Our Lord said to him: Put forth thy hand and hold him by the tail;
he stretched forth his hand and held him, and it turned again into a
rod. To this, that they believe thee, that I have appeared to thee. And
yet our Lord said to him: Put thy hand into thy bosom, which, when he
hath put in, and drawn out again, it was like a leper's hand. Our Lord
bade him to withdraw it into his bosom again, and he drew it out and it
was then like that other flesh. If they hear not thee, and believe by
the first sign and token, they shall believe thee by the second. If they
believe none of the two ne hear thy voice, then take water of the river
and pour on the dry ground, and whatsoever thou takest and drawest shall
turn into blood. Then Moses said: I pray the Lord send some other, for I
am not eloquent, but have a letting in my speech. Our Lord said to him:
Who made the mouth of a man, or who hath made a man dumb or deaf, seeing
or blind, not I? Go, therefore, I shall be in thy mouth and shall teach
thee what thou shalt say. Then said Moses: I beseech thee Lord, said he,
send some other whom thou wilt. Our Lord was wroth on Moses and said:
Aaron thy brother deacon, I know that he is eloquent, lo! he shall come
and meet with thee, and seeing thee he shall be glad in his heart. Speak
thou to him and put my words in his mouth, and I shall be in thy mouth
and in his mouth, and I shall show to you what ye ought to do, and he
shall speak for the people, and shall be thy mouth, and thou shalt be in
such things as pertain to God. Take with thee this rod in thine hand, by
which thou shalt do signs and marvels. Then Moses went to Jethro his
wife's father, and said to him, I shall go and return to my brethren
into Egypt, and see if they yet live. To whom Jethro said: Go in God's
name and place. Then said our Lord to Moses: Go and return into Egypt,
all they be now dead that sought for to slay thee. Then Moses took his
wife and his sons and set them upon an ass and returned in to Egypt,
bearing the rod of God in his hand. Then our Lord said to Aaron: Go
against Moses and meet with him in desert; which went for to meet with
him unto the mount of God, and there kissed him.

And Moses told unto Aaron all that our Lord had said to him for which he
sent him, and all the tokens and sig