1. “But,” objected Moses, “suppose they do not believe me or listen to me? For they may say, ‘The Lord did not appear to you.’”
2. The Lord said to him: What is in your hand? “A staff,” he answered.
3. God said: Throw it on the ground. So he threw it on the ground and it became a snake, and Moses backed away from it.
4. Then the Lord said to Moses: Now stretch out your hand and take hold of its tail. So he stretched out his hand and took hold of it, and it became a staff in his hand.