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Wednesday, July 23rd, 2025
the Week of Proper 11 / Ordinary 16
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Easy-to-Read Version

Exodus 6:12

But Moses answered, " Lord , the Israelites refuse to listen to me. So surely Pharaoh will also refuse to listen. I am a very bad speaker."

Bible Study Resources

Concordances:

- Nave's Topical Bible - Circumcision;   Despondency;   Doubting;   Moses;   Torrey's Topical Textbook - Circumcision;  

Dictionaries:

- Bridgeway Bible Dictionary - Circumcision;   Baker Evangelical Dictionary of Biblical Theology - Aaron;   Magic;   Easton Bible Dictionary - Circumcision;   Holman Bible Dictionary - Lips;   Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible - Circumcision;   Lip;   Moses;   Prayer;   Wilson's Dictionary of Bible Types - Uncircumcised;  

Encyclopedias:

- International Standard Bible Encyclopedia - Aaron;   Circumcision;   Exodus, the Book of;   Lip;  

Parallel Translations

Hebrew Names Version
Moshe spoke before the LORD, saying, "Behold, the children of Yisra'el haven't listened to me. How then shall Par`oh listen to me, who am of uncircumcised lips?"
King James Version
And Moses spake before the Lord , saying, Behold, the children of Israel have not hearkened unto me; how then shall Pharaoh hear me, who am of uncircumcised lips?
Lexham English Bible
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?"
New Century Version
But Moses answered, "The Israelites will not listen to me, so surely the king will not listen to me either. I am not a good speaker."
New English Translation
But Moses replied to the Lord , "If the Israelites did not listen to me, then how will Pharaoh listen to me, since I speak with difficulty?"
Amplified Bible
But Moses said to the LORD, "Look, [my own people] the Israelites have not listened to me; so how then will Pharaoh listen to me, for I am unskilled and inept in speech?"
New American Standard Bible
But Moses spoke before the LORD, saying, "Behold, the sons of Israel have not listened to me; how then will Pharaoh listen to me, as I am unskilled in speech?"
Geneva Bible (1587)
But Moses spake before the Lorde, saying, Beholde, the children of Israel hearken not vnto me, howe then shall Pharaoh heare mee, which am of vncircumcised lippes?
Legacy Standard Bible
But Moses spoke before Yahweh, saying, "Behold, the sons of Israel have not listened to me; how then will Pharaoh listen to me, for I am of uncircumcised lips?"
Contemporary English Version
But Moses replied, "I'm not a powerful speaker. If the Israelites won't listen to me, why should the king of Egypt?"
Complete Jewish Bible
Moshe said to Adonai , "Look, the people of Isra'el haven't listened to me; so how will Pharaoh listen to me, poor speaker that I am?"
Darby Translation
And Moses spoke before Jehovah, saying, Lo, the children of Israel do not hearken to me: how then should Pharaoh hearken to me, to me of uncircumcised lips?
English Standard Version
But Moses said to the Lord , "Behold, the people of Israel have not listened to me. How then shall Pharaoh listen to me, for I am of uncircumcised lips?"
George Lamsa Translation
But Moses said to the LORD, Behold, the children of Israel have not hearkened to me; how then shall Pharaoh listen to me, for I am a stutterer?
Good News Translation
But Moses replied, "Even the Israelites will not listen to me, so why should the king? I am such a poor speaker."
Christian Standard Bible®
But Moses said in the Lord’s presence: “If the Israelites will not listen to me, then how will Pharaoh listen to me, since I am such a poor speaker?”
Literal Translation
And Moses spoke before Jehovah, saying, Behold the sons of Israel have not listened to me. And how should Pharaoh hear me, I being of uncircumcised lips?
Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
But Moses spake before ye LORDE, & saide: Beholde, ye childre of Israel herke not vnto me, how shulde Pharao the heare me? And I am also of vncircumcised lyppes.
American Standard Version
And Moses spake before Jehovah, saying, Behold, the children of Israel have not hearkened unto me; how then shall Pharaoh hear me, who am of uncircumcised lips?
Bible in Basic English
And Moses, answering the Lord, said, See, the children of Israel will not give ear to me; how then will Pharaoh give ear to me, whose lips are unclean?
Bishop's Bible (1568)
And Moyses spake before the Lorde, saying: beholde, the children of Israel hearken not vnto me: howe then shall Pharao heare me, whiche am of vncircumcized lippes?
JPS Old Testament (1917)
And Moses spoke before the LORD, saying: 'Behold, the children of Israel have not hearkened unto me; how then shall Pharaoh hear me, who am of uncircumcised lips?'
King James Version (1611)
And Moses spake before the Lord, saying, Behold, the children of Israel haue not hearkened vnto me: how then shal Pharaoh heare me, who am of vncircumcised lips?
Brenton's Septuagint (LXX)
And Moses spoke before the Lord, saying, Behold, the children of Israel hearkened not to me, and how shall Pharao hearken to me? and I am not eloquent.
English Revised Version
And Moses spake before the LORD, saying, Behold, the children of Israel have not hearkened unto me; how then shall Pharaoh hear me, who am of uncircumcised lips?
Berean Standard Bible
But in the LORD's presence Moses replied, "If the Israelites will not listen to me, then how will Pharaoh listen to me, since I am unskilled in speech?"
Wycliffe Bible (1395)
Moises answeride bifore the Lord, Lo! the children of Israel here not me, and hou schal Farao here, moost sithen Y am vncircumcidid in lippis?
Young's Literal Translation
and Moses speaketh before Jehovah, saying, `Lo, the sons of Israel have not hearkened unto me, and how doth Pharaoh hear me, and I of uncircumcised lips?'
Update Bible Version
And Moses spoke before Yahweh, saying, Look, the sons of Israel haven't listened to me; how then shall Pharaoh hear me, I who am of uncircumcised lips?
Webster's Bible Translation
And Moses spoke before the LORD, saying, Behold, the children of Israel have not hearkened to me; how then shall Pharaoh hear me, who [am] of uncircumcised lips?
World English Bible
Moses spoke before Yahweh, saying, "Behold, the children of Israel haven't listened to me. How then shall Pharaoh listen to me, who am of uncircumcised lips?"
New King James Version
And Moses spoke before the LORD, saying, "The children of Israel have not heeded me. How then shall Pharaoh heed me, for I am of uncircumcised lips?"
New Living Translation
"But Lord !" Moses objected. "My own people won't listen to me anymore. How can I expect Pharaoh to listen? I'm such a clumsy speaker!"
New Life Bible
But Moses said to the Lord, "See, the people of Israel have not listened to me. How then will Pharaoh listen to me? I am not able to speak well."
New Revised Standard
But Moses spoke to the Lord , "The Israelites have not listened to me; how then shall Pharaoh listen to me, poor speaker that I am?"
J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
And Moses spake before Yahweh, saying, - Lo! the sons of Israel have not hearkened unto me, how then shall Pharaoh, hear, I, also being of uncircumcised lips.
Douay-Rheims Bible
Moses answered before the Lord: Behold the children of Israel do not hearken to me: and how will Pharao hear me, especially as I am of uncircumcised lips?
Revised Standard Version
But Moses said to the LORD, "Behold, the people of Israel have not listened to me; how then shall Pharaoh listen to me, who am a man of uncircumcised lips?"
THE MESSAGE
Moses answered God , "Look—the Israelites won't even listen to me. How do you expect Pharaoh to? And besides, I stutter."
New American Standard Bible (1995)
But Moses spoke before the LORD, saying, "Behold, the sons of Israel have not listened to me; how then will Pharaoh listen to me, for I am unskilled in speech?"

Contextual Overview

10 Then the Lord said to Moses, 11 "Go tell Pharaoh that he must let the Israelites leave his land." 12 But Moses answered, " Lord , the Israelites refuse to listen to me. So surely Pharaoh will also refuse to listen. I am a very bad speaker." 13 But the Lord talked with Moses and Aaron and commanded them to go and talk to the Israelites and to Pharaoh, the king of Egypt. He commanded them to lead the Israelites out of the land of Egypt.

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

children: Exodus 6:9, Exodus 3:13, Exodus 4:29-31, Exodus 5:19-21

am: The italics shew that this word has been supplied by our translators; hence it may be inferred by some that Moses was uncircumcised. The difficulty is in some measure cleared away, by using the word uncircumcised in the sense of unsuitable or incapacitated - see note on Exodus 6:30, which agrees with Exodus 4:10, where Moses complains of want of eloquence; but by substituting is for am in this place, the connection with the former part of the verse is preserved; "For if the chosen seed, the circumcised sons of Jacob, refuse to hear me," as though Moses had said, "how can I expect to make uncircumcised Pharaoh pay attention to me?" Exodus 6:30, Exodus 4:10, Leviticus 26:41, Deuteronomy 30:6, Isaiah 6:5, Jeremiah 1:6, Jeremiah 6:10, Jeremiah 9:26, Acts 7:51

Reciprocal: Exodus 3:11 - General Leviticus 19:23 - uncircumcised Ezekiel 24:27 - thy

Cross-References

Genesis 6:1
The number of people on earth continued to increase. When these people had daughters, the sons of God saw how beautiful they were. So they chose the women they wanted. They married them, and the women had their children. Then the Lord said, "People are only human. I will not let my Spirit be troubled by them forever. I will let them live only 120 years." During this time and also later, the Nephilim people lived in the land. They have been famous as powerful soldiers since ancient times.
Genesis 6:5
The Lord saw that the people on the earth were very evil. He saw that they thought only about evil things all the time.
Genesis 6:8
But Noah pleased the Lord .
Genesis 6:13
So God said to Noah, "Everyone has filled the earth with anger and violence. So I will destroy all living things. I will remove them from the earth.
Genesis 6:14
Use cypress wood and build a boat for yourself. Make rooms in the boat and cover it with tar inside and out.
Genesis 6:15
"This is the size I want you to make the boat: 300 cubits long, 50 cubits wide, and 30 cubits high.
Genesis 6:16
Make a window for the boat about 1 cubit below the roof. Put a door in the side of the boat. Make three floors in the boat: a top deck, a middle deck, and a lower deck.
Genesis 6:17
"Understand what I am telling you. I will bring a great flood of water on the earth. I will destroy all living things that live under heaven. Everything on the earth will die.
Genesis 6:19
Also, you will take two of every living thing on the earth with you into the boat. Take a male and female of every kind of animal so that they might survive with you.
Genesis 6:20
Two of every kind of bird, animal, and creeping thing will come to you so that you might keep them alive.

Gill's Notes on the Bible

And Moses spake before the Lord,.... Who appeared in a visible form, and had spoke to him with an articulate voice, and before whom Moses stood, and made the following reply:

saying, behold, the children of Israel have not hearkened unto me; even though he brought a comfortable message to them from the Lord, and delivered many gracious promises of his to them, assuring them of deliverance out of Egypt, and of their possession of the land of Canaan:

how then shall Pharaoh hear me? making a demand upon him to part with a people, from whose labour he receives so much advantage, and has such an addition to his revenues, and who is a mighty king, and haughty monarch. And this is further enforced from his own weakness and unfitness to speak to Pharaoh:

who [am] of uncircumcised lips? had an impediment in his speech, could not speak freely and readily, but with difficulty; perhaps stammered, and so uttered superfluous syllables, repeated them before he could fully pronounce what he aimed at; or in other words, he was not eloquent, which was his old objection, and had been fully answered before: and by this it appears that there was no alteration in the speech of Moses since God spoke with him at Mount Horeb. Some think Moses expected to have had this impediment removed, and tacitly hints at it here, not being so well satisfied with Aaron's being joined with him as his mouth and spokesman, which seemed to carry in it some reflection upon him.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

Uncircumcised lips - An uncircumcised ear is one that does not hear clearly; an uncircumcised heart one slow to receive and understand warnings; uncircumcised lips, such as cannot speak fluently. The recurrence of the hesitation of Moses is natural; great as was the former trial this was far more severe; yet his words always imply fear of failure, not of personal danger (see Exodus 3:11).

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse Exodus 6:12. Uncircumcised lips? — The word ערל aral, which we translate uncircumcised, seems to signify any thing exuberant or superfluous. Had not Moses been remarkable for his excellent beauty, I should have thought the passage might be rendered protuberant lips; but as this sense cannot be admitted for the above reason, the word must refer to some natural impediment in his speech; and probably means a want of distinct and ready utterance, either occasioned by some defect in the organs of speech, or impaired knowledge of the Egyptian language after an absence of forty years. Exodus 4:10.


 
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