You are to speak to him and put the words in his mouth. I will help both of you to speak, and I will teach you what to do.
Parallel translations
- WEB You shall speak to him, and put the words in his mouth. I will be with your mouth, and with his mouth, and will teach you what you shall do.
- KJV And thou shalt speak unto him, and put words in his mouth: and I will be with thy mouth, and with his mouth, and will teach you what ye shall do.
- NKJV Now you shall speak to him and put the words in his mouth. And I will be with your mouth and with his mouth, and I will teach you what you shall do.
- NASB So you are to speak to him and put the words in his mouth; and I Myself will be with your mouth and his mouth, and I will instruct you in what you are to do.
- NLT Talk to him, and put the words in his mouth. I will be with both of you as you speak, and I will instruct you both in what to do.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
God will put His words in Moses' mouth, Moses will relay them to Aaron, and God will teach them both. The chain of revelation begins and ends with God.
Overview
God establishes an order: He gives the word to Moses, who gives it to Aaron, while God instructs them throughout. The arrangement preserves that the message originates with God, not with the human speakers. This safeguards the authority of the divine word passed through chosen messengers, anticipating the prophetic and apostolic ministry by which God speaks His word to His people.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 16
- Isa 51:16I have put My words in your mouth, and covered you with the shadow of My hand, to establish the heavens, to found the earth, and to say to Zion, ‘You are My people.’”
- Num 23:16And the LORD met with Balaam and put a message in his mouth, saying, “Return to Balak and speak what I tell you.”
- Num 23:5Then the LORD put a message in Balaam’s mouth, saying, “Return to Balak and give him this message.”
- Deut 18:18I will raise up for them a prophet like you from among their brothers. I will put My words in his mouth, and he will tell them everything I command him.
- Num 23:12But Balaam replied, “Should I not speak exactly what the LORD puts in my mouth?”
- Luke 21:15For I will give you speech and wisdom that none of your adversaries will be able to resist or contradict.
- Jer 1:9Then the LORD reached out His hand, touched my mouth, and said to me: “Behold, I have put My words in your mouth.
- Isa 59:21“As for Me, this is My covenant with them,” says the LORD. “My Spirit will not depart from you, and My words that I have put in your mouth will not depart from your mouth or from the mouths of your children and grandchildren, from now on and forevermore,” says the LORD.
- Exod 4:12Now go! I will help you as you speak, and I will teach you what to say.”
- Matt 28:20and teaching them to obey all that I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”
- Num 22:38“See, I have come to you,” Balaam replied, “but can I say just anything? I must speak only the word that God puts in my mouth.”
- 2 Sam 14:3Then go to the king and speak these words to him.” And Joab put the words in her mouth.
- Exod 7:1–2The LORD answered Moses, “See, I have made you like God to Pharaoh, and your brother Aaron will be your prophet.
- 1 Cor 11:23For I received from the Lord what I also passed on to you: The Lord Jesus, on the night He was betrayed, took bread,
- Deut 5:31But you stand here with Me, that I may speak to you all the commandments and statutes and ordinances you are to teach them to follow in the land that I am giving them to possess.”
- 1 Cor 15:1Now, brothers, I want to remind you of the gospel I preached to you, which you received, and in which you stand firm.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Christ at the center
The Passover lamb whose blood turns away death, the exodus through the sea, the manna, the rock, and the tabernacle where God dwells with his people all foreshadow Jesus — our Passover, our redemption, the bread from heaven, and God-with-us in the flesh.
How Exodus 4:15 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.