Graphic Bible · Scene 4 of 7

Exodus 4:18-23. The road back. Departure preparation in Midian, calm morning, single wide narrative scene. Moses in crimson and cream, long white hair and beard, stands at left facing short stocky Jethro in ochre with cream/brown headwrap and sparse short white beard. Jethro bids him farewell with a quiet open-handed gesture. At center-right mature Zipporah in deep teal and sand stands beside ONE saddled donkey with folded travel cloths. In middle distance the two sons prepare bundles: sturdy adult Gershom wears olive and tan; slim younger adult Eliezer wears blue-gray and cream. Exactly FIVE distinct family members, each matching their own reference, no duplicate faces or merged limbs. Low stone home and goat-hair awning, dry Midian hills behind. Moses holds gnarled staff and wears sandals for the journey. No burning bush or supernatural fire in this domestic setting. No one riding yet; avoid piling adults on one donkey. The primary action is Moses receiving farewell, with family preparations subordinate. Bronze Age Exodus setting, not first-century staging. One 16:9 single scene. No text or lettering.
Artwork is an interpretation. Scripture is quoted from the People's Open Bible.

Exodus 4:18-23

The road back

The staff becomes a serpent · Exodus 4

Story guide: Moses leaves Midian with his family and the staff of God.

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18Then Moses went and returned to Jethro his father-in-law and said to him, “Please let me go and return to my brothers who are in Egypt, so that I may see whether they are still alive.” And Jethro said to Moses, “Go in peace.”

19And Yahweh said to Moses in Midian, “Go, return to Egypt, because all the men who were seeking your life are dead.”

20Then Moses took his wife and his sons, set them on the donkey, and returned to the land of Egypt. And Moses took the staff of God in his hand.

21Then Yahweh said to Moses, “When you go back to Egypt, see that you do before Pharaoh all the wonders that I have put in your hand. But I will harden his heart, and he will not let the people go.”

22Then you shall say to Pharaoh, ‘Thus says Yahweh: Israel is my firstborn son.’

23And I said to you, ‘Send out my son so that he may serve me,’ but you refused to send him out. Look, I am about to kill your son, your firstborn.

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