1. The people of Israel--who inhabit a fertile country producing two
harvests a year and affording pasture for large herds of cattle--by
their sins brought down upon themselves the anger of the Lord;
2. Who inflicted upon them terrible chastisements, taking from them
their land, their cattle and their wealth. They were carried away into
slavery by the rich and mighty Pharaohs who then ruled the land of
Egypt.
3. The Israelites were, by the Pharaohs, treated worse than beasts,
condemned to hard labor and put in irons; their bodies were covered with
wounds and sores; they were not permitted to live under a roof, and were
starved to death;
4. That they might be maintained in a state of continual terror and
deprived of all human resemblance;
5. And in this great calamity, the Israelites, remembering their
Celestial Protector, implored his forgiveness and mercy.
6. At that period reigned in Egypt an illustrious Pharaoh, who was
renowned for his many victories, immense riches, and the gigantic
palaces he had erected by the labor of his slaves.
7. This Pharaoh had two sons, the younger of whom, named Mossa, had
acquired much knowledge from the sages of Israel.
8. And Mossa was beloved by all in Egypt for his kindness of heart and
the pity he showed to all sufferers.
9. When Mossa saw that the Israelites, in spite of their many
sufferings, had not forsaken their God, and refused to worship the gods
of Egypt, created by the hands of man.
10. He also put his faith in their invisible God, who did not suffer
them to betray Him, despite their ever growing weakness.
11. And the teachers among Israel animated Mossa in his zeal, and prayed
of him that he would intercede with his father, Pharaoh, in favor of
their co-religionists.
12. Prince Mossa went before his father, begging him to lighten the
burden of the unhappy people; Pharaoh, however, became incensed with
rage, and ordered that they should be tormented more than before.
13. And it came to pass that Egypt was visited by a great calamity. The
plague decimated young and old, the healthy and the sick; and Pharaoh
beheld in this the resentment of his own gods against him.
14. But Prince Mossa said to his father that it was the God of his
slaves who thus interposed on behalf of his wretched people, and avenged
them upon the Egyptians.
15. Thereupon, Pharaoh commanded Mossa, his son, to gather all the
Israelite slaves, and lead them away, and found, at a great distance
from the capital, another city where he should rule over them.
16. Then Mossa made known to the Hebrew slaves that he had obtained
their freedom in the name of his and their God, the God of Israel; and
with them he left the city and departed from the land of Egypt.
17. He led them back to the land which, because of their many sins, had
been taken from them. There he gave them laws and admonished them to
pray always to God, the indivisible Creator, whose kindness is infinite.
18. After Prince Mossa's death, the Israelites observed rigorously his
laws; and God rewarded them for the ills to which they had been
subjected in Egypt.
19. Their kingdom became one of the most powerful on earth; their kings
made themselves renowned for their treasures, and peace reigned in
Israel.