they built for Pharaoh the store-cities, Pithom and Rameses. But the
more the Egyptians afflicted them, the more numerous they became and the
more they spread everywhere, so that the Egyptians dreaded what they
might do. And the Egyptians were cruel and made slaves of them, making
their lives bitter with hard labor in mortar and brick, and by all kinds
of hard work in the field.
Pharaoh also gave this command to all his people, "You shall throw into
the river every son that is born to the Hebrews, but every daughter you
shall save alive."
Now a man of the tribe of Levi married a woman of the same tribe, and
she had a son. When she saw that he was a beautiful child, she hid him
for three months. But when she could no longer hide him, she took a
basket made of papyrus reeds, daubed it with mortar and pitch, and put
the child in it. Then she placed it in the reeds by the bank of the
river Nile, while his sister stayed near by to see what would happen to
him.
The daughter of Pharaoh came down to bathe in the Nile, and while her
maids were walking along the river's bank, she saw the basket among the
reeds and sent her waiting-maid to bring it. When she opened it and saw
the child, the boy was crying; and she felt sorry for him and said,
"This is one of the Hebrew children."
Then his sister said to Pharaoh's daughter, "Shall I go and call one of
the Hebrew women to nurse the child for you?" Pharaoh's daughter said to
her, "Go." So the maiden went and called the child's mother, and
Pharaoh's daughter said to her, "Take this child away and nurse it for
me, and I will pay you your wages." Then the woman took the child and
nursed it. When the child had grown up, she brought him to Pharaoh's
daughter, and he became her son; and she named him Moses, for she said,
"I drew him out of the water."
One time, after Moses had grown up, he went out to his own people; and
as he was watching them at their hard labor, he saw an Egyptian beating
a Hebrew, one of his own race. He looked around and seeing that there
was no one in sight, he killed the Egyptian and hid him in the sand.
On the next day Moses went out, and saw two Hebrews struggling together;
and he said to the one who was in the wrong, "Why do you strike your
fellow workman?" The man replied, "Who made you a ruler and a judge over
us? Do you intend to kill me as you killed the Egyptian?" Then Moses was
afraid and said, "What I have done is known!" When Pharaoh heard what
had taken place, he tried to put Moses to death; but Moses left the
country and made his home in the land of Midian.
As he was sitting by a well, the seven daughters of the priest of Midian
came and drew water and filled the troughs to water their father's
flock, but the shepherds came and drove them away. Then Moses stood up
and protected the women and watered their flock.
When they came to their father, he said, "How is it that you have come
back so early to-day?" They replied, "An Egyptian protected us from the
shepherds, and besides, he drew water for us and watered the flock."
Then he said to his daughters, "Where is he? Why have you left the man?
Ask him to eat with us." So Moses made his home with the man; and he
gave Moses his daughter Zipporah to be his wife. She had a son, and
Moses named him Gershom.
THE VOICE FROM THE BUSH
After a long time the king of Egypt died. Moses was taking care of the
flock of Jethro his wife's father. Once he led the flock to the other
side of the pasture and came to Horeb, the mountain of God. There the
angel of Jehovah appeared to him in a flame of fire from the midst of a
thorn bush. As he looked, the bush flamed up without being burned. Moses
said, "I will stop here and see this wonderful sight, why the bush is
not burned up."
[Illustration: _The Finding of Moses_
Painted by Juliaan de Vriendt]
When Jehovah saw that Moses stopped to look, he called to him from the
midst of the bush, "Moses, Moses." Moses answered, "Here am I." Then God
said, "Do not come near; take your shoes off your feet, for the place
where you are standing is holy ground." He also said, "I am the God of
your forefathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of
Jacob." Then Moses covered his face; for he was afraid to look upon
God.
But Jehovah said, "I have certainly seen the suffering of my people who
are in Egypt and have heard their cry of distress because of their
taskmasters, for I know their sorrows. I have come down to rescue them
from the power of the Egyptians and to bring them out of that land into
a land that is beautiful and wide, to a land with plenty of milk and
honey. I have heard the cry of the Israelites and I have seen how they
suffer at the hands of the Egyptians. Come now, I will send you to
Pharaoh that you may bring my people, the Israelites, out of Egypt."
But Moses said to God, "Who am I, that I should go to Pharaoh and should
bring the Israelites out of Egypt?" He answered, "I will surely be with
you; and this shall be the sign to you that I have sent you: when you
have brought the people out of Egypt, you shall worship God upon this
mountain."
Then Moses said to God, "If I go to the Israelites and say to them, 'The
God of your forefathers has sent me to you,' and they ask me, 'What is
his name?' what shall I answer them?" God said to Moses, "I AM WHAT I
AM"; and he said, "Declare to the Israelites: 'I AM has sent me to you.'
Go and gather the leaders of Israel together and say to them, 'Jehovah
the God of your forefathers, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, has
appeared to me and said, I have surely remembered you and have seen what
is being done to you in Egypt, and I have declared that I will bring you
up out of the suffering in Egypt to a land with plenty of milk and
honey.' They will listen to your voice; and you, together with the
leaders of Israel, shall go to the king of Egypt and say to him,
'Jehovah, the God of the Hebrews, has appeared to us. Now let us go
three days' journey into the wilderness, that we may offer a sacrifice
to Jehovah our God.' But I know that the king of Egypt will not let you
go unless he is made to do so by a mighty power. Therefore I will use my
power and overwhelm Egypt with all the marvellous deeds that I will do
there. After that he will let you go."
Moses said to Jehovah, "O, Lord I am not able to speak well; for I am
slow to speak and slow in saying what I think." Jehovah said to him,
"Who has given man a mouth? Or who makes one deaf or dumb, or blind or
able to see? Is it not I, Jehovah? Now go, and I will be with you and
teach you what you shall say; and your brother Aaron shall speak for you
to the people."
Then Moses went back to Jethro, his wife's father, and said to him,
"Let me go again to my people in Egypt to see whether they are still
alive." Jethro answered Moses, "Go, with my blessing."
PHARAOH THE STUBBORN RULER
Then Jehovah said to Aaron, "Go into the wilderness to meet Moses." So
he went and met him on the mountain of God and kissed him. And Moses
told Aaron all that Jehovah had sent him to declare. So Moses and Aaron
gathered all the leaders of the Israelites, and Aaron repeated all the
words which Jehovah had spoken to Moses. The people believed; and when
they heard that Jehovah had remembered the Israelites and that he had
seen their suffering, they bowed their heads and worshipped.
Then Moses and Aaron went to Pharaoh and said to him, "Jehovah, the God
of Israel commands, 'Let my people go that they may hold a feast in my
honor in the wilderness.'" But Pharaoh said, "Who is Jehovah that I
should obey his command to let Israel go? I do not know Jehovah, and I
will not let Israel go." They said, "The God of the Hebrews has appeared
to us; let us go three days' journey into the wilderness that we may
offer a sacrifice to Jehovah our God, that he may not attack us with
pestilence or with the sword." But the king of Egypt replied, "Moses and
Aaron, why do you try to turn the people from their work? Go to your
tasks!"
The same day Pharaoh gave this command to the taskmasters who were over
the people: "You shall no longer give the people straw for making bricks
as before. Let them go and gather straw for themselves. But you shall
demand of them the same number of bricks that they have been making
before; you shall not lessen the number at all, for they are lazy; that
is why they cry out, 'Let us go and offer a sacrifice to our God.' Let
heavier work be laid upon the men, that they may be kept so busy that
they will not pay attention to lying words."
So the taskmasters who were over the people went out and said to them,
"This is Pharaoh's order, 'I will no longer give you straw. Go
yourselves, get straw wherever you can find it; but your work shall not
be made less.'" So the people were scattered over all the land of Egypt
to gather stubble for straw. The taskmasters urged them on, saying, "You
must finish your daily task just as when there was straw." The
overseers of the Israelites, whom Pharaoh's taskmasters had put over
them, were also beaten and asked, "Why have you not finished to-day as
many bricks as yesterday?"
Then the overseers of the Israelites went to Pharaoh and said, "Why do
you deal in this way with your servants? No straw is given to your
servants, and yet they say to us, 'Make bricks.' See how your servants
are beaten and how you wrong your people." But he said, "You are lazy,
you are lazy; therefore you say, 'Let us go and offer a sacrifice to
Jehovah.' Now go and work, for no straw shall be given you; yet you must
make the same number of bricks."
Then Moses turned again to Jehovah and said, "Jehovah, why hast thou
brought misfortune upon this people? Why is it that thou has sent me?
For since I came to Pharaoh to speak in thy name he has wronged this
people, and thou hast done nothing at all to rescue thy people."
Jehovah answered Moses, "Now you shall see what I will do to Pharaoh;
for compelled by a mighty power he shall surely let them go, and
compelled by a mighty power he shall drive them out of his land."
THE COST OF BEING CRUEL AND STUBBORN
Then Jehovah said to Moses, "Pharaoh is stubborn; he will not let the
people go. Go to Pharaoh early in the morning, as he is going out on the
water, and stand by the bank of the Nile to meet him. Say to him,
'Jehovah, the God of the Hebrews, has sent me to you with this command:
Let my people go that they may worship me in the wilderness, but so far
you have not listened. Jehovah declares, By this you shall know that I
am Jehovah: See, I will strike the waters which are in the river with
the rod that is in my hand and they shall be changed into blood. The
fish, too, that are in the Nile shall die, and the Nile shall become
foul, so that the Egyptians will hate to drink its water.'"
Then Moses lifted up the staff and in the presence of Pharaoh and his
servants struck the waters that were in the river Nile; and all its
waters were changed into blood. The fish, too, that were in the Nile
died, and the river became so foul that the Egyptians could not drink
its water, but dug round about the Nile for water to drink.
Seven days later Jehovah gave this command to Moses, "Go in to Pharaoh
and say to him, 'Jehovah commands: Let my people go that they may
worship me. If you refuse to let them go, then I will afflict all your
land with frogs; and the Nile shall swarm with frogs which shall go up
and come into your house, into your sleeping chamber, upon your bed,
into the houses of your servants, upon your people, and into your ovens
and kneading-troughs; and the frogs shall come up even upon you and your
people and all your servants.'"
Then Jehovah said to Moses, "Say to Aaron: 'Stretch out your hand with
your staff over the rivers, over the canals, and over the pools, and
cause frogs to come up over the land of Egypt.'" So Aaron stretched out
his hand over the waters of Egypt; and the frogs came up and covered the
land of Egypt.
Then Pharaoh called for Moses and Aaron and said, "Pray to Jehovah to
take away the frogs from me and my people; then I will let the people
go, that they may offer a sacrifice to Jehovah." Moses said to Pharaoh,
"Will you do yourself the honor of telling me at what time I shall pray
to Jehovah in your behalf and in behalf of your servants and people,
that the frogs be destroyed from your palaces and be left only in the
Nile?" Pharaoh answered, "To-morrow." Then Moses said, "Let it be as you
say; that you may know that there is none like Jehovah our God, the
frogs shall depart from you, from your palaces, and from your servants
and people; they shall be left only in the Nile."
When Moses and Aaron had gone out from Pharaoh, Moses prayed to Jehovah
to remove the frogs which he had brought upon Pharaoh; and Jehovah did
as Moses asked. The frogs died in the houses, in the courts, and in the
fields, and the people gathered them together in many heaps; and the
land was filled with a vile odor. But when Pharaoh saw that relief had
come, he was stubborn and, as Jehovah had said, did not listen to Moses
and Aaron.
Then Jehovah said to Moses, "Get up early in the morning and stand
before Pharaoh, just as he goes out to the water, and say to him,
'Jehovah commands: Let my people go that they may worship me. If you
will not let my people go, I will send swarms of flies upon you, upon
your servants, and upon your people and into your palaces, so that the
houses of the Egyptians shall be full of swarms of flies, as well as the
ground upon which they stand. But at that time I will set apart the land
of Goshen in which my people live, and no swarms of flies shall be
there, so that you may know that I, Jehovah, am in the midst of the
earth.'"
And Jehovah did so: a vast swarm of flies came upon Pharaoh's palace and
into the homes of his servants; and all the land of Egypt was ruined by
the swarms of flies.
Then Pharaoh called for Moses and Aaron and said, "I will let you go
that you may offer a sacrifice to Jehovah your God in the wilderness;
only you must not go far away. Pray for me." Moses replied, "I will go
out and will pray to Jehovah that the swarms of flies may depart from
Pharaoh, from his servants and from his people to-morrow; only let not
Pharaoh again act deceitfully by refusing to let the people go to offer
a sacrifice to Jehovah."
So Moses went out from Pharaoh and prayed to Jehovah. And Jehovah did as
Moses asked; but this time also Pharaoh was stubborn and would not let
the people go.
Then Jehovah said to Moses, "Go to Pharaoh and tell him, 'Jehovah the
God of the Hebrews commands: Let my people go that they may worship me.
For if you refuse to let them go and still hold them, then the power of
Jehovah will bring a very severe pest upon your cattle which are in the
field, upon the horses, the asses, the camels, the herds, and the
flocks. But Jehovah will make a difference between the cattle of Israel
and the cattle of Egypt, and not one that belongs to the Israelites
shall die.'"
So Jehovah set a fixed time, saying, "To-morrow Jehovah will do this in
the land." Jehovah did this on the next day, and all the cattle of the
Egyptians died; but none of the cattle of the Israelites. Then Pharaoh
sent and found that not even one of the cattle of the Israelites was
dead; but Pharaoh was stubborn and would not let the people go.
Then Jehovah said to Moses, "Get up early in the morning and stand
before Pharaoh, and say to him,'Jehovah, the God of the Hebrews,
commands: Let my people go, that they may worship me. Do you still set
yourself against my people, so that you will not let them go? To-morrow
about this time I will send down a very heavy fall of hail, such as has
not been in Egypt from the day that it became a nation until now.'"
So Jehovah sent down hail upon the land of Egypt, and the lightning
flashing in the midst of the hail was very severe, such as had not been
before in all Egypt since it became a nation. Through the whole land of
Egypt the hail struck down everything that was in the field, both man
and beast. The hail also struck down all the growing plants and broke
all the trees in the fields. Only in the land of Goshen, where the
Israelites were, there was no hail.
Again Pharaoh sent and called for Moses and Aaron and said to them, "I
have sinned this time; Jehovah is right and I and my people are wrong.
Pray to Jehovah, for there has been enough of these mighty thunderings
and hail, and I will let you go, and you shall stay no longer." Moses
said to him, "As soon as I have gone out of the city, I will spread out
my hands in prayer to Jehovah; the thunders shall stop, and there shall
be no more hail, that you may know that the earth is Jehovah's. But as
for you and your servants, I know that even then you will not fear
Jehovah."
So Moses went out of the city from Pharaoh and spread out his hands to
Jehovah; and the thunders and hail stopped, and the rain was no longer
poured upon the earth. But when Pharaoh saw that the rain and the hail
and the thunders had stopped, he sinned again, and he and his servants
became stubborn, and he would not let the Israelites go.
So Moses and Aaron went to Pharaoh, and said to him, "Jehovah, the God
of the Hebrews, commands: 'How long will you refuse to obey me? Let my
people go that they may worship me. For if you refuse to let my people
go, then to-morrow I will bring locusts into your land, and they will
cover the surface of the earth, so that no one will be able to see the
ground, and they shall eat the rest of that which is left to you from
the hail, and they shall eat all your trees which grow in the field.'"
Then Moses and Aaron were driven out from Pharaoh's presence, but Moses
stretched out his staff over the land of Egypt, and Jehovah caused an
east wind to blow over the land all that day and night. In the morning
the east wind brought the locusts, and they went over all the land of
Egypt and settled down in all the land of Egypt, a very large swarm,
more locusts than there ever were before or ever will be again. For they
covered the surface of the whole land, so that the land was darkened and
nothing green was left, neither tree nor growing plants, anywhere in all
the land of Egypt.
Then Pharaoh called for Moses in haste and said, "I have sinned against
Jehovah your God and against you. Now therefore forgive my sin only this
once, and pray to Jehovah your God to take away from me this deadly
plague." So Moses went out from Pharaoh and prayed to Jehovah, and
Jehovah made a very strong west wind to blow which took up the locusts
and drove them into the Red Sea; not a single locust was left in all
the land of Egypt. But Jehovah let Pharaoh's heart remain stubborn, so
that he would not let the Israelites go.
Then Jehovah said to Moses, "Stretch out your hand toward heaven, that
there may be darkness over the land of Egypt, so dark that it may be
felt." So Moses stretched out his hand toward heaven; and there was
complete darkness in all the land of Egypt for three days; no one could
see another, nor did any one move about for three days. But the
Israelites had light in their homes.
Then Pharaoh called Moses and said, "Go, worship Jehovah; only let your
flocks and your herds stay behind; let your little ones go with you."
But Moses said, "You must also give us animals for sacrifices and
burnt-offerings, that we may offer a sacrifice to Jehovah our God. Our
cattle too must go with us; not a hoof shall be left behind, for we must
take these to offer to Jehovah our God, and we do not know what we must
offer to Jehovah until we arrive there."
But Jehovah let Pharaoh's heart remain stubborn, and he would not let
them go. And Pharaoh said to him, "Go away from me; take care that you
never come to me again; for on the day that you come to me you shall
die." Moses replied, "You have spoken truly, I shall never see you
again."
Moses said to Pharaoh, "Jehovah declares: 'About midnight I will go
through all of Egypt. All the eldest sons in the land of Egypt shall
die, from the eldest son of Pharaoh who sits upon his throne, even to
the eldest son of the slave girl who is behind the mill, and all the
first-born of the cattle. There shall be a great cry of sorrow all over
the land of Egypt, such as has never been before and never shall be
again.' But not a single dog shall bark at any of the Israelites nor
their animals, that you may know that Jehovah does make a difference
between the Egyptians and Israelites. All these your servants shall come
to me and bow down before me, saying, 'Go away, together with all the
people that follow you.' After that I will go away." And Moses went from
Pharaoh in great anger.
THE ESCAPE FROM EGYPT
Moses called together all the leaders of Israel, and said to them, "Take
lambs from the herds according to your families and kill the passover
lamb. You shall also take a bunch of hyssop and dip it in the blood
that is in the basin and strike the lintel and the two door posts with
the blood that is in the basin. And not one of you shall go out of the
door of his house until morning, for Jehovah will pass through to kill
the Egyptians, and when he sees the blood upon the lintel and on the two
door posts, he will pass over the door and will not let the destroyer
come into your houses to destroy you. You and your children shall
observe this event as a custom forever.
"When your children shall say to you, 'What do you mean by this
service?' you shall say, 'It is the sacrifice of the passover of
Jehovah, for he passed over the houses of the Israelites in Egypt, when
he destroyed the Egyptians and released our people.'"
Then the people bowed their heads and worshipped; and the Israelites
went and did as Jehovah had commanded Moses and Aaron.
At midnight Jehovah destroyed all the eldest sons in the land of Egypt,
from the eldest son of Pharaoh who sat on his throne to the eldest son
of the captive who was in prison. Then Pharaoh arose in the night,
together with all his servants and all the Egyptians, and there was a
great cry of sorrow, for there was not a house in Egypt in which there
was not one dead. Pharaoh called Moses and Aaron at night and said, "Go
away from among my people, both you and the Israelites; go, worship
Jehovah as you have asked. Also take with you your sheep and your
cattle, as you have asked, go and ask a blessing for me also." The
Egyptians also told the people to hasten out of the land, for they said,
"We shall all perish." So the people took their dough before the yeast
had worked, and their kneading-troughs were bound up in their clothes
upon their shoulders.
The Israelites went on foot from Rameses to Succoth; and a mixed
multitude went with them, and they had a great many flocks and herds.
They baked unraised cakes of the dough which they had brought with them
from Egypt, for there was no yeast in it, because they had been driven
out of Egypt and could not wait, neither had they prepared for
themselves any food for the journey.
And they went from Succoth and camped at Etham on the border of the
wilderness. Jehovah went before them by day in a pillar of cloud, to
show them the way, and at night in a pillar of fire, to give them light,
that they might march both by day and by night; the pillar of cloud by
day and the pillar of fire at night stayed in front of the people.
When the king of Egypt was told that the people had fled, the feeling of
Pharaoh and his servants toward them was changed, and they said, "Why
have we done this and let the Israelites escape from serving us?" So he
made ready his chariot and took his people with him. He also took six
hundred chosen chariots and the rest of the chariots of Egypt with
captains over all of them; and Jehovah let the heart of Pharaoh, king of
Egypt, remain stubborn, so that he followed the Israelites, because they
had defied him.
When Pharaoh drew near to them the Israelites looked up and saw the
Egyptians marching after them; and they were very much afraid and cried
to Jehovah. And they said to Moses, "Why have you misled us by bringing
us out of Egypt? Is not this what we told you in Egypt, when we said,
'Let us alone, that we may serve the Egyptians? For it is better for us
to serve the Egyptians than to die in the wilderness.'" But Moses said
to the people, "Do not be frightened, remain quiet and you will see how
Jehovah will save you to-day; for as surely as you now see the Egyptians
you shall never see them again. Jehovah will fight for you, and you are
to keep still."
Then the angel of God who went before the army of Israel changed his
position and went behind them. The pillar of cloud also changed its
position from in front of them and stood behind them, coming between the
army of the Egyptians and the army of the Israelites. On the one side
the cloud was dark and on the other side it lighted up the night, so
that throughout all the night neither army came near the other.