sojourneth in her house, jewels of silver, and jewels of gold, and raiment: and ye shall put them upon your sons, and upon your daughters; and ye shall despoil the Egyptians."

And Moses answered and said, "But, behold, they will not believe me, nor hearken unto my voice; for they will say, 'Jehovah hath not appeared unto thee.” ” And Jehovah said unto him, “What is that in thy hand? And he said, "A rod.” And he said, "Cast it on the ground." And he cast it on the ground, and it became a serpent; and Moses fled from before it. And Jehovah said unto Moses, "Put forth thy hand, and take it by the tail (and he put forth his hand, and laid hold of it, and it became a rod in his hand); that they may believe that Jehovah, the God of their fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, hath appeared unto thee." And Jehovah said furthermore unto him, "Put now thy hand into thy bosom." And he put his hand into his bosom: and when he took it out, behold, his hand was leprous, as white as snow. And he said, "Put thy hand into thy bosom again. (And he put his hand into his bosom again; and when he took it out of his bosom, behold, it was turned again as his other flesh). And it shall come to pass, if they will not believe thee, neither hearken to the voice of the first sign, that they will believe the voice of the latter sign. And it shall come to pass, if they will not believe even these two signs, neither hearken unto thy voice, that thou shalt take of the water of the river, and pour it upon the dry land: and the water which thou takest out of the river shall become blood upon the dry land.”

And Moses said unto Jehovah, "Oh, Lord, I am not

1. In leprosy, a loathsome disease common among Oriental peoples, parts of the skin of the person affected turned white.

eloquent, neither heretofore, nor since thou hast spoken unto thy servant; for I am slow of speech, and of a slow tongue." And Jehovah said unto him, "Who hath made man's mouth? or who maketh a man dumb, or deaf, or seeing, or blind? is it not I, Jehovah? Now therefore go, and I will be with thy mouth, and teach thee what thou shalt speak." And he said, "Oh, Lord, send, I pray thee, by the hand of him whom thou wilt send." And the anger of Jehovah was kindled against Moses, and he said, “Is there not Aaron thy brother the Levite?1 I know that he can speak well. And also, behold, he cometh forth to meet thee: and when he seeth thee, he will be glad in his heart. And thou shalt speak unto him, and put the words in his mouth: and I will be with thy mouth, and with his mouth, and will teach you what ye shall do. And he shall be thy spokesman unto the people; and it shall come to pass, that he shall be to thee a mouth, and thou shalt be to him as God. And thou shalt take in thy hand this rod, wherewith thou shalt do the signs."

And Moses went and returned to Jethro his father-inlaw, and said unto him, "Let me go, I pray thee, and return unto my brethren that are in Egypt, and see whether they be yet alive." And Jethro said to Moses, "Go in peace." And Jehovah said unto Moses in Midian,

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Go, return into Egypt; for all the men are dead that sought thy life." And Moses took his wife and his sons, and set them upon an ass, and he returned to the land of Egypt: and Moses took the rod of God in his hand. And Jehovah said unto Moses, "When thou goest back into Egypt, see that thou do before Pharaoh all the wonders which I have put in thy hand: but I will harden his

1. A descendant of Levi, one of the sons of Jacob. The Levites later became the priesthood of the Israelites.

heart, and he will not let the people go. And thou shalt say unto Pharaoh, 'Thus saith Jehovah, "Israel is my son, my first-born: and I have said unto thee, 'Let my son go, that he may serve me;' and thou hast refused to let him go: behold, I will slay thy son, thy firstborn."

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And Jehovah said to Aaron, "Go into the wilderness to meet Moses." And he went, and met him in the mountain of God, and kissed him. And Moses told Aaron all the words of Jehovah wherewith he had sent him, and all the signs wherewith he had charged him. And Moses and Aaron went and gathered together all the elders of the children of Israel: and Aaron spake all the words which Jehovah had spoken unto Moses, and did the signs in the sight of the people. And the people believed: and when they heard that Jehovah had visited the children of Israel, and that he had seen their affliction, then they bowed their heads and worshipped.

XXVIII

PHARAOH REFUSES TO LET THE CHILDREN OF ISRAEL GO

(Exodus v: 1-vi: 13)

And afterward Moses and Aaron came, and said unto Pharaoh, "Thus saith Jehovah, the God of Israel, Let my people go, that they may hold a feast unto me in the wilderness."" And Pharaoh said, "Who is Jehovah, that I should hearken unto his voice to let Israel go? i know not Jehovah, and moreover I will not let Israel go." And they said, "The God of the Hebrews hath met with us: let us go, we pray thee, three days' journey into the wilderness, and sacrifice unto Jehovah our God,

now many, and ye make And the same day Pha

lest he fall upon us with pestilence, or with the sword." And the king of Egypt said unto them, “Wherefore do ye, Moses and Aaron, loose the people from their works? get you unto your burdens." And Pharaoh said, "Behold, the people of the land are them rest from their burdens." raoh commanded the taskmasters of the people, and their officers, saying, “Ye shall no more give the people straw to make brick, as heretofore: let them go and gather straw for themselves. And the number of the bricks, which they did make heretofore, ye shall lay upon them; ye shall not diminish aught thereof: for they are idle; therefore they cry, saying, 'Let us go and sacrifice to our God.' Let heavier work be laid upon the men, that they may labor therein; and let them not regard lying words." And the taskmasters of the people went out, and their officers, and they spake to the people, saying, “Thus saith Pharaoh, ‘I will not give you straw. Go yourselves, get you straw where ye can find it; for nought of your work shall be diminished."" So the people were scattered abroad throughout all the land of Egypt to gather stubble for straw. And the taskmasters were urgent, saying, "Fulfil your works, your daily tasks, as when there was straw." And the officers of the children of Israel, whom Pharaoh's taskmasters had set over them, were beaten, and demanded, "Wherefore have ye not fulfilled your task both yesterday and today, in making brick as heretofore?"

Then the officers of the children of Israel came and cried unto Pharaoh, saying, "Wherefore dealest thou thus with thy servants? There is no straw given unto thy servants, and they say to us, 'Make brick:' and, behold, thy servants are beaten; but the fault is in thine own people." But he said, “Ye are idle, ye are

idle: therefore ye say, 'Let us go and sacrifice to Jehovah.' Go therefore now, and work; for there shall no straw be given you, yet shall ye deliver the number of bricks." And the officers of the children of Israel did see that they were in evil case, when it was said, “Ye shall not diminish aught from your bricks, your daily tasks." And they met Moses and Aaron, who stood in the way, as they came forth from Pharaoh: and they said unto them, "Jehovah look upon you, and judge; because ye have made our savor to be abhorred in the eyes of Pharaoh, and in the eyes of his servants, to put a sword in their hand to slay us."

And Moses returned unto Jehovah, and said, "Lord, wherefore hast thou dealt ill with this people? why is it that thou hast sent me? For since I came to Pharaoh to speak in thy name, he hath dealt ill with this people; neither hast thou delivered thy people at all." And Jehovah said unto Moses, "Now shalt thou see what I will do to Pharaoh: for by a strong hand shall he let them go, and by a strong hand shall he drive them out of

his land."

And God spake unto Moses, and said unto him, “I am Jehovah and I appeared unto Abraham, unto Isaac, and unto Jacob, as God Almighty; but by my name Jehovah1 I was not known to them. And I have also established my covenant with them, to give them the land of Canaan, the land of their sojournings, wherein they sojourned. And moreover I have heard the groaning of the children of Israel, whom the Egyptians keep in bondage; and I have remembered my covenant. Wherefore say unto the children of Israel, I am Jehovah, and I will bring you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians, and I will rid you out of their bondage, and I will

1. The Eternal One.