THE CHILDREN OF ISRAEL GROW TO BE A GREAT MULTITUDE OF PEOPLE. A NEW KING RULES OVER EGYPT. MOSES IS BORN; HE IS TAKEN BY PHARAOH'S DAUGHTER FOR HER SON. HE KILLS AN EGYPTIAN AND FLEES TO MIDIAN. GOD SPEAKS TO HIM FROM THE BURNING BUSH, AND SENDS HIM AND AARON TO BRING THE CHILDREN OF ISRAEL OUT OF EGYPT.
AFTER Joseph died his brethren died also; but their descendants lived and grew to be a great multitude of people. And a new king ruled over Egypt. His name was Pharaoh, like the one who had been so kind to Joseph; but this Pharaoh had never known Joseph. And when he saw how many there were of the children of Israel, he was afraid of them. He thought they might some day make war against him, and then rise up and go out of his land; he did not want them to do this, but to stay and be his servants.
So this wicked king persuaded the people of Egypt to treat the children of Israel very cruelly; they set taskmasters over them, and made their lives unhappy by forcing them to labor as slaves, in building houses and doing all kinds of work out in the field. But the more cruelly the Israelites were treated, the more there came to be of them, for, as we have read, God had promised Jacob, when he was coming down into Egypt, to make his descendants a great nation there; and now God was doing as he had promised. He was making them so many that they would be a great nation.
And Pharaoh told the women who took care of the Israelites' little children, to kill all the boys as soon as they were born. The girls he was willing to let live, because they would never be able to fight against him. But those women feared God, and would not obey the king. They let the little boys live also, and God blessed them for doing it. Then Pharaoh gave all his people permission to take the little boys that belonged to the children of Israel, and throw them into the river, to drown them; but the little girls, he said, they should save alive.
There was a man among the Israelites named Amram. His wife's name was Jochebed, and God gave them a son. The child was very beautiful, and his mother loved him, but she feared that some of Pharaoh's servants would come and take him from her to kill him. Therefore she hid him for three months after he was born, but then found she could hide him no longer. So she took a little ark, or boat, made out of the long weeds that grew by the river, and daubed it over with pitch to keep out the water. And she put her baby into the ark and laid it carefully among the bushes at the edge of the river. But the little boy's sister waited, not far off, to see what might happen to him.
And the daughter of king Pharaoh came down to bathe in the river, and she and her maidens walked along by the river's side. When she saw the ark among the bushes, she sent one of them to bring it. The maiden brought it, and as Pharaoh's daughter looked into it, the little boy wept; and she pitied him, and said, This is one of the Hebrews' children. Then his sister, who had been watching, came near and spoke to the king's daughter, saying, May I not go and call one of the Hebrew women to nurse the child for thee? She said, Go. And his sister went and called her mother. When she came, Pharaoh's daughter said to her, Take this child away and nurse it for me, and I will give thee thy wages. So his mother carried him back to her own home and nursed him there.
But after a while Pharaoh's daughter sent for the child. Then his mother brought him to her. And she took him into her house to be as her own son, and she called his name Moses, which means, "drawn out," because, she said, I drew him out of the water. Yet when he was grown to be a man, he knew that he was not the son of Pharaoh's daughter, but was one of the children of Israel; and although he might have been rich and great, if he had stayed with her, he chose rather to go and live with his own people.
And he went out one day to the place where the Israelites worked for the Egyptians. There he saw a cruel Egyptian striking an Hebrew. Then Moses looked this way and that, and, when he saw no one near, he killed the Egyptian and hid his body in the sand; for Moses believed that God had sent him to set the children of Israel free, and he supposed they would understand this. And he went out another day, but this time he saw two of the children of Israel quarrelling together. And he spoke to the one who did wrong, and asked him why he struck the other. He answered, saying, Who made thee a ruler over us? Wilt thou kill me as thou didst the Egyptian yesterday? Then Moses was afraid, for he thought that other persons must know of what he had done.
When Pharaoh was told of it, he tried to kill Moses; but Moses fled out of Egypt to the land of Midian, where Pharaoh, could not find him. And he sat down by a well in that land, and some women came to draw water. There were seven of them who were sisters. They wanted to draw water for their father's flock, but some shepherds drove them away. Then Moses helped them and gave their flock water. When they went home to their father, whose name was Jethro, he asked them, How is it that you are come so soon to-day? They answered, An Egyptian saved us from the shepherds, and also drew water for the flock. Then Jethro asked where the man was, and why they had left him. And he told them to go and call him, that he might have something to eat. So they called him, and Moses went to Jethro's house, and he lived there many years, and took one of Jethro's daughters for his wife.
While Moses lived in the land of Midian, Pharaoh, the king of Egypt, died. But the people of Egypt were still very cruel to the children of Israel, and the children of Israel cried to the Lord because of their sufferings, and the Lord heard them and looked down from heaven and pitied them.
Now Moses took care of Jethro's flock, and he led it out into the wilderness, to find pasture, till he came to a mountain called Horeb. On this mountain the Lord spoke to him. For there came up fire out of a bush that grew on the mountain; and when Moses looked, he saw that the bush was not burned, though the fire came up out of it. Then he said, I will turn and see this wonderful sight—why the bush is not burned. And when he turned, God called to him out of the bush, and said, Moses, Moses. He answered, Here am I. And God told him not to come near, but to take his shoes from off his feet, because the place where he stood was holy ground. It was holy, and Moses was not to come near, because God was there. God said to him, also, I am the God of thy father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob. And Moses hid his face, for he was afraid to look upon God. Then God told him that he had seen the affliction of the children of Israel, and heard their cries, and had come down to set them free from the Egyptians.
Now the king who ruled at this time in Egypt, was named Pharaoh, like those who had lived before him, because the Egyptians called all their kings by this name. And the Lord told Moses he would send him to Pharaoh, that he might tell Pharaoh to let the children of Israel go; and the Lord said that Moses should lead them out of Egypt, and bring them to that mountain where he was then talking with him. But Moses was afraid to go; he said, Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh and bring the children of Israel out of Egypt? God said to him, Certainly I will be with thee to help thee.
And God commanded Moses to go and tell the children of Israel, that the Lord God of their fathers, the God of Abraham, the ( rod of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, had sent him to bring them out of Egypt, to a good land, where they should have milk to drink and honey to eat. After Moses had told them this, he was to speak with Pharaoh and ask him to let them go. But Moses answered the Lord, and said, that when he should come into Egypt and tell the children of Israel these things, he was sure they would not listen to him, nor believe that the Lord had spoken to him at all.
Now Moses held a rod in his hand, and the Lord said to him, What is that in thine hand? Moses answered, A rod. The Lord said, Cast it on the ground. And Moses cast it on the ground, and God made it change into a serpent, so that Moses was afraid of it and fled away before it. And the Lord said, Put out thy hand and take it by the tail. And Moses took it, and it was changed back again into a rod in his hand.
And the Lord said to Moses, Put now thy hand into thy bosom. Moses put his hand into his bosom, and when he took it out, it was white as snow; for it was covered with a dreadful disease called leprosy, which made it look white like snow. And God said, Put thy hand into thy bosom again. And Moses put it into his bosom, and when he took it out, it was well and covered with leprosy no more.
God gave Moses power to do these two wonderful works, or miracles, so that, when the children of Israel should see them, they might believe that God had sent him. But if they would not believe after he had done them both, then, God said, Moses should take some water out of the river that was in Egypt, and pour it on the dry ground; and the water should be changed into blood, while it was on the ground where Moses had poured it. Still, Moses did not want to go, and he began to make excuses for not going. He was not eloquent, he said, that is, he could not speak well before the people. But the Lord commanded him again to go, and said he would teach him what to say. Yet Moses begged the Lord to send some one else. Then the Lord was angry, because he was still unwilling to go.
And Moses had a brother named Aaron. God said that Aaron could speak well, and that he should go with him into Egypt; Moses should tell Aaron what to say, but Aaron should tell it to the people. And God said he would teach them both what they should do; and he told Moses to take his rod in his hand, for with it he should do wonderful things. All this time, while God was talking with Moses, Moses was on mount Horeb and near to the bush that burned with fire. He had gone there, as we have read, with Jethro's flock. When the Lord was done talking with him, Moses went to Jethro's house again and asked permission to go back into Egypt, that he might see his brethren the children of Israel, and Jethro gave him permission to go.
And the Lord commanded Aaron, Moses' brother, to come out and meet him at mount Horeb; and Aaron came there and met Moses, and he was glad and kissed him. And Moses told Aaron of all the words that God had spoken. Then Moses and Aaron went into Egypt and spoke to the children of Israel. They could not speak to all of them at once, there were too many to hear; so they sent for the chief men among them, called elders, and told them, and the elders told the people. They showed them the miracles, also, that God had given Moses power to do. When the children of Israel saw these, they believed that God had sent Moses and Aaron, and that he was coming, as he had promised, to take them out of Egypt.
After they had spoken with the elders, Moses and Aaron went to Pharaoh, and said, Thus saith the Lord God of Israel, Let my people go that they may hold a feast unto me in the wilderness. But Pharaoh answered, Who is the Lord that I should obey him? I know not the Lord, neither will I let the children of Israel go. Then Moses and Aaron told him that it was God who had spoken to them, and they begged Pharaoh to let them go, lest, if they should not, God might punish them for their disobedience. But Pharaoh was angry when they said this to him; he asked why they kept the people from their work by telling them they were to go out of Egypt; and he told Moses and Aaron to go and work themselves.
Now the children of Israel were digging clay out of the ground and making bricks with it, for that was the work which Pharaoh made them do. These bricks were not burned in the fire, as ours are, to harden them; they were only baked in the sun. To make them tougher and stronger, the clay they were made of was mixed with pieces of straw. This straw was gathered out in the fields by men who brought it to the children of Israel, for them to work it up with the clay before they made the bricks. But Pharaoh was so angry at the children of Israel for wanting to go out of Egypt, that he said they must go and gather the straw themselves; and yet that they must make as many bricks as they used to make, when it was gathered for them. For they were idle, Pharaoh said, and that was the reason they cried, Let us go and serve the Lord.
Then the taskmasters went and told the children of Israel that Pharaoh said, I will not give you straw. Go get straw where you can find it. So these poor men went out into the fields, after the grain had been reaped, and gathered up the straw that was left, and carried it away to make bricks with. But, though they worked very hard, they could not make as many as they had made when the straw was brought to them, and some of them were beaten because they did not. Then they came to Pharaoh and told him that the fault was not theirs. Pharaoh answered, Ye are idle, ye are idle; that is the reason you say, Let us go and sacrifice to the Lord. And he told them to go and work, for no straw should be given them.
Then the children of Israel were in great distress, and some of them went to Moses and Aaron, and said that they had done them harm and not good, for they had made Pharaoh hate them, and treat them more cruelly than he treated them before. And Moses went and told the Lord, and asked why he had sent him to speak with Pharaoh; for, Moses said, since he had spoken to him, Pharaoh had done evil to the children of Israel, and yet the Lord had not set them free. The Lord answered, that Moses should see what he would do to Pharaoh, to make him let the children of Israel go. And he commanded Moses to tell them that he would bring them out of Egypt, and take them to be his people, and would lead them to the land which he had promised their fathers Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, to give them.
And Moses went and told the children of Israel what God said, but they would not listen to him. Then the Lord sent Moses and Aaron to speak with Pharaoh again. Moses was eighty years old, and Aaron was eighty-three, when they went to speak with the king. And the Lord said that when Pharaoh should ask them to do a miracle for him to see, Aaron should take the rod and throw it on the ground, and it should be changed into a serpent.
So Moses and Aaron went to Pharaoh, and Aaron threw down his rod and it was changed into a serpent. And Pharaoh called for his servants, the magicians, or wise men of Egypt. And they came with rods in their hands, and when they had thrown them down, their rods were changed into serpents, because the Lord let them do as Aaron had done. Then Aaron's rod swallowed up all the other rods, but Pharaoh would not let the children of Israel go.
And the Lord told Moses to stand in the morning by the river's side, and, when Pharaoh should come there, to speak with him and say, The God of the Hebrews, (that is, of the children of Israel) has sent me to say to thee, Let my people go that they may offer up a sacrifice to me in the wilderness. And Moses did as the Lord said. He went to the river, and when Pharaoh came there, told him the words that the Lord had spoken. But Pharaoh would not let the people go. Then the Lord commanded Aaron to take his rod and strike the waters with it, that they might be changed into blood. And Aaron took the rod in his hand and struck the waters, and Pharaoh and his servants saw him do it. And all the water in the river was changed into blood, and the streams and ponds of water, all over the land of Egypt, were changed into blood. And the fish that were in the river died, and the Egyptians could not drink of the water.
And Pharaoh's servants, the magicians, came and turned water into blood also, because the Lord let them do again as Aaron had done.
And Pharaoh went home to his house, yet he would not let the people go. Then all the Egyptians digged in the ground about the river, to find water that they could drink. And the blood stayed in the river seven days.