 Chapter 1 These are the names of the sons of Israel who came to Mitsurayim, the chief Jacob and his family with him, Rubin, Simeon, Levi and Judah, Issachar, Zebulun and Benjamin, Dan and Naftali, Gad and Asher. All the persons proceeding from the loins of Jacob were seventy individuals, Joseph was already in Mitsurayim. Now Joseph and all his brothers died and all their children, but the sons of Israel were fruitful and bred and increased and became very very powerful and the land was filled with them. Then a foreign conqueror arose over the Mitsurayim who knew nothing of Joseph and said to his nation, These people, the sons of Israel, are more in number and stronger than ourselves. Therefore let us deal skillfully with them, to prevent them increasing, for it is possible they might turn upon us in war and conquer, for they hate us and may be fighting against us and expel us from the land. They consequently placed labor masters over them to force them to build, and they built fortresses for Pharaoh, Pitham and Ramazes, but the more they oppressed them the more they increased, therefore they trembled and feared before the sons of Israel. Consequently the Mitsuraites endeavored to crush the sons of Israel, so they embittered their lives by cruel labor in the forges and in the brick kilns and in every labor upon the land, by every means possible trying to crush them. The king of the Mitsurayim also summoned the midwives of the Hebrews, of whom the name of the chief was Shifra, and the name of her lieutenant Fuah, and decreed. When you deliver the Hebrew women, examine their children, if it is a son, kill him, but if a daughter, let her live. But the midwives feared God and did not do as the king of the Mitsurayim ordered them, but preserved the children alive. The king of the Mitsurayim therefore summoned those midwives again and inquired from them, Why have you not executed the law, but have preserved the children's lives? When the midwives replied to Pharaoh, Because they are not like Mitsuraites women when in labor, but lively, so that before the time the midwives have come to them they are delivered. For God showed kindness to those midwives. So the people increased and were very strong, and seeing that the midwives were God-fearing he imprisoned them. Pharaoh then commanded this people saying, Every boy that is born, throw him into the river, but let the girls live. CHAPTER II But there was a man of the family of Levi who married a Levite woman, and his wife conceived and bore a son. When she looked on his beauty she hid him for three months, but being no longer able to hide him she made a boat of bullrushes and pitched it with pitch and resin and placed it in the reeds on the bank of the river. But his sister stood at a distance to see what happened to him. Then the daughter of Pharaoh came down to bathe in the river and her maids walked along the bank of the stream, and they noticed the boat amongst the rushes. So she put out her hand and took it. When she opened it she saw the lad and he cried, and she grieved over him and said, It is one of the Hebrew children. Then his sister called the daughter of Pharaoh, Shall I go and seek for you a nursing woman of the Hebrews so that she may nurse the lad for you? And the daughter of Pharaoh replied to her, Go! So she went immediately and called the mother of the child, to whom Pharaoh's daughter said, Take this child and nurse it for me, and I will pay you the cost. Its mother therefore took the child and nursed it. When the lad grew up he was taken to the daughter of Pharaoh as a son, and she called his name Moshe. For she said, I threw him out of the water. But it was long after this when Moses had become great that he went out to his brothers and examined into their condition. Then he saw Amitsarite strike a Hebrew who was related to him. Then he turned this and that way, and not seeing anyone. He struck the Amitsarite and concealed him in the sand. At another time when he was inspecting there were two men, Hebrews, quarreling. So he said to the wrongdoer, Why do you strike your neighbor? But he replied, Who appointed you as foreman and judge over us? Are you going to murder me as you murdered the Amitsarite? Then Moses was afraid and said to himself, That a Pharaoh is known then? The matter was also reported to Pharaoh who endeavored to execute Moses, but Moses fled from the presence of Pharaoh and turned to the land of Midian where he rested beside a well. It happened that the priest of Midian had seven daughters, and these girls came to draw and fill the watering troughs to give drink to their father's sheep. Then the shepherds came and drove them away, but Moses arose and prevented them and watered their sheep. So when they returned to Reuel, their father, he asked, How is that you have returned so quickly to-day? They answered him, Amitsarite protected us from the hand of the shepherds and also drew and gave water to our sheep. Then he replied to his daughters, Where is he? Why have you left the man there? Invite him and let him eat bread! Thus Moses began to stay with the man who gave Zephora his daughter to him, and she bore a son and he called his name Gersham. For, he said, I am a stranger in a foreign land! A long time after these events, that king of the Mitsaraim died, but the children of Israel were still oppressed in their servitude, and their cries from their slavery reached God. God therefore heard their groaning, and God remembered his covenant with Abraham and with Isaac and with Jacob. Therefore God looked upon the children of Israel, and God revealed himself. Moses, however, was shepherding the sheep of the Jethro, his father-in-law, the priest of Midian, and he had led the sheep to the far side of the desert, and came to the mountain of God in Horab, where a messenger of the ever-living appeared to him in a flame of fire in a bush. When he looked he saw that the bush burnt with fire, yet the bush was not consumed. Then Moses said, I will draw near and examine this great wonder, why the bush is not burnt up? But the Lord saw that he had approached to examine it, so God called to him from the midst of Sinai, and said, Moses, Moses! And he answered, I am here! Then he said, Approach not! Put off your shoes from your feet, for the place upon which you stand is holy! Then he continued, I am the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob. Then Moses hid his face, for he feared to gaze upon God. The Lord then said, I have seen the suffering of my people who are in Mitsarayim, and I have heard their shrieks before their drivers, and I have understood their sorrows, and I have come down to deliver them from the hand of the Mitsarites, and to take them up from that country to a good land, and a spacious to a land flowing with milk and honey, to replace the Canaanites and the Hittites and the Amorites and the Parasites and the Ivites and Jebusites, for the cries of the children of Israel have now come to me, and I have seen the oppression with which the Mitsarites oppress them. Therefore you must go, and I will send you to Pharaoh to bring my people, the children of Israel, up from the Mitsarayim. But Moses replied to God, Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh, and that I should lead the children of Israel up from among the Mitsarayim? He answered however, Because I will be with you, therefore go, for I have sent you to lead the people from the Mitsarayim, and they shall serve God upon this mountain. Then Moses said to God, Supposing I should go to the children of Israel, and should say to them, The God of your fathers has sent me to you, and they should ask me, What is his name? What am I to say to them? When God responded to Moses, I am what I am, therefore say, I am has sent me to you, and God further spoke to Moses. You shall say thus to the children of Israel, The ever living God of your forefathers, the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob has sent me to you. This is my name from eternity, and I remember this from generation to generation. Go and assemble the chiefs of Israel, and say to them, The ever living God of your fathers has appeared to me, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and said, I have visited you, and I will save you from the Mitsarayim. Therefore I command you to go from among the Mitsarayim to the land of the Canaanites and the Hittites and the Amorites and the Parasites and the Hivites and the Jebusites, to a land flowing with milk and honey, and they will listen to your voice. Then go, you and the chiefs of Israel, to the king of the Mitsarayim and say to him, The ever living God of your servants has commanded us, therefore we pray, let us go a three days journey into the desert and offer sacrifice to our ever living God. But I know that the king of the Mitsarayim will not permit you to go except by a strong hand. Consequently I shall stretch out my hand and strike the Mitsarayites with all the wonders that I will do within their bounds, and afterwards he will send you away. Then I will give this people favor in the eyes of the Mitsarayites so that it shall be when they march they shall not march unprovided. But every woman shall demand of her neighbor and from the guests in her house ornaments of silver and ornaments of gold and clothing and put them upon her sons and daughters and shall strip the Mitsarayites. Chapter 4 Then Moses answered and said, But they may not trust me and not listen to my voice for they may say, We have never seen your God the ever living. God however asked him, What is in your hand? And he replied, A stick. And he then said, Throw it on the ground. So he threw it on the ground and it became a serpent and Moses fled from before it. But the ever living said to Moses, Stretch out your hand and seize it by the tail. So he stretched out his hand and seized it and it became a stick in his hand. Be certain they will believe because of that that the ever living God of their fathers appeared to you, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob. And continuing the ever living said to him, Put your hand now into your bosom. So he put his hand into his bosom and when he drew it out his hand was leprous like snow. Then he said, Replace your hand in your bosom. So he replaced his hand in his bosom and took it out again from his bosom and it returned like his other flesh. And it shall be if they will not trust you and not listen to your voice at the first evidence, yet they will trust to your voice after the second sign. But if they do not trust you even for the second evidence and do not listen to your voice, then take some of the water from the river and pour it out on the dry land, and there the water which you have taken from the river shall become blood on the dry ground. Moses however replied to the ever living, But yet Lord, I am not an eloquent man. I have not been so in the past nor in this speaking between you and your servant, for I am slow of mouth and heavy of tongue. But the ever living replied to him, Who gave a mouth to man? For who makes dumb or deaf or blind or seeing? Is it not I, the living one? So now go, and I will be with your mouth and show you what you shall say. But he answered, Indeed, my Lord, send I pray you by some other hand. Then the ever living was angry with Moses, and he said, Have you not a brother, Aaron the Levite? I know that he can talk, and he is even now coming to seek you. See that you can go cheerfully with him, and speak to him, and put words into his mouth, for I will be with your mouth, and in his mouth, and will show you what you are to do, and he shall speak for you to the people. He shall be like a mouth for you, and you shall be to him in place of God. And that staff, take it in your hand, for you shall perform wonders with it. Moses therefore went and returned to Jethro his father-in-law, and said to him, I wish to go now and rejoin my relatives who are in Mitsarayim and see if they are alive. When Jethro replied to Moses, Go in peace. The ever living afterward said to Moses in Midian, Go, return to the Mitsarayim, for all the men are dead who sought your life. Then Moses took his wife and his sons, and mounted them upon asses, and turned towards the land of the Mitsarayim. Moses also took the rod of God in his hand. The living one also said further to Moses, During your journey to the Mitsarayim, regard all the signs which I put unto your hand, and do them before Pharaoh. But I shall harden his heart, and he will not let the people go. Then you shall say to Pharaoh, Thus said the ever living, Israel is my eldest son, and I say to you, Allow my son to go to serve him. And if you will not allow him, then I will slay your eldest son. But while he was upon the road at a resting-place, a chieftain met him and attempted to kill him. But Zephora took a razor and cut off the foreskin of her son, and threw it at his feet, and said, You make a blood marriage for me. So he retired from them, when she said, It is a marriage circumcision. Now the ever living had said to Aaron, Go and seek Moses in the desert. So he went and met him at the Mount of God, and kissed him. Then Moses related to Aaron all the instructions of the ever living which he had sent to him, and the whole of the miracles which he had commanded. Then Moses and Aaron proceeded and collected all the magistracies of the children of Israel, and Aaron repeated all the matters which the ever living had addressed to Moses, and produced evidences before the eyes of the people, and the people were convinced and acknowledged that the ever living had visited Israel and that he had looked upon their sufferings, so they honored and worshiped him. Then Moses and Aaron went and said to Pharaoh, Thus says the ever living God of Israel, Send out my people that they may hold a festival to me in the desert. But Pharaoh replied, Who is the ever living that I should listen to his voice to send out the Israelites? I know nothing of the ever living, and I shall not send the Israelites out. They however replied, The God of the Hebrews has summoned us. Let us go there for three days journey into the desert and sacrifice to our ever living God for fear he should assail us with plague or fever. The king of the Mitsurahim said to them, Why do you, Moses and Aaron, break off the people from their work? Go yourselves to the buildings. And Pharaoh went on to say, The people are now too many for the land, yet you would take them away from building. Pharaoh consequently commanded on that day to the drivers and overseers, saying, You shall not continue to give straw to these people for the bricks they make as heretofore, but let them go and collect straw for themselves, yet the number of the bricks which they had to make heretofore lay upon them, you shall not diminish from them, for they are idle, therefore they cry out, saying, Let us go and sacrifice to our God. Place the work upon these men and make them do it and not listen to absurd speeches. The drivers and overseers of the people consequently went and reported it to the people, saying thus, Pharaoh has ordered us no more to give you straw, therefore go, collect straw for yourselves wherever you can find it, for there is to be no diminution of your labours whatever. So the people were scattered all over the land of the Mitsurahim to seek stubble instead of straw, yet the drivers ordered them, saying, Complete your appointed work day by day in the production of bricks, and the overseers who were set over the children of Israel were flogged by the drivers of Pharaoh who demanded, Why have you not completed the stipulated number of bricks as formerly was done before this? Then the overseers of the children of Israel appealed to Pharaoh, asking, Why have you done this to your slaves? No straw is given to your slaves, yet they say to us, Make the bricks, and your slaves are beaten and your people injured. He however replied, You are idle, you are idle, therefore you say, Let us go and sacrifice to the ever living. So now be off you slaves, for straw shall not be given to you, but you shall make the number of your bricks. Suddenly the overseers of the children of Israel saw they were in a bad position when he said, You shall not diminish from the number of bricks day by day. So they assailed Moses and Aaron for inciting them to go to present themselves to Pharaoh, and said to them, May the ever living look upon you and decide how you have made our breath stink in the opinion of Pharaoh and in the opinion of his ministers and have put a sword into their hands to slay us. Then Moses turned to the ever living and said, Almighty, why have you caused suffering to this people, and why have you sent me thus, and why have you sent me to Pharaoh saying I will take this people from their suffering when you have not delivered them? Chapter 6 Then the ever living replied to Moses, Now you shall see what I will do to Pharaoh, so that with a strong hand he shall send off, and with a strong hand he shall drive them from this country. Afterwards the ever living spoke to Moses and said to him, I am the ever living, and I appeared to Abraham and to Isaac and to Jacob as God Almighty, and by my name of the ever living I did not make myself known to them, but however I made a covenant with them to give to them the land of Canaan the land of their foreignhood when they were foreigners in it. I have also heard the groaning of the children of Israel who are enslaved by the mitzerites, and I have remembered my covenant. Therefore say to the children of Israel, I am the ever living will cause you to come out from among the burdens of the mitzerites, and I will deliver you from your slavery, and will redeem you with a directing arm, and with great judgments, and will take you to myself for a people, and will be a God to you, and you shall know that I, your ever living God, have brought you out from among the burdens of the mitzerites. I will also bring you to the land which I raised my hand to give to Abraham and to Isaac and to Jacob and grant you its possession. I am the ever living. Consequently Moses repeated this to the children of Israel, but they would not listen to Moses for their anguish of spirit and from their hard slavery. The ever living again spoke to Moses, saying, Go tell to Pharaoh king of mitzer that he must dismiss the children of Israel from his country. But Moses replied against the ever living and said, The children of Israel themselves would not listen to me, so certainly Pharaoh will not listen to me. I am also dull in speech. The ever living, however, commanded Moses and Aaron again, and sent them to the children of Israel and to Pharaoh king of the mitzeraim to demand the release of the children of Israel from the land of the mitzeraim. Thus the ever living spoke to Aaron and Moses to lead the children of Israel out of the land of the mitzeraim by their armies. He caused them, Moses and Aaron, to demand from Pharaoh king of the mitzeraim to allow the children of Israel to go out of mitzeraim. The ever living was speaking daily to Moses in the land of the mitzeraim. Thus the Lord commanded Moses, I am the ever living. Take to Pharaoh king of the mitzeraim all that I command you. But Moses replied in the face of the ever living, I am only slow of tongue, so Pharaoh will not listen to me. Chapter 7 The ever living, however, answered Moses, See, I will make you like a god to Pharaoh, and Aaron your brother shall be your reciter. Therefore you must say all that I command you to your brother, and he shall repeat to Pharaoh that he must send the children of Israel from his country. But I will make Pharaoh's heart obstinate, and I will multiply evidences and wonders in the land of the mitzeraim. But Pharaoh will not listen to you, so I will lay my hand upon the mitzerites, and will bring out my people, the children of Israel, from the land of the mitzeraim with great judgments, so that the mitzerites may know that I am the ever living when I stretch out my hand over the mitzeraim and bring up the children of Israel from among them. So Moses and Aaron did as the ever living commanded them. They did it. But Moses was eighty years old, and Aaron eighty-six years old when they spoke to Pharaoh. Thus the ever living spoke to Moses and to Aaron saying, Since Pharaoh has said to you, give us an evidence, instruct Aaron, take your rod and throw it down before Pharaoh, and it shall become a serpent. Moses and Aaron therefore went to Pharaoh and did as the ever living commanded, and he threw down his rod before Pharaoh and before his ministers, and it became a serpent. But Pharaoh summoned the scientists and chemists, and they also did it, assisted by the engineers of the mitzeraim by their delusions. For each of them threw down their rods, and they became serpents, but the rod of Aaron swallowed their rods. However the heart of Pharaoh was hardened, and he would not listen to them as the ever living had foretold. The ever living then sent to Moses. The heart of Pharaoh is decided not to let the people depart. Confront Pharaoh in the morning when he goes to the bath, and stand to meet him at the bank of the river, and take the rod which turned to a serpent in your hand. Then say to him, the ever living God of the Hebrews has sent me to you to say, let my people go and serve me in the desert. But if you will not listen to that, thus says the ever living. By this you shall learn that I am the master. When I strike with the rod which is in my hand, upon the waters which are in the river, they shall turn to blood. And the fish which are in the river shall die, and the river shall stink, and the mitzerites shall loathe to drink of the water of the river. The ever living also said to Moses, Say to Aaron, take your rod and extend your hand over the waters of mitzer, over the streams, over the brooks, the pools, and over all the reservoirs of water, and they shall become blood, and they shall be blood in all the land of the mitzerites, both in wood and in stone. Therefore Moses and Aaron did as the ever living commanded, and splashed with the rod and the hand, the waters which were in the river before the eyes of Pharaoh and before the eyes of his ministers, and all the waters in the river turned to blood, and the fish which were in the river died, and the river stank, and the mitzerites were not able to drink of the water from the river, for it became blood in all the land of the mitzeraim. The engineers of mitzer however did the same by their delusions, therefore the heart of Pharaoh was hardened, and he would not listen to them, as the ever living had foretold. Pharaoh therefore turned his face and went to his palace, and did not alter his heart even for this, but all the mitzerites dug pits along the river for water to drink, for they were not able to drink the waters from the river. This continued for seven days after the ever living had struck the waters of the river. Then the ever living said to Moses, Go to Pharaoh and say to him, Thus says the ever living, Send my people away to serve me, But if you will not send them, Then I will plague all your dominions with frogs, And the water shall swarm with frogs, And they shall crawl up and come into your palace and to your chamber, To your couch and up to your bed, And to the palaces of your ministers, And of your people and to your daughters. And this way the frogs shall come up upon your people and ministers. CHAPTER VIII Then the ever living said to Moses, Command your brother Aaron, Extend your hand with your rod over the rivers and streams and lakes, So that the frogs may come up over the land of mitzer. Aaron consequently extended his hand over the waters of mitzer, And frogs came up and plagued the land of the mitzerayim. The scientists, however, did the same by their engineering, And also brought up frogs upon the land of the mitzerayim. Pharaoh, however, summoned Moses and Aaron and said, Entreat the ever living, That he may turn away the frogs from my sight and from my touch, When I will release the people, And they shall sacrifice to the ever living. But Moses replied to Pharaoh, You threatened me you would kill me. Why should I pray for you and your ministers and your people To drive away the frogs from you and from your palace, Except that there may be a few in the river? He, however, entreated, Do it tomorrow. And he returned, It shall be done as you say, So that you may know that there is no Lord except our God. Therefore the frogs shall turn back from you and from your palace And from your ministers and from your people, Except that in the river there shall be a few. Then Moses and Aaron went out from Pharaoh, And Moses cried to the ever living about the frogs As he had promised to Pharaoh, And the ever living did as Moses had said, And killed the frogs in the houses and in the streets And in the fields, And the heaps of them corrupting, Rotted and the country stunk. But when Pharaoh perceived the smell of them, Then he hardened his heart and would not listen to them As the ever living had foretold. Consequently the ever living said to Moses, Say to Aaron, Extend your rod and beat the dust of the earth, And it shall become lice in all the land of the Mitsurayim. And he did so. When Aaron extended his hand with his rod in it And struck the dust of the earth, It became lice in all the land of the Mitsurayim. The scientists also tried by their contrivances To produce the same and bring forth lice, But they were not able. These lice assailed both men and beasts. Then the scientists reported to Pharaoh, This is the product of God! But Pharaoh hardened his heart and would not listen to them As the ever living had foretold. Therefore the ever living said to Moses, Arise at daybreak and stand before Pharaoh When he goes to bathe and say to him, Thus says the ever living, Release my people that they may serve me, For if you do not release my people, I myself will release against you And your ministers and your people and your daughters Gad flies. And the Gad flies shall fill the houses of the Mitsuraites And also the land upon which they are. But at the same time it shall be different In the land of Goshen, where my people dwell, For the Gad flies shall not be there So that you may know that I am the ever living In the midst of the earth. I will also make a distinction Between my people and your people. This shall occur tomorrow. And the ever living did it, For swarms of Gad flies came into the palace of Pharaoh And the palaces of his ministers And to all the land of the Mitsurayim. The Gad flies spread over all the country. Then Pharaoh summoned Moses and Aaron and said, Go, sacrifice to your God in this country. But Moses replied, We were not instructed to do so, For if we were to sacrifice the idol of the Mitsuraites In their sight, would they not stone us? We must go three days' journey into the desert And sacrifice to our ever living God As he has commanded us. Then Pharaoh answered, I will send you and you shall sacrifice To your ever living God in the desert, Only in separating go not a long journey. Now pray for me. And Moses answered, I will go out from you and pray And entreat the ever living, And he will turn away the Gad flies from Pharaoh And from his ministers and from his people tomorrow. Nevertheless Pharaoh will continue to oppose And will not allow the people to go away To sacrifice to the ever living. Moses accordingly went out from the presence of Pharaoh And prayed to the Lord. And the ever living answered Moses And removed the Gad flies from Pharaoh And from his ministers and from his people And none remained. Pharaoh however hardened his heart even after this And would not release the people. The end of chapters one through eight Of the book of Exodus Recording by Mark Penfold Chapters nine through sixteen Of the book of Exodus From the Holy Bible in modern English This LibriVox recording is in the public domain Recording by Mark Penfold The Holy Bible in modern English Translated by Farar Fenton The book of Exodus Chapters nine through sixteen Chapter nine Consequently the ever living said to Moses Go to Pharaoh and tell him Thus says the ever living God of the Hebrews Let my people go and serve me However if you are unwilling to release them And you are again obstinate with them Then the hand of the ever living shall Bring upon your herds that are in the field And upon your horses and asses And camels and cattle and sheep A very severe punishment But the ever living will distinguish Between the herds of Israel And between the herds of the Mitsarites And in all the herds of Israel Nothing shall die The ever living however fixed a period After a while the ever living will do this thing In the country The ever living accordingly brought the event At the period and killed a number Of the cattle of the Mitsarites But of the cattle of the Israelites Not any died Pharaoh also sent to examine And discovered that of the cattle Of the Israelites none had died Yet Pharaoh hardened his heart And would not let the people go Subsequently the ever living said To Moses and Aaron Take up for yourselves Hands full of ashes From the smeltery furnaces And let Moses fling them to the sky In the sight of Pharaoh And they shall become a fine dust Over all the land of Mitsar And it shall settle upon man and beast To inflame and produce boils In all the land of the Mitsarain They took therefore ashes from a smeltery And presented themselves before Pharaoh And Moses flung them skyward And they produced inflammatory boils Upon man and beast And the scientists were not able To stand before Moses For the inflammation came upon the scientists As well as upon the other Mitsarites But the ever living hardened Pharaoh's heart So he would not listen to them As the ever living had foretold to Moses Afterwards the ever living said to Moses Arise at dawn and go and stand before Pharaoh And say to him Thus says the ever living God of the Hebrews Release my people to serve me Or else this time I will fling With all my might upon your heart And on your ministers and on your people So that they may learn that there is None except myself in the whole earth For now I will send my hand against And strike you yourself and your people With the object of destroying you from the earth If you oppose yourself to my people To prevent them from going I will reign at the date appointed in the future Very fierce hail Such as has not been in Mitsar From the day it was founded until now Therefore send your cattle to shelters And all that you have in the field Every man and beast that remains in the field And is not gathered into houses The hail will come down upon them and kill them Those of the ministers of Pharaoh Who feared the message of the ever living Collected their servants and their cattle into the houses But those who did not lay the message Of the ever living to heart Left their servants and cattle in the field The ever living afterwards said to Moses Extend your hand to the skies And there will come hail In all the land of the Mitsarayim Upon man and upon beast And upon all that is in the field In the land of the Mitsarayim So Moses extended his rod to the skies And the ever living uttered his voice And fire ran along the ground And the ever living poured hail Upon the land of the Mitsarayim And there was hail and continuous fire Mixed with the hail, very cruel Such as had never been like it In all the land of the Mitsarayim From when it became a nation The hail also struck in all the land Of the Mitsarayim Whatever was in the field From man to beast And all the vegetation of the field Was struck by the hail And all the trees of the field Broken except in the land of Goshen Where the children of Israel were There the hail was not After this Pharaoh sent and invited Moses and Aaron and said to them I have sinned this time The ever living has done right And I and my people have done wrong Pray to the ever living For mighty are the utterances of God And the hail and I will release you And no more continue to prevent But Moses answered him When I am outside of the city I will spread out my hands to the ever living When the voices will cease And the hail will not continue So that you may learn that the earth Belongs to the ever living And that you and your ministers May learn at last to fear Before the presence of the ever living God So the flax and the barley were cut up For the barley was in ear And the flax in flower But the wheat and rye were not cut up For they were of later growth When Moses went from the presence of Pharaoh Outside the city He spread his hands before the ever living And the voices ceased And the hail storm poured not earthward But when Pharaoh perceived that the rain And hail and voices had ceased He continued to sin And hardened his heart He and his ministers So Pharaoh's heart was obstinate And he would not release the children of Israel As the ever living foretold by the hand of Moses Chapter 10 Therefore the ever living said to Moses Go to Pharaoh, for I will strike his heart And the heart of his ministers With two other evidences in their midst That you can record for the ears of your sons And your sons' sons How I brought you up from the Mitsarayim And the evidences that I produced among them That they might know that I am the ever living Moses and Aaron consequently went to Pharaoh And said to him Thus says the ever living God of the Hebrews Until when will you refuse Resisting to my face to release my people to serve me However, if you continue refusing to release my people I will bring locusts shortly into your dominions And they shall hide the sight of the ground So that you shall not be able to see the ground And they shall eat the remains of the fragments Of what has been left to you from the hail And shall eat all your fruit trees from the field And shall fill your palace and the palaces of your ministers And the houses of all the Mitsaraites In such a way as you have never seen Or your fathers or the fathers of your fathers From the day they lived upon the earth to this day Then he ceased and went away from Pharaoh Then Pharaoh's ministers said to him How long is this thing to go on with us To ensnare us, release these men to serve their ever living God Do you not know that Mitsar is already destroyed Moses and Aaron were brought back to Pharaoh And he accordingly said to them Go, serve the ever living your God Who and what do you wish should go with you So Moses replied With our young and our old we shall go With our sons and our daughters With our sheep and our cattle we shall go So that we may hold a holy festival to our God He however exclaimed The ever living must be with you Then when I let you go with your children Look out for evil is before you It shall never be so But you may go now and make a pilgrimage And serve your ever living For that is what you asked And they were driven from the presence of Pharaoh Then the ever living said to Moses Stretch out your hand over the land of the Mitsarayim For the locusts And they shall come up upon the land of Mitsar And shall eat everything green in the country All that the hail has left So Moses extended his rod over the country of the Mitsarayim And the ever living drove an east wind over the country All that day and all the night until the morning came And the east wind carried the locusts And the locusts came up over all the country of the Mitsarayim And seized upon all the dominions of the Mitsarayim Very grievously Before them there were no such locusts And never since have there been such They even hid the ground from sight And blackened the earth And ate every green thing upon the ground And all the fruit of the trees which the hail had left And no verger was left on the trees Or grass on the fields In all the land of the Mitsarayim Then Pharaoh hastened And summoned Moses and Aaron and said I have sinned against the ever living God And against you Therefore pardon now my sin Only this once and entreat the ever living God To turn from me also this death So they went out from Pharaoh and entreated the ever living And the Lord caused a very strong west wind to blow And it swept off the locusts and blew them into the Red Sea There was not a locust in all the dominions of the Mitsarayim But the ever living strengthened the heart of Pharaoh And he would not release the children of Israel Afterwards the ever living said to Moses Stretch your hand towards the sky And darkness shall come upon all the land of the Mitsarayim And a darkness that may be felt Therefore Moses stretched his hand to the skies And thick darkness came upon all the land of the Mitsarayim For three days No one saw his brother and no one rose from his place For three days But to all the children of Israel There was light for their operations Then Pharaoh sent for Moses and said Go serve the ever living Only your sheep and cattle must stay Your children also may go with you But Moses replied You must also give to our hands sacrifices and offerings That we can make to our ever living God And therefore our herds must go with us Not a hoof must be left For we must take from them to serve our ever living God And we cannot be knowing what we must serve the ever living with Until we arrive there The Lord however hardened the heart of Pharaoh And he was not willing to release the people Therefore Pharaoh replied to him Get off from me And take care to yourself Never again to see my face For on the day you look again on my face You shall die When Moses answered As you have spoken right I never will look on your face again Chapter 11 Then the ever living said to Moses I will bring yet another blow upon Pharaoh And upon the Mitsarayim After which he will release you They all will release you driving you from there Therefore privately instruct the people That they must demand every man from his neighbor And every woman from her neighbor Articles of silver and articles of gold The ever living also gave the people favor In the eyes of the Mitsarites For the man Moses was very powerful In the land of Mitsar In the eyes of the ministers of Pharaoh And in the eyes of the people After that Moses proclaimed Thus says the ever living At midnight I will pass through the land of the Mitsarayim And kill all the firstborn in the land of Mitsar From the firstborn of Pharaoh who sits upon the throne To the firstborn of the slave who sits behind the mill As well as the firstborn of the cattle And a great cry will go up from all the land of Mitsar When these are not and those are perished But from all the children of Israel There shall not be hurt a dog's tongue That you may know that the ever living Distinguishes between the Mitsarites And Israel Then all your ministers shall descend And bow down to me saying Go away you with all the people who are following you And after that I will depart Thus he went from before Pharaoh in burning anger Then the ever living said to Moses Since Pharaoh will not listen to you I will increase my evidences in the land of the Mitsarayim Therefore Moses and Aaron affected All these evidences before Pharaoh Yet the ever living hardened the heart of Pharaoh And he would not release the children of Israel from his country Chapter 12 Consequently the ever living spoke to Moses And to Aaron in the land of the Mitsarayim Commanding This month shall be to you the chief month It shall be the first month of the year to you Speak to all the families of Israel Commanding that in the tenth month They shall take for themselves each one A lamb for a father's house A lamb for a family But if the family is too small for a lamb Then let him and the neighbor to his house According to the number of persons who are to eat Share in the lamb It must be a perfect he lamb of a year You may take it from the sheep or from the goats And you must keep it by you until the 14th day of this month Then kill it All the assembly of the families of Israel Must kill it between the dusks Then they shall take the blood and sprinkle upon the two doorposts And upon the lintel of the houses where they eat it And they shall eat the flesh in that night roasted with fire They shall eat it with unfermented bread and bitter herbs They shall not eat any of it parboiled Or boiled in a boiler But only roasted with fire Its head and limbs and ribs And they shall not reserve any of it till the morning But what is left of it at the morning They shall consume with fire And they shall eat it in this way Gurt with their belts Their shoes on their feet And their sticks in their hands And they shall eat it rapidly It is a passing over to the everliving For I will pass through the land of the Mitsorayim In that night and strike all the firstborn Of the Mitsorites from man to beast Upon all the gods of the Mitsorites Also I will execute judgment I the everliving But the blood upon your houses Shall be a safeguard to you that you are there When I see the blood Then I will pass over you And there shall not be a life injured In my destruction of the land of the Mitsorayim Therefore this day shall be to you For a remembrance and a festival It shall be a festival to the everliving In your generations and ordinance forever You shall sanctify it You shall eat unfermented bread for seven days That is, in the first day You shall remove ferment from your houses For all who eat fermented bread then That person shall be excommunicated from Israel From the first day to the seventh day So the first day shall be proclaimed holy And the seventh day shall be proclaimed holy for you You shall not do any work upon them Except for what every person must eat You shall only do that Therefore guard these days of unfermented bread For on these days I let out your armies From the land of the Mitsorayim with power Consequently keep this period as an everlasting institution In your generations Beginning at the 14th day of the month at the dusk To eat fermented bread until the 21st of the month at dusk During seven days ferment shall not be brought into your houses For everyone eating a fermented bread That person shall be excommunicated from the families of Israel Whether a foreigner or a native of the country You shall not eat of any in your dwellings You shall eat biscuits Moses therefore proclaimed to all the magistrates of Israel Saying Blow the trumpet and select for yourselves a lamb for your families And kill the Passover And take a bunch of Hisop And dip it in the blood which ensues And sprinkle the lintel and the two doorposts With the blood which ensues And none of you shall go out from the door of his house until daybreak For at dusk the everliving will strike the Mitsuraites But when he sees the blood on the lintel and upon the two doorposts Then the everliving will pass over the door And will not allow injury to come to that house to strike it You shall also keep this command as an institution for you and your sons forever Also when you have arrived at the land which the everliving will give you As he promised You shall there also regard this service And when your children shall say to you What is this service for? You shall reply This is the sacrifice of the Passover to the everliving Who passed over the houses of the children of Israel in Mitsar When he struck the Mitsuraites and protected our houses Therefore the people shall bow down and worship So the children of Israel went and did as the everliving commanded to Moses and Aaron They did it When that midnight came The everliving struck all the firstborn in the land of the Mitsarayim From the firstborn of Pharaoh who sat upon the throne To the firstborn of the prisoner in the dungeon And all the firstborn of cattle Then Pharaoh and all his ministers arose in the night with all the Mitsuraites And there was a great shriek among the Mitsarayim For there was not a house in which there was not someone dead Consequently he sent to Moses and Aaron by night and said Rise up Go away from among my people Both yourselves and the children of Israel Go serve the everliving as he has commanded you And take your sheep and your cattle as you demanded and march But therefore bless me The Mitsaraites also pressed on the people to hasten them to go out from the country For they said We shall all be dead So the people took up the dough before it was fermented with yeast Rolled up in their knapsacks on their shoulders The children of Israel also had done as Moses ordered And had demanded from the Mitsaraites Ornaments of silver and articles of gold and clothing And the everliving gave them favor in the eyes of the Mitsaraites Thus they demanded from them and escaped from the Mitsarayim Then the children of Israel marched from Ramesses to the encampment About six hundred thousand men beside children Many strangers also went up with them and very great herds of sheep and cattle They also baked the dough which they had brought from the Mitsarayim into biscuits Before it was fermented For the Mitsaraites drove them and they were not able to ferment it As well as also being ordered not to do it Now the period of the residents of the children of Israel During which they stayed amongst the Mitsaraites was 430 years And it was at the end of the 430th year upon the self same day That all the armies of the everliving came out from the land of the Mitsarayim It is a night to be observed to the everliving For he brought them out from the land of the Mitsarayim It is the night, the night of observance to the everliving For all the children of Israel and their descendants The everliving had said to Moses and Aaron This is the feast of the Passover And son of a foreigner shall not eat it But every person bought with money when he has been circumcised May eat of it It shall be eaten by single families They shall not carry any of its flesh outside of the house And a bone of it shall not be broken Every family in Israel shall offer it And if there resides with you a foreigner And he would offer the Passover to the everliving Let him cause every male to be circumcised He may then approach to offer it When he shall be like a native of the country But any uncircumcised person shall not eat of it One law shall be for the native and for the foreigner who is among you So all the children of Israel did as the everliving commanded to Moses and Aaron They did it Thus it was on the self same day The everliving caused the children of Israel to go out from the land of the Mitzrayim With their armies Chapter 13 The everliving also commanded to Moses Consecrate to me every firstborn proceeding from every womb of the children of Israel Both of man and beast It is mine Therefore Moses said to the people Remember this day when you came out of the land of the Mitzrayim From the house of bondage For with a strong hand the everliving brought you from there So you shall not eat fermented bread The time when you came out was in the month of harvest Consequently when the everliving brings you to the land of the Canaanites And the Hittites and Amorites And the Hivites and the Jebusites Which he swore to give to you A land flowing with milk and honey Then you shall perform this service in this month For seven days you shall eat biscuits And on the seventh day shall be a festival to the everliving You shall eat biscuits for seven days And fermented bread shall not be seen with you Nor shall ferment be seen in all your boundaries You shall inform your children of this day saying This is for the passing over the everliving made for us In bringing us out from the Mitzrayim Thus it will be to you like a mark on your hand And as a remembrance between your eyes So that the reverence for the everliving may be before you For with a strong hand the everliving led you out from the Mitzrayim Therefore you shall observe this institution for a witness forever and ever And when the everliving has brought you to the land of Canaan Which he promised to you and to your fathers that he would give you Then you shall devote every firstborn of the womb to the everliving And every first offspring of cattle which shall come to you as a male to the everliving But every firstborn of an ass you shall redeem with a lamb Or if you do not redeem it then break its neck Every eldest male however of your children you shall redeem When any of your sons then shall ask you hereafter saying Why is this? You shall reply to him The everliving brought us out from the Mitzrayim with a strong hand from the house of bondage And when Pharaoh refused to release us Then the everliving slew all the firstborn in the land of the Mitzrayim From the firstborn of man to the firstborn of beast Therefore I sacrifice to the everliving all the first male offspring of the womb And all the firstborn of men I redeem Thus they will be like marks upon your hand And as frontlets between your eyes That with a strong hand the everliving brought you from Mitzar However when Pharaoh had released the people God did not conduct them out by way of the country of the Philistines Although it was the nearest For God said if I should conduct the people to the site of war They will return to the Mitzrayim Therefore God turned the people to the way by the desert of the sea of weeds The children of Israel however marched in readiness for a battle from the land of the Mitzrayim Moses also took the bones of Joseph with him For he had administered an oath to the children of Israel saying The everliving will visit you And you shall carry up my bones from here with you So they marched from the encampment And pitched on the borders of the desert And the everliving went before them by day in a pillar of cloud To direct them on the way And in a pillar of fire by night To light them in the way by day and night The pillar of cloud never departed by day Nor the pillar of fire by night from before the people Then the everliving spoke to Moses saying Command the children of Israel that they must turn and encamp before Between Migdal and the sea in front of Bal Zafan You shall encamp directly opposite the sea Upon which Pharaoh will exclaim That children of Israel have confused themselves as to the country The desert shuts them in And I will embolden the heart of Pharaoh and he will pursue you And then I will be honored by Pharaoh and by all his forces And the Mitzarites shall know that I am the everliving They accordingly did it When it was reported to the King of the Mitzarayim that the people had fled Then the heart of Pharaoh and of his ministers changed about the people And they said What is it that we have done? Why have we released the people from serving us? Consequently he had his own chariot harnessed And took his forces with him And took six hundred officers chariots And all the chariots of the Mitzarayim With three men upon each of them Thus the everliving emboldened the heart of Pharaoh King of the Mitzarayim And he pursued after the children of Israel But the children of Israel went out with a high hand The Mitzarites however pursued after them and came up with them And camped by the sea All the horse chariots of Pharaoh and his forces At Pai Hakairov before Bal Zafan As Pharaoh approached the children of Israel raised their eyes And saw the Mitzarites marching after them And they were terrified So the children of Israel cried out to the everliving And they said to Moses Because there were no graves among the Mitzarayim Have you brought us out from Mitzarayim into the desert to die? Was not this what we sent to you in Mitzar? Let us alone and we will serve the Mitzarites? For it is better for us to serve the Mitzarites Than that we should die in the desert Moses however replied to the people Fear not, stand still And you shall see the victory of the everliving Which he will affect for you today For although you see the Mitzarites today You shall not see them again forever and ever The Lord will fight with them and you shall keep silent The everliving then said to Moses Why do you cry to me? Command the children of Israel to march And you raise your staff and extend your hand over the sea When it will divide itself And the children of Israel can go through it As upon dry land But I myself will embolden the hearts of the Mitzarites And they shall follow after them Then I shall be honored by Pharaoh and by all his forces By his charioteers and horsemen And the Mitzarites shall learn that I am the everliving By my conquering over Pharaoh and his horsemen Then the messenger of God who went before the camp of Israel Marched and went behind them And the pillar of cloud also marched from before them And stood at their rear And went between the camp of the Mitzarites And the camp of Israel And became a cloud in darkness Even of the light of the night So that the one approached not to the other all the night When Moses stretched his hand over the sea The everliving caused a strong east wind to blow And rolled back the waters all that night And made the sea like dry land And made a plain in the waters Then the children of Israel passed through the sea On the dried up part And the waters were to them a protection On their right hand and upon their left The Mitzarites also pursued and went after them All the horse chariots of Pharaoh and his horsemen Into the midst of the sea But when the morning watch arrived The everliving looked down from the pillar of fire and cloud Onto the army of Mitzarayim And broke off the wheels from their chariots And confused the ranks of the drivers So that the Mitzarites exclaimed Let us fly from the presence of Israel For the everliving fights for them against the Mitzarites Then the everliving said to Moses Stretch out your hand over the sea And the waters shall return upon the Mitzarites Over their chariots and over their horsemen So Moses extended his hand over the waters And the waters returned at the beginning of the morning To their regular flow And the Mitzarites fled from their approach Thus the everliving overwhelmed the Mitzarites In the midst of the sea And the waters returned and struck the chariots and the horsemen And all the forces of Pharaoh that went after them into the sea Not one of them remained But the children of Israel went along upon the dry land In the midst of the sea And the water was a protection to them On the right and on the left Thus the everliving saved Israel at that time From the hand of the Mitzarites And Israel saw the Mitzarites dead on the shore of the sea And Israel also saw the great power By which the everliving dealt with the Mitzarites Therefore the people feared the everliving And trusted in the Lord and Moses is servant Chapter 15 Then Moses and the children of Israel sang this song to the everliving and said in Chorus I will sing to the Lord for with splendid power He has flung the horse and his rider into the sea I shout and sing to my God for from him comes my salvation He is my God and I rest upon him The God of my fathers and I will exalt him The Lord is a warrior his name is the life He whelmed Pharaoh's cars and his force in the sea And his generals sank in the sea of the weeds The breakers sucked to the deeps like stone Your right hand Lord is strong and glorious Your right hand Lord has crushed your foes And with grandeur destroyed your opponents You shot your fire it consumed them as chaff And the sea was filled by the breath of your mouth And they lay like heaps for the plunderers They curdled the waves in the heart of the sea I will pursue said the foeman Or take and plunder and sate my lust Draw my sword and my hand shall destroy them You blew with your wind and the sea overwhelmed And their princes sank like lead in the seas Who is like to the Lord among gods Who like him and his holy splendor In brightness and honor and powerful acts You extended your hand and the earth was shaken You lead in your love this people free And will bring in your might to your holy home The nations hearing it trembled Terror seized on Felistia's men The chiefs of Edom were also in terror The princes of Moab shook in their fear And the people of Canaan dissolved like a cloud Dread and terror upon them fell At your mighty power they stood like a stone Until your people Lord passed over Until your race had passed out redeemed Whom you brought and fixed as your own on your hill The place you had chosen Lord for your work To the temple all mighty your hands had made The Lord will reign forever and ever For the horse of Pharaoh went with his chariot And with his horsemen into the sea Where the Lord turned on them the flood of the waters But the children of Israel walked on the dry Through the midst of the sea Miriam the poetess also the sister of Aaron Took the timbrel in her hand And all the women followed her with timbrels and dances And Miriam responded to them Seeing to the Lord for gloriously triumphing He has flung the horse and his rider into the sea Moses afterwards marched the children of Israel From the Red Sea and departed from the desert of the wall And advanced three days into the desert But found no water Then they came to Mara But were unable to drink the waters of Mara For they were bitter Therefore Moses called it bitterness Then the people came to Moses to say Why have you done this? So he cried to the ever-living And the ever-living showed him a tree Which he put into the water And it sweetened it He gave it therefore the name of the pit of calamity And named it trial But he said If you will listen to the voice of your ever-living God And do what is right in his eyes And give your ears to his commands And keep all his institutions All the plagues which I laid upon the mitzerites I will not lay upon you For I am your ever-living restorer After that they came to Elim Where there were twelve springs of water And several palm trees So they encamped there by the springs Chapter 16 Then the children of Israel marched from Elim And came to Araf In the desert of Sin Which is between Elim and Sinai On the fifteenth day of the second month From their departure out of the land of the mitzerayim But all the families of the children of Israel Complained against Moses and Aaron in the desert And the children of Israel said to them Why do you kill us by the hand of the ever-living? In the land of the mitzerayim We sat by the flesh pots to gorging Why have you brought all the congregation To this desert to die of hunger? Therefore the ever-living said to Moses I will rain bread for them from the skies And the people shall go out to collect it day by day So that I may try if they will walk in my laws or no But upon the sixth day They must prepare what they bring in Which shall be twice as much as the daily portion Moses and Aaron consequently said to all the children of Israel Tomorrow morning you shall know that the ever-living Brought you out of the land of the mitzerayim For in the morning you shall see the power of the Lord By his listening to your complaints against the ever-living And us regarding what you have complained against us And, Moses continued, The ever-living will give you flesh to eat in the evening And bread in the morning to your fill Because the ever-living has heard your complaints That you have complained against him and us For you not only complain against us But against the Lord Then Moses said to Aaron Command all the families of the children of Israel To appear before the ever-living For he has heard their murmurs Consequently Aaron commanded all the families Of the children of Israel And they presented themselves in the desert And saw the splendor of the ever-living appear in the cloud Then the ever-living spoke to Moses, saying I have heard the complaints of the children of Israel Speak to them and say In the evening you shall eat flesh And in the morning you shall be filled with bread So that you may know that I am your ever-living God When evening arrived, therefore, quails came up And covered the camp And in the morning a layer of dew surrounded the camp But when the layer of dew exhaled From the surface of the desert, grains like scales Grains like whorefrost covered the ground When the children of Israel saw it They said each to his brother Manhua For they did not know what it was But Moses said to them This is the bread which the ever-living has given for you to eat And this is the thing that he commands You are to collect each of you according to his requirements A Homer for each individual member of the living persons That you entertain in your tents The children of Israel accordingly did so And collected it from the desert much and little But when they measured by the Homer There was no excess to the much or deficiency to the little Each had according to the consuming mouths For Moses had said to them Let not any remain until the morning But some listened not to Moses But reserved it by them until the morning When it bred worms Moses however was angry with them Therefore they collected it morning by morning According to the consuming mouths For when the sun arose it melted But when the sixth day came They collected a double quantity of bread Two homers to each And all the heads of families came to Moses And reported it When he replied to them That is what the ever-living commanded You shall rest a holy rest to the ever-living tomorrow What you have to bake Bake it And what you have to boil Boil it And all the remainder keep by you until the morning So they laid it up until the morning as Moses commanded And it did not stink and worms were not in it Then Moses said Eat it today For today is a rest to the ever-living You shall not go out into the field You shall collect it six days But the seventh day is a rest You shall not do it then Yet it happened that on the seventh day a man went out to collect But he found none The ever-living therefore said to Moses Until when shall I entreat them to observe my commands and laws Let them see that the ever-living has given them the rest For he has given to them on the sixth day Bread for two days Let each stay at his home Let none go out from the camp on the seventh day So the people stayed at home on the seventh day Thus the house of Israel called it man And it was like a seed of coriander, white, and the taste of it like cakes and honey Moses also said This is the rule that the ever-living commands to be practiced continually To be kept for your generations So that you may see the bread which I caused you to eat in the desert Whilst I brought you out from the land of Mitzar Therefore Moses said to Aaron Take a basket and put into it a full homer of manna And place it before the presence of the ever-living to preserve for their posterity So as the ever-living commanded to Moses Aaron laid it up in the presence as a witness in the treasury And the children of Israel ate the manna for forty years Until they came to the land to rest They ate the manna until they came to the border of the land of Canaan The end of chapters 9 through 16 of the Book of Exodus Recording by Mark Penfold Chapters 17 through 24 of the Book of Exodus From the Holy Bible in Modern English This LibriVox recording is in the public domain Recording by Mark Penfold The Holy Bible in Modern English Translated by Farrar Fenton The Book of Exodus Chapters 17 through 24 Chapter 17 Afterwards the whole body of the children of Israel Marched from the desert of Sin by stages at the command of the Lord And encamped in exhaustion for there was no water to quench the people's thirst There the people contended with Moses saying Give us water and quench our thirst Moses however replied Why do you mutiny against me? Why do you try the ever-living? But the people thirsted then for water And the people complained against Moses and said Why did you bring us out from Mitzar to kill us With our children in cattle with thirst? Then Moses cried to the ever-living saying What shall I do with these people? For they are ready to stone me But the ever-living answered Moses Pass along before the face of the people And take with you the magistrates of Israel Take also in your hand the rod With which you struck the river and march I will stand before your face there at the rock in the waist And you shall strike upon the rock And water shall come out of it and quench the people And Moses did so in sight of the nobles of Israel And named the spot trial and strife Because of the dispute with the children of Israel And because of their trial of the ever-living saying Does the ever-living exist with us or not? The Amalekites at this time came with Arephidites And made war with Israel Consequently Moses said to Joshua Choose your own men and go out to fight With the Amalekites tomorrow And I will stand on the top of the hill With the rod of God in my hand Joshua therefore did as Moses said to him And fought with Emilec But Moses and Aaron and Hur went up to the top of the hill And when Moses held up his hand Israel became victorious But when he lowered his hand Amalek was victor So when the hand of Moses became weary They took a stone and placed it under him And he rested upon it And Aaron and Hur supported his hand First one and then the other So that his hand was stretched out until sunset When Joshua defeated Amalek and his people By the edge of the sword The ever-living afterward said to Moses Write this and record it in a book And instruct Joshua that I will plot The memory of Amalek from under the skies Moses then built an altar and called its name The Throne of the Ever-living And he said With the hand upon the throne of Jacob Fight Amalek for the Lord from age to age Chapter 18 When Jethro the priest of Midian The father-in-law of Moses Heard all that God had done for Moses And for Israel his people How the ever-living had led Israel out of Mitzar Then Jethro the father-in-law of Moses Took Zephora the wife of Moses Who had sent her back and her two sons The name of the first was Gersham For he said I have been a stranger in a strange land And the name of the other Eliezer For the God of my fathers has been a comfort And refuge to me from the sword of Pharaoh So Jethro the father-in-law of Moses Brought his two sons and his wife to Moses In the desert where the Mount of God is And he said to Moses I Jethro your father-in-law Have come to you with your wife and two sons with me Then Moses went out to meet his father-in-law And bowed to him and kissed him And they mutually inquired after their health Then they came to the tent Moses there related to his father-in-law All that the ever-living had done to Pharaoh And to the Mitzarayim on account of Israel All the troubles which met them on the road And how the ever-living delivered them And Jethro was glad at all the good Which the ever-living had done to Israel And his redemption of them from the hand of the Mitzarayim So Jethro said Bless the ever-living who has delivered you From the hand of the Mitzarayim and from the hand of Pharaoh And who has delivered this people from under the hand of the Mitzarites Now you can perceive how much greater the ever-living is Than all their gods by the events with which he overwhelmed them Then Jethro the father-in-law of Moses Took burnt offerings and sacrifices to God And Aaron and all the nobles of Israel came and dined With the father-in-law of Moses before God The next day, however, Moses sat to administer justice to the people And Moses remained from morning to evening And the father-in-law of Moses saw all that he did for the people and said What is this business that you do for the people? Why do you sit alone and all the people standing before you from morn till night When Moses replied to his father-in-law Because all the people come to me to inquire of the ever-living Whoever among them has a dispute comes to me And I decide between man and man And I make known the decision of God and his laws But the father-in-law Moses answered him The practice that you follow is not good You are not prudent nor are these people who are with you For their affairs are more than you are able to bear alone Therefore listen to my voice I will advise you and God will be with you Let now the people appear before God and bring their affairs to God And instruct them in the decisions of his laws And inform them the way they should walk in and the acts they should do Also choose for yourself from all the people Strong men who fear God and hate bribes And place over them as chiefs of thousands Chiefs of hundreds, chiefs of fifties, and chiefs of tens And let them judge the people at all times And let only all the great affairs be brought to you But let them judge all the little matters and thus ease yourself For they load you If you do this and God confirms it Then you can appoint it and all these people can arrange their affairs with ease Moses consequently listened to the suggestion of his father-in-law And did all that he said Moses therefore chose strong men from all Israel And placed them as heads over the people Chiefs of thousands and chiefs of hundreds and chiefs of tens And they judged the people at all times in their affairs Bringing the difficult matters to Moses But in the small affairs they decided for themselves Moses afterwards took leave of his father-in-law Who went to his own country Chapter 19 At the third month from the coming out of the land of the Mitzorayim On that day they came to the desert of Sinai Then the Refadim also marched and came to the desert of Sinai And encamped in the desert Israel also encamped there near the hill Then Moses went up to God And the ever-living called to him from the hill Saying, Say this to the house of Jacob And inform the children of Israel You have seen what I did to the Mitzorayim And lifted you on the wings of eagles And brought you to me So now if you will listen to my voice and keep my laws Then you shall be to me a peculiar people More than all the peoples of the earth And you shall be to me a royal priesthood And a holy nation These are the words you shall speak to the children of Israel Moses consequently went and assembled the nobles of the people And set before them the whole of these promises As the ever-living commanded And all the people answered at once and said We will do all the ever-living commands Then Moses reported the declaration of the people to the ever-living And the ever-living replied to Moses Now I will come to you In a cloud of fire I will pass by The people shall hear me talk with you And also I will remain with you always Then Moses reported the declaration of the people to the ever-living When the ever-living replied to Moses Go to the people and sanctify them today And tomorrow and wash their clothes And on the third day let them assemble For on the third day the ever-living will descend In the sight of all the people upon Mount Sinai But you shall keep the people at a distance around By ordering Take care that you do not go up to the hill or touch its skirts All who touch the hill shall die Whether a beast or a man let them not touch it with the hand Or they shall be stoned with stones or pierced with a dart They shall not live who approach to ascend the hill Consequently Moses descended from the hill to the people And sanctified the people and they washed their clothing And he said Restrain yourselves for three days not to touch a woman When the third day came to the daybreak There were voices and lightnings and a heavy cloud over the hill And the sound of a powerful trumpet So that all the people in the camp trembled Then Moses brought out from the camp all the people to meet God And stationed them below the hill And the hill of Sinai smoked all over its surface When the ever-living descended upon it in fire And its smoke went up like the smoke of a smelting furnace And the whole hill trembled greatly And there was the continuous sound of a trumpet But Moses very boldly spoke and God answered him by voice Then the ever-living descended on to the hill of Sinai On to the top of the hill And the ever-living called Moses to the top of the hill And Moses ascended Then the ever-living said to Moses Descend at once to the people for fear they should break through To see and numbers fall before me Let the priests also who sacrificed to the ever-living Sanctify themselves lest the Lord afflict them But Moses replied to the ever-living The people cannot ascend the hill of Sinai For you commanded us saying Go a distance from the hill and sanctify yourselves The ever-living however answered him Go, descend and return You and Aaron with you But the priests and the people must not attempt to ascend To the Lord lest he afflict them So Moses descended to the people and spoke to them Chapter 20 Then the ever-living dictated all these commands and said I am your ever-living God Who brought you out from the Mitsarayim From the house of bondage There shall be no other God to you except myself You shall not make for yourselves any image Or likeness of anything that is in the heavens above Or that is upon the earth beneath Or that is in the waters lower than the earth You shall not worship them or serve them For I your ever-living God am a jealous God Visiting the sins of the fathers upon the children To the third and fourth generation of those who hate me But I show mercy for thousands to those who love me And keep my commandments You shall not take the name of your ever-living God in vain For the Lord will not hold guiltless the taking of his name in vain Remember the seventh day to keep it holy Six days you may labor and do all your business But the seventh day is a rest to your ever-living God You shall not then do any business You or your son or your daughter Your manservant or your maidservant or your cattle Or your stranger who is within your gates For in six ages the ever-living made the heavens and the earth The sea and all that is in them But rested at the seventh age Therefore the ever-living blessed the seventh day and hallowed it Honor your father and your mother That your days may be long in the land which the ever-living God will give to you You shall not murder You shall not commit adultery You shall not steal You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor You shall not covet your neighbor's house You shall not covet your neighbor's wife Or his manservant or his maidservant Or his ox or his ass or anything that is your neighbor's And all the people perceived the sounds and the flamings and the trumpet voice And the smoke from the mountain So the people feared and shooken themselves and stood at a distance And said to Moses, You speak with us and we can listen But let not God speak with us For fear we should die Moses however answered to the people Fear not, for God has come to you to try you And to test whether you will fear him hence forward and not sin So the people stood afar off But Moses approached the thick darkness where God was Then the ever-living said to Moses Say this to the children of Israel You have seen that from the heavens I have spoken with you Never make for yourselves a God of silver or a God of gold You shall not make them for yourselves You shall make an altar of earth for me And you shall offer upon it your sacrifices and your thank offerings Your sheep and your oxen In every place where I record my name I will come to you and bless you But if you make an altar of stone to me It shall not be of cut stones For if you carve with a cutter upon it Then it will be polluted And you shall not pile up pyramids for an altar So that your nakedness may not be discovered when you go up to it Chapter 21 Now these are the decrees which you shall put before them A servant shall serve six years servitude And in the seventh he shall go out to freedom If he is single he shall go out single If he has a wife his wife shall go out with him But if his master has given him a wife And she has born sons or daughters to him The wife and her children which she has born Shall be long to the master and he shall go away single If however the servant says I like my master, my wife, and my children He shall not go into freedom But his master shall present him to the magistrates And station him at the door or at the doorposts And his master shall pierce his ear with an awl And he shall serve continuously If a man sells his daughter to be a mother She should not go as if going into slavery If she is not pleasing in the eyes of her master When he has not known her Then he shall free her to her own people without a payment He shall not have power to sell her Because of his treachery to her But if she has borne a child to him Then he shall treat her according to the law about wives If he takes another to her He shall not diminish her share for clothing and conjugal rights And if a third to these He shall not send her away destitute without money Whoever assails a man and he dies He shall be put to death But if he did not lie in wait But his stroke came from God Then you shall provide a place where he may fly If however a man plans against his neighbor to murder him Then you shall take him from my altar to kill him And whoever assaults his father or his mother He shall be killed Whoever steals a man and sells him When he is caught he shall be put to death Whoever curses his father or mother He shall be put to death And when men contend And a man assaults his neighbor with a stone or a clod But he does not die yet is reduced to his bed If he recovers and can walk out upon his crutch And he escapes from the injury except his loss of time He shall be compensated and the physician paid for his cure And if a man strikes his slave or his maid servant with his stick And he dies under his hand They shall be avenged Yet if these continue a day or some days They shall not be avenged for they were his property And when two persons quarrel and they strike a pregnant woman And her child comes out and mischief does not ensue He shall be fined according to what is laid upon him To compensate the woman and that shall be fixed by the judges But if mischief ensues You shall inflict life for life Eye for eye Tooth for tooth Hand for hand Foot for foot Mark for mark Mutilation for mutilation Wound for wound Blow for blow And if any man strikes his slave in the eye So that his eye becomes blind He shall let him go free instead of his eye And if a tooth from his slave So that the tooth is destroyed In compensation he shall set him free instead of his tooth And if a bullock butts a man and the man dies You shall stone the bullock and not eat of its flesh But destroy the bullock for nothing But if the bullock were accustomed to butt formerly And his owner knew it and did not guard it And it kills a man or a woman The bullock shall be stoned and the owner put to death But if a fine is laid upon him He shall pay it and his life be free from all Because of the fine laid upon him Whether a man or a woman is butted It shall be done according to this decree If a slave man or woman is butted by a bullock Thirty shekels of silver shall be given to their master And the bullock be stoned And if a man opens a well or digs a well And does not cover it And an ox or an ass shall fall into it Because of the well he shall pay a money fine to its owner And the dead shall be his And if the bullock of a man gores the bullock of his neighbor And it dies Then they shall sell the living bullock and divide the money And they shall also divide the dead But if its master know that the bullock gored formerly And he did not guard it He shall compensate with a bullock for the bullock And the dead shall be to him If a man steals a bullock or a sheep And slaughters it or sells it He shall compensate with five bullocks in place of the ox Or four sheep in place of the sheep Chapter 22 If a thief is found breaking in And is struck and dies There is not blood guilt for him If the sun was shining on him He may redeem his blood If he has nothing Then he shall be sold for stealing If you find his theft in his hand as a bullock Or an ass or sheep alive He shall be fined by two If the farm or vineyard of a man is burnt And ruffians from his village burn his farm Or part of his farm Or a part of his vineyard It shall be compensated If you make a fire and it fires the bushes And consumes the standing corn Or a homestead or a farm It shall be compensated from the burner to the burnt Whoever places with his neighbor money Or goods as trustee And they are stolen upon the premises of that person If the thief is discovered He shall repay twice as much If the thief is not found Then the master of the premises Shall approach the house of God And swear he has not put his hand Upon the property of his neighbor Upon anything lost Upon ox or ass or sheep or clothing Or anything strayed And shall say that as a witness to God He brings twice as much as was lost to God He shall recompense his neighbor double If a man entrusts to his neighbor an ass Or ox or sheep or any cattle To take care of And it dies or is torn Or tears out of his sight There shall be an oath to the Lord Between the two That he has not put his hand Upon the property of his neighbor And its owner shall take it And not be compensated But if it has been stolen from him He shall compensate its owner If it is torn He shall bring the torn pieces as a proof He shall not compensate And if a man hires it of his neighbor And it is broken or dies And its owner is not with it He shall be compensated If its owner is with it He shall not be compensated If it was hired He went for the wages And if a man seduces a girl Who has not been betrothed to him And lies with her so that she conceives She shall be his wife But if her father is unwilling To give her to him He shall pay money as a dowry for the girl She shall not live as a slave Whoever lies with a beast Shall be put to death No sacrifice shall be burnt to gods Except to the ever living only You shall not persecute or oppress foreigners For you were foreigners In the land of the Mitsurayim You shall not annoy any widow or orphan If you wrong them so that they cry to me I shall hear their cry And my anger will burn And I will slay you by the sword And your own wives shall be widows And your own children orphans If you lend money to my people My poor among you You shall not be to them like a usurer You shall not put upon them usury If your neighbor deposits with you As a pledge a garment At the setting of the sun You shall return it to him For it is his only covering With which he clothes his body In which he lies down And it may be he will cry to me When I will hear, for I am merciful You shall not blaspheme God And shall not curse the princes of your nation You shall not delay to give to me The first produce of your farm and vineyard You shall do the same with your cow and your sheep It shall be seven days with its mother And on the seventh day you shall give it to me As you shall be holy men to me You shall not eat of torn flesh That has been torn in the field You must throw it to the dogs Chapter 23 You shall not make a false oath You shall not set your hand to commit fraud You shall not be a false witness You shall not go with a powerful to do wrong And you shall not plead for the powerful To make excuse for their wrong doing And you shall not turn away from the poor man When he pleads When you meet with the cow Or ass of your enemy straying You shall take it back to him When you see the ass of your enemy fallen under its load And you can cease and free it for him You shall help to free it with him You shall not pervert justice from the destitute When he pleads Keep far off from false pretense You shall not kill the innocent and the righteous For I will not acquit the wicked And you shall not receive bribes For bribes blind open eyes And pervert the words of the righteous And you shall not oppress a foreigner For you know the feelings of a foreigner Since you are foreigners in the land of the Mitsarayim For six years you shall sow the earth And gather its produce But in the seventh you shall manure it And spread it out And the destitute of your people shall eat And the rest the animals of the field shall eat You shall do the same with your vineyards And olive plantations Six days you shall do all your business But the seventh day you shall rest So that your ox and your ass may take comfort And your servants and foreigners refresh themselves And all that I say to you you shall regard For you shall not remember a name of other gods And it shall not be heard from your mouth Three times in a year you shall make a festival to me The feast of unfermented bread you shall keep for seven days You shall eat biscuits as I commanded you At the season of the month of harvest For in it you came out of Mitsar And you did not see my presence in vain And you shall make the feast of the first fruits of harvest When you sow in the field And the feast of harvest home at the end of the year When you gather in your produce from the fields Three times in the year all your men shall come before me The almighty Lord You shall not sacrifice with fermented bread A blood sacrifice to me And the fat of my feast shall not be kept till the morning The best of the first fruits of your ground You shall bring to the hand of your ever-living God You shall not boil a kid in its mother's milk Then I will send my messenger before your face To guard you in your way And to bring you to the place where I will fix you Regard his presence and listen to his voice Grieve him not that he may not rise to punish you For my power is around him But if you listen to his voice and do all that I shall command Then I will love you But I will distress your distressors For my messenger shall march before you And bring you to the Emirates And the Hittites And the Parasites And the Canaanites And the Hivites And the Jebusites And destroy them You shall not worship their gods And not serve them And you shall not make like them But you shall destroy And you shall break their pillars And you shall serve your ever-living God And he will bless your bread and your water And will turn war away from around you You shall not be childless and sterile in your land You shall fulfill your days I will send my terror before your face And will terrify every nation when you arrive at them And I will make all your enemies to turn their back to you And I will send the destroyer before you And drive out the Hittites And the Canaanites And the Hivites from before your approach I will not drive them away in a year from before you Lest the earth should become waste And the beasts of the field should increase upon you I will drive them out little by little before you Until you multiply and can inherit the country And your two boundaries shall be from the sea of weeds At the sea of Philistia Through the desert to the river Which I will give to your hand And I will drive the inhabitants of the country From before you You shall not make a treaty with them Or a covenant with their gods They shall not reside in your land For fear they would cause you to sin against me So that you would serve their gods For I am the ever-living For you to reverence Chapter 24 Then it was commanded to Moses Go up to the Lord, you and Aaron, Nadab and Abihu And seventy of the princes of Israel And let them worship at a distance But Moses shall approach alone to the ever-living For they must not approach Nor the people go up with him So Moses went and reported to the people The whole of the commands of the ever-living And the whole of his decrees When all the people answered with one voice and said All the commands which the ever-living commands We will do Moses afterwards wrote down all the commands of the Lord And arose in the morning and built an altar under the hill And twelve pillars for the twelve tribes of Israel And he commissioned representatives of the children of Israel Who went out and offered burnt offerings And sacrificed peace offerings to the ever-living Moses also took part of the blood and put it in basins And part of the blood he sprinkled upon the altar Then he took the Book of the Covenant And read it in the hearing of the people And they said All that the ever-living has commanded We will do and listen to Moses consequently took the blood And sprinkled it upon the people and said This is the blood of the Covenant Which the ever-living has settled with you In all these commands Afterwards Moses, Aaron, Nadab, and Abihu And the seventy princes of Israel went up And saw the God of Israel And under his feet was like the dazzle of sapphire stones And the splendor of the clear sun But upon the nobles of the children of Israel He did not extend his hand They however gazed upon God And they ate and drank Then the ever-living said to Moses Come up to the mountain to me and stay there And I will give you stone slabs With the laws and commandments which I have written For your instruction Therefore Moses arose with Joshua his attendant And Moses went up the mount to God But the princes said Let us remain here until you return to us And also Aaron and who are with us Why should the words of the ever-living come to us? Consequently Moses ascended the hill And a cloud covered the hill And the splendor of the ever-living Rested upon the hill of Sinai And the cloud covered it six days Then he called to Moses on the seventh day Out of the cloud And the glory of the ever-living appeared Like a consuming fire on the head of the mountain To the eyes of the children of Israel Moses therefore went into the midst of the cloud And ascended the hill And Moses was upon the hill Forty days and forty nights The end of chapters 17 through 24 Of the book of Exodus Recording by Mark Penfold