SECT. XXVI. PHARAO REFUSES TO LET THE ISRAELITES GO, AND Moses and Aaron before Pharao.—After these things Moses Exodus v. and Aaron went in, and said to Pharao: Thus saith the Lord 1-9. God of Israel: Let My people go that they may sacrifice to Me in the desert. But he answered: Who is the Lord, that I should hear His voice, and let Israel go? I know not the Lord, neither will I let Israel go. And they said: The God of the Hebrews hath called us, to go three days' journey into the wilderness and to sacrifice to the Lord our God: lest a pestilence or the sword fall upon us. The king of Egypt said to them: Why do you, Moses and Aaron, draw off the people from their works? Get you gone to your burdens. And Pharao said: The people of the land is numerous: you see that the multitude is increased: how much more if you give them rest from their works? Therefore he commanded the same day the overseers of the works, and the task-masters of the people, saying: You shall give straw no more to the people to make brick, as before: but let them go and gather straw. And you shall lay upon them the task of bricks, which they did before, neither shall you diminish any thing thereof: for they are idle, and therefore they cry, saying: Let us go and sacrifice to our God. Let them be oppressed with works, and let them fulfil them: that they may not regard lying words. The Israelites oppressed. And the overseers of the works Exodus v. and the task-masters went out and said to the people: Thus 10-23. saith Pharao: I allow you no straw: go, and gather it where you can find it: neither shall any thing of your work be diminished. And the people were scattered through all the land of Egypt to gather straw. And the overseers of the works pressed them, saying: Fulfil your work every day as before you were wont to do when straw was given you. And they that were over the works of the children of Israel were scourged by Pharao's taskmasters, saying: Why have you not made up the task of bricks both yesterday, and to-day, as before? And the officers of the children of Israel came, and cried out to Pharao, saying: Why dealest thou so with thy servants? Straw is not given us, and bricks are required of us as before: behold we thy servants are *To mix up with the clay and make it cohere better. The bricks were not burnt in kilns, but dried in the sun. Exodus VI. 1-12. beaten with whips, and thy people is unjustly dealt withal. And he said: You are idle, and therefore you say: Let us go and sacrifice to the Lord. Go therefore, and work: straw shall not be given you, and you shall deliver the accustomed number of bricks. And the officers of the children of Israel saw that they were in evil case, because it was said to them: There shall not a whit be diminished of the bricks for every day. And they met Moses and Aaron, who stood over-against them as they came out from Pharao and they said to them: The Lord see and judge, because you have made our savour to be abhorred before Pharao and his servants, and you have given him a sword, to kill us. And Moses returned to the Lord, and said: Lord, why hast Thou afflicted this people? wherefore hast Thou sent me? For since the time that I went in to Pharao to speak in Thy name, he hath afflicted Thy people: and Thou hast not delivered them. And the Lord said to Moses: Now thou shalt see what I will do to Pharao: for by a mighty hand shall he let them go, and with a strong hand shall he cast them out of his land. And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying: I am the Lord, that appeared to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, by the name of God Almighty; and My name ADONAI* I did not show them. And I made a covenant with them, to give them the land of Canaan, the land of their pilgrimage wherein they were strangers. I have heard the groaning of the children of Israel, wherewith the Egyptians have oppressed them: and I have remembered My covenant. Therefore say to the children of Israel: I am the Lord who will bring you out from the work-prison of the Egyptians, and will deliver you from bondage, and redeem you with a high arm, and great judgments. And I will take you to Myself for My people, I will be your God: and you shall know that I am the Lord your God, who brought you out from the work-prison of the Egyptians: and brought you into the land, concerning which I lifted up My hand+ to give it to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and I will give it you to possess: I am the Lord. And Moses told all this to the children of Israel: but they did not hearken to him for anguish of spirit, and most painful work. And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying: Go in, and speak to Pharao, king of Egypt, that he let the children of Israel go out of his land. Moses answered before the Lord: Behold the chil *This is the ineffable name more commonly written Jehovah.' KENRICK. † Or swore, as an oath was taken with the form of lifting up the hand. dren of Israel do not hearken to me; and how will Pharao hear me, especially as I am of uncircumcised lips?* VII. 1-13. And the Lord said to Moses: Behold I have appointed thee Exodus the God of Pharao, and Aaron thy brother shall be thy prophet. Thou shalt speak to him all that I command thee; and he shall speak to Pharao, that he let the children of Israel go out of his land. But I will harden his heart+ and will multiply My signs and wonders in the land of Egypt, and he will not hear you and I will lay My hand upon Egypt, and will bring forth My army and My people the children of Israel out of the land of Egypt, by very great judgments. And the Egyptians shall know that I am the Lord, who have stretched forth My hand upon Egypt, and have brought forth the children of Israel out of the midst of them. And Moses and Aaron did as the Lord had commanded: so did they. And Moses was eighty years old, and Aaron eightythree, when they spoke to Pharao. And the Lord said to Moses and Aaron: When Pharao shall say to you, Show signs; thou shalt say to Aaron: Take thy rod, and cast it down before Pharao, and it shall be turned into a serpent. So Moses and Aaron went in unto Pharao, and did as the Lord had commanded. And Aaron took the rod before Pharao and his servants, and it was turned into a serpent. And Pharao called the wise men and the magicians; and they also by Egyptian enchantments and certain secrets did in like manAnd they every one cast down their rods, and they were turned into serpents: but Aaron's rod devoured their rods. And Pharao's heart was hardened, and he did not hearken to them, as the Lord had commanded. ner. The First Plague.—And the Lord said to Moses: Pharao's Exodus heart is hardened, he will not let the people go. Go to him in VII. 14-25. the morning, behold he will go out to the waters: and thou shalt stand to meet him on the bank of the river, and thou shalt take in thy hand the rod that was turned into a serpent. And thou shalt say to him: The Lord God of the Hebrews sent me to thee, saying: Let My people go to sacrifice to Me in the desert: and hitherto thou wouldst not hear. Thus therefore saith the Lord: In this thou shalt know that I am the Lord: behold I *So he calls his defective utterance or slowness of speech. † 'God speaks as if He caused the obduracy, which in His just counsels He permitted. S. Augustin observes that "God hardens not by infusing malice, but by withholding mercy."' KENRICK. Their leaders Jannes and Mambres or Jambres are referred to by S. Paul (2 Tim. iii.). The Egyptian magicians were and are still famous for the things they do, whether by jugglery or by aid of the devil. will strike with the rod that is in my hand the water of the river, and it shall be turned into blood. And the fishes that are in the river shall die, and the waters shall be corrupted, and the Egyptians shall be afflicted when they drink the water of the river. The Lord also said to Moses: Say to Aaron: Take thy rod, and stretch forth thy hand upon the waters of Egypt, and upon their rivers, and streams and pools, and all the ponds of waters, that they may be turned into blood: and let blood be in all the land of Egypt, both in vessels of wood and of stone. And Moses and Aaron did as the Lord had commanded: and lifting up the rod, he struck the water of the river before Pharao and his servants: and it was turned into blood. And the fishes that were in the river died: and the river corrupted, and the Egyptians could not drink the water of the river, and there was blood in all the land of Egypt. And the magicians of the Egyptians with their enchantments did in like manner: and Pharao's heart was hardened, neither did he hear them, as the Lord had commanded. And he turned himself away and went into his house, neither did he set his heart to it this time also. And all the Egyptians dug round about the river for water to drink, for they could not drink of the water of the river. And seven days were fully ended, after that the Lord struck the river. Exodus VIII. 1-15. SECT. XXVII. THE NEXT EIGHT PLAGUES. The Plague of Frogs.—And the Lord said to Moses: Go in to Pharao, and thou shalt say to him: Thus saith the Lord : Let My people go to sacrifice to Me. But if thou wilt not let them go, behold I will strike all thy coasts with frogs. And the river shall bring forth an abundance of frogs: which shall come up, and enter into thy house, and thy bed-chamber, and upon thy bed, and into the houses of thy servants, and to thy people, and into thy ovens, and into the remains of thy meats; and the frogs shall come in to thee, and to thy people, and to all thy servants. And the Lord said to Moses: Say to Aaron: Stretch forth thy hand upon the streams, and upon the rivers and the pools, and bring forth frogs upon the land of Egypt. And Aaron stretched forth his hand upon the waters of Egypt, and the frogs came up, and covered the land of Egypt. And the magicians also by their enchantments did in like manner, and they brought forth frogs upon the land of Egypt. But Pharao called Moses and Aaron, and said to them: Pray ye to the Lord* to take away the frogs from me and from my people; and I will let the people go to sacrifice to the Lord. And Moses said to Pharao : Set me a time when I shall pray for thee, and for thy servants, and for thy people, that the frogs may be driven away from thee and from thy house, and from thy servants, and from thy people; and may remain only in the river. And he answered: To-morrow. But he said: I will do according to thy word; that thou mayst know that there is none like to the Lord our God. And the frogs shall depart from thee, and from thy house, and from thy servants, and from thy people; and shall remain only in the river. : And Moses and Aaron went forth from Pharao and Moses cried to the Lord for the promise which he had made to Pharao concerning the frogs. And the Lord did according to the word of Moses and the frogs died out of the houses, and out of the villages, and out of the fields: and they gathered them together into immense heaps, and the land was corrupted. And Pharao, seeing that rest was given, hardened his own heart, and did not hear them, as the Lord had commanded. : The Plague of Sciniphs.—And the Lord said to Moses: Exodus Say to Aaron: Stretch forth thy rod, and strike the dust of the VIII. 16-19. earth and may there be sciniphs in all the land of Egypt. And they did so. And Aaron stretched forth his hand, holding the rod and he struck the dust of the earth, and there came sciniphst on men and on beasts: all the dust of the earth was turned into sciniphs through all the land of Egypt. And the magicians with their enchantments practised in like manner, to bring forth sciniphs, and they could not: and there were sciniphs as well on men as on beasts. And the magicians said to Pharao This is the finger of God. And Pharao's heart was hardened, and he hearkened not unto them, as the Lord had commanded. The Plague of Flies.-The Lord also said to Moses: Arise Exodus early, and stand before Pharao: for he will go forth to the VIII. 20-32. waters and thou shalt say to him: Thus saith the Lord: Let My people go to sacrifice to Me. But if thou wilt not let them go, behold I will send in upon thee, and upon thy servants, and upon thy houses all kind of flies: and the houses of the Egyptians shall be filled with flies of divers kinds, and the whole * By this it appears, that though the magicians, by the help of the devil, could bring frogs, yet they could not take them away, God being pleased to abridge in this the power of Satan. So we see they could not afterwards produce the lesser insects; and in this restraint of the power of the devil, were forced to acknowledge the finger of God. Lice, or perhaps gnats. |