Part 141 (1/2)

And the Lord said to Moses, ”Yet one plague more will I bring upon Pharaoh, and upon Egypt; afterwards he will let you go hence: when he shall let you go, he shall surely thrust you out hence altogether.

Speak now to the people, and let them ask every man of his neighbor, and every woman of her neighbor, jewels of silver, and jewels of gold.”

And the Lord gave the people favor in the sight of the Egyptians.

Moreover the man Moses was very great in the land of Egypt, in the sight of Pharaoh's servants, and in the sight of the people.

And Moses said, ”Thus saith the Lord, 'About midnight will I go out into the midst of Egypt: and all the firstborn in the land of Egypt shall die, from the firstborn of Pharaoh that sitteth upon his throne, even to the firstborn of the maidservant who grinds at the mill; and all the firstborn of cattle. And there shall be a great cry throughout all the land of Egypt, such as there hath been none like it, nor shall be like it any more. But against {173} any of the children of Israel shall not a dog move his tongue, against man or beast: that ye may know how that the Lord doth put a difference between the Egyptians and Israel.' And all these thy servants shall come down unto me, and bow down themselves unto me, saying, 'Get thee out, and all the people that follow thee: and after that I will go out.'” And he went out from Pharaoh in hot anger.

And the Lord said unto Moses, ”Pharaoh will not hearken unto you: that my wonders may be multiplied in the land of Egypt.”

And Moses and Aaron did all these wonders before Pharaoh: and the Lord hardened Pharaoh's heart, and he did not let the children of Israel go out of his land.

(After the ninth plague, the plague of darkness, came a tenth plague, the very worst of all, the description of which is given in another place.)

THE FEAST OF THE Pa.s.sOVER.

_The Israelites Make Ready for the March_.

And the Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt, saying, ”This month shall be unto you the beginning of months: it shall be the first month of the year to you. Speak ye to all the congregation of Israel, saying, 'In the tenth day of this month they shall take to them every man a lamb, according to their fathers' houses, a lamb for an household: and if the household be too little for a lamb, then shall he and his neighbor next unto his house take one according to the number of the souls. {174} Your lamb shall be without blemish, a male of the first year: ye shall take it from the sheep, or from the goats: and ye shall keep it up until the fourteenth day of the same month: and the whole a.s.sembly of the congregation of Israel shall kill it at even. And they shall take of the blood, and put it on the two side posts and on the lintel, upon the houses wherein they shall eat it. And they shall eat the flesh in that night, roasted with fire, and unleavened bread; with bitter herbs they shall eat it. Eat not of it raw, nor boiled with water, but roast with fire; its head with its legs and with the inwards thereof. And ye shall let nothing of it remain until the morning; but that which remaineth of it until the morning ye shall burn with fire.

”'And thus shall ye eat it; with your loins girded, your shoes on your feet, and your staff in your hand: and ye shall eat it in haste: it is the Lord's pa.s.sover. For I will go through the land of Egypt in that night, and will smite all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both man and beast; and against all the G.o.ds of Egypt I will execute judgments: I am the Lord. And the blood shall be to you for a token upon the houses where ye are: and when I see the blood, I will pa.s.s over you, and there shall no plague be upon you to destroy you, when I smite the land of Egypt.'”

{175}{176}

[Ill.u.s.tration]

THE VALLEY OF THE TOMBS OF THE KINGS, AT THEBES

Here the steep ramparts were divided by a tortuous cleft, which wound back with many cross fissures deep into the desert. The ravine was simply a chasm with perpendicular sides of naked rock. This was the valley of the Tombs of the Kings.

--”The Yoke”

[End ill.u.s.tration]

{177}

Then Moses called for all the elders of Israel, and said unto them, ”Draw out, and take you lambs according to your families, and kill the pa.s.sover. And ye shall take a bunch of hyssop, and dip it in the blood that is in the basin, and strike the lintel and the two side posts with the blood that is in the basin; and none of you shall go out of the door of his house until the morning. For the Lord will pa.s.s through to smite the Egyptians; and when he seeth the blood upon the lintel, and on the two side posts, the Lord will pa.s.s over the door, and will not suffer the destroyer to come in unto your houses to smite you. And ye shall observe this thing for an ordinance to thee and to thy sons for ever. And it shall come to pa.s.s, when ye be come to the land which the Lord will give you, according as he hath promised, that ye shall keep this service. And it shall come to pa.s.s, when your children shall say unto you, 'What mean ye by this service?' that ye shall say, 'It is the sacrifice of the Lord's pa.s.sover, who pa.s.sed over the houses of the children of Israel in Egypt, when he smote the Egyptians, and delivered our houses.'”

And the people bowed the head and wors.h.i.+ped. And the children of Israel went and did so; as the Lord had commanded Moses and Aaron, so did they.

10. THE PLAGUE OF THE DEATH OF THE FIRSTBORN.

And it came to pa.s.s at midnight, that the Lord smote all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, from the firstborn of Pharaoh that sat on his throne to the firstborn of the captive that was in the dungeon; and all the firstborn of cattle.

And Pharaoh rose up in the night, he, and all his servants, and all the Egyptians; and there was a great cry in Egypt; for there was not a house where there was {178} not one dead. And he called for Moses and Aaron by night, and said, ”Rise up, get you forth from among my people, both ye and the children of Israel; and go, serve the Lord, as ye have said. Take both your flocks and your herds, as ye have said, and be gone; and bless me also.”

And the Egyptians were urgent upon the people, to send them out of the land in haste; for they said, ”We be all dead men.”

And the people took their dough before it was leavened, their kneading troughs being bound up in their clothes upon their shoulders. And the children of Israel did according to the word of Moses; and they asked of the Egyptians jewels of silver, and jewels of gold, and raiment: and the Lord gave the people favor in the sight of the Egyptians, so that they let them have what they asked. And they took the spoil of the Egyptians.

OUT OF BONDAGE.