SECTIONXV.

 

BO ELPHAROH.

 

 

X. AND the Lord said to Mosheh, Go in unto Pharoh; for I have hardened his heart., and the heart of his servants, to set these My signs among them; and that thou mayest relate before thy son and the son of thy son the miracles which I wrought in Mizraim and the signs that I did set among them, that ye may know that I am the Lord. And Mosheh and Aharon entered unto Pharoh, and said to him, Thus saith the Lord the God of the Jehudaee, Until now thou hast obstinately refused to humble thyself before Me; send My people away, that they may serve Me. For if thou refuse to release My people, behold, to‑morrow I will bring the locust into thy borders, and he shall cover the eye of the sun of the earth, (or, shall hide the sun (which is) the eye of the earth,[1]) so that it will not be possible to see the ground; and he will devour the residue which hath been spared (saved) and that hath been reserved to you from the hail, and will devour every tree which groweth up for you from the field; and they shall fill thy house, and the houses of thy servants, and the houses of all the Mizraee, which thy fathers have not seen, nor the fathers of thy fathers, from the day they were upon the earth until this day. And he turned and went out from Pharoh.

 

And the servants ofPharoh said to him, How long shall this man be an injury (stumbling‑block)to us? Send the men away, that they may serve before the Lord their God.Knowest thou not yet that Mizraim hath perished? And Mosheh and Aharon weremade to return unto Pharoh; and he said to them; Go, serve before the Lord yourGod: (but) who and who shall go? And Mosheh said, With our young ones and withour old men will we go; with our sons and with our daughters, with our sheepand with our oxen, will we go; for we have a feast before the Lord. And he saidto them, So be the Word of the Lord in your help when I send you away and yourlittle ones: beware, for the evil that you are thinking to do will be turnedagainst your faces. Not so: but let the men go and serve before the Lord; forit was that which you demanded. And they were driven from before Pharoh.

 

       Andthe Lord said to Mosheh, Lift up thy hand over the land of Mizraim, that thelocusts may come, and go up on the land of Mizraim, and devour every herb ofthe earth, even all which the b hail hath left. And Mosheh stretched forth hisrod upon the land of Mizraim, and the Lord led an east wind upon the land allthat day and all the night; at morn the east wind bare the locust. And thelocust came up on all the land of Mizraim, and abode in all the boundary ofMizraim exceedingly strong. Before him the locust had never been like him norafterward will he be so; and he covered the eye of the sun of all the earth,and the earth was darkened; and he devoured every herb of the ground, and allthe fruit of the trees which the hail had left; and there did not remain anygreen on the trees nor herbage of the field in all the land of Mizraim. AndPharoh made haste to call Mosheh and Aharon, and said, I have sinned before theLord your God, and you. And now, forgive my sin only this time, and intercedebefore the Lord your God, that He may remove from me only this death. And theywent out from Pharoh, and prayed before the Lord. And the Lord turned a westwind exceedingly strong, and it carried the locust and drave him into the seaof Suph, nor did one locust remain in all the border of Mizraim. Yet the heartof Pharoh was hardened, and he would not send the sons of Israel away.

 

And the Lord said toMosheh, Uplift thy handtowards heaven,[2] and there shall be darkness[3]upon the land of Mizraim after the darkness of the night hath passed away. AndMosheh lifted up his hand towards heaven, and there was darkness of darkness inall the land of Mizraim three days: a man saw not his brother, nor did any manrise up from his place, three days. Yet, all the sons of Israel had light intheir dwellings. And Pharoh called Mosheh and said, Go, serve before the Lord;only leave your sheep and your oxen, your little ones also may go with you. ButMosheh said, Thou must give into our hands also the holy victims andholocausts, that we may serve before the Lord our God. Our cattle too shall gowith us, and there shall not remain any thereof; for of it we must take toserve the Lord our God, and we know not with what we have to do service beforeHim until we come thither. But the Lord hardened Pharoh's heart, and he was notwilling to send them away. And Pharoh said to him, Go from me. Beware forthyself. See my face no more; for in the day that thou seest my face thou shaltdie. And Mosheh said, Thou hast spoken well. I will see thy face no more.

 

XI. But the Lord said to Mosheh, Yet one plague will I bring upon Pharoh and upon Mizraim; after which he will send you hence. When sending away he thoroughly driving will drive you from hence. Speak now before the people of Israel that a man shall require of his companion, and a woman of her companion, vessels of silver and vessels of gold. And the Lord gave the people favour in the eyes of the Mizraee; also the man Mosheh was very great in the land of Mizraim, in the eyes of the servants of Pharoh and in the eyes of the people.

 

And Mosheh said, Thussaith the Lord, At the dividing of the night I will be revealed in the midst ofMizraim, and all the firstborn in the land of Mizraim shall die; from thefirstborn of Pharoh who would sit upon the throne of his kingdom, unto thefirstborn of the womanservant who is behind[4] the mills, and all thefirstborn of cattle. And there shall be a great cry in all the land of Mizraim,the like of which hath not been, nor will be the like of it again. But any oneof the sons of Israel no dog will hurt even with his tongue by barking, fromman and to beast, so that you shall know that the Lord hath distinguished betweenthe Mizraee and Israel. And all these thy servants shall come down to me, andbeseech of me, saying, Go forth, thou and all thy people who are with thee: andafter that I will go forth. And he went out from Pharoh with vehement anger.

 

And the Lord said toMosheh, Pharoh will not hearken to you; therefore will I multiply My wonders inthe land of Mizraim. And Mosheh and Aharon wrought all these wonders beforePharoh; but the Lord hardened Pharoh's heart, that he would not send thechildren of Israel from his land.

 

XII. And the Lordspake to Mosheh and Aharon in the land of Mizraim, saying, This month shall beto you the beginning of the months; the first, it shall be to you, of themonths of the year. Speak with all the congregation of Israel, saying, In thetenth of this month they shall take to them every man a lamb for the house of afather, a lamb for the house. And if the house be smaller than the numbering(required) for the lamb, let him take himself, and his neighbour who is nearestto his house, according to the number of the souls, every man according to themouth of his eating shall you count over the lamb. The lamb shall be perfect, amale, the son of a year; it shall be to you; from the sheep or from the goats[5]you may take it. And you shall have it in keeping till the fourteenth day ofthis month, and the whole church (kehala) of the congregation of Israel shall kill him betweenthe suns. And they shall take of the blood, and apply it upon the two posts andupon the lintel of the houses in which they eat him. And they shall eat theflesh in that night roasted with fire, and (with) unleavened cake with bittersyou shall eat him. You shall not eat of it while living, neither boiled withboiling in water, but roasted with fire; his head with his feet and hisinwards. And you shall not leave of it till the morning; and that which remainsof it till morning you shall burn in the fire. And thus shall you eat it; withyour loins girded, with your sandals on your feet, and your staves in yourhands, and you shall eat it in haste; it is the Pascha before the Lord. And Iwill appear in the land of Mizraim in that night, and will kill every firstbornin the land from man unto beast, and on all the idols of Mizraim I will executejudgment: I am the Lord. And the blood shall be for you a sign upon the houseswhere you are; and I will see the blood, and will have mercy upon you, andthere shall not be among you the destruction of death when I slay in the landof Mizraim. And this day shall be to you for a memorial, and you shallsolemnize it a festival before the Lord in your generations; an everlastingordinance (covenant) shall you solemnize it. And on the first day there shallbe an holy congregation, and on the seventh day an holy congregation shallthere be to you. Every kind of work may not be done in them; save what pertainsto the eating of every soul, that only may be done by you. And you shall keepthe (feast of the) Unleavened; for on this very day shall I have brought yourhosts out of the land of Mizraim, and you shall keep this day to all yourgenerations for ever.[6] In Nisan, on the fourteenth day ofthe month in the evening you shall eat unleavened, until the twenty and firstof the mouth in the evening. Seven days leaven shall not be found in your houses;for whosoever will eat of that which is leavened, that man shall perish fromthe congregation of Israel, of the stranger, or of the native of the land. Youshall eat no leavened (food), in all your dwellings you shall eat unleavened.

 

And Mosheh called forall the elders of Israel, and said to them, Draw out, and take to you from thesons of the flock for your families, and kill the pascha. And you shall take abundle of hyssop and dip it in the blood that is in the basin, and sprinkleupon the lintel and the two posts from the blood which is in the basin; and youshall not go forth from the door of your house[7] until the morning. Forthe Lord will be revealed to smite the Mizraee; and seeing the blood upon thelintel and upon the two posts, the Lord will be merciful upon the door, andwill not suffer the Destroyer (or destruction) to enter your houses to smite.And you shall observe the thing for an ordinance to thee and to thy sons forever. And it shall be, when you have entered into the land which the Lord willgive you as He hath said, that you shall (still) keep this service. And itshall be, when your children say to you, What is this service to you? you shallsay, It is a sacrifice for compassion before the Lord, because He hadcompassion on the house of the sons of Israel in Mizraim, when He smote theMizraee, but spared our houses. And the people bowed and worshipped. And thesons of Israel went and did as the Lord had commanded Mosheh and Aharon, so didthey.

 

And it came to pass atthe dividing of the night that the Lord slew all the firstborn in the land ofMizraim; from the firstborn of Pharoh who should sit on the throne of hiskingdom unto the firstborn of the captive in the house of the chained, and allthe firstborn of cattle. And Pharoh rose up in that night, and all his servantsand all the Mizraee; and there was a great cry in Mizraim, because there was nohouse in which there was not the dead. And he cried to Mosheh and to Aharon bynight, and said, Arise, go out from among my people, you and the sons ofIsrael, and go and serve before the Lord, as you have said. Your flocks andyour herds take also, as you have spoken, and go, and pray also for me. And theMizraee were forcible on the people to hasten to send them away; for they said,All of us are dead. And the people took their dough while not leavened,remaining in the kneading pans, bound with their clothes upon their shoulders.And the children of Israel did according to the word of Mosheh, and demanded ofthe Mizraee vessels of silver, and vessels of gold, and raiment. And the Lordgave the people favour in the eyes of the Mizraee, and they demanded of them,and left the Mizraee empty.[8]

 

       Andthe children of Israel journeyed from Ramases to Succoth; about six hundredthousand men on foot, besides children (or families); and a multitude ofstrangers also went up with them, and flocks and herds and very much cattle.And they baked the dough which they had brought out from Mizraim (into)unleavened cakes; for it had not been leavened, because they had been drivenout from Mizraim and could not stay, and they had not made provision. And thedwelling of the sons of Israel in their abode in Mizraim (was) four hundred andthirty years. And it was at the end of four hundred and thirty years, in thatsame day, that all the hosts of the Lord went forth from the land of Mizraim.It is a night to be kept before the Lord for bringing them forth from the landof Mizraim: this is that night before the Lord kept by all the children ofIsrael in their generations.

 

And the Lord said toMosheh and to Aharon, This is the rite of the Pascha. Every son of Israel whoapostatizes shall not eat of it; but every male servant bought with silver, andthou hast circumcised him, may eat thereof. A sojourner and a hireling shallnot eat thereof. In one company it shall be eaten. You shall not carry any ofthe flesh from the house without, and a bone shall not be broken in him. Allthe congregation of Israel shall do this. And when the sojourner who sojournethwith thee will perform the pascha before the Lord, every male of his shall becircumcised, and he may then approach and perform it; he shall be as one bornin the land, but none uncircumcised shall eat of it. One law shall there be forthe native and for the proselyte who sojourneth among you. And all the childrenof Israel did as the Lord commanded Mosheh and Aharon, so did they. And it wason the same day that the Lord led forth the sons of Israel from the land ofMizraim by their armies.

 

XIII. And the Lord spakewith Mosheh, saying, Sanctify unto Me all the firstborn. Every one whichopeneth the womb among the children of Israel, of man and of beast, that isMine. And Mosheh said to the people, Remember this day, in which you went forthfrom Mizraim from the house of servitude; for with a mighty hand hath the Lordbrought you forth from thence; and you shall not eat what is leavened. This dayhave you come out, in the month of Abiba. And it shall be when the Lord hathled thee into the land of the Kenaanaee and Hittaee and Emoraee and Hivaee andJebusaee, which He covenanted to thy fathers to give thee, a land producingmilk and honey, that thou shalt perform this service in this month. Seven daysthou shalt eat the (phatira) unleavened cake, and in the seventh day solemnize a feastbefore the Lord. The unleavened cake thou shalt eat seven days; that which isleavened shall not be seen with thee; the leavened thing shall not be seen withthee in all thy limits. And thou shalt teach thy son on that day, saying, (Itis) on account of that which the Lord did for me in bringing me out of Mizraim.And it shall be a sign to thee on thy hand, and for a memorial between thineeyes, that the Law of the Lord may be in thy mouth, for that with a mighty handdid the Lord bring thee forth from Mizraim: and thou shalt keep this ordinancein its season from time to time.

 

And it shall be, whenthe Lord hath brought thee into the land of the Kenaanaee, as He sware to theeand to thy fathers, and hath given it to thee, that thou shalt make overwhatsoever openeth the womb before the Lord; among the cattle which thou hastthe male shall be consecrate before the Lord. And every firstling of an assthou shalt ransom with a lamb; but if thou wilt not ransom it, thou shaltdestroy it; and every firstborn of man among thy children thou shalt ransom.And it shall be, when thy son shall ask thee to‑morrow, saying, Why isthis? thou shalt say to him, By a mighty hand the Lord brought us out ofMizraim from the houseof servitude. And it was when Pharoh was obdurate about letting us go away thatthe Lord slew all the firstborn in the land of Mizraim, from the firstborn ofman to the firstborn of cattle: therefore I sacrifice before the Lord of allthat openeth the womb, the males, and all the firstborn of my children Iransom. And it shall be for a sign upon thy hand and for Tephillin betweenthine eyes, because with a mighty hand hath the Lord brought thee out ofMizraim.