Chapter 18
Pharaoh called his chief superintendent and said to him: As to the Hebrew brick-makers, you shall no longer supply them with straw, but they shall gather stubble themselves, and they shall continue to make the same number of bricks. And as to the tillers of the soil, you shall no longer permit them to have cattle to draw the plows, but they shall draw the plows themselves, and they shall likewise break the same quantity of ground. And in this way the king put extra hardships upon the Israelites because he was angered at what Moses said.
Moses perceiving this, cried out to Jehovih, saying: O why did You send me before Pharaoh? Behold, matters are worse than before. Oh, if only I had guarded my tongue and been of persuasive speech!
Jehovih said to Moses: Do not rebuke yourself, for you have done My commands. And it shall come to pass now, what otherwise would not. For those Israelites who hesitated about going out of Egupt, will now decide for themselves as to what they will do. And the hardships that Pharaoh has newly added, shall be a blessing to your people.
And it came to pass that the Israelites went away from their taskmasters, and the rab’bahs sent them to the Heads; and the people of Israel were stirred up from one end of Egupt to the other. And as for the Eguptians, except the courtiers and nobles, they were likewise stirred up, but without any purpose or order; so that all the great land of Egupt had neither tillers nor builders; and cleanliness departed away from them; and the country stank like a dead carcass, so that insects and vermin filled all that air of heaven.
But the flesh of the Faithists was good; and vermin did not come upon them; nor were they stricken with fevers, or leprosy, or scabs, like the Eguptians.
Pharaoh ordered his army of two hundred thousand men to take the field, but lo and behold, they were scattered and afflicted so that they were only as vagrants, without head or discipline.
Jehovih spoke to Moses, saying: Now I will show her philosophers a miracle in the air above the earth. Have they not said: All things come up out of the earth? For they have tried every way to put Me aside, and to explain My creation away as an idle tale. They shall look and see the sun, and declare that in truth there is no cloud; but while they look up, they shall see a cloud high up in the heavens, a very black cloud, and it shall be broad as the land of Egupt. And it shall descend to the earth, and it shall prove to be locusts, come without any seed; and they shall be so numerous that in three days they will eat up every green leaf of every tree and herb in all the land. Nor shall they be like any other locusts that have been on the earth or ever shall be; for man shall comprehend that they are not of the seed of the earth.
Moses sent a herald with this prophecy to the king, and he added to it: Why have you put more hardships on my people? Do you not see that the evil you had hoped to accomplish has cured itself even before it came to pass? For now the Israelites do not work at all, and their taskmasters are left in the lurch. Again I call upon you to let my people go.
The king did not reply to this, but silently put his officers to work, drilling and equipping his armies and collecting them together; which, when Moses saw it, he understood to be the sign, as the Great Spirit had previously said, when the cloud would appear. And it came to pass on a very clear day, at noon, a cloud formed high up in the firmament, and it grew blacker and blacker, until it descended upon the earth; and it was locusts; and like a snowstorm they covered the land of the earth, in places to the depth of the shoes and ankles. And they hungered, eating every green leaf, and herb, and grass, so that in two days not a leaf could be found far or near. And on the third day, the hunger of the locusts remained unappeased, and they leapt upon the Eguptians, old and young, feeding upon their clothes, and even upon the flesh of the Eguptians.
And on the fourth day Jehovih caused a great wind to come, and it blew the locusts off into the sea. And again Moses sent heralds to the king, saying: Consider my words now and be wise. I have told you that the hand of the Creator is upon this land. In your heart you say: Moses is a fool! Only a windstorm fetched the locusts from a far-off country.
But I say to you, O king, this is not so. And you shall still further witness Jehovih’s power. For as the locusts came down out of the firmament, and you have a philosophy for the occurrence, behold, now another miracle shall come in another way: For frogs and reptiles shall suddenly come up out of the water, and they likewise shall be so numerous on the land that man shall not find a place to put his foot where it shall not tread upon them. And the first day they shall be harmless; but on the second day they shall crawl upon the people, and under their clothes, and in their houses; and on the third day they shall eat the flesh of the Eguptians. But they shall not touch one Hebrew in all the land.
Nor shall any man find where so many frogs and reptiles came from; for they shall not be like the seed of other frogs and reptiles. And on the fifth day all the frogs and reptiles shall suddenly disappear, neither by wind nor rain. But a stench, like rotten flesh, shall nearly suffocate the Eguptians to death.
Again I appeal to you, O king, to permit my people to depart out of Egupt in peace. This is the last time I shall solicit you. And if you do not answer me, then it shall come to pass that on the ninth day and night in the month of Abib, Jehovih will raise His hand over Israel; but as for Egupt, your Lord shall strike her in death. For on that night, in every family of Eguptians, far and near, the first-born shall fall dead; and so that you shall not say the prophecy killed them [by suggestion –ed.], behold, the first-born of every beast shall die also, including goats, sheep, cattle, asses, dogs, cats, and every living creature man uses. For on that night, behold, four million Israelites shall make with Jehovih the covenant of death. And when morning comes, they will rise up to not lie down again in Egupt. And this shall be the testimony of innocent blood against yourself and all your people, for what the Hebrews have suffered.
The king did not answer Moses; and it came to pass that Egupt was overspread with frogs and reptiles, to every detail even as Moses had prophesied. Nevertheless, Pharaoh pursued his course.
Jehovih spoke to Moses, saying: Moses, My son, look upon man and pity him, for he does not believe in Me, though I multiply signs and omens continually, and give him prophecies without end. One thing only turns man’s eyes inward; and that is flesh of his flesh, lying dead before him.
Now on the night of the passover, when the Israelites made the covenant on the blood of the lamb, a hot wind blew upon the face of the earth; and the first-born of the Eguptians fell dead, both man and beast. And Pharaoh’s son died, and his brother’s son; and the first-born of every courtier, and every noble’s first-born, and all other people, their first-born, so that in every family there lay one dead.
Pharaoh was now stricken, but not to repentance, for evil was in his heart, and he cursed Moses and the Israelites, and swore an oath to destroy Israel, man, woman and child, so that never again would there be one on the earth. And he sent his officers such a commandment, and to mobilize and begin the slaughter.
As for the Faithists, not many of them had slept during the night, but were providing for the journey, so that when morning came, every one of them started forth with the sunrise. From all the different regions of Egupt they went forth toward Sukkoth, westward [of Sukkoth]. The Heads led the way, and every commune was led by a rab’bah, and every man’s family by the father of the family or by the eldest son. And at the start they spoke through their leaders, saying: In Your name, O Jehovih, we depart out of the land of our birth, where we were born, and our sons and daughters were born, to never return! Neither shall Egupt prosper again till You have subdued the whole earth to You. ||
But things had changed wonderfully with the Eguptians, for when they saw the Israelites were indeed going, and knew the miracles that had taken place, they relented, and brought them gifts of gold and silver; and also asses and camels for the Hebrew women and children to ride upon; and gave them food to eat. But the Israelitish women said: No, if we take these things we will be under obligations to the Eguptians. The Israelites do not accept what they cannot pay for. Then the Eguptians bewailed in fear, saying: So that we will not be accursed by the Gods, take them, we beseech you in the name of your God also.
So the Faithist women accepted the presents of asses, camels, and other things besides; and they mounted the asses and camels, and rode them.
When Moses heard of this afterward he rebuked Israel, saying: Because you have accepted these things it will be said, you borrowed and begged them so as to despoil the Eguptians.
When they arrived near Sukkoth, Jehovih spoke to Moses and Aaron, saying: Stand here for twelve days, so that you may see My people as they pass, and that you in turn may be seen by them. So Moses and Aaron pitched their tents on a high piece of ground off to the side, and remained there twelve days, and Moses showed himself before them, speaking and encouraging.
After this the Israelites passed through Etham, on the borders of the wilderness, and then on toward Migdol, near Baal-zephon, the place of the oracle of the God, Baal, and they encamped before Pi’hahiroth, where Moses commanded them to remain some days to rest.
Now as for Pharaoh, he had not made any attack on the Israelites, for Jehovih’s Lord held his army in confusion. Pharaoh, finding that the Israelites were not injured, decided to take to the field himself; and accordingly, having impressed all the chariots of Egupt, went ahead, leading his army in person. The Israelites were wearied and footsore, and, discovering that Pharaoh was after them, many of them complained and grumbled, saying: O Moses, why did you bring us from home? It would have been better for us to remain in servitude to the Eguptians than to be slain.
Moses rebuked them, saying: You profess to be Faithists but yet have no faith in Jehovih? Put your trust in Him; for He will deliver you safely, as He has promised.
Jehovih spoke to Moses, saying: They shall witness the salvation of My hand; for the Eguptians who pursue them this day shall never again pursue them. For when you lead them to the sea, you shall lift up your rod, and I will divide the sea, and My people shall walk across on the land of the bottom of the sea. And Pharaoh’s army shall pursue, but be swallowed up in the waters. And so it came to pass:
Jehovih brought a strong wind and divided the waters of the sea and swept them back, and the Israelites went over on land. But Pharaoh’s army, who were in pursuit, were caught in the flood of the tide and were drowned.
Thus Jehovih delivered the Israelites out of Egupt; and Israel believed in Him and in Moses, His servant.
Now from the place Sukkoth to the other side of the sea, a pillar of cloud preceded the Israelites by day, and a pillar of fire stood over them by night, and the people looked and everyone saw the cloud and the light. And the name of the place they reached when they crossed over was Shakelmarath; and they camped there many days.
From the time Moses began to prepare for the migration of Israel until he reached Shakelmarath, was four years two hundred and seven days. And the number of Israelites who went forth out of Egupt was three million seven hundred and fifty thousand, men, women and children. And the number of other people who accompanied them was four hundred thousand; and because they were of the uncircumcised tribes of ancients, the Hebrews nicknamed them Levites, i.e., imperfect flesh.
And Moses commanded the Levites to camp aside, and not to mix with the Israelites, and they obeyed him in all things, maintaining that they were the true descendants of Abraham.
And Moses made a song to Jehovih, and Miriam, his sister, sang it and played on the timbrel, and the women of Israel danced before Jehovih.
This, then, is the song of Moses: