Prophet Moses

Exodus, chapter 2

1: Now a man from the house of Levi went and took to wife a daughter of Levi. 

2: The woman conceived and bore a son; and when she saw that he was a goodly child, she hid him three months. 

3: And when she could hide him no longer she took for him a basket made of bulrushes, and daubed it with bitumen and pitch; and she put the child in it and placed it among the reeds at the river's brink. 

4: And his sister stood at a distance, to know what would be done to him. 

5: Now the daughter of Pharaoh came down to bathe at the river, and her maidens walked beside the river; she saw the basket among the reeds and sent her maid to fetch it. 

6: When she opened it she saw the child; and lo, the babe was crying. She took pity on him and said, "This is one of the Hebrews' children." 

7: Then his sister said to Pharaoh's daughter, "Shall I go and call you a nurse from the Hebrew women to nurse the child for you?" 

8: And Pharaoh's daughter said to her, "Go." So the girl went and called the child's mother. 

9: And Pharaoh's daughter said to her, "Take this child away, and nurse him for me, and I will give you your wages." So the woman took the child and nursed him. 

10: And the child grew, and she brought him to Pharaoh's daughter, and he became her son; and she named him Moses, for she said, "Because I drew him out of the water." 

11: One day, when Moses had grown up, he went out to his people and looked on their burdens; and he saw an Egyptian beating a Hebrew, one of his people. 

12: He looked this way and that, and seeing no one he killed the Egyptian and hid him in the sand. 

13: When he went out the next day, behold, two Hebrews were struggling together; and he said to the man that did the wrong, "Why do you strike your fellow?" 

14: He answered, "Who made you a prince and a judge over us? Do you mean to kill me as you killed the Egyptian?" Then Moses was afraid, and thought, "Surely the thing is known." 

15: When Pharaoh heard of it, he sought to kill Moses. But Moses fled from Pharaoh, and stayed in the land of Mid'ian; and he sat down by a well. 

16: Now the priest of Mid'ian had seven daughters; and they came and drew water, and filled the troughs to water their father's flock. 

17: The shepherds came and drove them away; but Moses stood up and helped them, and watered their flock. 

18: When they came to their father Reu'el, he said, "How is it that you have come so soon today?" 

19: They said, "An Egyptian delivered us out of the hand of the shepherds, and even drew water for us and watered the flock." 

20: He said to his daughters, "And where is he? Why have you left the man? Call him, that he may eat bread." 

21: And Moses was content to dwell with the man, and he gave Moses his daughter Zippo'rah. 

22: She bore a son, and he called his name Gershom; for he said, "I have been a sojourner in a foreign land." 

23: In the course of those many days the king of Egypt died. And the people of Israel groaned under their bondage, and cried out for help, and their cry under bondage came up to God. 

24: And God heard their groaning, and God remembered his covenant with Abraham, with Isaac, and with Jacob. 

25: And God saw the people of Israel, and God knew their condition. 

Exodus, chapter 3


1: Now Moses was keeping the flock of his father-in-law, Jethro, the priest of Mid'ian; and he led his flock to the west side of the wilderness, and came to Horeb, the mountain of God. 

2: And the angel of the LORD appeared to him in a flame of fire out of the midst of a bush; and he looked, and lo, the bush was burning, yet it was not consumed. 

3: And Moses said, "I will turn aside and see this great sight, why the bush is not burnt." 

4: When the LORD saw that he turned aside to see, God called to him out of the bush, "Moses, Moses!" And he said, "Here am I." 

5: Then he said, "Do not come near; put off your shoes from your feet, for the place on which you are standing is holy ground." 

6: And he said, "I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob." And Moses hid his face, for he was afraid to look at God. 

7: Then the LORD said, "I have seen the affliction of my people who are in Egypt, and have heard their cry because of their taskmasters; I know their sufferings, 

8: and I have come down to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians, and to bring them up out of that land to a good and broad land, a land flowing with milk and honey, to the place of the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Amorites, the Per'izzites, the Hivites, and the Jeb'usites. 

9: And now, behold, the cry of the people of Israel has come to me, and I have seen the oppression with which the Egyptians oppress them. 

10: Come, I will send you to Pharaoh that you may bring forth my people, the sons of Israel, out of Egypt." 

11: But Moses said to God, "Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh, and bring the sons of Israel out of Egypt?" 

12: He said, "But I will be with you; and this shall be the sign for you, that I have sent you: when you have brought forth the people out of Egypt, you shall serve God upon this mountain." 

13: Then Moses said to God, "If I come to the people of Israel and say to them, `The God of your fathers has sent me to you,' and they ask me, `What is his name?' what shall I say to them?" 

14: God said to Moses, "I AM WHO I AM." And he said, "Say this to the people of Israel, `I AM has sent me to you.'" 

15: God also said to Moses, "Say this to the people of Israel, `The LORD, the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has sent me to you': this is my name for ever, and thus I am to be remembered throughout all generations. 

16: Go and gather the elders of Israel together, and say to them, `The LORD, the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, of Isaac, and of Jacob, has appeared to me, saying, "I have observed you and what has been done to you in Egypt; 

17: and I promise that I will bring you up out of the affliction of Egypt, to the land of the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Amorites, the Per'izzites, the Hivites, and the Jeb'usites, a land flowing with milk and honey."' 

18: And they will hearken to your voice; and you and the elders of Israel shall go to the king of Egypt and say to him, `The LORD, the God of the Hebrews, has met with us; and now, we pray you, let us go a three days' journey into the wilderness, that we may sacrifice to the LORD our God.' 

19: I know that the king of Egypt will not let you go unless compelled by a mighty hand. 

20: So I will stretch out my hand and smite Egypt with all the wonders which I will do in it; after that he will let you go. 

21: And I will give this people favor in the sight of the Egyptians; and when you go, you shall not go empty, 

22: but each woman shall ask of her neighbor, and of her who sojourns in her house, jewelry of silver and of gold, and clothing, and you shall put them on your sons and on your daughters; thus you shall despoil the Egyptians." 

Exodus, chapter 4


1: Then Moses answered, "But behold, they will not believe me or listen to my voice, for they will say, `The LORD did not appear to you.'" 

2: The LORD said to him, "What is that in your hand?" He said, "A rod." 

3: And he said, "Cast it on the ground." So he cast it on the ground, and it became a serpent; and Moses fled from it. 

4: But the LORD said to Moses, "Put out your hand, and take it by the tail" -- so he put out his hand and caught it, and it became a rod in his hand -- 

5: "that they may believe that the LORD, the God of their fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has appeared to you." 

6: Again, the LORD said to him, "Put your hand into your bosom." And he put his hand into his bosom; and when he took it out, behold, his hand was leprous, as white as snow. 

7: Then God said, "Put your hand back into your bosom." So he put his hand back into his bosom; and when he took it out, behold, it was restored like the rest of his flesh. 

8: "If they will not believe you," God said, "or heed the first sign, they may believe the latter sign. 

9: If they will not believe even these two signs or heed your voice, you shall take some water from the Nile and pour it upon the dry ground; and the water which you shall take from the Nile will become blood upon the dry ground." 

10: But Moses said to the LORD, "Oh, my Lord, I am not eloquent, either heretofore or since thou hast spoken to thy servant; but I am slow of speech and of tongue." 

11: Then the LORD said to him, "Who has made man's mouth? Who makes him dumb, or deaf, or seeing, or blind? Is it not I, the LORD? 

12: Now therefore go, and I will be with your mouth and teach you what you shall speak." 

13: But he said, "Oh, my Lord, send, I pray, some other person." 

14: Then the anger of the LORD was kindled against Moses and he said, "Is there not Aaron, your brother, the Levite? I know that he can speak well; and behold, he is coming out to meet you, and when he sees you he will be glad in his heart. 

15: And you shall speak to him and put the words in his mouth; and I will be with your mouth and with his mouth, and will teach you what you shall do. 

16: He shall speak for you to the people; and he shall be a mouth for you, and you shall be to him as God. 

17: And you shall take in your hand this rod, with which you shall do the signs." 

18: Moses went back to Jethro his father-in-law and said to him, "Let me go back, I pray, to my kinsmen in Egypt and see whether they are still alive." And Jethro said to Moses, "Go in peace." 

19: And the LORD said to Moses in Mid'ian, "Go back to Egypt; for all the men who were seeking your life are dead." 

20: So Moses took his wife and his sons and set them on an ass, and went back to the land of Egypt; and in his hand Moses took the rod of God. 

21: And the LORD said to Moses, "When you go back to Egypt, see that you do before Pharaoh all the miracles which I have put in your power; but I will harden his heart, so that he will not let the people go. 

22: And you shall say to Pharaoh, `Thus says the LORD, Israel is my first-born son, 

23: and I say to you, "Let my son go that he may serve me"; if you refuse to let him go, behold, I will slay your first-born son.'" 

24: At a lodging place on the way the LORD met him and sought to kill him. 

25: Then Zippo'rah took a flint and cut off her son's foreskin, and touched Moses' feet with it, and said, "Surely you are a bridegroom of blood to me!" 

26: So he let him alone. Then it was that she said, "You are a bridegroom of blood," because of the circumcision. 

27: The LORD said to Aaron, "Go into the wilderness to meet Moses." So he went, and met him at the mountain of God and kissed him. 

28: And Moses told Aaron all the words of the LORD with which he had sent him, and all the signs which he had charged him to do. 

29: Then Moses and Aaron went and gathered together all the elders of the people of Israel. 

30: And Aaron spoke all the words which the LORD had spoken to Moses, and did the signs in the sight of the people. 

31: And the people believed; and when they heard that the LORD had visited the people of Israel and that he had seen their affliction, they bowed their heads and worshiped. 

Exodus, chapter 5


1: Afterward Moses and Aaron went to Pharaoh and said, "Thus says the LORD, the God of Israel, `Let my people go, that they may hold a feast to me in the wilderness.'" 

2: But Pharaoh said, "Who is the LORD, that I should heed his voice and let Israel go? I do not know the LORD, and moreover I will not let Israel go." 

3: Then they said, "The God of the Hebrews has met with us; let us go, we pray, a three days' journey into the wilderness, and sacrifice to the LORD our God, lest he fall upon us with pestilence or with the sword." 

4: But the king of Egypt said to them, "Moses and Aaron, why do you take the people away from their work? Get to your burdens." 

5: And Pharaoh said, "Behold, the people of the land are now many and you make them rest from their burdens!" 

6: The same day Pharaoh commanded the taskmasters of the people and their foremen, 

7: "You shall no longer give the people straw to make bricks, as heretofore; let them go and gather straw for themselves. 

8: But the number of bricks which they made heretofore you shall lay upon them, you shall by no means lessen it; for they are idle; therefore they cry, `Let us go and offer sacrifice to our God.' 

9: Let heavier work be laid upon the men that they may labor at it and pay no regard to lying words." 

10: So the taskmasters and the foremen of the people went out and said to the people, "Thus says Pharaoh, `I will not give you straw. 

11: Go yourselves, get your straw wherever you can find it; but your work will not be lessened in the least.'" 

12: So the people were scattered abroad throughout all the land of Egypt, to gather stubble for straw. 

13: The taskmasters were urgent, saying, "Complete your work, your daily task, as when there was straw." 

14: And the foremen of the people of Israel, whom Pharaoh's taskmasters had set over them, were beaten, and were asked, "Why have you not done all your task of making bricks today, as hitherto?" 

15: Then the foremen of the people of Israel came and cried to Pharaoh, "Why do you deal thus with your servants? 

16: No straw is given to your servants, yet they say to us, `Make bricks!' And behold, your servants are beaten; but the fault is in your own people." 

17: But he said, "You are idle, you are idle; therefore you say, `Let us go and sacrifice to the LORD.' 

18: Go now, and work; for no straw shall be given you, yet you shall deliver the same number of bricks." 

19: The foremen of the people of Israel saw that they were in evil plight, when they said, "You shall by no means lessen your daily number of bricks." 

20: They met Moses and Aaron, who were waiting for them, as they came forth from Pharaoh; 

21: and they said to them, "The LORD look upon you and judge, because you have made us offensive in the sight of Pharaoh and his servants, and have put a sword in their hand to kill us." 

22: Then Moses turned again to the LORD and said, "O LORD, why hast thou done evil to this people? Why didst thou ever send me? 

23: For since I came to Pharaoh to speak in thy name, he has done evil to this people, and thou hast not delivered thy people at all." 

Exodus, chapter 6


1: But the LORD said to Moses, "Now you shall see what I will do to Pharaoh; for with a strong hand he will send them out, yea, with a strong hand he will drive them out of his land." 

2: And God said to Moses, "I am the LORD. 

3: I appeared to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, as God Almighty, but by my name the LORD I did not make myself known to them. 

4: I also established my covenant with them, to give them the land of Canaan, the land in which they dwelt as sojourners. 

5: Moreover I have heard the groaning of the people of Israel whom the Egyptians hold in bondage and I have remembered my covenant. 

6: Say therefore to the people of Israel, `I am the LORD, and I will bring you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians, and I will deliver you from their bondage, and I will redeem you with an outstretched arm and with great acts of judgment, 

7: and I will take you for my people, and I will be your God; and you shall know that I am the LORD your God, who has brought you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians. 

8: And I will bring you into the land which I swore to give to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob; I will give it to you for a possession. I am the LORD.'" 

9: Moses spoke thus to the people of Israel; but they did not listen to Moses, because of their broken spirit and their cruel bondage. 

10: And the LORD said to Moses, 

11: "Go in, tell Pharaoh king of Egypt to let the people of Israel go out of his land." 

12: But Moses said to the LORD, "Behold, the people of Israel have not listened to me; how then shall Pharaoh listen to me, who am a man of uncircumcised lips?" 

13: But the LORD spoke to Moses and Aaron, and gave them a charge to the people of Israel and to Pharaoh king of Egypt to bring the people of Israel out of the land of Egypt. 

14: These are the heads of their fathers' houses: the sons of Reuben, the first-born of Israel: Hanoch, Pallu, Hezron, and Carmi; these are the families of Reuben. 

15: The sons of Simeon: Jemu'el, Jamin, Ohad, Jachin, Zohar, and Shaul, the son of a Canaanite woman; these are the families of Simeon. 

16: These are the names of the sons of Levi according to their generations: Gershon, Kohath, and Merar'i, the years of the life of Levi being a hundred and thirty-seven years. 

17: The sons of Gershon: Libni and Shim'e-i, by their families. 

18: The sons of Kohath: Amram, Izhar, Hebron, and Uz'ziel, the years of the life of Kohath being a hundred and thirty-three years. 

19: The sons of Merar'i: Mahli and Mushi. These are the families of the Levites according to their generations. 

20: Amram took to wife Joch'ebed his father's sister and she bore him Aaron and Moses, the years of the life of Amram being one hundred and thirty-seven years. 

21: The sons of Izhar: Korah, Nepheg, and Zichri. 

22: And the sons of Uz'ziel: Mi'sha-el, Elza'phan, and Sithri. 

23: Aaron took to wife Eli'sheba, the daughter of Ammin'adab and the sister of Nahshon; and she bore him Nadab, Abi'hu, Elea'zar, and Ith'amar. 

24: The sons of Korah: Assir, Elka'nah, and Abi'asaph; these are the families of the Ko'rahites. 

25: Elea'zar, Aaron's son, took to wife one of the daughters of Pu'ti-el; and she bore him Phin'ehas. These are the heads of the fathers' houses of the Levites by their families. 

26: These are the Aaron and Moses to whom the LORD said: "Bring out the people of Israel from the land of Egypt by their hosts." 

27: It was they who spoke to Pharaoh king of Egypt about bringing out the people of Israel from Egypt, this Moses and this Aaron. 

28: On the day when the LORD spoke to Moses in the land of Egypt, 

29: the LORD said to Moses, "I am the LORD; tell Pharaoh king of Egypt all that I say to you." 

30: But Moses said to the LORD, "Behold, I am of uncircumcised lips; how then shall Pharaoh listen to me?" 

Exodus, chapter 7


1: And the LORD said to Moses, "See, I make you as God to Pharaoh; and Aaron your brother shall be your prophet. 

2: You shall speak all that I command you; and Aaron your brother shall tell Pharaoh to let the people of Israel go out of his land. 

3: But I will harden Pharaoh's heart, and though I multiply my signs and wonders in the land of Egypt, 

4: Pharaoh will not listen to you; then I will lay my hand upon Egypt and bring forth my hosts, my people the sons of Israel, out of the land of Egypt by great acts of judgment. 

5: And the Egyptians shall know that I am the LORD, when I stretch forth my hand upon Egypt and bring out the people of Israel from among them." 

6: And Moses and Aaron did so; they did as the LORD commanded them. 

7: Now Moses was eighty years old, and Aaron eighty-three years old, when they spoke to Pharaoh. 

8: And the LORD said to Moses and Aaron, 

9: "When Pharaoh says to you, `Prove yourselves by working a miracle,' then you shall say to Aaron, `Take your rod and cast it down before Pharaoh, that it may become a serpent.'" 

10: So Moses and Aaron went to Pharaoh and did as the LORD commanded; Aaron cast down his rod before Pharaoh and his servants, and it became a serpent. 

11: Then Pharaoh summoned the wise men and the sorcerers; and they also, the magicians of Egypt, did the same by their secret arts. 

12: For every man cast down his rod, and they became serpents. But Aaron's rod swallowed up their rods. 

13: Still Pharaoh's heart was hardened, and he would not listen to them; as the LORD had said. 

14: Then the LORD said to Moses, "Pharaoh's heart is hardened, he refuses to let the people go. 

15: Go to Pharaoh in the morning, as he is going out to the water; wait for him by the river's brink, and take in your hand the rod which was turned into a serpent. 

16: And you shall say to him, `The LORD, the God of the Hebrews, sent me to you, saying, "Let my people go, that they may serve me in the wilderness; and behold, you have not yet obeyed." 

17: Thus says the LORD, "By this you shall know that I am the LORD: behold, I will strike the water that is in the Nile with the rod that is in my hand, and it shall be turned to blood, 

18: and the fish in the Nile shall die, and the Nile shall become foul, and the Egyptians will loathe to drink water from the Nile."'" 

19: And the LORD said to Moses, "Say to Aaron, `Take your rod and stretch out your hand over the waters of Egypt, over their rivers, their canals, and their ponds, and all their pools of water, that they may become blood; and there shall be blood throughout all the land of Egypt, both in vessels of wood and in vessels of stone.'" 

20: Moses and Aaron did as the LORD commanded; in the sight of Pharaoh and in the sight of his servants, he lifted up the rod and struck the water that was in the Nile, and all the water that was in the Nile turned to blood. 

21: And the fish in the Nile died; and the Nile became foul, so that the Egyptians could not drink water from the Nile; and there was blood throughout all the land of Egypt. 

22: But the magicians of Egypt did the same by their secret arts; so Pharaoh's heart remained hardened, and he would not listen to them; as the LORD had said. 

23: Pharaoh turned and went into his house, and he did not lay even this to heart. 

24: And all the Egyptians dug round about the Nile for water to drink, for they could not drink the water of the Nile. 

25: Seven days passed after the LORD had struck the Nile. 

Exodus, chapter 8


1: Then the LORD said to Moses, "Go in to Pharaoh and say to him, `Thus says the LORD, "Let my people go, that they may serve me. 

2: But if you refuse to let them go, behold, I will plague all your country with frogs; 

3: the Nile shall swarm with frogs which shall come up into your house, and into your bedchamber and on your bed, and into the houses of your servants and of your people, and into your ovens and your kneading bowls; 

4: the frogs shall come up on you and on your people and on all your servants."'" 

5: And the LORD said to Moses, "Say to Aaron, `Stretch out your hand with your rod over the rivers, over the canals, and over the pools, and cause frogs to come upon the land of Egypt!'" 

6: So Aaron stretched out his hand over the waters of Egypt; and the frogs came up and covered the land of Egypt. 

7: But the magicians did the same by their secret arts, and brought frogs upon the land of Egypt. 

8: Then Pharaoh called Moses and Aaron, and said, "Entreat 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." 

9: Moses said to Pharaoh, "Be pleased to command me when I am to entreat, for you and for your servants and for your people, that the frogs be destroyed from you and your houses and be left only in the Nile." 

10: And he said, "Tomorrow." Moses said, "Be it as you say, that you may know that there is no one like the LORD our God. 

11: The frogs shall depart from you and your houses and your servants and your people; they shall be left only in the Nile." 

12: So Moses and Aaron went out from Pharaoh; and Moses cried to the LORD concerning the frogs, as he had agreed with Pharaoh. 

13: And the LORD did according to the word of Moses; the frogs died out of the houses and courtyards and out of the fields. 

14: And they gathered them together in heaps, and the land stank. 

15: But when Pharaoh saw that there was a respite, he hardened his heart, and would not listen to them; as the LORD had said. 

16: Then the LORD said to Moses, "Say to Aaron, `Stretch out your rod and strike the dust of the earth, that it may become gnats throughout all the land of Egypt.'" 

17: And they did so; Aaron stretched out his hand with his rod, and struck the dust of the earth, and there came gnats on man and beast; all the dust of the earth became gnats throughout all the land of Egypt. 

18: The magicians tried by their secret arts to bring forth gnats, but they could not. So there were gnats on man and beast. 

19: And the magicians said to Pharaoh, "This is the finger of God." But Pharaoh's heart was hardened, and he would not listen to them; as the LORD had said. 

20: Then the LORD said to Moses, "Rise up early in the morning and wait for Pharaoh, as he goes out to the water, and say to him, `Thus says the LORD, "Let my people go, that they may serve me. 

21: Else, if you will not let my people go, behold, I will send swarms of flies on you and your servants and your people, and into your houses; and the houses of the Egyptians shall be filled with swarms of flies, and also the ground on which they stand. 

22: But on that day I will set apart the land of Goshen, where my people dwell, so that no swarms of flies shall be there; that you may know that I am the LORD in the midst of the earth. 

23: Thus I will put a division between my people and your people. By tomorrow shall this sign be."'" 

24: And the LORD did so; there came great swarms of flies into the house of Pharaoh and into his servants' houses, and in all the land of Egypt the land was ruined by reason of the flies. 

25: Then Pharaoh called Moses and Aaron, and said, "Go, sacrifice to your God within the land." 

26: But Moses said, "It would not be right to do so; for we shall sacrifice to the LORD our God offerings abominable to the Egyptians. If we sacrifice offerings abominable to the Egyptians before their eyes, will they not stone us? 

27: We must go three days' journey into the wilderness and sacrifice to the LORD our God as he will command us." 

28: So Pharaoh said, "I will let you go, to sacrifice to the LORD your God in the wilderness; only you shall not go very far away. Make entreaty for me." 

29: Then Moses said, "Behold, I am going out from you and I will pray to the LORD that the swarms of flies may depart from Pharaoh, from his servants, and from his people, tomorrow; only let not Pharaoh deal falsely again by not letting the people go to sacrifice to the LORD." 

30: So Moses went out from Pharaoh and prayed to the LORD. 

31: And the LORD did as Moses asked, and removed the swarms of flies from Pharaoh, from his servants, and from his people; not one remained. 

32: But Pharaoh hardened his heart this time also, and did not let the people go. 

Exodus, chapter 9


1: Then the LORD said to Moses, "Go in to Pharaoh, and say to him, `Thus says the LORD, the God of the Hebrews, "Let my people go, that they may serve me. 

2: For if you refuse to let them go and still hold them, 

3: behold, the hand of the LORD will fall with a very severe plague upon your cattle which are in the field, the horses, the asses, the camels, the herds, and the flocks. 

4: But the LORD will make a distinction between the cattle of Israel and the cattle of Egypt, so that nothing shall die of all that belongs to the people of Israel."'" 

5: And the LORD set a time, saying, "Tomorrow the LORD will do this thing in the land." 

6: And on the morrow the LORD did this thing; all the cattle of the Egyptians died, but of the cattle of the people of Israel not one died. 

7: And Pharaoh sent, and behold, not one of the cattle of the Israelites was dead. But the heart of Pharaoh was hardened, and he did not let the people go. 

8: And the LORD said to Moses and Aaron, "Take handfuls of ashes from the kiln, and let Moses throw them toward heaven in the sight of Pharaoh. 

9: And it shall become fine dust over all the land of Egypt, and become boils breaking out in sores on man and beast throughout all the land of Egypt." 

10: So they took ashes from the kiln, and stood before Pharaoh, and Moses threw them toward heaven, and it became boils breaking out in sores on man and beast. 

11: And the magicians could not stand before Moses because of the boils, for the boils were upon the magicians and upon all the Egyptians. 

12: But the LORD hardened the heart of Pharaoh, and he did not listen to them; as the LORD had spoken to Moses. 

13: Then the LORD said to Moses, "Rise up early in the morning and stand before Pharaoh, and say to him, `Thus says the LORD, the God of the Hebrews, "Let my people go, that they may serve me. 

14: For this time I will send all my plagues upon your heart, and upon your servants and your people, that you may know that there is none like me in all the earth. 

15: For by now I could have put forth my hand and struck you and your people with pestilence, and you would have been cut off from the earth; 

16: but for this purpose have I let you live, to show you my power, so that my name may be declared throughout all the earth. 

17: You are still exalting yourself against my people, and will not let them go. 

18: Behold, tomorrow about this time I will cause very heavy hail to fall, such as never has been in Egypt from the day it was founded until now. 

19: Now therefore send, get your cattle and all that you have in the field into safe shelter; for the hail shall come down upon every man and beast that is in the field and is not brought home, and they shall die."'" 

20: Then he who feared the word of the LORD among the servants of Pharaoh made his slaves and his cattle flee into the houses; 

21: but he who did not regard the word of the LORD left his slaves and his cattle in the field. 

22: And the LORD said to Moses, "Stretch forth your hand toward heaven, that there may be hail in all the land of Egypt, upon man and beast and every plant of the field, throughout the land of Egypt." 

23: Then Moses stretched forth his rod toward heaven; and the LORD sent thunder and hail, and fire ran down to the earth. And the LORD rained hail upon the land of Egypt; 

24: there was hail, and fire flashing continually in the midst of the hail, very heavy hail, such as had never been in all the land of Egypt since it became a nation. 

25: The hail struck down everything that was in the field throughout all the land of Egypt, both man and beast; and the hail struck down every plant of the field, and shattered every tree of the field. 

26: Only in the land of Goshen, where the people of Israel were, there was no hail. 

27: Then Pharaoh sent, and called Moses and Aaron, and said to them, "I have sinned this time; the LORD is in the right, and I and my people are in the wrong. 

28: Entreat the LORD; for there has been enough of this thunder and hail; I will let you go, and you shall stay no longer." 

29: Moses said to him, "As soon as I have gone out of the city, I will stretch out my hands to the LORD; the thunder will cease, and there will be no more hail, that you may know that the earth is the LORD's. 

30: But as for you and your servants, I know that you do not yet fear the LORD God." 

31: (The flax and the barley were ruined, for the barley was in the ear and the flax was in bud. 

32: But the wheat and the spelt were not ruined, for they are late in coming up.) 

33: So Moses went out of the city from Pharaoh, and stretched out his hands to the LORD; and the thunder and the hail ceased, and the rain no longer poured upon the earth. 

34: But when Pharaoh saw that the rain and the hail and the thunder had ceased, he sinned yet again, and hardened his heart, he and his servants. 

35: So the heart of Pharaoh was hardened, and he did not let the people of Israel go; as the LORD had spoken through Moses. 

Exodus, chapter 10


1: Then the LORD said to Moses, "Go in to Pharaoh; for I have hardened his heart and the heart of his servants, that I may show these signs of mine among them, 

2: and that you may tell in the hearing of your son and of your son's son how I have made sport of the Egyptians and what signs I have done among them; that you may know that I am the LORD." 

3: So Moses and Aaron went in to Pharaoh, and said to him, "Thus says the LORD, the God of the Hebrews, `How long will you refuse to humble yourself before me? Let my people go, that they may serve me. 

4: For if you refuse to let my people go, behold, tomorrow I will bring locusts into your country, 

5: and they shall cover the face of the land, so that no one can see the land; and they shall eat what is left to you after the hail, and they shall eat every tree of yours which grows in the field, 

6: and they shall fill your houses, and the houses of all your servants and of all the Egyptians; as neither your fathers nor your grandfathers have seen, from the day they came on earth to this day.'" Then he turned and went out from Pharaoh. 

7: And Pharaoh's servants said to him, "How long shall this man be a snare to us? Let the men go, that they may serve the LORD their God; do you not yet understand that Egypt is ruined?" 

8: So Moses and Aaron were brought back to Pharaoh; and he said to them, "Go, serve the LORD your God; but who are to go?" 

9: And Moses said, "We will go with our young and our old; we will go with our sons and daughters and with our flocks and herds, for we must hold a feast to the LORD." 

10: And he said to them, "The LORD be with you, if ever I let you and your little ones go! Look, you have some evil purpose in mind. 

11: No! Go, the men among you, and serve the LORD, for that is what you desire." And they were driven out from Pharaoh's presence. 

12: Then the LORD said to Moses, "Stretch out your hand over the land of Egypt for the locusts, that they may come upon the land of Egypt, and eat every plant in the land, all that the hail has left." 

13: So Moses stretched forth his rod over the land of Egypt, and the LORD brought an east wind upon the land all that day and all that night; and when it was morning the east wind had brought the locusts. 

14: And the locusts came up over all the land of Egypt, and settled on the whole country of Egypt, such a dense swarm of locusts as had never been before, nor ever shall be again. 

15: For they covered the face of the whole land, so that the land was darkened, and they ate all the plants in the land and all the fruit of the trees which the hail had left; not a green thing remained, neither tree nor plant of the field, through all the land of Egypt. 

16: Then Pharaoh called Moses and Aaron in haste, and said, "I have sinned against the LORD your God, and against you. 

17: Now therefore, forgive my sin, I pray you, only this once, and entreat the LORD your God only to remove this death from me." 

18: So he went out from Pharaoh, and entreated the LORD. 

19: And the LORD turned a very strong west wind, which lifted the locusts and drove them into the Red Sea; not a single locust was left in all the country of Egypt. 

20: But the LORD hardened Pharaoh's heart, and he did not let the children of Israel go. 

21: Then the LORD said to Moses, "Stretch out your hand toward heaven that there may be darkness over the land of Egypt, a darkness to be felt." 

22: So Moses stretched out his hand toward heaven, and there was thick darkness in all the land of Egypt three days; 

23: they did not see one another, nor did any rise from his place for three days; but all the people of Israel had light where they dwelt. 

24: Then Pharaoh called Moses, and said, "Go, serve the LORD; your children also may go with you; only let your flocks and your herds remain behind." 

25: But Moses said, "You must also let us have sacrifices and burnt offerings, that we may sacrifice to the LORD our God. 

26: Our cattle also must go with us; not a hoof shall be left behind, for we must take of them to serve the LORD our God, and we do not know with what we must serve the LORD until we arrive there." 

27: But the LORD hardened Pharaoh's heart, and he would not let them go. 

28: Then Pharaoh said to him, "Get away from me; take heed to yourself; never see my face again; for in the day you see my face you shall die." 

29: Moses said, "As you say! I will not see your face again." 

Exodus, chapter 11


1: The LORD said to Moses, "Yet one plague more I will bring upon Pharaoh and upon Egypt; afterwards he will let you go hence; when he lets you go, he will drive you away completely. 

2: Speak now in the hearing of the people, that they ask, every man of his neighbor and every woman of her neighbor, jewelry of silver and of gold." 

3: 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. 

4: And Moses said, "Thus says the LORD: About midnight I will go forth in the midst of Egypt; 

5: and all the first-born in the land of Egypt shall die, from the first-born of Pharaoh who sits upon his throne, even to the first-born of the maidservant who is behind the mill; and all the first-born of the cattle. 

6: And there shall be a great cry throughout all the land of Egypt, such as there has never been, nor ever shall be again. 

7: But against any of the people of Israel, either man or beast, not a dog shall growl; that you may know that the LORD makes a distinction between the Egyptians and Israel. 

8: And all these your servants shall come down to me, and bow down to me, saying, `Get you out, and all the people who follow you.' And after that I will go out." And he went out from Pharaoh in hot anger. 

9: Then the LORD said to Moses, "Pharaoh will not listen to you; that my wonders may be multiplied in the land of Egypt." 

10: Moses and Aaron did all these wonders before Pharaoh; and the LORD hardened Pharaoh's heart, and he did not let the people of Israel go out of his land.

The Catholic Encyclopedia
  Robert Appleton Company

Moses

Hebrew liberator, leader, lawgiver, prophet, and historian, lived in the thirteenth and early part of the twelfth century, B. C. 

NAME

Moshéh (M. T.), Mouses, Moses. In Ex., ii, 10, a derivation from the Hebrew Mashah (to draw) is implied. Josephus and the Fathers assign the Coptic mo (water) and uses (saved) as the constituent parts of the name. Nowadays the view of Lepsius, tracing the name back to the Egyptian mesh (child), is widely patronized by Egyptologists, but nothing decisive can be established. 

SOURCES

To deny or to doubt the historic personality of Moses, is to undermine and render unintelligible the subsequent history of the Israelites. Rabbinical literature teems with legends touching every event of his marvellous career: taken singly, these popular tales are purely imaginative, yet, considered in their cumulative force, they vouch for the reality of a grand and illustrious personage, of strong character, high purpose, and noble achievement, so deep, true, and efficient in his religious convictions as to thrill and subdue the minds of an entire race for centuries after his death. The Bible furnishes the chief authentic account of this luminous life. 

BIRTH TO VOCATION (EXODUS 2:1-22)

Of Levitic extraction, and born at a time when by kingly edict had been decreed the drowning of every new male offspring among the Israelites, the "goodly child" Moses, after three months' concealment, was exposed in a basket on the banks of the Nile. An elder brother (Ex., vii, 7) and sister (Ex., ii, 4), Aaron and Mary (AV and RV, Miriam), had already graced the union of Jochabed and Amram. The second of these kept watch by the river, and was instrumental in inducing Pharaoh's daughter, who rescued the child, to entrust him to a Hebrew nurse. The one she designedly summoned for the charge was Jochabed, who, when her "son had grown up", delivered him to the princess. In his new surroundings, he was schooled "in all the wisdom of the Egyptians" (Acts, vii, 22). Moses next appears in the bloom of sturdy manhood, resolute with sympathies for his degraded brethren. Dauntlessly he hews down an Egyptian assailing one of them, and on the morrow tries to appease the wrath of two compatriots who were quarrelling. He is misunderstood, however, and, when upbraided with the murder of the previous day, he fears his life is in jeopardy. Pharaoh has heard the news and seeks to kill him. Moses flees to Madian. An act of rustic gallantry there secures for him a home with Raguel, the priest. Sephora, one of Raguel's seven daughters, eventually becomes his wife and Gersam his first-born. His second son, Eliezer, is named in commemoration of his successful flight from Pharaoh. 

VOCATION AND MISSION (EXODUS 2:23-12:33)

After forty years of shepherd life, Moses speaks with God. To Horeb (Jebel Sherbal?) in the heart of the mountainous Sinaitic peninsula, he drives the flocks of Raguel for the last time. A bush there flaming unburned attracts him, but a miraculous voice forbids his approach and declares the ground so holy that to approach he must remove his shoes. The God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob designates him to deliver the Hebrews from the Egyptian yoke, and to conduct them into the "land of milk and honey", the region long since promised to the seed of Abraham, the Palestine of later years. Next, God reveals to him His name under a special form Yahweh as a "memorial unto all generations". He performs two miracles to convince his timorous listener, appoints Aaron as Moses's "prophet", and Moses, so to speak, as Aaron's God (Ex., iv, 16). Diffidence at once gives way to faith and magnanimity. Moses bids adieu to Jethro (Raguel), and, with his family, starts for Egypt. He carries in his hand the "rod of God", a symbol of the fearlessness with which he is to act in performing signs and wonders in the presence of a hardened, threatening monarch. His confidence waxes strong, but he is uncircumcised, and God meets him on the way and fain would kill him. Sephora saves her "bloody spouse", and appeases God by circumcising a son. Aaron joins the party at Horeb. The first interview of the brothers with their compatriots is most encouraging, but not so with the despotic sovereign. Asked to allow the Hebrews three days' respite for sacrifices in the wilderness, the angry monarch not only refuses, but he ridicules their God, and then effectually embitters the Hebrews' minds against their new chiefs as well as against himself, by denying them the necessary straw for exorbitant daily exactions in brick making. A rupture is about to ensue with the two strange brothers, when, in a vision, Moses is divinely constituted "Pharaoh's God", and is commanded to use his newly imparted powers. He has now attained his eightieth year. The episode of Aaron's rod is a prelude to the plagues. Either personally or through Aaron, sometimes after warning Pharaoh or again quite suddenly, Moses causes a series of Divine manifestations described as ten in number in which he humiliates the sun and river gods, afflicts man and beast, and displays such unwonted control over the earth and heavens that even the magicians are forced to recognize in his prodigies "the finger of God". Pharaoh softens at times but never sufficiently to meet the demands of Moses without restrictions. He treasures too highly the Hebrew labour for his public works. A crisis arrives with the last plague. The Hebrews, forewarned by Moses, celebrate the first Pasch or Phase with their loins girt, their shoes on their feet, and staves in their hands, ready for rapid escape. Then God carries out his dreadful threat to pass through the land and kill every first-born of man and beast, thereby executing judgment on all the gods of Egypt. Pharaoh can resist no longer. He joins the stricken populace in begging the Hebrews to depart. 

EXODUS AND THE FORTY YEARS (EXODUS 12:34 AND AFTER)

At the head of 600,000 men, besides women and children, and heavily laden with the spoils of the Egyptians, Moses follows a way through the desert, indicated by an advancing pillar of alternating cloud and fire, and gains the peninsula of Sinai by crossing the Red Sea. A dry passage, miraculously opened by him for this purpose at a point to-day unknown, afterwards proves a fatal trap for a body of Egyptian pursuers, organized by Pharaoh and possibly under his leadership. The event furnishes the theme of the thrilling canticle of Moses. For upwards of two months the long procession, much retarded by the flocks, the herds, and the difficulties inseparable from desert travel, wends its way towards Sinai. To move directly on Chanaan would be too hazardous because of the warlike Philistines, whose territory would have to be crossed; whereas, on the south-east, the less formidable Amalacites are the only inimical tribes and are easily overcome thanks to the intercession of Moses. For the line of march and topographical identifications along the route, see ISRAELITES, subsection The Exodus and the Wanderings. The miraculous water obtained from the rock Horeb, and the supply of the quails and manna, bespeak the marvellous faith of the great leader. The meeting with Jethro ends in an alliance with Madian, and the appointment of a corps of judges subordinate to Moses, to attend to minor decisions. At Sinai the Ten Commandments are promulgated, Moses is made mediator between God and the people, and, during two periods of forty days each, he remains in concealment on the mount, receiving from God the multifarious enactments, by the observance of which Israel is to be moulded into a theocratic nation (cf. MOSAIC LEGISLATION). On his first descent, he exhibits an all-consuming zeal for the purity of Divine worship, by causing to perish those who had indulged in the idolatrous orgies about the Golden Calf; on his second, he inspires the deepest awe because his face is emblazoned with luminous horns. 

After instituting the priesthood and erecting the Tabernacle, Moses orders a census which shows an army of 603,550 fighting men. These with the Levites, women, and children, duly celebrate the first anniversary of the Pasch, and, carrying the Ark of the Covenant, shortly enter on the second stage of their migration. They are accompanied by Hobab, Jethro's son, who acts as a guide. Two instances of general discontent follow, of which the first is punished by fire, which ceases as Moses prays, and the second by plague. When the manna is complained of, quails are provided as in the previous year. Seventy elders- a conjectural origin of the Sanhedrin- are then appointed to assist Moses. Next Aaron and Mary envy their brother, but God vindicates him and afflicts Mary temporarily with leprosy. From the desert of Pharan Moses sends spies into Chanaan, who, with the exceptions of Joshue and Caleb, bring back startling reports which throw the people into consternation and rebellion. The great leader prays and God intervenes, but only to condemn the present generation to die in the wilderness. The subsequent uprising of Core, Dathan, Abiron, and their adherents suggests that, during the thirty-eight years spent in the Badiet et-Tih., habitual discontent, so characteristic of nomads, continued. It is during this period that tradition places the composition of a large part of the Pentateuch (q.v.). Towards its close, Moses is doomed never to enter the Promised Land, presumably because of a momentary lack of trust in God at the Water of Contradiction. When the old generation, including Mary, the prophet's sister, is no more, Moses inaugurates the onward march around Edom and Moab to the Arnon. After the death of Aaron and the victory over Arad, "fiery serpents" appear in the camp, a chastisement for renewed murmurings. Moses sets up the brazen serpent, "which when they that were bitten looked upon, they were healed". The victories over Sehon and Og, and the feeling of security animating the army even in the territory of the hostile Balac, led to presumptuous and scandalous intercourse with the idolatrous Moabites which results, at Moses's command, in the slaughter of 24,000 offenders. The census, however, shows that the army still numbers 601,730, excluding 23,000 Levites. Of these Moses allows the Reubenites, Gadites, and the half-tribe of Manasses to settle in the east-Jordan district, without, however, releasing them from service in the west-Jordan conquest. 

DEATH AND POSTHUMOUS GLORY

As a worthy legacy to the people for whom he has endured unparalleled hardships, Moses in his last days pronounces the three memorable discourses preserved in Deuteronomy. his chief utterance relates to a future Prophet, like to himself, whom the people are to receive. He then bursts forth into a sublime song of praise to Jahweh and adds prophetic blessings for each of the twelve tribes. From Mount Nebo -- on "the top of Phasga" -- Moses views for the last time the Promised Land, and then dies at the age of 120 years. He is buried "in the valley of Moab over against Phogor", but no man "knows his sepulchre". His memory has ever been one of "isolated grandeur". He is the type of Hebrew holiness, so far outshining other models that twelve centuries after his death, the Christ Whom he foreshadowed seemed eclipsed by him in the minds of the learned. It was, humanly speaking, an indispensable providence that represented him in the Transfiguration, side by side with Elias, and quite inferior to the incomparable Antitype whose coming he had predicted.