Page images
PDF
EPUB

And there was a man of the house of Levi, whose wife was also of the house of Levi, to whom a son was born. And when his mother saw him, that he was a goodly child, she hid him three months. And when she could not longer hide him, she took for him an ark of bulrushes, and daubed it with slime and with pitch, and put the child therein; and she laid it in the flags by the river's brink. And his sister stood afar off, to see what would be done to him. And the daughter of Pharaoh came down to wash herself at the river; and her maidens walked along by the river's side; and when she saw the ark among the flags, she sent her maid to fetch it. And when she had opened it, she saw the child: and, behold, the babe wept. And she had compassion on him and said, "This is one of the Hebrew's children." Then said his sister to Pharaoh's daughter, "Shall I go and call to thee a nurse of the Hebrew women, that she may nurse the child for thee?" And Pharaoh's daughter said to her, "Go." And the maid went and called the child's mother. And Pharaoh's daughter said unto her, "Take this child away, and nurse it for me, and I will give thee thy wages." And the woman took the child, and nursed it. And the child grew, and she brought him unto Pharaoh's daughter, and he became her son. And she called his name Moses: and she said, “Because I drew him out of the water."

The Story of Moses and the Burning Bush.

(From the 3d Chapter of EXODUS.)

AND the children of Israel sighed by reason of their bondage in the land of Egypt, and they cried, and their cry came up unto God. And God heard their groaning and God remembered his covenant with Abraham and with Isaac and with Jacob. And God looked upon the children of Israel and had respect unto them.

وو

Now Moses was grown up and kept the flock in the mountains. And the angel of the Lord appeared unto him in a flame of fire, out of the midst of a bush; and behold the bush burned with fire, and yet the bush was not consumed. And Moses said, "I will now turn aside and see this great sight, why the bush is not burnt.' And when the Lord saw that he turned aside to see, God called unto him out of the midst of the bush, and said, "Moses, Moses." And he said, "Here am I." And he said, "Draw not nigh hither: put off thy shoes from off thy feet, for the place whereon thou standest is holy ground." Moreover he said, "I am the God of thy 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 upon God. And the Lord said, "I have surely seen the affliction of my people which are in Egypt, and have heard their cry by reason of their task-masters; for I know their sorrows; and I am come down to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians, and to bring them up out of that land unto a good land and a large, unto a land flowing with milk and honey."

The Story of Moses and the Brickmakers.

(From the 5th Chapter of EXODUS.)

AND the Lord commanded Moses and Aaron that they should go in and say unto Pharaoh, "Thus saith the Lord God of Israel, Let my people go, that they may hold a feast unto me in the wilderness." And they did so. And Pharaoh said, “Who is the Lord, that I should obey his voice to let Israel go? I know not the Lord, neither will I let Israel go." And they said, "The God of the Hebrews hath met with us: let us go, we pray thee, three days' journey into the desert, and sacrifice unto the Lord our God; lest he fall upon us with pestilence, or with the sword." And the king of Egypt said unto them, "Wherefore do ye, Moses and Aaron, hinder the people from their work? Get ye unto your burdens."

And Pharaoh commanded the same day the task-masters of the people, and their officers, saying, "Ye shall no more give the people straw to make bricks, as heretofore: let them go and gather straw for themselves. And the tale of the bricks, which they did make heretofore, ye shall lay upon them; ye shall not diminish aught thereof: for they be idle; therefore they cry,

saying, 'Let us go and sacrifice to our God.' Let there more work be laid upon the men, that they may labor therein; and let them not regard vain words." And the task-masters of the people went out, and their officers, and they spake to the people, saying, "Thus saith Pharaoh, I will not give you straw. Go ye, get you straw where ye can find it: yet not aught of your work shall be diminished." So the people were scattered abroad throughout all the land of Egypt, to gather stubble instead of straw. And the task-masters hasted them, saying, "Fulfil your works, your daily tasks, as when there was straw." And the officers of the children of Israel, which Pharaoh's task-masters had set over them, were beaten, and demanded, "Wherefore have ye not fulfilled your task in making brick both yesterday and to-day, as heretofore?" Then the officers of the children of Israel came and cried unto Pharaoh, saying, “Wherefore dealest thou thus with thy servants? There is no straw given unto thy servants, and they say to us, Make brick: and, behold, thy servants are beaten; but the fault is in thine own people." But he said, "Ye are idle, ye are idle: therefore ye say, 'Let us go and do sacrifice to the Lord." Go therefore now, and work; for there shall no straw be given you, yet shall ye deliver the tale of bricks.”

« PreviousContinue »