The Tanakh. Various Authors

the latter sign. ⁹And it shall come to pass, if they will not believe even these two signs, neither hearken unto thy voice, that thou shalt take of the water of the river, and pour it upon the dry land; and the water which thou takest out of the river shall become blood upon the dry land.' ¹⁰And Moses said unto the Lord: 'Oh Lord, I am not a man of words, neither heretofore, nor since Thou hast spoken unto Thy servant; for I am slow of speech, and of a slow tongue.' ¹¹And the Lord said unto him: 'Who hath made man's mouth? or who maketh a man dumb, or deaf, or seeing, or blind? is it not I the Lord? ¹²Now therefore go, and I will be with thy mouth, and teach thee what thou shalt speak.' ¹³And he said: 'Oh Lord, send, I pray Thee, by the hand of him whom Thou wilt send.' ¹⁴And the anger of the Lord was kindled against Moses, and He said: 'Is there not Aaron thy brother the Levite? I know that he can speak well. And also, behold, he cometh forth to meet thee; and when he seeth thee, he will be glad in his heart. ¹⁵And thou shalt speak unto him, and put the words in his mouth; and I will be with thy mouth, and with his mouth, and will teach you what ye shall do. ¹⁶And he shall be thy spokesman unto the people; and it shall come to pass, that he shall be to thee a mouth, and thou shalt be to him in God's stead. ¹⁷And thou shalt take in thy hand this rod, wherewith thou shalt do the signs.'

¹⁸And Moses went and returned to ⁴Jethro his father-in-law, and said unto him: 'Let me go, I pray thee, and unto my brethren that are in Egypt, and see whether they be yet alive.' And Jethro said to Moses: 'Go in peace.' ¹⁹And the Lord said unto Moses in Midian: 'Go, return into Egypt; for all the men are dead that sought thy life.' ²⁰And Moses took his wife and his sons, and set them upon an ass, and he returned to the land of Egypt; and Moses took the rod of God in his hand. ²¹And the Lord said unto Moses: 'When thou goest back into Egypt, see that thou do before Pharaoh all the wonders which I have put in thy hand; but I will harden his heart, and he will not let the people go. ²²And thou shalt say unto Pharaoh: Thus saith the Lord: Israel is My son, My first-born. ²³And I have said unto thee: Let My son go, that he may serve Me; and thou hast refused to let him go. Behold, I will slay thy son, thy first-born.'—²⁴And it came to pass on the way at the lodging-place, that the Lord met him, and sought to kill him. ²⁵Then Zipporah took a flint, and cut off the foreskin of her son, and cast it at his feet; and she said: 'Surely a bridegroom of blood art thou to me.' ²⁶So He let him alone. Then she said: 'A bridegroom of blood in regard of the circumcision.'

      ²⁷And the Lord said to Aaron: 'Go into the wilderness to meet Moses.' And he went, and met him in the mountain of God, and kissed him. ²⁸And Moses told Aaron all the words of the Lord wherewith He had sent him, and all the signs wherewith He had charged him. ²⁹And Moses and Aaron went and gathered together all the elders of the children of Israel. ³⁰And Aaron spoke all the words which the Lord had spoken unto Moses, and did the signs in the sight of the people. ³¹And the people believed; and when they heard that the Lord had remembered the children of Israel, and that He had seen their affliction, then they bowed their heads and worshipped.

      5And afterward Moses and Aaron came, and said unto Pharaoh: 'Thus saith the Lord, the God of Israel: Let My people go, that they may hold a feast unto Me in the wilderness.' ²And Pharaoh said: 'Who is the Lord, that I should hearken unto His voice to let Israel go? I know not the Lord, and moreover I will not let Israel go.' ³And they said: 'The God of the Hebrews hath met with us. Let us go, we pray thee, three days' journey into the wilderness, and sacrifice unto the Lord our God; lest He fall upon us with pestilence, or with the sword.' ⁴And the king of Egypt said unto them: 'Wherefore do ye, Moses and Aaron, cause the people to break loose from their work? get you unto your burdens.' ⁵And Pharaoh said: 'Behold, the people of the land are now many, and will ye make them rest from their burdens?' ⁶And the same day Pharaoh commanded the taskmasters of the people, and their officers, saying: ⁷'Ye shall no more give the people straw to make brick, as heretofore. Let them go and gather straw for themselves. ⁸And the tale of the bricks, which they did make heretofore, ye shall lay upon them; ye shall not diminish aught thereof; for they are idle; therefore they cry, saying: Let us go and sacrifice to our God. ⁹Let heavier work be laid upon the men, that they may labour therein; and let them not regard lying words.' ¹⁰And the taskmasters of the people went out, and their officers, and they spoke to the people, saying: 'Thus saith Pharaoh: I will not give you straw. ¹¹Go yourselves, get you straw where ye can find it; for nought of your work shall be diminished.' ¹²So the people were scattered abroad throughout all the land of Egypt to gather stubble for straw. ¹³And the taskmasters were urgent, saying: 'Fulfil your work, your daily task, as when there was straw.' ¹⁴And the officers of the children of Israel, whom Pharaoh's taskmasters had set over them, were beaten, saying: 'Wherefore have ye not fulfilled your appointed task in making brick both yesterday and to-day as heretofore?' ¹⁵Then the officers of the children of Israel came and cried unto Pharaoh, saying: 'Wherefore dealest thou thus with thy servants? ¹⁶There 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.' ¹⁷But he said: 'Ye are idle, ye are idle; therefore ye say: Let us go and sacrifice to the Lord. ¹⁸Go therefore now, and work; for there shall no straw be given you, yet shall ye deliver the tale of bricks.' ¹⁹And the officers of the children of Israel did see that they were set on mischief, when they said: 'Ye shall not diminish aught from your bricks, your daily task.' ²⁰And they met Moses and Aaron, who stood in the way, as they came forth from Pharaoh; ²¹and they said unto them: 'The Lord look upon you, and judge; because ye have made our savour to be abhorred in the eyes of Pharaoh, and in the eyes of his servants, to put a sword in their hand to slay us.' ²²And Moses returned unto the Lord, and said: 'Lord, wherefore hast Thou dealt ill with this people? why is it that Thou hast sent me? ²³For since I came to Pharaoh to speak in Thy name, he hath dealt ill with this people; neither hast Thou delivered Thy people at all.'

      6And the Lord said unto Moses: 'Now shalt thou see what I will do to Pharaoh; for by a strong hand shall he let them go, and by a strong hand shall he drive them out of his land.'

      וארא

²And God spoke unto Moses, and said unto him: 'I am the Lord; ³and I appeared unto Abraham, unto Isaac, and unto Jacob, as God Almighty, but by My name ⁵יהוה I made Me not known to them. ⁴And I have also established My covenant with them, to give them the land of Canaan, the land of their sojournings, wherein they sojourned. ⁵And moreover I have heard the groaning of the children of Israel, whom the Egyptians keep in bondage; and I have remembered My covenant. ⁶Wherefore say unto the children 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 judgments; ⁷and I will take you to Me for a people, and I will be to you a God; and ye shall know that I am the Lord your God, who brought you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians. ⁸And I will bring you in unto the land, concerning which I lifted up My hand to give it to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob; and I will give it you for a heritage: I am the Lord.' ⁹And Moses spoke so unto the children of Israel; but they hearkened not unto Moses for impatience of spirit, and for cruel bondage.

      ¹⁰And the Lord spoke unto Moses, saying: ¹¹'Go in, speak unto Pharaoh king of Egypt, that he let the children of Israel go out of his land.' ¹²And Moses spoke before the Lord, saying: 'Behold, the children of Israel have not hearkened unto me; how then shall Pharaoh hear me, who am of uncircumcised lips?'

      ¹³And the Lord spoke unto Moses and unto Aaron, and gave them a charge unto the children of Israel, and unto Pharaoh king of Egypt, to bring the children of Israel out of the land of Egypt.

      ¹⁴These are the heads of their fathers' houses: the sons of Reuben the first-born of Israel: Hanoch, and Pallu, Hezron, and Carmi. These are the families of Reuben. ¹⁵And the sons of Simeon: Jemuel, and Jamin, and Ohad, and Jachin, and Zohar, and Shaul the son of a Canaanitish woman. These are the families of Simeon. ¹⁶And these are the names of the sons of Levi according to their