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THE COST OF BEING CRUEL AND STUBBORN Then Jehovah said to Moses, "Pharaoh is stubborn; he will not let the people go. Go to Pharaoh early in the morning, as he is going on the water, and stand by the bank of the Nile to meet him. Say to him, 'Jehovah, the God of the Hebrews, has sent me to you with this command: Let my people go that they may worship me in the wilderness, but so far you have not listened. Jehovah declares, By this you shall know that I am Jehovah: See, I will strike the waters which are in the river with the rod that is in my hand and they shall be changed into blood. The fish, too, that are in the Nile shall die, and the Nile shall become foul, so that the Egyptians will hate to drink its water.'" Then Moses lifted up the staff and in the presence of Pharaoh and his servants struck the waters that were in the river Nile; and all its waters were changed into blood. The fish, too, that were in the Nile died, and the river became so foul that the Egyptians could not drink its water, but dug round about the Nile for water to drink.[46] days later Jehovah gave this command to Moses, "Go in to Pharaoh and say to him, 'Jehovah commands: Let my people go that they may worship . If you refuse to let them go, then I will afflict all your land with frogs; and the Nile shall swarm with frogs which shall go up and come into your house, into your sleeping chamber, upon your bed, into the houses of your servants, upon your people, and into your ovens and kneading-troughs; and the frogs shall come up even upon you and your people and all your servants.'" Then Jehovah said to Moses, "Say to Aaron: 'Stretch your hand with your staff over the rivers, over the canals, and over the pools, and cause frogs to come up over the land of Egypt.'" So Aaron stretched his hand over the waters of Egypt; and the frogs came up and covered the land of Egypt. Then Pharaoh called for Moses and Aaron and said, "Pray to Jehovah to take away the frogs from me and my people; then I will let the people go, that they may offer a sacrifice to Jehovah." Moses said to Pharaoh, "Will you do yourself the honor of telling me at what time I shall pray to Jehovah in your behalf and in behalf of your servants and people, that the frogs be destroyed from your palaces and be left in the Nile?" Pharaoh answered, "To-morrow." Then Moses said, "Let it be as you say; that you may know that there is none like Jehovah our God, the frogs shall depart from you, from your palaces, and from your servants and people; they shall be left in the Nile." When Moses and Aaron had gone from Pharaoh, Moses prayed to Jehovah to remove the frogs which he had brought upon Pharaoh; and Jehovah did as Moses asked. The frogs died in the houses, in the courts, and in the fields, and the people gathered them together in many heaps; and the land was filled with a vile odor. But when Pharaoh saw that relief had come, he was stubborn and, as Jehovah had said, did not listen to Moses and Aaron. Then Jehovah said to Moses, "Get up early in the morning and stand before Pharaoh, just as he goes to the water, and say to him, 'Jehovah commands: Let my people go that they may worship . If you will not let my people go, I will send swarms of flies upon you, upon your servants, and upon your people and into your palaces, so that the houses of the Egyptians shall be full of swarms of flies, as well as the ground upon which they stand. But at that time I will set apart the land of Goshen in which my people live,[47] and no swarms of flies shall be there, so that you may know that I, Jehovah, am in the midst of the earth.'" And Jehovah did so: a vast swarm of flies came upon Pharaoh's palace and into the homes of his servants; and all the land of Egypt was ruined by the swarms of flies. Then Pharaoh called for Moses and Aaron and said, "I will let you go that you may offer a sacrifice to Jehovah your God in the wilderness; you must not go far away. Pray for ." Moses replied, "I will go and will pray to Jehovah that the swarms of flies may depart from Pharaoh, from his servants and from his people to-morrow; let not Pharaoh again act deceitfully by refusing to let the people go to offer a sacrifice to Jehovah." So Moses went from Pharaoh and prayed to Jehovah. And Jehovah did as Moses asked; but this time also Pharaoh was stubborn and would not let the people go. Then Jehovah said to Moses, "Go to Pharaoh and tell him, 'Jehovah the God of the Hebrews commands: Let my people go that they may worship me. For if you refuse to let them go and still hold them, then the power of Jehovah will bring a very severe pest upon your cattle which are in the field, upon the horses, the asses, the camels, the herds, and the flocks. But Jehovah will make a difference between the cattle of Israel and the cattle of Egypt, and not one that belongs to the Israelites shall die.'" So Jehovah set a fixed time, saying, "To-morrow Jehovah will do this in the land." Jehovah did this on the next , and all the cattle of the Egyptians died; but none of the cattle of the Israelites. Then Pharaoh sent and found that not even one of the cattle of the Israelites was dead; but Pharaoh was stubborn and would not let the people go. Then Jehovah said to Moses, "Get up early in the morning and stand before Pharaoh, and say to him,'Jehovah, the God of the Hebrews, commands: Let my people go, that they may worship . Do you still set yourself against my people, so that you will not let them go? To-morrow about this time I will send down a very heavy fall of hail, such as has not been in Egypt from the that it became a nation until now.'" |
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So Jehovah sent down hail upon the land of Egypt, and the lightning flashing in the midst of the hail was very severe, such as had not been before in all Egypt since it became a nation. Through the whole land of Egypt the hail struck down everything that was in[48] the field, both man and beast. The hail also struck down all the growing plants and broke all the trees in the fields. Only in the land of Goshen, where the Israelites were, there was no hail. Again Pharaoh sent and called for Moses and Aaron and said to them, "I have sinned this time; Jehovah is right and I and my people are wrong. Pray to Jehovah, for there has been enough of these mighty thunderings and hail, and I will let you go, and you shall stay no longer." Moses said to him, "As soon as I have gone out of the city, I will spread out my hands in prayer to Jehovah; the thunders shall stop, and there shall be no more hail, that you may know that the earth is Jehovah's. But as for you and your servants, I know that even then you will not fear Jehovah." So Moses went out of the city from Pharaoh and spread out his hands to Jehovah; and the thunders and hail stopped, and the rain was no longer poured upon the earth. But when Pharaoh saw that the rain and the hail and the thunders had stopped, he sinned again, and he and his servants became stubborn, and he would not let the Israelites go. So Moses and Aaron went to Pharaoh, and said to him, "Jehovah, the God of the Hebrews, commands: 'How long will you refuse to obey me? Let my people go that they may worship me. For if you refuse to let my people go, then to-morrow I will bring locusts into your land, and they will cover the surface of the earth, so that no one will be able to see the ground, and they shall eat the rest of that which is left to you from the hail, and they shall eat all your trees which grow in the field.'" Then Moses and Aaron were driven out from Pharaoh's presence, but Moses stretched out his staff over the land of Egypt, and Jehovah caused an east wind to blow over the land all that day and night. In the morning the east wind brought the locusts, and they went over all the land of Egypt and settled down in all the land of Egypt, a very large swarm, more locusts than there ever were before or ever will be again. For they covered the surface of the whole land, so that the land was darkened and nothing green was left, neither tree nor growing plants, anywhere in all the land of Egypt. Then Pharaoh called for Moses in haste and said, "I have sinned against Jehovah your God and against you. Now therefore forgive my sin only this once, and pray to Jehovah your God to take away from me this deadly plague." So Moses went out from Pharaoh and prayed to Jehovah, and Jehovah made a very strong west wind to blow which took up the locusts and drove them into the Red Sea;[49] not a single locust was left in all the land of Egypt. But Jehovah let Pharaoh's heart remain stubborn, so that he would not let the Israelites go. Then Jehovah said to Moses, "Stretch out your hand toward heaven, that there may be darkness over the land of Egypt, so dark that it may be felt." So Moses stretched out his hand toward heaven; and there was complete darkness in all the land of Egypt for three days; no one could see another, nor did any one move about for three days. But the Israelites had light in their homes.
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Then Pharaoh called Moses and said, "Go, worship Jehovah; only let your flocks and your herds stay behind; let your little ones go with you." But Moses said, "You must also give us animals for sacrifices and burnt-offerings, that we may offer a sacrifice to Jehovah our God. Our cattle too must go with us; not a hoof shall be left behind, for we must take these to offer to Jehovah our God, and we do not know what we must offer to Jehovah until we arrive there." But Jehovah let Pharaoh's heart remain stubborn, and he would not let them go. And Pharaoh said to him, "Go away from me; take care that you never come to me again; for on the day that you come to me you shall die." Moses replied, "You have spoken truly, I shall never see you again." Moses said to Pharaoh, "Jehovah declares: 'About midnight I will go through all of Egypt. All the eldest sons in the land of Egypt shall die, from the eldest son of Pharaoh who sits upon his throne, even to the eldest son of the slave girl who is behind the mill, and all the first-born of the cattle. There shall be a great cry of sorrow all over the land of Egypt, such as has never been before and never shall be again.' But not a single dog shall bark at any of the Israelites nor their animals, that you may know that Jehovah does make a difference between the Egyptians and Israelites. All these your servants shall come to me and bow down before me, saying, 'Go away, together with all the people that follow you.' After that I will go away." And Moses went from Pharaoh in great anger.
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THE ESCAPE FROM EGYPT Moses called together all the leaders of Israel, and said to them, "Take lambs from the herds according to your families and kill the passover lamb. You shall also take a bunch of hyssop and dip it in[50] the blood that is in the basin and strike the lintel and the two door posts with the blood that is in the basin. And not one of you shall go out of the door of his house until morning, for Jehovah will pass through to kill the Egyptians, and when he sees the blood upon the lintel and on the two door posts, he will pass over the door and will not let the destroyer come into your houses to destroy you. You and your children shall observe this event as a custom forever. "When your children shall say to you, 'What do you mean by this service?' you shall say, 'It is the sacrifice of the passover of Jehovah, for he passed over the houses of the Israelites in Egypt, when he destroyed the Egyptians and released our people.'" Then the people bowed their heads and worshipped; and the Israelites went and did as Jehovah had commanded Moses and Aaron. At midnight Jehovah destroyed all the eldest sons in the land of Egypt, from the eldest son of Pharaoh who sat on his throne to the eldest son of the captive who was in prison. Then Pharaoh arose in the night, together with all his servants and all the Egyptians, and there was a great cry of sorrow, for there was not a house in Egypt in which there was not one dead. Pharaoh called Moses and Aaron at night and said, "Go away from among my people, both you and the Israelites; go, worship Jehovah as you have asked. Also take with you your sheep and your cattle, as you have asked, go and ask a blessing for me also." The Egyptians also told the people to hasten out of the land, for they said, "We shall all perish." So the people took their dough before the yeast had worked, and their kneading-troughs were bound up in their clothes upon their shoulders. The Israelites went on foot from Rameses to Succoth; and a mixed multitude went with them, and they had a great many flocks and herds. They baked unraised cakes of the dough which they had brought with them from Egypt, for there was no yeast in it, because they had been driven out of Egypt and could not wait, neither had they prepared for themselves any food for the journey. And they went from Succoth and camped at Etham on the border of the wilderness. Jehovah went before them by day in a pillar of cloud, to show them the way, and at night in a pillar of fire, to give them light, that they might march both by day and by night; the pillar of cloud by day and the pillar of fire at night stayed in front of the people. [51] When the king of Egypt was told that the people had fled, the feeling of Pharaoh and his servants toward them was changed, and they said, "Why have we done this and let the Israelites escape from serving us?" So he made ready his chariot and took his people with him. He also took six hundred chosen chariots and the rest of the chariots of Egypt with captains over all of them; and Jehovah let the heart of Pharaoh, king of Egypt, remain stubborn, so that he followed the Israelites, because they had defied him. When Pharaoh drew near to them the Israelites looked up and saw the Egyptians marching after them; and they were very much afraid and cried to Jehovah. And they said to Moses, "Why have you misled us by bringing us out of Egypt? Is not this what we told you in Egypt, when we said, 'Let us alone, that we may serve the Egyptians? For it is better for us to serve the Egyptians than to die in the wilderness.'" But Moses said to the people, "Do not be frightened, remain quiet and you will see how Jehovah will save you to-day; for as surely as you now see the Egyptians you shall never see them again. Jehovah will fight for you, and you are to keep still." Then the angel of God who went before the army of Israel changed his position and went behind them. The pillar of cloud also changed its position from in front of them and stood behind them, coming between the army of the Egyptians and the army of the Israelites. On the one side the cloud was dark and on the other side it lighted up the night, so that throughout all the night neither army came near the other. Then Moses stretched out his hand over the sea, and Jehovah by means of a strong east wind caused the sea to go back all that night and made the bed of the sea dry. And the Israelites crossed over on the dry bed of the sea. The Egyptians followed and all of Pharaoh's horses, his chariots, and his horsemen went after them into the sea. In the morning before sunrise, Jehovah looked out through the pillar of fire and of cloud upon the army of the Egyptians and threw them into confusion. He also bound their chariot wheels, so that they dragged heavily. Therefore the Egyptians said, "Let us flee from the Israelites, for Jehovah fights for them against us." Then Jehovah said to Moses, "Stretch out your hand over the sea, that the waters may come back upon the Egyptians, upon their chariots, and upon their horsemen." So Moses stretched out his[52] hand over the sea, and toward morning the sea returned to its ordinary level while the Egyptians were flying before it. So Jehovah overthrew the Egyptians in the midst of the sea, and the waters returned and covered the chariots and the horsemen, and all the army of Pharaoh that went after them into the sea, so that not one of them was left. Thus Jehovah saved the Israelites that day from the power of the Egyptians; and they saw the Egyptians dead upon the seashore. When the Israelites saw the great work which Jehovah did to the Egyptians, the people feared Jehovah and believed in him and in his servant Moses. And Miriam the prophetess, the sister of Aaron, took a tambourine in her hand; and as all the women followed her with tambourines and with dancing, she sang with them: "Sing to Jehovah, for he has triumphed gloriously: Both horse and rider has he hurled into the sea." Then Moses and the Israelites sang this song to Jehovah: "I will sing to Jehovah, for he has triumphed gloriously: Both horse and rider he has hurled into the sea. Jehovah is my strength and song, he has delivered me; He is my God, I will praise him; my father's God whom I honor."
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I couldn't read all this. I've a Bible or two here so if I need to, I'll defer to my own version. It would be interesting to hear from you personally. What I mean is it would be nice to read your words, your own thoughts, regarding the Word of God, within your blog. Is that possible for you. Regardless of the variety of recent bloggers here, some whose opinions I don't necessarily coincide with, at least they are disarmingly honest. So, who are you? Tell us.
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