Moses And The Ten Plagues

And The Lord said to Moses, after He saw that Pharaoh's heart was hardened, that Moses must take Pharaoh to the water the next morning. He must then say to to Pharaoh: 'The Lord God of the Hebrews had sent me unto thee, and He said to thee to let His people go, so that they can serve Him in the wilderness; but thee wouldn't hear.'

First Plague: Water Turn Into Blood

And The Lord spoke unto Moses: 'Say to Aaron, 'Take thy rod, and stretch out thy hand upon all the waters of Egypt, that they may become blood, and that there may be blood throughout Egypt, both in vessels of wood, and in vessels of stone.'  

And Moses and Aaron did as God commanded, and all the waters in Egypt turned into blood, and everything happened as The Lord had said.  

But the magicians of Pharaoh also did so with their enchantments, and Pharaoh's heart was hardened, and he didn't listen to God's message.  The Egyptians digged around the river for drinkable water, and the plague went on for seven days.

Second Plague: Frogs

And The Lord then said to Moses to warn Pharaoh that if he doesn't let the Hebrews go to serve Him, that God would smite Egypt's borders with frogs ... 'And the river shall bring forth frogs abundantly, which shall go up and come into thy house, thy bed chamber, upon thy bed, into the house of thy servants, upon thy people, into thy ovens, and into thy kneading troughs.'

And The Lord spoke unto Moses: 'Say to Aaron, 'Take thy rod, and stretch out thy hand upon all the waters of Egypt, and cause the frogs to come up upon the land of Egypt.'  Aaron did so, and the frogs came up and covered the land of Egypt. But the magicians of Pharaoh also did so with their enchantments.

Pharaoh called Moses and Aaron and told them that if God take the frogs away, he would let the Israelites go so that they may sacrifice unto The Lord.  Moses and Aaron then went out from Pharaoh, and Moses cried unto The Lord because of the frogs that He had brought against Pharaoh.  And the Lord did according to the word of Moses, and all the frogs died in the houses, the villages and the fields, except in the river.  The Egyptians gathered them together in heaps, and the land stank.  But when Pharaoh saw that there was respite, he hardened his heart, and went back on his word.

Third Plague: Lice

And The Lord spoke unto Moses: 'Say unto Aaron, 'Take thy rod, and stretch out thy hand and smite the dust of the land, that it may become lice throughout all the land of Egypt.'  

And they did so, and the dust of the earth became lice in man, and in beast.  And the magicians tried to bring forth lice, but they could not.  They then said unto Pharaoh: 'This is the finger of God.'  

But Pharaoh's heart was hardened and he wouldn't listen, after God took the lice away.

Fourth Plague: Flies

And The Lord said to Moses: 'Rise up early in the morning, and stand before Pharaoh, and say unto him, 'Thus saith The Lord ... Let My people go, that they may serve me. Else, behold, I will send swarms of flies upon thee and the whole of Egypt, but not in the land of Goshen where My people dwell.'  

And The Lord did so, and the land was corrupted by the reason of the swarms of flies.  And Pharaoh called for Moses and Aaron and said to them: 'Go ye, sacrifice to your God in the land.'

Moses and Aaron then went out from Pharaoh, and Moses cried unto The Lord because of the flies that He had brought against Pharaoh.  And the Lord did according to the word of Moses, but when the flies was gone, Pharaoh hardened his heart again and went back on his word.

Fifth Plague: Pestilence

Then The Lord said unto Moses: 'Rise up early in the morning, and stand before Pharaoh, and say unto him: 'So saith The Lord ... Let my people go, that they may serve Me.  For I will at this time send all my plagues upon thy heart, and upon thy servants, and upon thy people; that thou mayest know that there is none like Me in all the earth.  For now I will stretch out My hand, that I may smite thee and thy people with pestilence, and thou shall be cut of the earth.'  There was great death in the land of Egypt.  But the heart of Pharaoh was hardened once again.

Sixth Plague: Boils

And The Lord said unto Moses and unto Aaron: 'Take to you handfuls of ashes of the furnace, and let Moses sprinkle it toward the heaven in the sight of Pharaoh.  

And it shall become small dust in all the land of Egypt., and shall be a boil breaking forth with blains upon man, and upon beast, throughout all the land of Egypt.  

They did as The Lord commanded, and it became as The Lord said.  And the magicians could not stand before Moses, for the boils was upon the magicians as well.  Man and beast suffered greatly.  And The Lord hardened the heart of Pharaoh.

Seventh Plague: Hail And Fire

And The Lord told Moses to stretch forth his hand toward heaven, that there may be hail in all the land of Egypt.  

And Moses did so, and the Lord sent thunder and hail, and the fire ran along upon the ground, and fire mingled with the hail.  

And the hail destroyed everything in it's path ... man, beast and plant.  Except for Goshen where the Israelites lived.

Pharaoh promised again to let the Israelites go, but as soon as the skies cleared up, he hardened his heart.

Eigth Plague: Locusts

The Lord sent the plague of locusts ... so much locusts that the earth was not visible, and they ate everything in their path.

Again Pharaoh promised to let the Israelites go, and again he sinned and hardened his heart, as soon as the locusts was gone.

Nineth Plague: Darkness

Then The Lord hit the land of Egypt with darkness. It was a thick darkness that made everything invisible.  It went on for three days.

Again Pharaoh promised to let the Israelites go, and again he sinned and hardened his heart, as soon as the darkness was gone.

The Lord finally had enough of Pharaoh.

Tenth Plague: Death Of The Firstborn

And Moses said to the people: 'Thus sayeth The Lord, 'When the time comes, about midnight will I go out into the midst of Egypt, and all the firstborn in the land of Egypt shall die, from the firstborn of Pharaoh unto the firstborn of the maid servant, and all the firstborn of the beasts, but not again the children of Israel.'  

He furthermore instructed Moses that every house of Israel [12] must slay a  year old male lamb without blemish ... on the fourteenth day ... take the blood and strike it on the two side posts and on the upper door post of the houses, wherein they shall eat it. They must eat it in the night, roasted with fire, and unleavened bread; and with bitter herbs, but the meat must not be raw.

The Lord also said to Moses: 'And thus shall ye eat it; with your loins girded, your shoes on your feet, and your staff in your hand; and ye shall eat it in haste ... it is the Lord's passover.  For I will pass through the land of Egypt that night, and will smite all the firstborn, both man and beast; and against all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgment: I am The Lord.  When I see the blood upon the houses, I will pass over you, and the plague shall not be upon you.

And it came to pass, that at midnight The Lord smote all of the firstborn, of man and beast, in the land of Egypt ... and there was a great cry in Egypt. But the firstborn of Israel were spared.

Source:  Exodus Chapters 8-12

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Moses and Aaron Speak To Pharaoh ... The Israelites Suffer

Moses and Aaron then went to Pharaoh and told him that God demanded that he must set the Israelites free.

Pharaoh refused and said to them that he didn't acknowledge God's authority and that he will never set them free.

Instead he turned the nation's life into a hell.

He commanded his taskmasters to deny them straw to build bricks.  He further doubled their working hours, so that they don't have time to praise or talk to God.  The Israelite overseers were beaten every day for not getting the workers to make more bricks for Egypt.

When they spoke to Pharaoh over the injustice, he told them that although there was no more straw, that they must deliver their daily quota.  The Israelites were scattered all over Egypt to gather straw.

They complaint to Moses and Aaron about how they were treated since Moses spoke to Pharaoh to release them in God's name, and Moses went to speak to God.

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

The Lord further said to Moses: ' I am the Lord ... and I appeared unto Abraham, unto Isaac, and unto Jacob [Israel] by the name of God Almighty, but by my name JEHOVAH was I not known to them.  And I have also established My covenant with them, to give them the land of Canaan, the land of

their pilgrimage, wherein they were strangers.'

'And I have also heard the groaning of the children of Israel, whom the Egyptians keep in bondage, and I have remembered my covenant ... and I will give Canaan to you as an heritage ... I am The Lord.'

When Moses told the Israelites what God had said, they didn't hear, because of their cruel bondage and their anguish of spirit.

And The Lord spoke unto Moses again: 'Go, and speak unto Pharaoh, king of Egypt, that he let the children of Israel go, out of this land.'

Moses then asked The Lord that if the Israelites didn't hear him, how will Pharaoh hear him?

And The Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron and put them in charge of the whole nation of the Israelites ... and He put them in charge of Pharaoh to release the children of Israel of their bondage.

Moses then said before The Lord: 'Behold, I am of uncircumcised lips, and how shall Pharaoh listen to me?'

The Lord said unto Moses: 'See, I have made thee a god to Pharaoh ... and Aaron thy brother shall be thy prophet.'

The Lord further said that He will harden Pharaoh's heart and He will multiply His signs and wonders in the land of Egypt ... so that the Egyptians would know the He is The Lord, and that He was going to free the children of Israel from their bondage.

Moses and Aaron did as God commanded them, so did they.

Moses was 40 years of age and Aaron 43 years of age, at that time, when they spoke unto Pharaoh.

The Lord spoke unto Moses and Aaron, saying: 'When Pharaoh shall speak unto you, saying, 'Shew a miracle' to you ... then thou shalt say unto Aaron, 'Take thy rod, and cast it before Pharaoh', and it shall become a serpent.'

.

Moses and Aaron then went to Pharaoh, and did as The Lord had commanded ... Aaron cast down his rod before Pharaoh and his servants, and it became a serpent.

Pharaoh called his wise men and sorcerers, and they did the same thing with their enchantments.

Every one cast down his rod and the rods became serpents ... but Aaron's rod swallowed up their rods.

But Pharaoh's heart was hardened, and he didn't hear unto them ... as The Lord had said.

And then God sent His 10 plagues ...

Source: Exodus Chapter 6

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The Conversation Between God and Moses ... Moses Returns To Egypt

And God said moreover unto Moses: 'Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel: The Lord God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, hath sent me unto you, saying: I have surely visited you, and seen that which is done to you in Egypt.

'And I have said that I will bring you up out of the affliction of Egypt unto the land of the Canaanites, unto a land flowing with milk and honey.'

'And they shall hearken to thy voice; and thou shalt come, thou and the elders of Israel, unto the king of Egypt, and ye shall say unto him: The Lord God of the Hebrews hath met with us; and now let us go, we beseech thee, three day's journey into the wilderness, that we may sacrifice to the Lord our God.'

'I am sure that the king of Egypt will not let you go, no, not by a mighty hand.  And I will stretch out my hand with all my wonders which I will do in the midst thereof; and after that he will let you go.

And I will give this people favour in the sight of the Egyptians; and it shall come to pass, that, when ye go, ye shall not be empty. But every woman shall borrow from her neighbour, and of her that so journeth in her house, jewels of silver, jewels of gold, and raiment; and ye shall put them upon your sons, and upon your daughters; and ye shall spoil the Egyptians.

'I am sure that the king of Egypt will not let you go, no, not by a mighty hand.  And I will stretch out my hand with all my wonders which I will do in the midst thereof; and after that he will let you go.

And I will give this people favour in the sight of the Egyptians; and it shall come to pass, that, when ye go, ye shall not be empty. But every woman shall borrow from her neighbour, and of her that sojourneth in her house, jewels of silver, jewels of gold, and raiment; and ye shall put them upon your sons, and upon your daughters; and ye shall spoil the Egyptians.

And Moses answered and said: 'But, behold, they will not believe me, nor hearken unto my voice: for they will say: The Lord hath not appeared unto thee.'

And The Lord said unto him: 'What is it in thine hand?'  And he said: 'A rod.' And He said: 'Cast it on the ground.'  And he cast it on the ground, and it became a serpent ... and Moses fled before it.  And The Lord said unto Moses: 'Put forth thine hand, and take it by the tail.'  And he put forth his hand, and caught it, and it became a rod in his hand ... 'so that they may believe that The Lord God of their fathers hath appeared unto thee.'

And The Lord said furthermore unto him: 'Put now thy hand into thy bosom.'  And he put his hand into his bosom ... and when he took it out, behold, his hand was leprous as snow.  God then ordered him to put his hand again into his bosom.  And he put his hand again into his bosom, and plucked it out of his bosom, and behold, it was turned again as his other flesh.

'And it shall come to pass it they will not believe thee, neither hearken to the voice of the first sign, that they will believe the voice of the latter sign.'

And The Lord said furthermore: 'If they do not believe these two signs, you must take water from the river, and pour on dry land ... and the water will become blood.'

Moses said to The Lord: 'Oh my Lord, I am not eloquent, slow of speech, and of a slow tongue.'

The Lord then said to Moses: 'Who hath made man's mouth? Or who hath maketh the dumb, or the deaf, or the seeing, or the blind? Have not I The Lord?'

Again Moses murmured against the Will of The Lord, and He became angry with Moses.  He then told Moses: 'Is not Aaron, the Levite, thy brother?  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.  Thou shall speak unto him, and put words in his mouth ... and I will be with thy mouth, and with his mouth, and will teach you what ye shall do.  And he shall be thy spokesman unto the people ... and he shall be to thee instead of a mouth, and thou shalt be to him instead of God.  And thou shalt take this rod in thine hand, wherewith thou shalt do signs.'

Moses then went and returned to his father-in-law Jethro, and said to him: 'Let me go, I pray thee, and return to my brothers which are in Egypt, and see if they are still alive.' Jethro answered Moses: 'Go in peace.'

The Lord then said to Moses in Midian: 'Go, return into Egypt, for all the men are dead which sought thy life.'

Moses took his wife and his sons, put them on a donkey, and he returned to the land of Egypt ... and Moses took the Rod of God in his hand.

And The Lord said unto Moses: 'When thou goest to return into Egypt, see that thou do all those wonders before Pharaoh, which I have put in thine hand ... but I will harden his heart, that he shall not let the people go.'

'And thou shalt say unto Pharaoh: Thus saith The Lord: Israel is My son, even My firstborn.  And I say unto thee: Let My son go, so that he may serve Me ... and if thou refuse to let him go, behold, I will slay thy son, even thy firstborn.'

The Lord then instructed Aaron to go into the wilderness to meet Moses.  Aaron went and met Moses in the mount of God, and kissed him.  Moses then told Aaron all the words of The Lord who had sent him, and all the signs which He had commanded him.

Moses and Aaron went and gathered together all the elders of the children of Israel.  Aaron spoke all the words that God had spoken unto Moses, and did the signs in the sight of the people.

And the people believed ... and when they heard that The Lord had visited the children of Israel, and that He looked upon their afflictions, they bowed their heads and worshipped Him.



Exodus: Chapter 4

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Moses Fled Egypt ... The Burning Bush

And it came to past, when Moses became an adult, that he one day went out to visit his Hebrew brothers, and he saw how they suffered.

He saw an Egyptian swearing at one of his brothers, and he became so angry that he killed the Egyptian, when they were alone, and buried him in the sand.

On the second day, when he went out to his brothers, he saw that two of his Hebrew brothers fighting with each other.  He asked the one why he would talk in such a manner to his brother.  His brother replied: 'Who made you prince and judge over us? Are you going to kill me too, like you killed the Egyptian?'  Moses got scared, because he didn't know that anybody saw him, and he knew that it was not a secret.

The story of the killing reached Pharaoh, and he was extremely angry at Moses. He sought to slay Moses.

So Moses fled from the face of Pharaoh, and went to dwell in the land of Midian.  Then, one day, he sat down at a well to rest.

Now, the priest of Midian had seven daughters, whom would go this well to drew water for their father's throughs, to water their father's flock.

And the sheperds came and wanted to drive them away, but Moses stood up to them and helped the daughters, and watered their flock.

When they came to Reuel, their father, he said: 'How is it that you came so soon today?

So they answered: 'An Egyptian delivered us out of the hands of the sheperds, and he also drew enough water for us and the flock.'

And he said to his daughters: 'And where is he?  Why is it that you left the man? Call him that he may eat bread.'

And Moses was content to dwell with Reuel [Jethro], and the priest gave his daughter Zipporah to Moses as his wife.

And she bare him a son, and he called his name Gershom, for he said: 'I have been a stranger in a strange land.'

And as time went on, it came to pass that the king of Egypt died.

And the children of Israel sighed by reason of their bondage, and they cried, and their cry came unto God by reason of His bondage with Israel [Jacob].

And God looked upon the children of Israel, and God had respect unto them.

Now, Moses kept the flock of his father-in-law, the priest of Midian, and he led the flock to the backside of the desert, and came to the mountain of God, even to Horeb.

And the angel of The Lord appeared unto him in a flame of fire out of the midst of a bush ... and he looked, and, behold, the bush burning to fire, and 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 I am.'

And The Lord said: 'Draw not thy hither ... put off thy shoes from 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 heard their cry by reason of their taskmasters ... for I know their sorrows.  And I come to deliver them out of the hands of the Egyptians, and to bring them up of that land unto a good land and a large,

unto a land flowing with milk and honey; unto the place of the Canaanites.

Now, therefore, behold, the cry of the children of Israel is come unto Me ... and I have also seen the oppression wherewith the Egyptians oppress them.

Come now therefore, behold, and I will send thee unto Pharaoh, that thou mayest bring forth my people the children of Israel out of Egypt.'

And Moses said unto God: 'Who am I, that I should go unto Pharaoh, and that I should bring forth the children of Israel out of Egypt?'

And The Lord said: 'Certainly I will be with thee; and this shall be a token unto thee, that I have sent thee ... when thou hast brought forth the

people out of Egypt, ye shall serve God upon this mountain.'

And Moses said unto God: 'Behold, when I come unto the children of Israel, and say unto them ... The God of thy fathers hath sent me unto you ... and they shall say to me: 'What is his name?' ... what shall I say unto them?'

And God said unto Moses: 'I AM THAT I AM.' ... and He said: 'Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel: I AM hath sent Me unto you.'

Source: Exodus 2-3

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Jacob and Joseph died ... Israel became slaves ... Moses was born

And Israel grew into a strong and wealthy nation in the land of Egypt. All 12 tribes with all their offspring and possessions lived in the best part of Egypt, called Rameses, as Pharaoh commanded.

At the time of his death, Jacob already lived for 17 years in Egypt, and his children buried him in the cave in the field of Ephron the Hittite, where Jacob's wife Leah, Abraham and Sarah and Isaac and Rebecca were also put to rest.

And then it came to pass that the 12 sons of Jacob and that generation all died.

And the children of Israel (Jacob) were fruitful, and increased and multiplied abundantly.  The land was filled with them.

But Pharaoh died and the new king that came to power didn't know anything about Joseph and the Israelites history.

He was deeply worried about their astonishing numbers, in case of war times.  So he tasked his taskmaster to turn the Israel nation into slaves, and made the Israelites built the treasure cities Pithon and Raamses. They cruelly made the Israelites built everything that the Egypt king commanded, like the pyramids.

But the more the Egyptians tried to destroy Israel, the more their numbers grew.  They treated the Israelites like animals, and commanded the midwives to kill all the newborn Israel boy babies, but not the girls, as a last resort to get control over the nation.

But the midwives feared God and saved the boys as well.

The new Pharaoh (new king) was extremely angry over this, and then he commanded all his people to kill every newborn Israel boy baby that they know off, but not the girls.

But there was a man of the house of Levi (one of the 12 tribes of Isreal) that took a daughter of Levi as his wife, and she conceived a boy, and she kept him hidden for 3 months.

When he grew to big to hide, she built a little ark of bulrushes, and daubed it with slime and with pitch.  She then put the child in it, and laid it in the flags by the river's bank.  And his sister watched over him all the while to see what would happen to him.

The daughter of Pharaoh came to the river to wash herself, while her maidens walked on the riverbank.  She suddenly saw the little ark among the flags, and she sent her maidens to fetch it. She opened it and saw the baby boy, and he started to cry.  She knew it was a Hebrew (Israel) child.

Then his sister approached her and asked Pharaoh's daughter if she should fetch a Hebrew midwife to take care of the baby.  The princess agreed and his sister brought his mother to the princess.  And his mother took him and nursed him.

When he grew, she took him to the princess, and he became her son.  She called him Moses.

Source: Exodus 1

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