is My son, My firstborn. And I say unto thee, Let My son go, that he may serve before Me; and if thou refuse to send him away, behold, I will kill thy son, thy firstborn. And it was in the way, at the place of lodging, that the Angel of the Lord met him, and sought to kill him. And Zipporah took a stone, and circumcised the foreskin of her son, and approached before him, and said, On account of the blood of this circumcision let my husband be given (back) to me. And when he had desisted from him, she said, But for the blood of this circumcision my husband would have been condemned to die. And the Lord said to Aharon, Go thou to meet Mosheh in the desert. And he went, and met him at the mountain on which was revealed the glory of the Lord, and he kissed him. And Mosheh showed Aharon all the words with which the Lord had sent him, and all the signs which he had commanded. And Mosheh and Aharon went and assembled all the elders of the sons of Israel; and Aharon told all the words which the Lord had spoken with Mosheh, and did the signs in the eyes of the people. And the people believed, and understood (heard) that the Lord had remembered the sons of Israel, and that their slavery was manifest before him; and they bowed, and adored. V. And afterward Mosheh and Aharon went in, and said to Pharoh: Thus saith the Lord, the God of Israel, Let My people go, to solemnize a feast (yechagun) before Me in the desert. And Pharoh said, The name of the Lord is not known to me, that I should hearken to His word to send Israel away. The name of the Lord is not revealed to me, and Israel I shall not release. And they said, The God of the Jehudaee hath revealed Himself to us; let us now go three days' journey 9 into the desert to sacrifice before the Lord our God, lest He come upon us with death or with slaughter. And the king of Mizraim said to them, Why, Mosheh and Aharon, do you hinder the people from their works? Go to your employment. And Pharoh said, Behold now, the people of the land are many, and you make them relax from their employment. And Pharoh that day commanded the masters of the people and the overseers, 10 saying, You shall not continue (add) to give straw to the people to cast bricks, as heretofore; let them go and collect straw for themselves; yet the number of bricks which they have made heretofore you shall still lay upon them and not diminish; for they are idle, and therefore cry, saying, We will go and sacrifice before our God. Make labour heavy upon the men let them be occupied with it, and not with vain words. And the masters of the people and the overseers went forth and spake to the people, saying, Thus saith Pharoh, I will not give you straw; you shall go and gather up straw for yourselves wheresoever you can find it; though from your work there shall be nothing diminished. And the people were scattered abroad over all the country of Mizraim to gather stubble for straw. And the masters were urgent, saying, Fulfil your work, the matter of a day in a day, as you did when straw was given you. And the masters whom Pharoh set over the sons of Israel smote them, saying, Why do you not fulfil your requirement to cast the bricks as heretofore, as yesterday, so also to-day? And the overseers of the sons of Israel came and complained before Pharoh, saying, Why hast thou done thus with thy servants? Thou hast not given thy servants straw, yet they say to us, Make bricks; and, behold, thy servants. Sam. Vers., "the foremen." 10 Sam. Vers., "his scribes." 11 Sam. Vers., "proportion." are beaten, and thy people sin against us. But he said, You are idle, you are idle: therefore you say, We will go and sacrifice before the Lord. And now go, work: but straw I will not give you; yet the number of bricks you shall render. And the overseers of the sons of Israel perceived that they were in evil: for they said to them, You shall not diminish from your bricks the matter of a day, in a day. And they met Mosheh and Aharon standing before them in their coming out from being with Pharoh. And they said to them, May the Lord manifest Himself to you and adjudge;1 because you have made our savour evil in the eyes of Pharoh, and in the eyes of his servants, and have put a sword into their hands to kill us! And Mosheh returned before the Lord and said, O Lord, why hast Thou done evil unto this people, and wherefore didst Thou send me? and from the time that I went in to Pharoh to speak in Thy name he hath done evil to this people, but liberating Thou hast not liberated Thy people. VI. But the Lord said to Mosheh, Now shalt thou see what I will do to Pharoh: for with a strong hand shall he send them away, and with a strong hand drive them from his land. SECTION XIV. VAERA. And the Lord spake to Mosheh and said to him, I am the Lord; and I appeared unto Abraham and to Izhak and to Jakob by (the name) El-Shaddai, but by My name Jehovah2 I was not known to them. And also 1 Sam. Vers., "interpret." 2 Oukelos, Yeyd. I have confirmed My covenant with them to give them the land of Kenaan, the land of their sojournings in which they sojourned. And before Me hath been heard the cry of the sons of Israel whom the Mizraee make to labour for them; and I have remembered My covenant. Therefore, say thou to the sons of Israel, I am the Lord, and I will bring you out from the midst of the sore labour for the Mizraee, and will deliver you from their servitude, and redeem you with a lofty arm and with great judgments. And I will bring you nigh before Me to be a people, and I will be unto you a God; and you shall know that I am the Lord your God who bringeth you out from the sore Mizrean bondage. And I will lead you into the land which I have sworn in My Word to give to Abraham, to Izhak, and to Jakob; and to you will I give it for an inheritance; I am the Lord. And Mosheh so spake with the sons of Israel: but they received not from Mosheh through anguish of spirit, and from the labour which was hard upon them. And the Lord spake to Mosheh, saying, Go in, speak with Pharoh king of Mizraim, that he send away the sons of Israel from his land. And Mosheh spake before the Lord, saying, Behold, the sons of Israel have not received from me, and how then will Pharoh receive, and I (so) heavy of speech? And the Lord spake to Mosheh and Aharon, and gave them commandment to the sons of Israel and unto Pharoh king of Mizraim for the going forth of the sons of Israel from the land of Mizraim. These are the heads of the house of their fathers. The sons of Reuben the firstborn of Israel, Hanuk and Phalli, Hetsron and Karmi; these are the progeny of Reuben. And the sons of Shimeon, Yemuel and Yamin and Achad and Yakin and Zochar and Shaul the son of a Kenaanitha; these are the progeny of Shimeon. And And the sons these are the names of the sons of Levi, according to their generations: Gershon and Kehath and Merari. And the years of the life of Levi were a hundred and thirty and seven years. The sons of Gerson, Libni and Shimei, after their progenies. And the sons of Kehath, Amram and Izhar and Hebron and Uzziel. And the years of the life of Kehath, a hundred and thirty and three years. And the sons of Merari, Maheli and Mushi. These are the progenies of Levi, after their generations. And Amram took Yokebed the sister of his father unto him to wife, and she bare him Aharon and Mosheh. And the years of the life of Amram were an hundred and thirty and seven years. of Izhar, Korah and Nepheg and Zikri. of Uzziel, Mishael and Elzaphan and Aharon took Elisheba the daughter of Aminadab the sister of Nachshon to him to wife; and she bare him Nadab and Abihu, Elazar and Ithamar. And the sons of Korah, Asir and Elkanah and Abiasaph: these are the progeny of Korah. And Elazar the son of Aharon took (one) of the daughters of Phutiel to himself to wife, and she bare him Pinhas. These are the chiefs of the fathers of the Levaee, according to their generations. It is Aharon and Mosheh, to whom the Lord had said, Bring forth the sons of Israel from the land of Mizraim by their armies. These are they who spake with Pharoh king of Mizraim to let the sons of Israel go forth from Mizraim it is Mosheh and Aharon. And the sons And it was in the day when the Lord spake with Mosheh in the land of Mizraim, that the Lord spake unto Mosheh, saying, I am the Lord: Speak with Pharoh king of Mizraim all that I have said to thee. But Mosheh said before the Lord, Behold, I am heavy of speech, and how will Pharoh receive from me? But the Lord said to Mosheh, See, I have appointed thee a |