Israelites escaped; ulcers were produced upon man and beast; a dreadful storm of thunder and lightning, and hail, spread destruction through the fields; clouds of locusts destroyed the grass, herbs, and fruits. When after each of these plagues, Pharaoh violated the promises which he successively gave, in one night, the angel of the Lord smote all the first-born throughout the land of Egypt, both of man and beast, so that there was not a house of the Egyptians in which was not found one person dead, while in the houses of the Israelites no one dead was seen. And Moses appointed a ceremony called the Passover, to commemorate this great deliverance. Then Pharaoh commanded the children of Israel to depart immediately. They departed therefore with their flocks and herds, and in such haste did they depart, that they made no preparation for their journey. Thus the Israelites departed from Egypt, after their forefathers had sojourned in the land four hundred and thirty years; and their number was six hundred thousand, without reckoning children. With this event terminates the third epocha of 430 years.

QUESTIONS.

What is the meaning of the word Exodus, and what is the general narrative of the book so called? What happened to the children of Israel after the death of Joseph and his brethren? What cruel order did Pharaoh issue, with regard to the children of the Hebrews? What Israelitish child was saved by his mother, and how was his deliverance effected? By whom was Moses adopted, and what did he do when he was grown up that obliged him to flee from Egypt? In what country did he take refuge? Whom

did Moses marry ? What extraordinary spectacle did he behold as he was keeping the flocks of Jethro, his fatherin-law, and what command did he receive from God? What were the plagues inflicted upon Pharaoh to oblige him to let the Israelites depart from his territories? What festival was instituted to commemorate the deliverance of the Israelites? How long had the children of Israel sojourned in Egypt, and in what manner, and in what number, did they depart from it?

CHAP. VII.

Now when Pharaoh suffered the children of Israel to depart, God led them by the way of the wilderness of the red sea. And thus they marched out of Egypt in military array, carrying with them the bones of Joseph, as Joseph had commanded, the Lord going before them in a pillar of cloud by day, which by night appeared as a pillar of fire.

And Pharaoh repented him that he had permitted the children of Israel to go; and assembling his chariots and his horsemen, he pur.... sued after them, and overtook them as they were encamped near the Red Sea. And the Israelites were inclosed between the mountains and the Red Sea and the Egyptians. And Moses stretched forth his arm towards the sea, and Jehovah, by a vehement east wind, caused the waters to separate like a wall on the right and the left. Now, the cloudy pillar had removed from before the Israelites, and had placed itself between them and the Egyptians, unto whom it

appeared dark and threatening, while to the former it shone with resplendent rays, so as to enlighten the night. And the Israelites marched, as on dry land, through the channel of the sea. And the chariots and cavalry of Pharaoh entered into the sea likewise. But the fiery column frightened their horses, and threw the Egyptians into confusion. And they began to flee; but, the children of Israel having come up out of the sea, the waters returned, and overwhelmed the Egyptians, and the whole army of Pharaoh was utterly destroyed. And when the Israelites saw the mighty power of Jehovah exercised upon their enemies, they rejoiced and confided in the Lord, and in his prophet.

The Lord saw fit that the children of Israel should journey in the wilderness forty years before they took possession of the land of Canaan During that long sojournment, the Providence of the Almighty evidently watched over them. The pillar of cloud guided their march. When the cloud rested on the tabernacle, or great tent of assembly and of worship, the host encamped; and when the cloud rose and went forwards, they folded up their tents and marched. By day, that miraculous cloud sheltered the people under its shade from the heat of the sun, and enlightened them by night. To quench their thirst water repeatedly gushed from the rock when stricken by the rod of Moses. Food from heaven was provided for them; for, in the mornings, a thick fall of dew took place around the camp, and when the dew was evaporated, there was found deposited in

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abundance, on the surface of the wilderness, a substance in small, round, shining globules, like the hoar frost, whitish, and in taste like honeyed wafers; and the children of Israel called this food manna. Their clothes did not wear out in all their wearisome wanderings; and the enemies who attacked them fell by their hands. Yet did they murmur against their God, and against Moses, their leader; and they were, therefore, chastised with sore punishments, and they died in the desert for their iniquities; so that of them that were thirty years old when they departed out of Egypt, only two arrived in the promised land. When the Israelites were encamped by the great mountain, Horeb, Moses builded there, an altar to Jehovah; and there did Jethro, prince of Midian, come to meet him, having heard of all that the Eternal had done for the deliverance of Israel. And he brought with him, his daughter, the wife of Moses, and the two sons of Moses. And Jethro offered unto Moses wise counsel; and Moses, following the advice of his father-in-law, chose judges and rulers of the people under him, and thus lightened his own burden, and rendered his work more easy. And when the children of Israel reached Mount Sinai, in the desert, they encamped opposite unto the mountain. Moses ascended the mountain, and a voice from the Lord commanded him to purify the people, and to assemble them on the third day, that they might hear the covenant and the laws of Jehovah. And on the morning of the third day, thunders were heard, and a heavy dark cloud was seen

resting on the mountain, and lightnings breaking through the cloud; and a trumpet-like sound was heard so exceedingly strong, that all the people in the camp trembled. And Moses led forth the people to appear before the Lord; and they remained at the lower part of the mountain. For Mount Sinai was all in smoke, from the manifestation of the Lord's presence in flame; and the whole mountain trembled. And the trumpet-like sound grew louder and louder, while Moses spake; and a voice issued from the midst of the glory. And the voice from God spake all these words, saying, "Thou shalt have no other gods beside me.

Thou shalt not make to

thyself any graven image, nor the likeness of any thing that is in heaven above; or in the earth beneath; or in the water under the earth. Thou shalt not bow to them, nor worship them; for I the Lord, thy God, am a jealous God, visiting the sins of the fathers upon the children, unto the third and forth generation of them that hate me, and showing mercy unto thousands that love me, and keep my commandments. Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain, for the Lord will not hold him guiltless, that taketh his name in vain.

Remember the Sabbath-day, to keep it holy. Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work; but the seventh day is the sabbath of the Lord thy God: in it thou shalt do no manner of work; thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maid-servant, thy cattle, nor the stranger that is within thy gates. For, in six days, the Lord made heaven and earth; the