X. AND the Lord spake to Mosheh, Go in unto Pharoh; for I have made strong the design of his heart, and the design of the heart of his servants, to set these My signs among them; and that in the hearing of thy sons and of thy children's children may be told the wonders I have done in Mizraim, and the signs that I set among them, that ye may know that I am the Lord. And Mosheh and Aharon went in unto Pharoh, and said to him, Thus saith the Lord, the God of Israel, How long wilt thou refuse to humble thyself before Me? Let My people go, that they may worship before Me. But if thou refuse to let My people go, behold, to-morrow I bring the locust upon thy borders, and they shall cover the face of the ground, so that it will be impossible to see the ground, and shall destroy the remainder that was spared to you from the hail, and destroy every tree which groweth for you out of the field. And they shall fill thy house, and the houses of all thy servants, and the houses of the Mizraee, (the like of) which neither thy fathers nor thy forefathers have seen since the day that they were upon the earth unto this day. And he turned and went out from Pharoh.
And the servants of Pharoh said, How long shall this man be a stumbling-block
to us? Let the men be released, that they may worship before the Lord their
God. Art thou not aware that by His hand it will be that the land of Mizraim
shall be destroyed? And he commanded to bring back Mosheh and Aharon to Pharoh,
and said to them, Go, worship before the Lord your God: but who are they that
are to go? And Mosheh said, With our children and with our old men will we go;
with our sons and with our daughters we will go; with our sheep and with our
oxen we will go; for we have a solemn feast before the Lord. And he said to
them, So may the Word of the Lord be a help to you: (but) how can I release
(both) you and your children? The evil offence is in the look of your faces:
(you think to go onward) in the way that you would walk, till the time that
you shall have come to the house of the place of your habitation. (It shall
be) not so as ye devise; but the men only shall go and worship before the Lord;
for that it was which ye demanded. And he drave them out from before the face
of Pharoh.
And the Lord spake to
Mosheh, Lift up thy hand over the land of Mizraim for the locust, that he may
come up over the land of Mizraim, and destroy every herb of the earth, whatsoever
the hail hath left. And Mosheh lifted up his rod over the land of Mizraim, and
the Lord brought an east wind upon the country all that day and all the night;
and in the morning the east wind bare the locust. And the locust came up over
all the land of Mizraim, and settled in all the limits of Mizraim exceedingly
strong. Before him there had been no locust so hard, nor will there be like
him. And he covered the face of all the land, until the land was darkened, and
every herb of the ground was consumed, and all the fruit of the tree that the
hail had left; and nothing green of tree or herb of the field was left in all
the land of Mizraim.
And Pharoh made haste,
and sent certain to call Mosheh and Aharon. And he said, I have sinned before
the Lord your God and against you. But now, pardon my sin only this once, and
pray before the Lord, that He would only remove from me this death. And he went
out from Pharoh, and prayed before the Lord. And the Lord turned a wind from
the west of exceeding strength, and it carried away the locust, and bare him
to the sea of Suph: there was not one locust left in all the borders of Mizraim.
And even such as had been salted in vessels for needed food, those, too, the
western wind bare away, and they went. But the Lord strengthened the design
of Pharoh's heart, and he would not release the children of Israel.
And the Lord said to
Mosheh, Lift up thy hand towards the height of the heavens, and there shall
be darkness over all the land of Mizraim, in the morning, at the passing away
of the first darkness of the night. [JERUSALEM. And they shall serve in
darkness.] And Mosheh stretched out his hand towards the height of the heavens,
and there was dark darkness in all the land of Mizraim three days. No man saw
his brother, and none arose from his place three days. But among all the sons
of Israel there was light, that the wicked among them who died might be buried,
and that the righteous might be occupied with the precepts of the law in their
dwellings. And at the end of three days Pharoh called Mosheh, and said, Go,
worship before the lord; only your sheep and your oxen shall abide with me:
your children also may go with you. But Mosheh said, Thou must also give into
our hands holy oblations and burnt offerings, that we may perform service before
the Lord our God. Our flocks, more-over, must go with us; not one hoof of them
shall remain; for from them we are to take, to do service before the Lord our
God. We cannot leave them; for we know not (as yet) in what manner we are to
worship before the Lord, until we come thither. But the Lord made strong the
design of Pharoh's heart, and he would not release them. And Pharoh said to
him, Go from me. Beware that thou add not to see my face to speak before me
one of these words that are so hard: for in the day that thou seest my face,
my anger will grow strong against thee, and I will deliver thee into the hands
of the men who seek thy life to take it. And Mosheh said, Thou hast spoken fairly.
While I was dwelling in Midian, it was told me in a word from before the Lord,
that the men who had sought to kill me had fallen from their means, and were
reckoned with the dead. At the end there will be no mercy upon thee; but I will
pray, and the plague shall be restrained from thee. And now I will see thy face
no more. [JERUSALEM. And Pharoh said to him, Go from me. Beware that thou
increase not my anger against thee by saying, Are not these hard words that
thou speakest to me? Verily Pharoh would rather die than hear thy words. Beware,
lest my anger grow strong against thee, and I deliver thee into the hands of
this people, who require thy life to slay thee. And Mosheh said, Thou hast spoken
truly. But it was certified to me at the former time when I dwelt in Midian,
that all the men were dead who sought to kill my life. At the end there will
be no mercy upon thee. Yet I will pray for thee, and this plague shall be restrained.
But a tenth plague is for Pharoh, of (which the victim will be) thy firstborn
son. And Mosheh said to him, Thou hast spoken fairly the truth: I will see thy
face no more.]
XI. And the Lord spake unto Mosheh, Yet
one stroke will I bring upon Pharoh and upon the Mizraee, which shall be greater
than all, and afterward will he send you hence: when he releases, there shall
be to himself an end: driving, he will drive you forth from hence. Speak now
in the hearing of the people, That every man shall demand from his Mizraite
friend, and every woman of her Mizraite friend, vessels of silver and vessels
of gold. And the Lord gave the people favour before the Mizraee; also the man
Mosheh was very great in the land of Mizraim before the servants of Pharoh and
before his people.
And Mosheh spake
(or, had spoken) to Pharoh, Thus saith the Lord, At this hour of the following
night will I be revealed in the midst of the Mizraee, and every firstborn in
the land of Mizraim shall die: from the firstborn of Pharoh who should sit upon
the throne of his kingdom, unto the firstborn son of the humblest mother in
Mizraim who grindeth behind the mills, and all the firstborn of cattle.
And there will be a great cry in all the land of Mizraim, because like the plague
of this night there hath not been, and like the plague of this night there never
will be one. But any of the children of Israel a dog shall not harm by lifting
up his tongue against either man or beast ; that they may know that the Lord
maketh distinction between the Mizraites and the sons of Israel. And thou shalt
send down all thy servants to me, coming and beseeching me, saying, Go forth,
thou and all the people who are with thee; and afterwards I will go. And he
went out from Pharoh in great anger. But the Lord said to Mosheh, Pharoh will
not hearken to you ; that I may multiply My wonders in the land of Mizraim.
And Mosheh and Aharon did all these wonders before Pharoh; and the Lord strengthened
the design of Pharoh's heart, and he would not release the sons of Israel from
his land.
XII. And the Lord spoke to Mosheh and to Aharon in
the land of Mizraim, saying, This month is ordained to be to you the beginning
of the months; and from it you shall begin to number for festivals, and times,
and cycles; it shall be to you the first of the number of the months of the
year. Speak to all the congregation of the children of Israel, saying, In the
tenth of this month, whose time is appointed for this time (occasion), and not
for (coming) generations, they shall take to them a lamb for the house of a
family, and, if many in number, they shall take a lamb for a house: but if the
men of the house are fewer than ten in number, in proportion to a sufficient
number to eat the lamb, he and his neighbour who is nearest to his house shall
take according to the number of souls: each man according to the sufficiency
of his eating shall be counted for the lamb. The lamb shall be perfect, a male,
the son of a year he shall be to you; from the sheep or from the young goats
ye may take. And it shall be bound and reserved for you until the fourteenth
day of this month, that you may not know the fear of the Mizraee when they see
it; and ye shall kill him according to the rite of all to congregation of the
assembly of Israel, between the suns. And you shall take of the blood and set
it upon the two posts and upon the upper board outside of the houses in which
you eat and sleep. And you shall eat the flesh on that night, the fifteenth
of Nisan, until the dividing of the night roasted with fire, [JERUSALEM.
Roasted,] without leaven, with horehound and lettuce shall you eat it. Eat
not of it while living, neither boiled in wine, or oil, or other fluids, neither
boiled in water, but roasted with fire, with its head, and its feet, and its
inwards. Nor shall any be left of it till the morning; but what may remain of
it in the morning you shall cover over, and in the daylight of the sixteenth
day burn with fire; for you may not burn the residue of a holy oblation on the
feast day. And according to this manner you shall eat it, this time, but not
in (other) generations: your loins shall be girded, [JERUSALEM. Bound by
the precepts of the law,] your shoes on your feet, and your staves in your
hands; and you shall eat in the fear of the majesty of the Lord of the world;
because mercy hath been shown to you from before the Lord. And I will be revealed
in the land of Mizraim in the majesty of My glory this night, and with Me ninety
thousand myriads of destroying angels; and I will slay all the firstborn in
the land of Mizraim, of man and of beast, and against all the idols of the Mizraee
I will execute four judgments: the molten idols shall be melted, the idols of
stone be broken, the idols of clay shall he shattered, and the idols of wood
be made dust, that the Mizraee may know that I am the Lord. And the blood of
the paschal oblation, (like) the matter of circumcision, shall be a bail for
you, to become a sign upon the houses where you dwell; and I will look upon
the worth of the blood, and will spare you; and the angel of death, to whom
is given the power to destroy, shall have no dominion over you in the slaughter
of the Mizraee. And this day shall be to you for a memorial, and you shall celebrate
it a festival before the Lord in your generations; by a perpetual statute shall
you solemnize it. Seven days you shall eat unleavened bread: in the dividing
of the day which precedes the feast you shall put away leaven from your houses;
for whosoever eateth what is leavened, from the first day of the feast until
the seventh day, that man shall be destroyed from Israel. And on the first day
there shall be a holy congregation, and on the seventh day there shall be to
you a holy congregation. No work shall be done among you, only that which must
be done for every one's eating may be done by you. And you shall observe the
feast of the unleavened bread, because in this same day the Lord will bring
out your hosts free from the land of Mizraim; and you shall observe this day
in your generations, a statute for ever. In Nisan, on the fourteenth day of
the month, you shall kill the passover, and at evening on the fifteenth you
shall eat unleavened bread until the twenty-first of the month. On the evening
of the twenty-second you may eat leavened bread. For seven days leaven shall
not be found in your houses; for whosoever eateth of leaven, that man shall
perish from the congregation of Israel, whether he be a stranger or home-bred
in the land. Any mixture of leaven you shall not eat; in every place of your
habitation you shall eat unleavened bread.
And Mosheh called all
the elders of Israel, and said to them, Withdraw your hands from the idols of
the Mizraee, and take to you from the offspring of the flock, according to your
houses, and kill the paschal lamb And you shall take a bunch of hyssop, and
dip it in the blood that is in the earthen vessel, and upon the upper bar without
and upon the two posts you shall sprinkle of the blood which is in the earthen
vessel, and not a man of you must come forth from the door of his hour till
the morning. For the Glory of the Lord will be manifested in striking the Mizraee,
and He will see the blood upon the lintel and upon the too posts, and the Word
of the Lord will spread His protection over the door, and the destroying angel
will not be permitted to enter your houses to smite.
And you shall observe
this thing for a statute to thee and to thy sons for a memorial for ever. And
it shall be when you are come into the land that the Lord will give to you,
as He hath spoken, that from the time of your coming you shall observe this
service. And it shall be that when at that time your children shall say to you,
What is this your service? you shall say, It is the sacrifice of mercy before
the Lord, who had mercy in His Word upon the houses of the sons of Israel in
Mizraim, when He destroyed the Mizraee, and spared our houses. And when the
house of Israel heard this word from the mouth of Mosheh, they bowed and worshipped.
And the sons of Israel went and did as the Lord com-manded Mosheh and Aharon,
so did they hasten and do.
And it was in the dividing,
of the night of the fifteenth, that the Word of the Lord slew all the firstborn
in the land of Mizraim, from the firstborn son of Pharoh, who would have sat
upon the throne of his kingdom, unto the firstborn sons of the kings who were
captives in the dungeon as hostages under Pharoh's hand; and who, for having
rejoiced at the servitude of Israel, were punished as (the Mizraee): and all
the firstborn of the cattle that did the work of the Mizraee died also.
And Pharoh rose up in
that night, and all the rest of his servants, and all the rest of the Mizraee;
and there was a great cry, because there was no house of the Mizraee where the
firstborn was not dead. And the border of the land of Mizraim extended four
hundred pharsee; but the land of Goshen, where Mosheh and the sons of Israel
were, was in the midst of the land of Mizraim; and the royal palace of Pharoh
was at the entrance of the land of Mizraim. But when he cried to Mosheh and
to Aharon in the night of the Pascha, his voice was heard unto the land of Goshen;
Pharoh crying with a voice of woe, and saying thus: Arise, Go forth from among
my people, both you and the sons of Israel ; and go, worship before the Lord,
as you have said; your sheep also take, and whatever of mine you have spoken
about, and go; and nothing ask I of you except that you pray for me that I may
not die. When Mosheh and Aharon, and the sons of Israel, heard the voice of
Pharoh's weeping, they were not mindful, until he came himself, and all his
servants, and all the Mizraee, and urged all the people of the house of Israel,
that they might hasten to send them forth from the land; For, said they, if
they prolong here one hour more, behold, we are all dead. [JERUSALEM. For,
said the Mizraee, if Israel delay one hour (longer), behold, all Mizraim dies.]
And the people carried
their dough upon their beads, being unleavened, and what remained to them of
the paschal cakes and bitter things they carried, bound up with their raiment,
upon their shoulders. And the sons of Israel did according to the word of Mosheh,
and asked of the Mizraee vessels of silver and vessels of gold. And the Lord
gave the people favour and compassion before the Mizraee, and they brought forth
to them, and they emptied the Mizraee of their riches.
And the sons of Israel
moved forth from Pilusin towards Succoth, a hundred and thirty thousand, protected
there by seven clouds of glory on their four sides: one above them, that neither
hail nor rain might fall upon them, nor that they should be burned by the heat
of the sun; one beneath them, that they might not be hurt by thorns, serpents,
or scorpions; and one went before them, to make the valleys even, and the mountains
low, and to prepare them a place of habitation. And they were about six hundred
thousand men, journeying on foot, none riding on horses except the children
five to every man; and a multitude of strangers, [JERUSALEM. A mixed multitude,]
two hundred and forty myriads, went up with them, and sheep, and oxen, and cattle,
very many. And they divided the dough which they brought out of Mizraim, which
they had carried on their heads, and it was baked for them by the heat of the
sun, (into) unleavened cakes, because it had not fermented; for the Mizraee
had thrust them out, neither could they delay; and it was sufficient for them
to eat until the fifteenth of the month Ijar; because they had not prepared
provision for the way.
And the days of the dwelling
of the sons of Israel in Mizraim were thirty weeks of years, (thirty times seven
years,) which is the sum of two hundred and ten years. But the number of four
hundred and thirty years (had passed away since) the Lord spake to Abraham,
in the hour that He spake with him on the fifteenth of Nisan, between the divided
parts, until the day that they went out of Mizraim. And it was at the end of
thirty years from the making of this covenant, that Izhak was born; and thence
until they went out of Mizraim four hundred (years), on the selfsame day it
was that all the hosts of the Lord went forth made free from the land of Mizraim.
Four nights are there
written in the Book of Memorials before the Lord of the world. Night the first,--when
He was revealed in creating the world; the second,--when He was revealed to
Abraham; the third,--when He was revealed in Mizraim, His hand killing all the
firstborn of Mizraim, and His right hand saving the firstborn of Israel; the
fourth,--when He will yet be revealed to liberate the people of the house of
Israel from among the nations. And all these are called Nights to be observed;
for so explained Mosheh, and said thereof, It is to be observed on account of
the liberation which is from the Lord, to lead forth the people of the sons
of Israel from the land of Mizraim. This is that Night of preservation from
the destroying angel for all the sons of Israel who were in Mizraim, and of
redemption of their generations from their captivity.
[JERUSALEM. TARGUM.
It is a night to be observed and celebrated for the liberation from before the
Lord in bringing forth the sons of Israel, made free from the land of Mizraim.
Four nights are there written in the Book of Memorial. Night first; when the
Word of the Lord was revealed upon the world as it was created; when the world
was without form and void, and darkness was spread upon the face of the deep,
and the Word of the Lord illuminated and made it light; and he called it the
first night. Night second; when the Word of the Lord was revealed unto Abraham
between the divided parts; when Abraham was a son of a hundred years, and Sarah
was a daughter of ninety years, and that which the Scripture saith was confirmed,--Abraham
a hundred years, can he beget? and Sarah, ninety year old, can she bear? Was
not our father Izhak a son of thirty and seven years, at the time he was offered
upon the altar? The heavens were (then) bowed down and brought low, and Izhak
saw their realities, and his eyes were blinded at the sight, and he called it
the second night. The third night; when the Word of the Lord was revealed upon
the Mizraee, at the dividing of the night; His right hand slew the firstborn
of the Mizraee, His right hand spared the firstborn of Israel; to fulfil what
the Scripture hath said, Israel is My firstborn son. And he called it the third
night. Night the fourth; when the end of the age will be accomplished, that
it might be dissolved, the bands of wickedness destroyed and the iron yoke broken.
Mosheh came forth from the midst of the desert; but the King Meshiha (comes)
from the midst of Roma. The Cloud preceded that, and the Cloud will go before
this one; and the Word of the Lord will lead between both, and they shall proceed
together. This is the night of the Pascha before the Lord, to be observed and
celebrated by the sons of Israel in all their generations.]
A sojourner or a hired
stranger shall not eat thereof. In his own company he shall eat. Thou shalt
not carry any of the flesh out of the house from (thy) company, nor send a gift
one mail to his neighbour; and a bone of him shall not be broken for the sake
of eating that which is within it. [JERUSALEM. A sojourning man and a hireling
born of the Gentiles shall not eat of it.] All the congregation of Israel
shall mix together, this one with that, one family with another, that they may
perform it. And if a proselyte sojourn with you, and would perform the pascha
before the Lord, let every male belonging to him be circumcised, and so be made
fit to perform it; and he shall be as the native of the land: but no uncircumcised
one of the sons of Israel shall eat thereof. One law shall there be as to appointments
for the native and for the proselyte who sojourneth among you. And all the sons
of Israel did as the Lord had commanded Mosheh and Aharon, so did they. And
it was on that same day that the Lord brought forth the sons of Israel from
the land of Mizraim, with their hosts.
XIII. And the Lord spake unto Mosheh, saying, Sanctify before
Me every firstborn male. Whatsoever openeth the womb of all the sons of Israel
among men, and (also) among beasts, is Mine. And Mosheh said to the people,
Remember this the day in which you went out free from Mizraim from the house
of the bondage of slaves; for by great strength of hand did the Lord bring you
forth from thence; and you shall not eat leaven. This day you are come out free;
on the fifteenth of Nisan, which is the month of Abiba. And it shall be, when
the Lord your God shall have brought you into the land of the Kenaanaee, and
Hittaee, and Amoraee, and Hivaee, and Jebusaee, which He sware by His Word unto
Abraham to give thee, a land producing milk and honey, that thou shalt keep
this service in this month. Seven days shalt thou eat unleavened cakes, and
on the seventh day shall be a feast before the Lord. Unleavened cakes shall
be eaten seven days, and nothing leavened shall be seen with thee, nor leaven
itself be seen with thee in all thy borders. And thou shalt instruct thy son
on that day, saying, This precept is on account of what the Word of the Lord
did for me in miracles and wonders, in bringing me forth from Mizraim. And this
miracle shall be inscribed and set forth upon the tephilla of the hand, on the
top of thy left (arm,) and for a memorial inscribed and set forth upon the tephilla
of thy head, set between thine eyes on thy forehead; that the law of the Lord
may be in thy mouth, because in strength, with a mighty hand, the Lord brought
thee forth from Mizraim . Thou shalt therefore keep this statute of the Tephillin
in the season to which it belongs, on work days, not on sabbaths or solemnities;
and by day, not by night. [JERUSALEM. >From these days to those months.]
And when I the Lord have brought thee into the land of the Kenaanaee, which
I have sworn to thee and to thy fathers to give thee, thou shalt set apart before
the Lord every one that openeth the womb; and every animal that its dam beareth
and that openeth the womb if it be to thee a male thou shalt sanctify before
the Lord. And every ass that openeth the womb thou shalt redeem with a lamb;
and if thou redeem him not, thou shalt cut him off; [JERUSALEM. Thou shalt
kill him;] and every firstborn man (child) among thy sons thou shalt redeem;
but thy servant thou mayest not redeem with money.
And when in future thy
son shall ask thee, saying, What is this ordinance of the firstborn? thou shalt
tell him: By the power of a mighty hand the Lord delivered us from Mizraim,
redeeming us from the house of the servitude of slaves. And when the Word of
the Lord had hardened the heart of Pharoh (that be would) not deliver us, he
killed all the firstborn in the land of Mizraim, from the firstborn of man to
the firstborn of cattle; therefore do I sacrifice before the Lord every male
that openeth the womb, and every firstborn of my sons I redeem with silver.
And it shall be inscribed and set forth upon thy left land, and on the tephilla
between thine eyebrows; because by mighty strength of hand the Lord brought
us out of Mizraim.