Lord, I never was eloquent, neither heretofore nor since thou hast spoken to thy servant, but am slow of speech and hard of utterance. 11. Then the Eternal said, Who made man's mouth, or the dumb or deaf, or the seeing, or the blind, but I the Eternal? 12. Go therefore, and I will direct thy mouth, and teach thee what to say.

13. Then Moses said, O my Lord, Send some one more fit for the purpose. 14. Then the Lord was displeased with Moses; and said, Aáron the Levite, thy brother, can speak well, and he will come to meet thee, and rejoice to see thee. 15. And thou shalt speak to him these words, and commit the matter to him; and I will direct thy mouth and his mouth, and teach you what to do. 16. He shall be to thee instead of a mouth, for he shall be thy speaker to the people, and thou shalt be to him as God. 17. And thou shalt take this rod in thy hand, and with it thou shalt do wonders.

18. Then Moses came to Jethro his father-inlaw, and said to him, Let me return to Egypt, I pray thee, to see if my brethren are yet alive. He replied, Go in peace.

19. Again, the Eternal said to Moses, while he was yet in Midian, Return to Egypt now, for all the men are dead who sought thy life. 20. Then Moses took his wife and his sons, and set each of them on an ass, to return to Egypt, with the rod of God in his hand.

21. Now the Eternal said to Moses, When thou returnest to Egypt, do all those wonders before Pharaoh which I have put in thy power; but I will leave him to the hardness of his heart, (Ps. lxxxi. 12.) so he will not let the people go. 21. And thou shalt say to him, Thus saith the Eternal, Israel is to me as a first-born son; 22.And if thou refuse to let him go, that he may serve me, I will slay thy first-born. 24. But whilst Moses lingered by the way in the inn, the angel appeared to him,

with a threatning aspect, as if he would kill him (for neglecting his message, and the circumcising of his child).

25. Then Zipporah took a sharp stone, and cut off the foreskin of her son, and cast it at his feet, saying, Surely a bloody relation art thou to me, because of the circumcision. 26. Then he let him go.

27. Now the Eternal said to Aaron, Go to the wilderness to meet Moses. So he went, and met him at the mount of God, and saluted him.

28. Then Moses told Aaron all the words which the Eternal sent him to say, and all the wonders he had commanded him to do.

29. Then Moses and Aaron called together all the Elders of the Israelites. 30. And Aaron spake all the words concerning which the Eternal commanded Moses, and did the wonders before the people. 31. And having heard that the Eternal had regard to the Israelites, and pitied their affliction, they believed, and bowed their heads, and worshipped.

CHAP. V.

PHARAOH REFUSETH TO LIBERATE THE HEBREWS.

MOSES and Aaron went after this and spake to Pharaoh, saying, Thus saith the Eternal, the God of Israel, Let my people go, that they may keep a festival to me in the wilderness.

2. But Pharaoh said, Who is the Eternal, that I should obey his voice? I know him not; neither will I let Israel go.

3. Then they said, The God of the Hebrews hath appeared to us, and commanded us so to do. Let us go, we pray thee, three days journey into the wilderness, and sacrifice to the Eternal, our God, lest he destroy us with pestilence, or war.

4. But the king said to them, Why do ye, Mo

ses and Aaron, take the people from their works? Get you to your burdens. 5. Moreover, he said, The people are many, and you make them rest from their burdens.

6. On the same day Pharaoh commanded the peoples' taskmasters and officers, saying, 7. Ye shall no more give the people straw to make bricks; let them go and gather it for themselves. 8. Yet they shall make as much brick as formerly, for they had not work enough, but are idle; therefore they cry, Let us go, and sacrifice to our God. 9. Let more work be laid upon them, that they may attend to it, and not to vain words.

10. So the taskmasters and officers of the people, went, and told them, Thus saith Pharaoh, I will not give you straw. 11. Go, and seek straw where you can find it; yet you shall make as much brick as formerly. 12. So they were scattered over all Egypt to seek stubble for straw. 13. And the taskmasters urged them to do their daily tasks, as when they got straw.

14. And the Israelitish officers, whom Pharaoh's Egyptian task-masters had set over the people, were beaten, because the tasks were not fulfilled, in making brick as formerly. 15. Then they came to Pharaoh, and supplicated him, saying, Why dealest thou so hardly with thy servants? 16. There is no straw given to us, and yet they say, Make bricks; and we are beaten, though the fault be in thy people.

17. But he said, Ye are idle, ye are idle: therefore ye say, Let us go and sacrifice to the Eternal. 18. Go therefore and work; for no straw shall be given you, yet you shall make as many bricks as formerly. 19. Then the Israelitish officers found they were in a miserable situation.

20. And they met Moses and Aaron in the way, as they came from Pharaoh, 21. And said, May the Eternal regard, and judge you, for making us an a

bomination to Pharaoh and his servants, to give them an occasion to slay us with the sword.

22. Then Moses returned to supplicate the Eternal; and said, O Eternal! why hast thou suffered this people to be treated so ill? why hast thou sent me to them? 23. For since I came to Pharaoh, to speak for them in thy name, he hath done more evil to them, neither hast thou at all delivered thy people.

CHAP. VI.

GOD RENEWS HIS PROMISE.

But the Eternal said to Moses, Thou shalt now see what I will do to Pharaoh: for being compelled by my mighty power, he shall drive them out of his land.

2. Moreover, God spake to Moses, saying, I am the Eternal. 3. I appeared to Abraham, to Isaac, and Jacob, by the name of God Almighty, All-sufficient and was I not even known to them by my name the ETERNAL? 4. I established my covenant with them in the land of Canaan, wherein they were strangers, to give it them. 5. And I have also heard the Israelites groaning, whom the Egyptians keep in bondage; and I have remember. ed my covenant. 6. Say therefore to them, That I, the Eternal, will deliver them from the Egypti ans' burdens, and will rescue them from their bondage, and will redeem them with great power, and with great judgements on their oppressors. 7. And I will take them for my peculiar people, and I will be their God, (1 Pet. ii. 9. Rom. ix. 4.) in covenant; and they shall know (by the performing of my promises, and perfecting my plan, and finishing my work), that I, the Eternal, am their God, who rid them from the Egyptians' burdens. 8. For I will bring them into the land, concerning which I spake to their fathers; and I, the Eternal, will give it to them for an heritage.

9. Now Moses spoke this to the Israelites; 10. But they harkened not to him, for anguish of spirit, in their cruel bondage.

11. Then the Eternal said to Moses, Go and tell Pharaoh, king of Egypt, to let the Israelites go out of his land. 12. But Moses said, As the Israelites have not hearkened to me, how will Pharaoh hearken to me, who am slow of speech. 13. Then the Eternal gave Moses and Aaron a command to the Israelites, and to Pharaoh, to bring them out of his land.

14. These are the chieftains (by whom God performed this great deliverance), Hanoch, Pallu, Hezron, and Carmi, of Reuben's race. 15. Of Simeon's, Jemuel, Jamin, Ohad, Jachin, Zohar, and Shaul, the son of a Canaanitish woman. 16. Of Levi's, Gershon, Kohath, and Merari. Levi lived an hundred and thirty-seven years. 17. Gershon's sons were Libni, and Shimei. 18. And Kohath's sons, Amram, Izhar, Hebron, and Uzziel. Kohath lived a hundred and thirty-three years. 19. And Merari's sons were Mahli, and Mushi: these are Levi's offspring. 20. And Amram's wife was Jochebed, his uncle's daughter; and she had Aaron, Moses, and Mary. Amram lived a hundred and thirty-seven years. 21. Izhar's sons were Korah, Ne22. Uzziel's sons, Mishael, Elzaphan, and Zithri. 23. And Aaron's wife was Elisheba, Amminadab's daughter, Naashon's sister; and she had Nadab, Abihu, Eleazar, and Ithamar. 24. Korah's sons were Assir, Elkanah, and Abiasaph. 25. And Eleazar, Aaron's son's wife, was a daughter of Putiel; and she had Phinehas.

pheg, and Zichri.

26, 27, 28. This is the genealogy of Aaron and Moses, whom the Eternal commissioned to bring the Israelites from Egypt; 27. And who spoke to Pharaoh the king.

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