Pharaoh, and said to them, When Pharaoh shall say, Show us one of your miracles, then thou shalt say to Aaron, Take thy rod and cast it before Pharaoh, and it shall become a serpent. And Moses and Aaron did as the Lord commanded. And Aaron cast down his rod before Pharaoh and his servants, and it became a serpent. Then Pharaoh sent for the wise men and sorcerers, or magicians, of Egypt, and they performed the same enchantments. But Aaron's rod swallowed up their rods. Still Pharaoh would not let the children of Israel go.

Then the Lord told Moses to go the next morning and stand by the river's side, and when Pharaoh came there he was to say to him, The God of the Hebrews hath sent me to thee, saying, Let my people go that they may sacrifice to me in the wilderness. And Moses did as the Lord said.

But Pharaoh would not let the people go.

Then God commanded Aaron to take the rod and strike the waters with it that they might be changed to blood. And Aaron took the rod and struck the waters, and Pharaoh and his servants saw him do it. And all the water in the river was turned to blood, so that the Egyptians could not drink it.

Then Pharaoh's servants, the magicians, came, and they too turned water into blood. And Pharaoh went back to his

home and would not let the people go. Then all the Egyptians dug round about the river for water they could drink. And the blood stayed in the river for seven days.

The Lord told Moses to go to Pharaoh again and say to him, Let my people go, or the Lord will send frogs all over the land. But Pharaoh would not let them go. Then God commanded Aaron to strike the waters with his rod. And he did so; and the frogs came up all over the land of Egypt. And Pharaoh's magicians did the same thing, and brought more frogs upon the land of Egypt.

The plague became so great, for frogs were in the houses and bedrooms, and even in the bread dough, that Pharaoh sent for Moses and Aaron, and told them if the Lord would take away the frogs, he would let the people go.

Moses said to Pharaoh it should be done, and the frogs should remain in the river only. And the next day the frogs died all over the land. And when Pharaoh found that he

was free from this plague, his heart grew hard again, and he would not let the people go.

Then the Lord commanded Aaron to stretch out his rod and strike it in the dust. And Aaron did so, and the dust became lice, in man and beast, throughout all the land of Egypt. Pharaoh's magicians tried but could not drive away the lice, and they said to Pharaoh, This is the finger of God. But Pharaoh would not let the people go.

Then God told Moses to go early in the morning to the river-side, and when Pharaoh came, to say to him, Thus saith the Lord, Let my people go that they may serve me, else I will send swarms of flies all over Egypt; and there shall be no flies in the land of Goshen, where my people dwell.

But Pharaoh would not listen to Moses; and the Lord sent swarms of flies all over the land of Egypt, and into the houses of Pharaoh and his servants.

And Pharaoh sent for Moses and Aaron and said, I will let you go and sacrifice to your God, if you go not far away, and will ask him to drive the flies out of the land. Moses said he would do so, and told Pharaoh not to deceive him any more, but to let the people go to sacrifice to the Lord. Then Moses went out from Pharaoh and asked God to remove the flies from the land. And God did so; and there was not one left. And still Pharaoh would not let the people go.

Then the Lord told Moses to go to Pharaoh, and tell him, if he did not let the people go, God would send a plague upon the cattle, and all the horses, asses, camels, oxen, and sheep would surely die. And none of the cattle of the children of Israel should die. And the Lord set a time, and said, Tomorrow shall this thing be done in the land. And all the cattle of Egypt died; but none of the cattle of the children of Israel died, not one. And Pharaoh sent over, and found that it was so; and yet he would not let the people go.

Then the Lord told Moses to take handfuls of ashes from the furnace, and throw them up in the air where Pharaoh could see them. And they shall cause boils to break out on man and on beast throughout all the land of Egypt.

And Moses and Aaron took ashes from the furnace, and threw them up in the air, and boils broke out at once on man

and beast.

Pharaoh saw them do it, and his magicians were so covered with boils that they could not stand before Moses. And yet Pharaoh would not let the people go.

Then the Lord sent a storm of hail, thunder, and lightning, such as had never been known before in all the land of Egypt. And it struck down men and beasts, the trees and everything else that was out-of-doors. Pharaoh sent for Moses and Aaron, and pretended to be sorry for his sins, and said he would let the people go, if God would stop this plague. And Moses went out from the city and stretched his hands up unto the Lord, and the thunders and hail ceased, and the rain came to an end. And when Pharaoh saw that the storm was over and that he was free from this plague, he lost all fear of God and would not let the people go.

Then the Lord sent locusts all over the land, and they ate up everything the hail had left. And there was not a green leaf on the trees or in the fields through all the land of Egypt. Pharaoh sent for Moses and Aaron in great haste, and he said, I have sinned against the Lord your God, and against you. And he begged them to ask God to take away this dreadful plague. And Moses did so. And the Lord sent a strong west wind which took away the locusts and cast them into the Red Sea; so there was not one locust in all the coasts of Egypt. And yet Pharaoh would not let the people go.

Then the Lord shut out the light of heaven, and there was darkness in all the land of Egypt for three days. The people could not see each other, and had to have lights in their dwellings. Pharaoh sent for Moses, and told him that he and his people might go and sacrifice to their God, but they must leave their cattle behind them. Moses said they must have something to sacrifice with; and then Pharaoh would not let them go. And he said to Moses, Get thee from me; take heed to thyself; see my face no more. For in that day thou seest my face thou shalt die. And Moses said, Thou hast spoken well, I will see thy face no more.

The Lord said to Moses, I will send one more plague upon Egypt, after which Pharaoh will let you go, and will surely thrust you out of the land. Then he told Moses to speak to the children of Israel and have them borrow ornaments of

silver and gold from the Egyptians. And he was to say to Pharaoh and his servants that about midnight the Lord would go out into the midst of Egypt, and all the first born should die, from the highest to the lowest in the land. And there shall be a great cry through all the land of Egypt, such as was never heard before, and never shall be heard again. But no harm should be done to the children of Israel. And Pha

raoh's servants should bow down before Moses and his people and beg them to go out of the land; and after that they should go out. And having said this Moses turned from Pharaoh, and was very angry. But Pharaoh would not let the people go.

Then God told Moses and Aaron that every man among the Israelites was to take a lamb and keep it for four days. And they were to kill it, and take a bunch of hyssop, and dip it in the blood and sprinkle it on the lintel and the two side-posts

of the houses. And he promised when he saw the blood, he would pass over those houses and harm no one in them.

The supper of the lamb they were to eat was to be called the Lord's passover, and the feast was to be kept up from year to year. And at this supper and for seven days afterwards they were to eat only a certain kind of bread. This was called unleavened bread, because it was made without yeast.

So Moses called the elders of Israel together, and told them all that the Lord had said, and the elders told the people. Then every man took his lamb and kept it four days. Then he killed it in the evening, and sprinkled the blood on the door-posts, and cooked the flesh and ate it as had been commanded.

And in the dead of the night the Lord smote all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, and there was not a house in which there was not some one dead in it. And there was a great cry throughout the land. Pharaoh sent for Moses and Aaron in the night, and told them to go out of Egypt, and take the children of Israel with them. Take your flocks and your herds also, he said, and begone. And all the Egyptians were in haste to have them go so that their own lives might be saved.

The Israelites took their kneading-troughs with the dough in them, and bound the troughs up in their clothes, and bore them on their shoulders. And they had demanded ornaments of gold and silver from the Egyptians, and fine clothes also. For the Lord made the Egyptians willing to let them have these things. And these they took with them out of Egypt, and went from Rameses to Succoth six hundred thousand men, women, and children, besides great flocks of sheep and goats, and herds of cattle.

And the Lord went before them, in the form of a cloud, which was so large as to overshadow the camps of Israel by day, and at night would shine like a fire to give them light.