From Exodus 1 - 15

The Israelites lived in the land of Egypt. They had arrived hundreds of years previously - because there was a famine in Israel. At that time the Israelites had been a small people. The twelve sons of Jacob all had wives and children. Joseph, one of the youngest of the twelve brothers, was the chief adviser of Pharaoh. He arranged for his father and for his brothers and their families to live in that part of Egypt that was called Goshen. By the time Jacob died, his sons, grandchildren and great-grandchildren were established as a people in Egypt.

Over the years that followed, Pharaoh and the twelve sons of Jacob died. The Israelites continued to live in Goshen. They married among themselves and had families. They grew until they were a strong and prosperous people. Eventually, no one could remember a time when the Israelites has not lived in Egypt. Pharaoh, who had not known Joseph, not only feared the Israelites but distrusted them as well. He worried that the Israelites were so strong and prosperous that they were a threat to Egypt. Pharaoh thought that the Israelites might join sides with his enemies and undermine the power of Egypt. Pharaoh decided that something had to be done.

First of all, Pharaoh commanded the Israelites to build him two new cities. Slave-drivers made sure that the Israelites worked as hard as they could. For days and weeks and years the Israelites worked under the hot sun, building the cities for Pharaoh. However, the Israelites continued to marry among themselves and have families. In spite of the slave-drivers, the Israelites grew larger and stronger as a people. Pharaoh's fear and mistrust of them grew. The slave-drivers made the Israelites work constantly. Pharaoh thought that they should have been too tired and too depressed to think about getting married and having families, but he was wrong. Soon, the Israelites were larger and stronger than ever.

Finally, Pharaoh thought that he had found a way to stop the Israelites from growing larger and stronger. He summoned the two Israelite midwives to his palace and had them brought to his throne room. Then he said, "When you look after the Israelite women who are having babies, I want you to kill all the baby boys before their mothers see them. You can tell the mothers that their sons died. Do not let any Israelite baby boys live!"

The midwives were horrified. Their job was to help women who were giving birth to babies. Their job was to look after babies - not to kill babies. The midwives believed in G-d and they knew that they could not do what Pharaoh had told them to do. Although it was dangerous to do so, the midwives continued to help the Israelite women give birth and they did not kill the baby boys.

Of course, Pharaoh found out that there were just as many - if not more - Israelite baby boys as there had been before. He called the midwives back to the palace. Pharaoh asked the midwives, "Why have you disobeyed me? I told you to kill all the Israelite baby boys, yet there are just as many Israelite baby boys as ever. Why? Explain yourselves!"

The midwives said, "The Israelite women give birth to their babies so quickly. We never arrive at a birth in time to help the mothers. We cannot kill the baby boys after the mothers have seen their sons!"

Pharaoh let the midwives leave his palace and go home. G-d blessed them and they were able to get married and have families of their own. In the meantime, Pharaoh tried to think of another way to stop the Israelites growing larger and stronger. He made a wicked law. He told everyone in Egypt, "All the Israelite baby boys are to be thrown into the River Nile. The baby girls may live. However, the baby boys must be killed. See that this happens!"

At about this time, an Israelite couple called Amram and Yocheved had a baby boy. The baby was beautiful and his parents loved him. They knew that they could not let the Egyptians throw him into the River Nile. Although it was dangerous to do so, Amram and Yocheved hid their baby from the Egyptians. For three months they were safe and the baby was not found. Then, he was too big to be hidden any longer. Instead of despairing and letting the Egyptians throw her baby into the River Nile, Yocheved thought of a plan. She made a basket with a lid for the baby. She covered the basket and lid with tar and pitch to make them waterproof. Carefully, Yocheved wrapped her baby up, placed him in the basket, and closed the lid. Then she carried the basket down to the River Nile. Yocheved left the basket - with her baby inside it - bobbing around on the surface of the River Nile, among the reeds by the bank. The baby's older sister, Miryam, kept watch over the basket from a hiding place.

Pharaoh had a daughter who liked to bathe in the River Nile. One day the princess was walking along the river bank, looking for a nice place to bathe, when she saw a basket bobbing around among the reeds. It was quite a big basket, with a lid. The princess was curious about what the basket might contain. She sent one of her maids to fetch it. The maid brought the basket to the princess. She opened the lid ... and found a three-month-old baby boy inside. The baby was crying and the princess felt her heart go out to him in pity.

The princess had no children and longed for a baby. She looked at the baby and said, "This must be one of the Israelite's babies ..." She knew that her father had ordered that all Israelite baby boys should be thrown into the River Nile. Yet this baby was so beautiful and she loved him. She decided that she could not throw him into the River Nile, but would bring him up as her own son.

At that moment, Miryam popped out of her hiding place. She had kept watch while the princess saw the basket and found the baby inside. Now Miryam asked, "Would you like me to find an Israelite nurse for the baby?"

If the princess was surprised, she did not show it. She smiled and said, "Please do!"

Miryam ran home as fast as she could and told her Yocheved the good news about the princess. Together, they hurried back to where the princess was waiting with the baby. The princess smiled at Yocheved and said, "Please take this child home and be his nurse. I shall pay you wages for your work and when he is old enough the child can come and live with me in my father's palace. He will be my son!"

Full of relief and gratitude, Yocheved took her baby home with her. She looked after him as carefully as any nurse would have done and she loved him as only a mother could. Amram and Miryam helped to look after the baby. The baby's older brother, Aharon, also helped to look after the baby. For three years the baby lived at home with his parents, his sister and his brother. He grew from a baby to a small child. When he was three, Yocheved took her child to Pharaoh's palace and gave him to the princess. The princess adopted the child as her own son and called him Moshe. She said, "He is called 'Moshe' because I drew him out of the water."

Moshe grew up in Pharaoh's palace. He was given good food and comfortable clothes. The princess loved him as her own son and educated him as an Egyptian prince. He lived in the palace of the most important man in the ancient world and met lots of other important people. In spite of this, Moshe never forgot who he was. He always remembered that he was the son of Amram and Yocheved and that he was an Israelite.

One day, when he was grown up, Moshe went out of the palace to be with his people. They were hard at work under the whips of the Egyptian slave-drivers. It hurt and angered Moshe to see the sufferings of his people and the way they were mis-treated. He noticed that one Israelite was being cruelly whipped by a slave-driver. Moshe got so angry that he saw red and lost control. Glancing round to make sure that no one else was around, Moshe punched the slave-driver as hard as he could. The blow killed the slave-driver and Moshe buried the body in the sand. Moshe thought that no one knew about the dead slave-driver, except the Israelite he had rescued.

Next day, Moshe found out that his people knew he had killed the slave-driver. The news spread and before long Pharaoh also knew that Moshe had killed an Egyptian. Pharaoh decided to have Moshe executed. Before Pharaoh could arrest him, Moshe fled to the Land of Midyan. It was beautiful and peaceful there - far away from Egypt and Pharaoh. It was also far away from the Israelites, Moshe's people.

Moshe was sitting beside a well in Midyan when the seven daughters of the local priest came to draw water for their father's sheep. Moshe helped them to draw water from the well for the sheep. Their father invited Moshe to stay with him and look after his sheep. Moshe accepted the invitation. Later he married the eldest of the seven sisters, Tzipporah. They had a baby boy and Moshe called the baby Gershom. Moshe said, "He is called Gershom, because I am a stranger in a strange land."

For the next forty years, Moshe lived with his wife and son in Midyan. He looked after the sheep of his father-in-law. The Pharaoh who had wanted to execute Moshe was dead. A new Pharaoh was on the throne of Egypt. The Israelites cried out to G-d under the heavy weight of suffering inflicted upon them by Pharaoh and the Egyptian slave-drivers. G-d heard their prayers and made plans to answer His people.

The slavery that the Israelites were suffering seemed a long way away on that day when Moshe led the sheep to the far side of the wilderness and to the foot of a mountain known to be the mountain of G-d. Moshe was looking after the sheep as usual when he caught sight of a burning bush, the little tongues of fire licking up the branches and round the leaves. It was so hot and barren in the wilderness that a dry bush often burst into flames, burned for a few moments and then disappeared. Moshe was used to the sight of a burning bush. And yet ... the strange thing about this burning bush was that the flames flickered and crackled, but the bush was not consumed by the flames. Moshe was curious about what might be causing the bush to burn, yet not disappear. He left the sheep and approached the burning bush.

As Moshe approached the bush a voice called out from it, "Moshe! Moshe!!" It was G-d talking to Moshe from the middle of the burning bush. G-d said, "Do not come too close. Take off your sandals - you are standing on holy ground. I am the G-d of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob."

Moshe did as G-d told him. Then he hid his face. He was too scared to look at G-d. G-d continued, "I have seen how my people - the Israelites - are slaves in Egypt. I have listened to their prayers and I know that my people are suffering. I have come to deliver them from the Egyptians. I am going to lead them out of Egypt to a good land, a land flowing with milk and honey, to the land I have promised to give them - the land of Israel. Therefore, I am going to send you to Pharaoh. You may lead my people - the Israelites - out of Egypt."

Up to this point, Moshe had listened to G-d in silence. Now he gasped in protest, "But who am I?!? How can I go to Pharaoh and lead the Israelites out of Egypt?"

G-d said, "I shall be with you. And, to prove that I am serious, when you have led the Israelites out of Egypt you shall bring them here and you shall worship Me on this mountain."

Shocked, Moshe protested, "Alright ... if I go to the Israelites and say,"The G-d of your fathers has sent me to rescue you from slavery ..." they will ask me, "What is His name?". What am I supposed to say to that??"

Patiently G-d replied, "I AM WHO I AM." Then G-d added, "Tell the Israelites, "I AM has sent me. The G-d of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob has sent me to you.""

Moshe pleaded, "Please, G-d, I won't know what to say! I've never been a man of many words or fancy speeches. I'm too slow ..."

Then G-d asked, "Who made your mouth and the mouth of every other man on earth? Who makes a man quiet or talkative? Who makes a man to see or not to see? I do! Now, go and do as I tell you. I will be with you and I - I Myself - will teach you what to say and how to say it. You shall say to Pharaoh, 'Let My people go!'"

Finally, Moshe accepted what G-d had said to him. He packed up his wife and his son and set off for Egypt. He would lead his people out of slavery in Egypt to freedom in the land G-d had promised to give them - the land of Israel.

When Moshe and his family arrived in Egypt, they were met by Moshe's brother Aharon. G-d had told Aharon to meet Moshe. When the two brothers met, they hugged and kissed each other. Then Moshe told Aharon all about the burning bush and everything that G-d had said to him. From now on, Moshe and Aharon were a team. The first thing they did together was to tell the leaders of the Israelites that G-d had listened to their prayers and was about to deliver His people from slavery in Egypt. The leaders believed what Moshe and Aharon told them and they fell down and worshiped G-d. After so many years of slavery, they were overjoyed to know that G-d knew of their suppering. As soon as they had finished talking to the leaders, Moshe and Aharon went to Pharaoh.

Moshe and Aharon walked into Pharaoh's palace and said, "Thus says the L-rd: "Let My people go!""

Pharaoh looked at Moshe and Aharon for a long minute. He knew that they were Israelites and that they were asking him to let the Israelites - his slaves - go free. Finally he sneered, "And who, exactly, is the L-rd? Why should I obey Him? I do not know the L-rd and I shall not let the Israelites go!" Moshe and Aharon tried to explain, but Pharaoh would not listen. He asked, "Why are you trying to distract the Israelites from their work? Get back to work!!"

Later, when Moshe and Aharon had gone, Pharaoh sent messages to all the slave-drivers. He said, "At the moment we give the Israelite slaves the straw they need to make mud bricks. From now on, you are not to give them any straw. They must find their own straw. I don't care where they find it! But make sure that they still make the same number of bricks. They are not to make less bricks than they were making before! They are lazy. They want to go free because they have too much time on their hands. Give them more work and they will not have time to listen to trouble-makers and think of freedom!"

All over Egypt, the Israelites had to look for straw to make the bricks for Pharaoh. They could not look for straw and make bricks at the same time. The Egyptians asked them, "Why have you not made as many bricks today as you did yesterday?" The Israelites suffered because of Pharaoh's message. When they appealed to Pharaoh and asked him to to change his impossible command, Pharaoh just laughed. "You are lazy!" he said. "That's all that's wrong with you. That's why you've started wanting freedom. I shall not give you straw again. Get back to work and make as many bricks as before!"

The Israelites blamed Moshe and Aharon for all Pharaoh's impossible demands and all the extra work. Moshe was hurt and angry, so he talked to G-d about it. He said, "G-d - what are You doing?! Why have you sent me here? I did as you told me and Pharaoh has made the life of Your people worse than ever. You have not delivered Your people at all!!"

G-d reassured Moshe. He said, "Wait and see what I'm going to do! I shall make Pharaoh let My people go. I am G-d and I made a covenant with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. I know the suffering of My people and I have remembered My covenant with their fathers. You shall say to the Israelites, "I am G-d. I will free you and deliver you from slavery in Egypt. I will redeem you with an outstretched arm and mighty judgments. You shall be My people and I shall be your G-d. I will bring to you the land I promised to give to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob - the land of Israel. It shall be your land. I am G-d.""

Moshe told the Israelites what G-d had said, but they did not listen. They were too tired and too depressed. Then G-d again sent Moshe and Aharon to Pharaoh. Before they arrived at Pharaoh's palace, G-d warned Moshe, "I am going to harden Pharaoh's heart so that I can show Egypt my signs and wonders. Pharaoh will not listen to you and it is I who will free My people from slavery in Egypt. Then the Egyptians will know that I am the L-rd!"

Moshe and Aharon arrived at the palace. They were shown into Pharaoh's throne room. Aharon threw his stick down on the ground in front of Pharaoh. Instantly, it turned into a snake. Pharaoh was not impressed. He beckoned to the Wise Men who were standing around the throne room, staring. He pointed to Aharon's stick - that was now a snake - and the Wise Men all threw their sticks down onto the ground. Instantly, they turned into snakes as well. Pharaoh thought he had made his point - that Moshe and Aharon could not do anything that his Wise Men could not do. But then Aharon's stick - that was now a snake - started eating all the sticks of the Wise Men - that were also snakes. Before long, the only snake in the throne room was the one that had been Aharon's stick. In spite of that, Pharaoh refused to listen to Moshe and Aharon.

Next morning Pharaoh went to bathe in the River Nile. As he and his servants were walking along the river bank, looking for a nice place to bathe, Moshe and Aharon appeared. Pharaoh was not pleased to see them. Moshe didn't seem to notice this. He said, "Pharaoh - the Lord, the G-d of the Israelites, had said to you, "Let My people go!" You have not listened. But now, you shall know that the L-rd is G-d. All the water in Egypt shall be turned into blood!"

In front of Pharaoh and all his servants, Aharon took his stick - which was a stick again and not a snake any more - and hit the water in the River Nile. At once, all the water in the River Nile turned into blood. It was not just the River Nile that had turned to blood - all the water in Egypt was now blood. All the fish in the rivers and streams died. All the water stored in buckets and jugs turned to blood No one had any water to drink. Pharaoh, however, remained unimpressed. He just shrugged his shoulders. He couldn't bathe in the River Nile, so he went back inside his palace. All over Egypt there was blood.

Because all the fish died, Egypt smelled terrible. There was no getting away from the smell of dead fish! In addition, no one wanted to bathe or wash their clothes in blood. Everyone was dirty and wore dirty clothes. Since no wanted to clean with blood, the houses were dirty too. Before long, Egypt smelled dreadful from one end to the other. And in addition, every man, woman and child in Egypt was thirsty. Work-parties dug fresh wells beside the rivers and streams, looking for fresh water. Pharaoh didn't seem too bothered. He just carried on shrugging his shoulders, refusing to take Moshe and Aharon seriously, and stayed inside his palace. For seven whole days, all the water in Egypt was blood, but Pharaoh didn't care!

Then G-d talked to Moshe and said, "Go to Pharaoh and say, "Thus says the L-rd: "Let My people go!" If you refuse, there shall be frogs all over Egypt!" Pharaoh just laughed. The blood had gone and there was water in Egypt again. Pharaoh continued to be unimpressed by Moshe and Aharon.

Then Aharon stretched his hand out over the Rive Nile. Instantly, frogs started poking their heads out of the river - which was full of water again. Then they started hopping onto the river bank and into the fields. All over Egypt, there were frogs. When the men of Egypt went to work, they had to walk round and over frogs. The frogs hopped into the houses of the Egyptians. They hopped into the kitchens and the bedrooms. When the women of Egypt tried to cook they found frogs in their mixing bowls and in their ovens. When the people of Egypt tried to go to bed, they found frogs in their beds - hiding between the sheets and under the pillows. Wherever anyone turned, there were frogs, frogs, frogs ...

Not even Pharaoh could stop the frogs from hopping into his palace. The frogs hid under his throne and in the top of his crown. When he walked in the palace garden, frogs hopped down the path in front of him. When he went to read in the palace library, frogs hopped out of the jars where the rolled parchments were kept. When Pharaoh went to bed, his servants shooed all the frogs out of the bedroom. Pharaoh was trying to sleep when he heard frog noises. He opened his eyes and found himself eye-ball to eye-ball with a large frog that was sitting on his chest making friendly noises. Pharaoh couldn't take any more frogs. He yelled loudly enough to be heard by all the servants in the palace, "Fetch Moshe and Aharon!!!"

Pharaoh met Moshe and Aharon in the throne room. He said, "Please - ask the L-rd to take away these wretched frogs!" Pharaoh removed a frog that was sitting on his shoulder and chirping in his ear. "If G-d takes the frogs away, then I will let your people go!!"

Moshe nodded, "It's up to you! You decide when the frogs should go and I will pray and ask G-d to take them away. Then you will know that G-d is G-d!"

Next day, Moshe prayed and the frogs all died. Now there were dead frogs everywhere and the smell of dead frogs was as bad as the smell of dead fish had been - but at least there were not frogs hopping around making a nuisance of themselves. Pharaoh was so relieved not to be surrounded by frogs any more that he hardened his heart and changed his mind about letting the Israelites go. Pharaoh would not let the people go.

The L-rd talked to Moshe again. He said, "Tell Aharon to hit the ground with his stick. I am going to send lice upon every person in Egypt!" Moshe and Aharon did as G-d had told them to do. All of a sudden, there were lice on all the people and all the animals of Egypt. It was terrible ... everyone itched from the tops of their heads to the tips of their toe. Wherever people went, they were scratching. Bathing didn't help and washing clothes didn't help. The lice had arrived to stay and they made everyone in Egypt miserable. The Wise Men said, "It is G-d doing this!" Pharaoh refused to listen to them or to be impressed.

Pharaoh went down to the River Nile to bathe again - to try and get rid of the lice. His servants went with him, walking behind him along the river bank. Pharaoh had just chosen a nice place to bathe from when Moshe and Aharon appeared. Exasperated, Pharaoh itched his left leg and then his right ear and demanded, "What do you want now?!?"

Moshe said, "Thus says the L-rd: "Let My people go!" If you do not let the Israelites go, swarms of flies will infest Egypt. The only place in Egypt where there will not be flies is in Goshen - so that you can see that G-d sets His people apart!"

The next day, swarms of flies invaded Egypt. They flew in together in a huge black clouds. They crawled across the fields of Egypt. They flew into the houses. They buzzed in the ears of the Egyptian men, women and children. They got into all the food and into everyone's clothes. It didn't matter how fast the Egyptians swatted the flies, there were always more. Pharaoh didn't stomach it for long. His palace was full of flies - they flew round his head wherever he went and he was constantly batting them away and stamping on them. When he closed his eyes, all Pharaoh saw was flying black dots. After he swallowed a fly by accident, Pharaoh sent for Moshe and Aharon.

A couple of flies buzzing in a dizzy circle round his head, Pharaoh called to Moshe and Aharon as soon as they entered the throne room of his palace. "Go!" he said. "Just take away these flies!" Next day. Moshe prayed to G-d and the flies buzzed off somewhere else. Later that day, Pharaoh noticed that there were no flies buzzing round his head. He called for a cup of wine and there were no flies practicing swimming in it. Relief filled Pharaoh - the flies had gone! The relief was so great, that Pharaoh hardened his heart. He took back his promise about letting the Israelites go.

G-d sent Moshe and Aharon to Pharaoh again. Moshe said, "Thus says the L-rd: "Let My people go!" If you refuse to obey the L-rd, all the cattle in Egypt will be struck with disease. The only cattle in Egypt who will not be diseased will be the cattle of the Israelites in Goshen. This will happen tomorrow!"

Pharaoh was still unimpressed. He just couldn't care less - and the next day all the cattle in Egypt were struck with disease. The disease affected the horses, the donkeys, the camels, the cows and the sheep. Every animal in Egypt was struck with the disease and they started dying left, right and centre. When he was told about this, Pharaoh sent messengers to find out if any cattle had died in Goshen. He was taken aback when the messengers came back and told him that no animals in Goshen had died, because no animals in Goshen had been struck with disease. Still, Pharaoh would not change him mind about letting the Israelites go free. He hardened his heart again and refused to obey G-d.

G-d gave Moshe and Aharon further instructions. They went to Pharaoh and took a handful of dust. They threw it into the air and all the people and animals in Egypt were covered with painful boils and sores. The Wise Men were covered with so many boils and sores that they could not stand up and had to be carried off to bed. Pharaoh could not sit down comfortably or stand up comfortably. As the boils grew worse, his temper grew worse. All he heard from his servants and the other Egyptians were complaints. Their boils and sores were as painful as his. Pharaoh restlessly paced the throne room in his palace. It didn't matter how painful the boils were. He would not give in to Moshe and Aharon. He hardened his heart once more. The Israelites were his slaves and he would never let them go. At that moment, Moshe and Aharon were shown into the throne room.

Moshe said, "Thus says the L-rd, the G-d of the Israelites, "Let My people go! Now G-d is going to send plagues on you so that you will know that there is no one else on earth like Him! Tomorrow, He is going to send hail - such as no one has ever seen - on Egypt. Send messengers out to your fields to bring your servants and cattle inside. Otherwise, when the hail comes, they will die!"

The next day, Moshe obeyed G-d and stretched his stick out to the sky. It began to thunder, then enormous hail stones and fire fell from the sky. No one had ever seen anything like it before. All the men and animals who were out in the fields when it began to hail were killed. The flax and the barley were ruined. The plants and trees were all smashed up because of the hail. Yet, the hail still continued to fall. The only place where it did not fall, was Goshen. The Israelites and everything belonging to them were safe. Inside his palace, watching as the thunder shook the ground and the hail and fire devastated Egypt, was Pharaoh.

Finally Pharaoh thumped his fist down on the window-sill and snapped an order to a servant, "Get Moshe and Aharon! Quick - this has got to stop!!"

Moshe and Aharon arrived in the throne room. Pharaoh gulped and swallowed his pride. The thunder was still roaring - the hail and fire were still falling. Pharaoh said, "I was wrong this time! The L-rd is righteous and I and my people are wicked. Now - please - beg G-d to stop the hail! We have had enough thunder and hail and fire. I promise to let your people go - you shall stay in Egypt no longer!"

Moshe looked at Pharaoh steadily. Then he said, "I shall do as you ask. But you and your servants - you do not yet fear G-d!"

After that, Moshe and Aharon left Pharaoh and went outside. Moshe lifted up his hands towards the sky. God stopped the thunder. Then He stopped the hail and the fire. Pharaoh, watching from the windows of his palace, held his breath as quiet fell outside. As he listened for thunder without hearing it and watched for hail and fire without seeing it, Pharaoh hardened his heart. He wasn't beaten yet and he wasn't going to let the Israelites go. As Moshe had said, Pharaoh and his servants did not yet fear G-d.

Now G-d spoke to Moshe again. He said, "Go to Pharaoh! I have hardened his heart so that I can perform signs and miracles and you can tell your sons and grandsons how I made a mockery of the Egyptians - so that you may know that I am G-d!"

Moshe went to Pharaoh and said, "Thus says the L-rd, the G-d of the Israelites: "Let My people go! How long will you refuse to humble yourself before Me?? If you refuse to do as I tell you, I shall send locusts on Egypt. It will be like nothing ever seen before!"

Pharaoh's servants were getting desperate. They said, "How long will you let this go on?? For goodness sake, let the Israelites go! Don't you see that Egypt is being destroyed?!?"

Moshe did as G-d told him and stretched his stick out to the sky. A wind started to blow. It blew all day and all night. It was still blowing the next morning. As they were getting up and going out to work, the Egyptians noticed a cloud hiding the sun. They all went outside to find out what was happening. The cloud was made up of thousands and thousands of locusts. They landed all over Egypt and started eating. The ground was black with them. They crawled into the houses of the Egyptians and got into their food and their clothes. They ate everything that there was to eat. Before long, any thing that had been left by the hail had been eaten by the locusts. The sound of thousands of tiny jaws chomping and chewing rang in the ears of the Egyptians.

Pharaoh had had enough. He called urgently for Moshe and Aharon. When they entered the throne room he jumped off his throne and exclaimed, "I have sinned ... against the L-rd your G-d and against you. Please ... forgive me! Pray to G-d and ask Him to remove this death from me. These locusts ..."

Moshe did as Pharaoh had asked. G-d sent a wind that blew the locusts away. Soon there was not a single locust left in Egypt. And then G-d hardened Pharaoh's heart. Moshe did as G-d told him and stretched his hand out to the sky. As he did so, darkness fell over Egypt. It was a darkness like no other. It could be felt - heavy and thick. The Egyptians could not see each other and could not even move. For three days Egypt was silent in terror under the darkness. No one saw anyone else and no one moved. The only place in the whole land of Egypt where it was not dark, was Goshen. The Israelites all had light in their homes. At the end of three days, Pharaoh called for Moshe.

Pharaoh said, "Alright ... you can go! Take your young and your old, your men and your women. Just get out of Egypt. Leave your flocks and herds behind, but your little ones you can take with you!"

Moshe said, "We must take our flocks and herds with us - we shall not leave a hoof behind us!"

The Lord again hardened Pharaoh's heart. Pharaoh stood up and yelled, "Go! Go away!! And don't you ever come back. The day you see my face again - you shall die!"

Moshe nodded, "Yes - you are right. I shall never see your face again!"

Then G-d talked to Moshe. He said, "I am going to send one more plague on Egypt - after that, Pharaoh will let you go. About midnight, I am going to pass through Egypt. All the first-born sons in the land of Egypt will die. The first-born of Pharaoh who sits on his throne and the first-born of the slave-girl at her millstone. Even the first-born of all the cattle will die. There shall be a great outcry in Egypt - an outcry that has never been heard before and will never be heard again. Only in Goshen - among the Israelites - shall there be peace and quiet. This will show everyone that I make a distinction between Egypt and Israel! This is what you are to tell My people ..."

Moshe gathered all the Israelites together. He said to them, "Take a lamb - one for each family - the Pesach lamb. Kill it and put the blood on the door posts and the lintel of your house. Then go inside your house and stay inside all night - do not come out. Tonight, around midnight, the L-rd is going to pass through Egypt. He is going to smite the Egyptians. But when He sees the blood on your houses, He will pass over you and will not allow you to be smitten. When you get to the land G-d has promised to you - to Israel - you shall observe this ritual. Your children will ask you what it is all about you you will tell them, "It is to remember that G-d passed over the homes of the Israelites when He passed through Egypt to smite the Egyptians. He spared us!"

All the people bowed down and worshiped G-d. Then they hurried to do as Moshe said. Goshen was full of Israelites hurrying this way and that to get their lamb, kill it, and put the blood all round the doorway of their homes. Then each family went into their home and closed the door. They ate the lamb roasted for supper, with unleavened bread and bitter herbs. There was a suppressed air of excitement in all the Israelite homes - this was the last night they would spend in Egypt! Everything was packed. The Israelites ate supper with their sandals on their and their sticks in their hands. They ate it in haste - ready at any moment to leave Egypt and slavery forever.

At about midnight G-d passed through Egypt. It was as He had said it would be - every first-born son in Egypt died. The son of Pharaoh died and the son of his slave-girl died. Pharaoh and the Egyptians were up all night. All through Egypt, people cried as they discovered that their loved ones were dead. There was not a single home in Egypt where there was not someone dead. The outcry was terrible. And yet, in Goshen there was peace and quiet as the Israelites ate their first Pesach meal and prepared to leave Egypt

At some point during the night, Pharaoh summoned Moshe and Aaron. When they arrived he said, "Get out - get out of my country and out from among my people! Take whatever you want and do whatever you want - just go!! Go, go, go ... but bless me, before you go."

Moshe and Aharon went back to Goshen and told the Israelites what Pharaoh had said. At once, there was joy and excitement in Goshen. Then the Israelites left Egypt forever. There were six hundred thousand men alone - not counting women and children. In addition, there was a bunch of other people who went with them. They left quickly - their unleavened bread, baked quickly into cakes, with them. They had their flocks and herds with them. Some of them walk and some of them rode in wagons. Some of them walked soberly and some of them danced with joy. For four hundred and thirty years they had been in Egypt. Now they were leaving - and going to the land of Israel!

G-d led His people out of Egypt - appearing before them in a pillar of cloud. During the first day, the Israelites followed the pillar of cloud into the wilderness. They came to the edge of the Red Sea. They camped there and that night the pillar of cloud turned into a pillar of fire. G-d warned Moshe, "I am going to harden the heart of Pharaoh one more time. He is going to think that you are wandering in the wilderness and he is going to chase after you with his army. The Egyptians will know that I am G-d!"

This is exactly what happened. Pharaoh discovered that the Israelites had really gone from Egypt and his heart was hardened. He and his servants looked at each other and asked, "What have we done? Why have we let the Israelites go? Who else will be our slaves and do our work for us?!?"

Pharaoh got up from his throne and nodded to his head charioteer. "Quickly!" he snapped. "Get my chariot ready at once. And you ..." Pharaoh snapped his fingers at the captain of the guard, "You see to it that the army mobilises at once. I want six hundred of the best war chariots ready to follow me as soon as my chariot it ready. The Israelites are wandering around in the wilderness. Moshe and Aharon don't know where to lead their people and they'll never find their way to their 'promised land'! We'll chase after the Israelites and bring them back in chains - our slaves forever!!"

Pharaoh put his helmet on, took his sword and leaped into his chariot. The Egyptian army and six hundred war chariots were behind him. Pharaoh cracked his whip and his chariot leaped forward, drawn by the best horses in Egypt. Pharaoh and the his army streamed out of Egypt, boldly chasing the Israelites. They caught up with the Israelites at the edge of the Red Sea. Pharaoh, his heart harder than ever, was convinced that he had caught the Israelite slaves and he was determined to make them forget their few hours of freedom under slavery greater than any they had ever known before. He set his face.

When the Israelites saw Pharaoh and his army and six hundred war chariots chasing them, they panicked. First they prayed. Then they turned to Moshe and cried, "What have you done?!? Didn't we tell you we were better off in Egypt that out here in the wilderness. We were right!! It would have been better to serve the Egyptians forever than to be killed in the wilderness!"

Moshe shook his head and shouted above the commotion, "Do not fear!! Just stand still and watch G-d at work. The Egyptians you see today, you will never see again. G-d will fight for you and defend you - while you stand still and watch!"

G-d talked to Moshe and told him what to do. Moshe stretched out his hand over the water of the Red Sea. All night, a strong wind blew and the water of the Red Sea was divided to left and right - leaving dry land in the middle. During the night, the pillar of fire was behind the Israelites so that the Egyptians could not reach them. When morning came, Moshe led the Israelites through the dry land in the middle of the Red Sea. The water stood up like walls on either side of them. The Israelites walked, ran and danced through the middle of the sea without getting wet. They pushed and pulled their wagons and their flocks and herds through the Red Sea. They all reached safety on the other side.

The Egyptians saw what the Israelites were doing and followed them into the Red Sea. They had trouble with their chariots - the wheels swerved and got stuck in the mud. The Egyptians began to get frightened and begged Pharaoh, "Please - let's go back to Egypt! G-d is fighting for His people, against Egypt!"

Then G-d gave Moshe another instruction and Moshe obeyed. He held out his arm over the water of the Red Sea. Instantly the water of the Red Sea stopped being held back in walls and came crashing back down to fill in the path of dry land G-d had created for the Israelites. Pharaoh and his army and chariots were covered with water and were unable to get away. The Israelites had walked through the Red Sea on dry ground, but Pharaoh and the Egyptians had perished in the waters of the Red Sea. That was the last time the Israelites saw their enemies, the Egyptians. Miryam, Moshe and Aharon's sister, grabbed her tambourine and started dancing, singing a song of praise to G-d. The other Israelite women joined her, dancing and singing.

Then Moshe led the people forward towards the land of Israel. For forty years the Israelites wandered in the wilderness. They received G-d's Torah at the mountain of G-d and built a Mishkan in the middle of their camp for Him to dwell in. G-d provided them with water, manna, and meat. He stopped their clothes and shoes from wearing out. At the end of forty years, G-d led His people into the land of Israel. It was exactly as G-d had promised when He said, "I will free you and deliver you from slavery in Egypt. I will redeem you with an outstretched arm and mighty judgments. You shall be My people and I shall be your G-d. I will bring to you the land I promised to give to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob - the land of Israel. It shall be your land. I am G-d."

Copyright J. E. Allen - MET