The Bible Story Part 139

And Moses and Aaron did so, as the Lord commanded; and he lifted up the rod, and smote the waters that were in the river, in the sight of Pharaoh, and in the sight of his servants; and all the waters that were in the river were turned to blood. And the fish that were in the river died; and the river stank, and the Egyptians could not drink water from the river; and the blood was throughout all the land of Egypt.

And the magicians of Egypt did in like manner with their enchantments: and Pharaoh's heart was hardened, and he hearkened not unto them; as the Lord had spoken. And Pharaoh turned and went into his house, neither did he lay even this to heart. And all the Egyptians digged round about the river for water to drink; for they could not drink of the water of the river. And seven days were fulfilled, after the Lord had smitten the river.

2. THE PLAGUE OF FROGS.

And the Lord spoke to Moses, "Go in unto Pharaoh, and say unto him, 'Thus saith the Lord, Let my people go, that they may serve me. And if thou refuse to let them go, behold, I will smite all thy borders with frogs: and the river shall swarm with frogs, which shall go up and come into thine house, and into thy bedchamber, and upon thy bed, and into the house of thy servants, and upon thy people, and into thine ovens, and into thy kneading-troughs: and the frogs shall come up both upon thee, and upon thy people, and upon all thy servants.'"

And the Lord said to Moses, "Say to Aaron, 'Stretch {157} forth thine hand with thy rod over the rivers, over the streams, and over the pools, and cause frogs to come up upon the land of Egypt.'"

And Aaron stretched out his hand over the waters of Egypt; and the frogs came up, and covered the land of Egypt. And the magicians did in like manner with their enchantments, and brought up frogs upon the land of Egypt.

Then Pharaoh called for Moses and Aaron, and said, "Intreat the Lord, that he take away the frogs from me, and from my people; and I will let the people go, that they may sacrifice unto the Lord."

And Moses said to Pharaoh, "For what time shall I intreat for thee, and for thy servants, and for thy people, that the frogs be destroyed from thee and thy houses, and remain in the river only?"

And he said, "For to-morrow."

And he said, "Be it according to thy word: that thou mayest know that there is none like unto the Lord our G.o.d. And the frogs shall depart from thee, and from thy houses, and from thy servants, and from thy people; they shall remain in the river only."

And Moses and Aaron went out from Pharaoh: and Moses cried unto the Lord concerning the frogs which he had brought upon Pharaoh. And the Lord did according to the word of Moses; and the frogs died out of the houses, out of the courts, and out of the fields. And they gathered them together in heaps: and the land stank. But when Pharaoh saw that there was relief, he {158} hardened his heart, and hearkened not unto them; as the Lord had spoken.

3. THE PLAGUE OF LICE.

And the Lord said unto Moses, "Say unto Aaron, 'Stretch out thy rod, and smite the dust of the earth, that it may become lice throughout all the land of Egypt.'"

And they did so; and Aaron stretched out his hand with his rod, and smote the dust of the earth, and there were lice upon man, and upon beast; all the dust of the earth became lice throughout all the land of Egypt. And the magicians did so with their enchantments to bring forth lice, but they could not: and there were lice upon man, and upon beast.

Then the magicians said to Pharaoh, "This is the finger of G.o.d": and Pharaoh's heart was hardened, and he hearkened not to them; as the Lord had spoken.

4. THE PLAGUE OF FLIES.

And the Lord said to Moses, "Rise up early in the morning, and stand before Pharaoh; lo, he cometh forth to the water; and say to him, 'Thus saith the Lord, Let my people go, that they may serve me. Else, if thou wilt not let my people go, behold, I will send swarms of flies upon thee, and upon thy servants, and upon thy people, and into thy houses: and the houses of the Egyptians shall be full of swarms of flies, and also the ground whereon they are. And I will set apart in that day the land of Goshen, in which my people dwell, that no swarms of flies shall be there; to the end thou mayest know that I am the {159} Lord in the midst of the earth. And I will put a division between my people and thy people: by to-morrow shall this sign be.'"

And the Lord did so; and there came grievous swarms of flies into the house of Pharaoh, and into his servants' houses: and in all the land of Egypt the land was corrupted by reason of the swarms of flies. And Pharaoh called for Moses and for Aaron, and said, "Go ye, sacrifice to your G.o.d in the land."

And Moses said, "It is not right so to do; for we shall sacrifice the holy things of the Egyptians to the Lord our G.o.d: lo, shall we sacrifice the holy things of the Egyptians before their eyes, and will they not stone us? We will go three days' journey into the wilderness, and sacrifice to the Lord our G.o.d, as he shall command us."

And Pharaoh said, "I will let you go, that ye may sacrifice to the Lord your G.o.d in the wilderness; only ye shall not go very far away: intreat for me."

And Moses said, "Behold, I go out from thee, and I will intreat the Lord that the swarms of flies may depart from Pharaoh, from his servants, and from his people, to-morrow: only let not Pharaoh deal deceitfully any more in not letting the people go to sacrifice to the Lord."

And Moses went out from Pharaoh and intreated the Lord. And the Lord did according to the word of Moses; and he removed the swarms of flies from Pharaoh, from his servants, and from his people; there remained not one. And Pharaoh hardened his heart this time also, and he did not let the people go.

{160}

5. THE PLAGUE OF CATTLE DISEASE.

Then the Lord said unto Moses, "Go in to Pharaoh, and tell him, 'Thus saith the Lord, the G.o.d of the Hebrews, Let my people go that they may serve me. For if thou refuse to let them go, and wilt hold them still, behold, the hand of the Lord is upon thy cattle which are in the field, upon the horses, upon the a.s.ses, upon the camels, upon the herds, and upon the flocks: there shall be a very grievous distemper.

And the Lord shall distinguish between the cattle of Israel and the cattle of Egypt: and there shall nothing die of all that belongeth to the children of Israel.'"

And the Lord appointed a set time, saying, "To-morrow the Lord shall do this thing in the land."

And the Lord did that thing on the morrow, and all the cattle of Egypt died: but of the cattle of the children of Israel died not one. And Pharaoh sent, and, behold, there was not so much as one of the cattle of the Israelites dead. But the heart of Pharaoh was stubborn, and he did not let the people go.

6. THE PLAGUE OF BOILS.

And the Lord said unto Moses and unto Aaron, "Take to you handfuls of ashes, and let Moses sprinkle it toward the heaven in the sight of Pharaoh. And it shall become small dust over all the land of Egypt, and shall be a boil breaking forth upon man and upon beast, throughout all the land of Egypt."

And they took ashes, and stood before Pharaoh; and Moses sprinkled it up toward heaven; and it became a boil breaking forth upon man and upon beast.

{161}

And the magicians could not stand before Moses because of the boils; for the boils were upon the magicians, and upon all the Egyptians. And the Lord hardened the heart of Pharaoh, and he hearkened not to them: as the Lord had spoken to Moses.

And the Lord said to Moses, "Rise up early in the morning, and stand before Pharaoh, and say to him, 'Thus saith the Lord, the G.o.d of the Hebrews, Let my people go, that they may serve me. For I will this time send all my plagues upon thine heart, and upon thy servants, and upon thy people; that thou mayest know that there is none like me in all the earth. For now I had put forth my hand, and smitten thee and thy people with pestilence, and thou hadst been cut off from the earth: but for this very cause have I made thee to stand, in order to show thee my power, that my name may be declared throughout all the earth. Exaltest thou thyself still against my people, that thou wilt not let them go? Behold, to-morrow about this time I will cause a very grievous hail, such as hath not been in Egypt since the day it was founded even until now. Now therefore send, hasten in thy cattle and all that thou hast in the field; for every man and beast which shall be found in the field, and shall not be brought home, the hail shall come down upon them, and they shall die.'"

He that feared the word of the Lord among the servants of Pharaoh made his servants and his cattle flee into the houses: and he that regarded not the word of the Lord left his servants and his cattle in the field.

{162}

THE SEVENTH PLAGUE OF EGYPT

I.

'T was morn,--the rising splendor rolled On marble towers and roofs of gold; Hall, court, and gallery, below, Were crowded with a living flow; Egyptian, Arab, Nubian, there,-- The bearers of the bow and spear, The h.o.a.ry priest, the Chaldee sage, The slave, the gemmed and glittering page,-- Helm, turban, and tiara, shone A dazzling ring round Pharaoh's throne.

II.

There came a man:--the human tide Shrank backward from his stately stride: His cheek with storm and time was tanned; A shepherd's staff was in his hand; A shudder of instinctive fear Told the dark king what step was near; On through the host the stranger came, It parted round his form like flame.

III.

He stooped not at the footstool stone, He clasped not sandal, kissed not throne; Erect he stood amid the ring, His only words, "Be just, a king!"

On Pharaoh's cheek the blood flushed high, A fire was in his sullen eye; {163} Yet on the chief of Israel No arrow of his thousands fell; All mute and moveless as the grave Stood chilled the satrap and the slave.

IV.

"Thou'rt come," at length the monarch spoke; (Haughty and high the words outbroke;) "Is Israel weary of its lair, The forehead peeled, the shoulder bare?

Take back the answer to your band: Go, reap the wind! go, plow the sand!

Go, vilest of the living vile, To build the never-ending pile, Till, darkest of the nameless dead, The vulture on their flesh is fed!

What better asks the howling slave Than the base life our bounty gave?"