XLVI. (1) And it came to pass when Pharaoh reigned over Egypt that he changed the statutes of the first kings and their laws, and made the yoke heavy upon all the inhabitants of his land, and also upon the house of Jacob he had no pity, through the counsel of Bala'am the enchanter and his two sons, for they were then the king's counsellors. The king then took counsel with his three advisers — one of whom was named Eeuel the Midianite, the second Job, and the third Bala'am of Petor — and said, ' Behold, the Israelites are becoming more numerous, and mightier than we. Come, let us be wise, lest they grow too numerous, and in the event of a war breaking out they will assemble against us and fight us, and go up from the land.'

(2) Then Eeuel the Midianite exclaimed, ' Long live the king! If it pleases the king, do not stretch forth thy hand against them, because God has selected them of old and taken them from all nations of the earth to be His inheritance. For whoever of all the kings of the earth stretches forth his hand against them their God will take vengeance upon him. When Abraham went down to Egypt, and Pharaoh ordered his wife Sarah to be brought to him, did not the Lord their God send great plagues upon him and upon his house until he restored Abraham's wife, and only through Abraham's prayer was he healed? Also in the case of Abimelech in Gerar. As a punishment all his house was struck with barrenness, even unto the animals. In a vision Abimelech learned the cause, and that he must restore Abraham's wife whom he had taken. After Isaac prayed for him and his household, and entreated God on their behalf, they were healed. (3) When Isaac was separated from his wife all their fountains were dried up, and their fruit-bearing trees did not yield their produce, and the breasts of their wives and cows were dried up. Then Abimelech went to him from Gerar, his pasturage, and Phichol, the captain of his host. They prostrated themselves, and asked him to entreat God for them and pray to Him. When he besought God they were healed. Jacob was a simple man dwelling in tents; by his integrity he was delivered from Esau, and Laban the Aramean, and from all the kings of Canaan. Who can stretch forth his hand against them without being punished? Was it not thy father that promoted Joseph over all the princes of Egypt, for through his wisdom he rescued all the inhabitants from famine, and commanded Jacob and his sons to go down to Egypt that the land of Egypt be saved from further evil through their piety? Now, if it seems good to thee, cease destroying them, and if thou dost not wish to allow them to dwell in Egypt, send them hence, and they will go to the land of Canaan.'

(4) Pharaoh was exceedingly angry with Keuel, so he left the kingdom and went to Midian. He took Jacob's staff with him. The king then said to Job, ' Give thy

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counsel. What shall be clone with these people?' But Job briefly replied, ' Are not all the inhabitants of thy country in thy hand? Do thou what is pleasing in thine eyes.' Then spake Bala'am of Petor to the king, ' If thou thinkest to diminish them by fire, has not their God delivered Abraham from the furnace of the Chaldeans? And if thou thinkest to destroy them by the sword, has not Isaac been tested thereby, and a ram been given in his stead? Now, my lord the king, if thou seekest to blot out their name, order their babes to be thrown into the sea, because not one of them has yet been put to this test.'

(5) This advice pleasing the king, he issued a decree all over Egypt, saying that every male born to the Hebrews should be cast into the water. And it came to pass when the males of the house of Jacob were cast into the river that Moses was one of them. The Lord thereupon sent an angel to deliver them, and thus he also was saved through the daughter of Pharaoh. When Moses grew up in the king's palace Pharaoh's daughter adopted him as her son, and the whole of Pharaoh's household was afraid of him.

(6) One day it was reported to Bala'am that the son of ' Bityah (Pharaoh's daughter) wished to take his life. Bala am the enchanter and his two sons therefore fled for their lives and escaped to the land of Cush. And when Qinqanos waged war with the peoples of the East and Syria, Bala'am revolted against him and did not allow him to enter the city. Cush was therefore besieged for nine years, and during the siege Qinqanos died. The people then crowned Moses the Levite as their king. (7) By his wisdom Moses captured the city, and was placed upon the throne of the kingdom with the crown upon his head. They also gave him to wife the Cushite wife of the late monarch. But Moses, fearing the God of his fathers, did not approach her, for he remembered the oath which Abraham made Eleazar his servant swear, saying, ' Thou shalt not take a wife of the daughters of Canaan for my sons.' Isaac said likewise to Jacob when he fled on account of Esau. ' Thou shalt not intermarry,' said he, ' with the

children of Ham, for remember that Noah said, " The children of Ham should be servants to the children of Shem and Jafeth." ' Therefore Moses feared the Lord, and walked before Him in truth with all his heart. Nor did he deviate from the path wherein his ancestors Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob walked. The kingdom of Cush was firmly established through him, and, going to war with Edom, the East of Palestine, and Syria, he conquered them, and made them submit to Cush. The number of years during which he sat upon the throne was forty, and in all his battles he was successful, because the Lord God of his fathers was with him.

(8) In the fortieth year of his reign, when he was sitting upon the throne with his queen by his side, the queen said to the princes in the presence of the people, ' Behold now, during the whole of the forty years that this king has reigned he has not once approached me, nor has he worshipped the gods of Cush. Now, hearken ye unto me, 0 sons of Cush, do not allow this man to reign over you any longer, but let my son Mobros (DnniD) reign over you, for it is better that you serve the son of 3^our master than a stranger, a servant of the King of Egypt.' The people discussed the matter until the evening. They then rose up early next morning and crowned Mobros (Dnmn), the son of Qinqanos, king over them. But the Cushites feared to lay hands on Moses, for they remembered the oath they took to him. So they gave him valuable gifts and sent him away with great honour. Moses accordingly went forth thence, and his reign over Cush thus came to an end.

(9) Moses was sixty-seven years of age when he went out of Cush; for the thing came from God, as the time had arrived which had been fixed from olden times when the Israelites were to be freed from the children of Ham. Moses then went to Midian, for he feared to return to Egypt through fear of Pharaoh, and stayed by a well of water. When the seven daughters of Eeuel the Midianite came out to feed the sheep of their father, they came to the well to draw the water for the sheep. But the Midianite

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shepherds drove them away, and Moses rose up and assisted them m watering the sheep. Returning to their father, they told him what the man had done for them. Reuel {Le., Jethro the Kenite) then invited him into the house to take a meal with him. Moses then related to him that he hailed from Egypt, and that he had reigned over Cush; that they had wrested the kingdom from him and had sent him away. When Eeuel heard this, he said to himself, ' I shall put this man in prison, by which I shall please the Cushites from whom he fled.' Accordingly he put him in prison, where he remained for ten years. But Zipporah, the daughter of Reuel, had pity upon him, and fed him with bread and water.

(10) At the end of the ten years she said to her father, ' Nobody seeks or inquires after this Hebrew whom thou hast imprisoned these ten years. Now, if it seemeth good to thee, my father, let us send and see whether he is dead or alive.' Her father did not know that she had supplied him with food. Reuel then answered and said, ' Is it possible for a man to be imprisoned twelve (?) years without food and yet live?' But Zipporah replied, ' Hast thou not heard, 0 my lord, that the God of the Hebrews is great and powerful, and that He works wonders at all times? That he delivered Abraham from the furnace of the Chaldeans, Isaac from the sword, and Jacob from the angel with whom he wrestled by the brook of Jabbok? That even for this man He has done many wonders; that He delivered him from the river of Egypt and from the sword of Pharaoh? He will also be able to deliver him from this place.' (11) This word pleased Reuel, and he acted as she had asked. He therefore sent to the pit to see what had become of him, and found him alive, standing erect, and praying to the God of his ancestors. Having brought him forth from the pit, he shaved him, changed his prison garments, and gave him to eat. The man then went to the garden of Reuel at the back of the palace, and prayed to his God, who had done so many wonders for him. While he was praying, he suddenly beheld a staff made of

sapphire fixed in the ground in the midst of the garden. AVhen he approached it, he found engraved thereon the name of the Lord of Hosts, the ineffable name. He read that name, and pulled up the staff as lightly as a branch is lifted up in a thickly-wooded forest, and it was a rod in his hand.

(12) This was the same staff that was created in the world among the works of God after He created the heavens and the earth and all their hosts, the seas, rivers, and all the fishes thereof. When Adam was driven from the garden of Eden he took the staff with him and tilled the ground from which he was taken. It then came into the hands of Noah (son of Lamek), who handed it down to Shem and his descendants until it reached Abraham the Hebrew. He then handed over all his possessions to Isaac, including the staff of wonders, which Isaac also inherited. When Jacob fled to Padan Aram he took it with him, and when he came to his father in Beersheba he did not leave it behind. When he went down to Egypt he handed it over to Joseph as a separate gift above that which he gave to his other sons. After Joseph's death the princes of Egypt dwelt in his house, and the staff came into the hand of Eeuel the Midianite, who, when he left Egypt, took it away with him and planted it in his own garden. All the mighty men of King Qinqanos (Dl^p^^p) who wished to Aved his daughter Zipporah tried to uproot it, but without avail, so that it remained there in the garden until Moses, to whom it rightly belonged, came and took it away. W^hen Reuel saw the staff in Moses' hand he was astonished (and knew that he was the redeemer of Israel). Eeuel then gave Zipporah his daughter to Moses.

(13) Moses was seventy-seven years old when he came out of prison, and took Zipporah the Midianite to wife. And Zipporah went the ways of the women of Israel; she did not even in the smallest thing fall short of the righteousness of Sarah, Eebecca, Eachel, and Leah, the pinnacles of the world. She conceived and bare a son, whom she called Gershon, for he (Moses) said: ' I was a

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wanderer in a strange land '; but by the order of Reuel his father-in-law the child was not circumcised. After the lapse of three years she conceived again and bare another son. After his circumcision Moses called his name Eleazar, because (he said) ' The God of my father is my help, and He delivered me from the sword of Pharaoh.'

XLYII. (1) At that time Moses used to tend the flocks of Eeuel the Midianite behind the wilderness of Sin, with his staff in his hand. But the Lord was zealous for His people and His inheritance, and, hearing their cry, said He would rescue them from the descendants of Ham, and give them the land of Canaan. He appeared to Moses, His servant, in Horeb, in a burning bush; but the fire did not consume the bush. Then God called him from the midst of the bush, and commanded him to go down to Egypt to Pharaoh, King of Egypt, and to ask him to send away His chosen people as free men. He showed him signs and wonders to perform in Egypt that they might believe that the Lord had sent him. God gave him confidence by saying, ' Go, and return to Egypt, for those that sought thy life are now dead, and they have no power to do thee harm.' (2) Moses then returned to Midian, and related to his father-in-law all that had happened. ' Go in peace,' said he. So Moses arose and went away with his wife and sons. They lodged at a certain place, and an angel came down and attacked him for his transgression of the covenant which God made with Abraham His servant, in that he did not circumcise his eldest son, and he wanted to slay him. Zipporah then immediately took one of the sharp flint stones which she found there and circumcised her son, and she rescued her husband from the power of the angel.

(3) As Aaron the Levite was walking in Egypt by the river God appeared to him, and said, * Go now, and meet thy brother Moses in the wilderness.' He accordingly went and met him on the mountain of God, and kissed him. On beholding the woman and her children, he said to Moses, ' Who are these?' 'These are,' said he, 'my wife

and sons whom God gave me in Midian.' But Aaron was displeased, and he told him to send the woman and her sons back to her father's house. This Moses did. And Zipporah and her sons remained in the house of Eeuel, her father, until the Lord visited His people, and delivered them from Egypt from the hand of Pharaoh. (4) Moses and Aaron then went alone to Egypt to the Israelites, whom they told all that the Lord had spoken. Thereat the people exceedingly rejoiced. The next morning they rose up early and went to Pharaoh's house, taking the staff of God with them.

(5) When they came to the gate of the king's palace they saw there two young lions bound in iron chains. No one could enter or pass out from within unless the king com- manded it. The keepers on seeing them loosened the chains, and by charms set the lions free to pounce upon them; but Moses hastily waved his wand upon them, and Moses and Aaron entered the king's palace, followed by the young lions playing round them as a dog plays on seeing its master coming home from the field. When Pharaoh saw this he was greatly astonished, and still more confused on account of these men, whose appearance was like that of the children of God. The king then said to them, ' What do you wish?' And Moses said, 'The Lord God of the Hebrews has sent us to thee, saying, " Send out My people, that they may serve Me." ' Pharaoh was greatly afraid of them, and told them to go away and come again to-morrow, which they did.

(6) When they were gone Pharaoh ordered Bala am the enchanter, and Janis (d-j^) and Jambris (onnro^), his sons, the wizards, and all the magicians of Egypt to be summoned before him. He then related to them what these men had spoken. The magicians then asked, ' How did these men pass the lions that were chained at the gate of the palace?' ' They waved their staves upon the lions,' said the king, ' and they let them loose, and they followed them just as dogs who were pleased to meet them.' ' They are nothing else than wizards like ourselves,' said Bala'am. ' Send now

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after them and let them come, and we shall try them.' The king acted accordmgly.

(7) Taking the staff, they came before the king, and repeated the words which they had spoken at first. ' But how can one beheve,' said Pharaoh, ' that you are messengers of God, and that by His word you have come here? Give us a sign and we shall believe you.' Aaron then threw his staff upon the ground, and it was immedi- ately changed into a serpent. The magicians, seeing this, did the same by their incantations, and the staff of each one of them became a serpent; but Aaron's serpent at that moment hfted its head, and, opening its mouth, swallowed up the serpents of Pharaoh's magicians. Balaam the wizard, seeing this, said, ' This has been done from time immemorial, that one serpent should swallow up his neighbour just as the fish swallow each other. But change it back to a staff as we shall do, and then if thy staff' is able to swallow ours we shall thereby know that the Spirit of the Lord is with thee; but if it cannot swallow them, then thou art a wizard as we are.' Aaron then hastily took hold of the serpent by its tail, and it became a stick again. This the magicians likewise did. Then Aaron, as previously, cast his staff upon the ground, and it swallowed up those of the magicians.

(8) Pharaoh then ordered the Book of Chronicles of the Kings of Egypt to be brought to him; therein were contained the names of all the gods of Egypt. When the list was read over to Pharaoh, he said, ' I do not find your God written in this book, nor do I know Him.' ' The Lord God of gods is His name,' replied they (Moses and Aaron). ' But who is the Lord,' added Pharaoh, ' that I should listen to His voice and send Israel forth? I do not know Him, and shall not allow the Israelites to go.' ' From the days of our forefathers He has been called " The God of the Hebrews." Now give us permission to go a journey of three days in the wilderness to sacrifice unto the Lord, for ever since we came down to Egypt He has not received from our hands a burnt offering, meal offering, or sacrifice.

If, however, thou wilt not let us go forth, the Lord will assuredly wax angry and smite the land of Egypt with pestilence or with the sword.'

(9) ' Tell us something of His might and power,' said Pharaoh. ' He created the heavens and all their host; the earth and all it contains; the seas with all their fishes. He it was who formed the light and wdio created the darkness; who caused the rain to fall upon the earth to irrigate it. He caused the young plants and the grass to spring forth. He created man, animals, the beasts in the forest, the birds in the heavens, and the fish in the seas. Through Him they live, through Him they die. Did He not create thee in the womb of thy mother, and give thee the spirit of life? did He not make thee grow up, and place thee on the royal throne of Egypt? He shall also take away thy spirit and thy soul, and return thee to the dust from which thou wast taken.' The anger of Pharaoh was kindled, and he said, ' Who is there among all the gods of the people that can do this? Behold, I it was who created the river, and who created myself.' He then drove them out of his presence, and from that day he made the slavery more oppressive than heretofore.

XLVni. (1) The Lord rose in His strength and smote Pharaoh and his people with many great and terrible plagues, and turned all their rivers to blood, so that when- ever an Egyptian came to the river to draw water, as soon as he looked into his pitcher, he found it turned to blood. Whether for drinking or for kneading the dough, or for boiling, it always looked like blood.

(2; After this all their waters brought forth frogs, so that whenever an Egyptian drank of them, his stomach became full of frogs, which croaked about in his entrails just as they did in the river. Whether they kneaded or whether they boiled, the water was filled with frogs. Even when they lay down upon their beds, their very perspiration was turned into frogs. (3) He then smote their dust so that it became lice two cubits high; on their very bodies they lay a handbreadth, as well on the king and queen as on the

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people. Following this, the Lord sent against them the wild beasts of the field to destroy them; serpents, vipers and scorpions to injure them; mice, weasels, lizards, and noxious reptiles; flies, hornets, and other insects to fly into their eyes and ears; fleas, ants, and every species of winged insect to torture them; they filled the innermost recesses of their houses. When the Egyptians tried to hide themselves in order to shut out and to escape the wild beasts, the Lord ordered the sea-monster (octopus? noi'p^D) to ascend to Egypt. It has arms ten cubits in length, according to the cubit of man. Eising to the roof, it uncovered the roof and exposed the rafters; and it then slid its arm inside the house; it wrenched off the bolt and lock, and thus forced open the houses of the Egyptians.. In this manner the hordes of wild beasts got into the palace of Pharaoh and his servants, and they worried them greatly.

(4) And God sent a pestilence among the horses, asses, camels, cattle and sheep. When the Egyptian rose early in the morning and went out to his pasture, he found his animals lying about dead, there remaining alive but one in ten. (5) The Lord next sent a plague of fever among the Egyptians, which afterw^ards broke out into severe boils, which covered them from the sole of the foot to the crown of the head. They broke, and their flesh was running with streams of matter, until they wasted away and rotted, and (6) the hail devastated all their vines and trees so that not even the bark or the leaves were left: all their produce was dried up, and a burning fiery flame played in the midst of it. Even the men and animals found abroad were slain by the flame, and all the libraries (houses of books) were overthrown. (7) Various kinds of locust devoured every- thing left by the hail; what one species left, the other destroyed. The Egyptians, however, were glad to hunt them and salt them for food. The Lord then raised a very strong wind, which carried them all, including the salted ones, into the Ked Sea, so that not a solitary one remained in the whole of Egypt. (8) Darkness then covered the

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earth for three clays, so that one could not see his o^Yn hand before his eyes. During this period of darkness many Hebrews who had rebelled against their Creator, rebelled also against Moses and Aaron, saying: ' We shall not go forth lest we die in the desolate wilderness by famine.' God smote them by a plague, and they were buried during these three days, lest the Egyptians should see them and rejoice at their downfall. (9) All the firstborn of the Egyptians were then slain from man to animal, even the likeness of their firstborn engraved on the walls of their houses was effaced and thrown to the ground. The bones of their firstborn that were buried in their houses the dogs of Egypt dragged away, and, breaking them to pieces, devoured them before the very eyes of the people, so that their descendants cried out in anguish. The people of Egypt then hastened to accompany the servants of God, whom they sent away with much riches and many gifts, according to the oath which God sware at the Covenant between the pieces.

(10) Moses went to Shihor (the Nile), and drawing up the coffin of Joseph, took it away with him. The heads of the tribes of Israel also assisted in bringing up each one the coffins of his forefathers. Many of the heathen joined them in their departure from Egypt and in their journey of three days in the wilderness. (11) On the third day, how- ever, they said to one another, ' Did not Moses and Aaron tell Pharaoh that they wished to go a journey of three days in the wilderness in order to sacrifice to the Lord their God? now let us rise early to-morrow morning and see if they return to Egypt to our lord; we shall thereby know that they are to be believed, but if not, we shall go to war against them and bring them back by main force.' On the fourth day they accordingly rose early, and found Moses and Aaron eating and drinking, and celebrating a festival to their God. The rabble said to them, ' Why do you not return to your master?' Moses replied: ' Because the Lord has warned us, saying, " Ye shall no more return to Egypt, but ye shall go to a

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land flowing with milk and honey, as I have sworn to your fathers." '

(12) As soon as the rabble saw that they refused to return, they went to war against the Israelites; but the Israelites prevailed against them, causing great slaughter. The remainder fled to Egypt to inform Pharaoh that the people had fled. And the heart of Pharaoh and of his servants was forthwith turned against them, so that they pursued after them to bring them back to their burdens; for the Egyptians repented after they had sent them away. Pursuing them hastily, they at length overtook them while they were encamping by the Eed Sea. There the Lord wrought many miracles for the Hebrews through Moses, His chosen servant, who stretched his staff upon the sea, when the waters were immediately divided into twelve rents (for the twelve tribes), through which they all passed over dryshod, just as one passes along the highway. After them came all the Egyptians. But they were all drowned except Pharaoh, King of Egypt, who thereupon offered a thanksgiving offering to the living God, and believed that He was the living God. God then commanded Michael, Gabriel, and Uriel, the heavenly princes, to bring him up from the sea. So they brought him to the land of Nineveh, where he remained for 500 years.

(13) The Israelites then journeyed into the wilderness, and Amaleq, the son of Eliphaz, the son of Esau, went to war against them. With him there came an innumerable army of wizards and enchanters. But the Lord delivered them into the hand of Moses His servant and Joshua the son of Nun, the Ephrathite, who put them to the edge of the sword. Keuel the Midianite, Moses' father-in-law, then came out into the wilderness to Moses, where he was encamping by the mountain of God with Zipporah and his sons, and dwelt with them among the Israelites. Moses next fought against Sihon and Og, and captured their land. He then fought against Midian and slew Evi, Eeqem, Sur, Hur and Eeb'a, the five kings of Midian. (14) He put Bala'am the enchanter and his two sons to the edge of the sword.

When Bala am the enchanter sa^Y Eleazar, the son of Aaron the priest, and Pmehas his son, captains of the host of Israel, following him for the purpose of slaying him, by means of witchcraft he flew in the air, just as an eagle is seen to fly heavenward. But, uttering the ineflable, revered name of God, they brought him down to the earth, and, capturing him, slew him with the rest of the princes of Midian. The Canaanites who dwelt in the mountains also descended with the Amaleqites to fight against Israel, but the Lord delivered them into the hand of Moses and the Israelites, who smote them utterly. (15) Moses w^as eighty years old when he stood before Pharaoh, King of Egypt. Through him the Lord redeemed Israel from Egypt. He reigned over them in the wilderness forty years, during which time the Lord maintained them by His mercy with the bread of the mighty and the fowd of the heaven, and from the flinty rock He brought forth fountains of w^ater for them. The cloud of the Lord gently guided them by day like children, and a pillar of fire by night, and during the whole time of their travels in the wilderness neither their garments nor their shoes wore out, and no goodness lacked them there. (16) After travelling through the wdlderness of Sin, they arrived at Mount Sinai on the third day of the third month after their departure from Egypt. The word of the Lord then came to Moses the Levite, saying, ' Come up to the mountain, and I will give thee the tablets of stone, the Law and the Commandments which I have written to teach the Israelites.' Moses accordingly told the people to sanctify themselves for three days, and on the third day, that is, on the sixth day of the third month, he ascended the mount. The Lord then gave the Israelites through Moses the 613 precepts refined as silver and tried as gold, accompanied by the sound of the trumpet, by thunders and lightnings. They next erected a tabernacle, with its vessels, for ministering to God, and the ark for the two tablets and for the scroll of the Law. They also prepared burnt-offerings, sacrifices, incense, frankincense, oil for the consecration and for anointing therewith the tabernacle

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with its vessels and the priests of God, viz., Aaron and his sons, who ministered before God and offered sacrifices and incense for the congregation. They also made for them garments of honour, and appointed the sons of Levi to guard the tabernacle of the Lord, to minister to their fellow-priests, and to sing hymns during the sacrifice. They also offered frankincense within to avert the anger and punishment of the Lord.

(17) In the fortieth year of their wanderings, Miriam the prophetess died, on the tenth day of the first month, and was buried in the wilderness of Sin, which is Qadesh. In the same year, on the first day of the fifth month, Aaron the priest died, and was buried on Mount Hor, and Eleazar and Ithamar were appointed to minister in the place of their father. The priesthood has remained in that family as an inheritance throughout all generations. (18) In tha^t same year on the seventh day of the twelfth month — i.e., Adar— Moses, the servant of the Lord, died, 120 years old, and was buried in the valley at the nethermost part of the Mount of Ebarim, and Joshua the son of Nun, the Ephrathite, was appointed leader of the people. The rest of the words of Moses relating to his power, his military deeds, his entreaties and prayers on behalf of his people, are they not written in the ' Sefer Hayashar,' which is the Law of our God? Joshua the son of Nun rose up after him. He led the Israelites across the Jordan and divided the land by lots according to the word of God.

The Death of Aaron, of Blessed Memory.