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15 Get thee unto Pharaoh in the morning; lo, he goeth A.C. 1491. out unto the water; and thou shalt stand by the river's brink against he come; ne; and the rod which was turned to a serpent shalt thou take in thine hand.

16 And thou shalt say unto him, The LORD God of the Hebrews hath sent me unto thee, saying, Let my people go, that they may serve me in the wilderness: and, behold, hitherto thou wouldest not hear.

17 Thus saith the LORD, In this thou shalt know that I am the LORD: behold, I will smite with the rod that is in mine hand upon the waters which are in the river, and they shall be turned to blood.

18 And the fish that is in the river shall die, and the river shall stink; and the Egyptians shall lothe to drink of the water of the river.

19 And the LORD spake unto Moses, Say unto Aaron, Take thy rod, and stretch out thine hand upon the waters of Egypt, upon their streams, upon their rivers, and upon their ponds, and upon all their * pools of water, that they Heb gamay become blood; and that there may be blood throughout their waters. all the land of Egypt, both in vessels of wood, and in vessels

of stone.

*

20 And Moses and Aaron did so, as the LORD commanded; and he lifted up the rod, and smote the waters that h Ch. xvii. 5. 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 i Ps. Ixxviii. turned to blood.

21 And the fish that was in the river died; and the river stank, and the Egyptians could not drink of the water of the river; and there was blood throughout all the land of Egypt.

44.

22 And the magicians of Egypt did so with their enchantments: and Pharaoh's heart was hardened, neither did he hearken unto them; as the LORD had said.

23 And Pharaoh turned and went into his house, neither did he set his heart to this also.

emplified in the history of the plagues of Egypt. The miracles of Moses had now arrested their attention, and their hopes of an early deliverance from their bondage must have been proportionably excited. Yet many of the Israelites were still followers of the surrounding idolatry, and the mercy of Providence displayed itself in proving to them the utter worthlessness of all the idols, and false gods, on whom the proud, the learned, and the scientific Egyptians, so vainly depended.

The first plague demonstrated the superiority of Jehovah over their imaginary river-gods; the Nile was turned into blood, which was an object of peculiar abhorrence to the Egyptians.

k Wisd xvii 7.

A.C. 1491.

24 And all the Egyptians digged round about the river for water to drink; for they could not drink of the water of the river.

25 And seven days were fulfilled, after that the LORD had smitten the river.

THE SECOND PLAGUE-FROGS 1.

EXODUS VIII. VER. 1-16.

1 And the LORD spake unto Moses, Go unto Pharaoh, and say unto him, Thus saith the LORD, Let my people go, that they may serve me.

2 And if thou refuse to let them go, behold, I will smite all thy borders with frogs:

3 And the river shall bring forth frogs abundantly, 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

* Or, dough. thy * kneadingtroughs:

[blocks in formation]

4 And the frogs shall come up both on thee, and upon thy people, and upon all thy servants.

5 And the LORD spake unto Moses, Say unto Aaron, Stretch forth thine hand with thy rod over the streams, over the rivers, and over the ponds, and cause frogs to come up upon the land of Egypt.

6 And Aaron stretched out his hand over the waters of Egypt; and the frogs came up, and covered the land of Egypt.

7 And the magicians did so with their enchantments, and brought up frogs upon the land of Egypt.

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

9 And Moses said unto Pharaoh, + Glory over me: ‡ when shall I intreat for thee, and for thy servants, and for thy people, § to destroy the frogs from thee and thy houses, that they may remain in the river only?

10 And he said, || To morrow. And he said, Be it according to thy word: that thou mayest know that there is none A.C. 1491. like unto the LORD our God.

|| Or, against to morrow.

The second effort of power on the part of Moses filled the holy river with frogs, and its streams by this means became a second time polluted, to the utter confusion both of their gods and priests. The land also was equally defiled, and they had no way to cleanse themselves, for every stream and every lake was in a state of pollution. The frog was held sacred by the Egyptians, and was regarded as an emblem of preservation in floods, and inundations.

11 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.

12 And Moses and Aaron went out from Pharaoh: and Moses cried unto the LORD because of the frogs which he had brought against Pharaoh.

13 And the LORD did according to the word of Moses; and the frogs died out of the houses, out of the villages, and out of the fields.

14 And they gathered them together upon heaps: and the land stank.

15 But when Pharaoh saw that there was respite, he hardened his heart, and hearkened not unto them; as the LORD had said.

THE THIRD PLAGUE-LICE 8.

EXODUS VIII. VER. 16-20.

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

17 And they did so; for Aaron stretched out his hand with his rod, and smote the dust of the earth, and it became lice in man, and in beast; all the dust of the land became lice throughout all the land of Egypt.

18 And the magicians did so with their enchantments to bring forth lice, but they could not: so there were lice upon man, and upon beast.

19 Then the magicians said unto Pharaoh, This is the finger of God: and Pharaoh's heart was hardened, and he hearkened not unto them; as the LORD had said.

THE FOURTH PLAGUE-FLIES 9.

EXODUS VIII. VER. 20, TO THE END.

20 And the LORD said unto Moses, Rise up early in

• The plague of lice reproved the absurd superstition which demanded external purity alone.-The Egyptians considered it a great profanation of the temple if they entered it with any animalculæ of this sort upon them. The people in general wore a linen garment over another of linen; but they laid aside the former when they approached their deities, for fear it should harbour vermin; and although their rites were most filthy and contemptible, yet they were carried on with a most scrupulous shew of purity and cleanliness.

The fourth plague must have convinced the Egyptians, who were worshippers of zebub, the god-fly, that their own gods were converted into instruments of torment in the hand of a superior Power.

A.C. 1491. the morning, and stand before Pharaoh; lo, he cometh forth to the water; and say unto him, Thus saith the LORD, Let my people go, that they may serve me.

* Or, a mixsome beasts,

ture of noi

&c.

+ Heb. a redemption.

‡ Or, by to

morrow.

m Wisd. xvi. 9.

ed.

21 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.

22 And I will sever 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 LORD in the midst of the earth.

23 And I will put + a division between my people and thy people: to morrow shall this sign be.

24 And the LORD did so; and there came a grievous swarm of flies into the house of Pharaoh, and into his servants' houses, and into all the land of Egypt: the land was

Or, destroy- § corrupted by reason of the swarm of flies.

n Ch. iii. 18.

25 And Pharaoh called for Moses and for Aaron, and said, Go ye, sacrifice to your God in the land.

26 And Moses said, It is not meet so to do; for we shall sacrifice the abomination of the Egyptians to the LORD Our God: lo, shall we sacrifice the abomination of the Egyptians before their eyes, and will they not stone us?

27 We will go three days' journey into the wilderness, and sacrifice to the LORD Our God, as he shall command

us.

28 And Pharaoh said, I will let you go, that ye may sacrifice to the LORD your God in the wilderness; only ye shall not go very far away: intreat for me.

29 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: but let not Pharaoh deal deceitfully any more in not letting the people go to sacrifice to the LORD.

30 And Moses went out from Pharaoh, and intreated the LORD.

31 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.

32 And Pharaoh hardened his heart at this time also, neither would he let the people go.

THE FIFTH PLAGUE-MURRAIN OF CATTLE 10.

EXODUS IX. VER. 1-8.

1 Then the LORD said unto Moses, Go in unto Pharaoh, A. C. 1491. and tell him, Thus saith the LORD God of the Hebrews, Let my people go, that they may serve me.

2 For if thou refuse to let them go, and wilt hold them still,

3 Behold, the hand of the LORD is upon thy cattle which is in the field, upon the horses, upon the asses, upon the camels, upon the oxen, and upon the sheep: there shall be a very grievous murrain.

4 And the LORD shall sever between the cattle of Israel and the cattle of Egypt: and there shall nothing die of all that is the children's of Israel.

5 And the LORD appointed a set time, saying, To morrow the LORD shall do this thing in the land.

6 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.

7 And Pharaoh sent, and, behold, there was not one of the cattle of the Israelites dead. And the heart of Pharaoh was hardened, and he did not let the people go.

THE SIXTH PLAGUE-THE BOIL 11.

EXODUS IX. VER.8-13.

8 And the LORD said unto Moses and unto Aaron, Take to you handfuls of ashes of the furnace, and let Moses sprinkle it toward the heaven in the sight of Pharaoh.

9 And it shall become small dust in all the land of Egypt, and shall be a boil breaking forth with blains upon man, and upon beast, throughout all the land of Egypt.

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

10 The fifth plague destroyed the living objects of their stupid worship. The sacred bull, the ram, the heifer, and the he-goat, fell dead before their worshippers, as if in ridicule of their vain incense. This judgment must have likewise had a great effect on the Israelites, and must have tended to wean their affections from those gods of the country to which they had before attached themselves.

11 The sixth plague was the boil produced by the ashes of the furnaces, in which they had offered human sacrifices, probably some of the Israelites themselves: they were accustomed to scatter the ashes, to obtain a blessing from their gods: this very rite became the means of their present torment.

VOL. I.

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