Etheridge's Translation

THE PALESTINIAN TARGUM

ON

THE BOOK SHEMOTH,

OF

EXODUS.

 

 

Section of the Law XIII. Title Shemoth

I.       AND these are the names of the sons of Israel who went into Mizraim with Jakob, each with the men of his house entered in: Reuben, Shimeon, Levi, and Jehudah; Issakar, Zebulon, and Benjamin; Dan and Naphtali; Gad and Asher. And the number of all the souls coming from the thigh of Jakob, seventy souls, with Joseph and his sons, who were in Mizraim.
          And Joseph died, and after him died all his brethren, and all that generation. And the souls of Israel increased, and multiplied children, and became strong, and prevailed greatly, and the land was filled with them. And there arose a new king (other) than he who was formerly over Mizraim, who took no knowledge of Joseph, and walked not in his laws. [JERUSALEM TARGUM. And a king arose (different from him who was) formerly over Mizraim, who took no knowledge of Joseph, and walked not in his laws.] And he said to his people, Behold now, the people of the house of Israel are many, and are stronger than we. Come, let us take counsel against them in these matters, to diminish them that they multiply not, so as that, should war be arrayed against us, they be not added to our adversaries, and destroy us that not one of us be left, and they afterward go forth from the land. [JERUSALEM. And they kill us, and go up in peace from the land.] And they set over them work-masters to afflict them in their servitude; and they builded walled cities to become Pharoh's treasure-places, Tanis and Pilusin. [JERUSALEM. Tanis and Pilusin.] But as much as they depressed them, so much they multiplied, and so much they prevailed, and the Mizraee were troubled in their lives before the sons of Israel. And the Mizraee enslaved the sons of Israel, and made their lives bitter by hard service in clay and bricks, and all the labour of the face of the field; and in all the work which they made them do was hardness.
          And Pharoh told that he, being asleep, had seen in his dream, and, behold, all the land of Mizraim was placed in one scale of a balance, and a lamb, the young of a sheep, was ill the other scale; and the scale with the lamb in it overweighed. Forthwith he sent and called all the magicians of Mizraim, and imparted to them his dream. Immediately Jannis and Jambres, the chief of the magicians, opened their mouth and answered Pharoh,?A certain child is about to be born in the congregation of Israel, by whose hand will be destruc-tion to all the land of Mizraim. Therefore did Pharoh, king of Mizraim, give counsel to the Jehudith midwives, the name of one of whom was Shifra, who is Jokeved, and the name of the other Puvah, who is Miriam her daughter. [JERUSALEM. And the king of Mizraim told the Hebrew midwives, the name of the first of whom was Shifra, and she was Jokeved, and the name of the second Puvah, she was Miriam.] And he said, When you attend Jehudith women, and see them bear, if it be a male child, you shall kill him; but if a daughter, you may let her live. But the midwives feared before the Lord, and would not do according to what the king of Mizraim had said to them, but they saved the children. And the king of Mizraim called the midwives, and said to them, Why have you done this thing, and have saved the children ? And the mid-wives said to Pharoh, The Jehudith women are not as the Mizraite, for they are sturdy (or, courageous) and wise-minded: before the midwife cometh to them they lift up their eyes in prayer, supplicating mercy before their Father who is in heaven, who heareth the voice of their prayer, and at once they are heard, and bring forth, and are delivered in peace. [JERUSALEM. Because they are vivacious, and before the midwife cometh to them they pray before their Father who is in heaven, and He answereth them, and they bring forth.] And the Lord did good to the midwives, and the people multiplied and prevailed greatly. And forasmuch as the midwives feared before the Lord, they obtained for themselves a good name unto the ages; and the Word of the Lord up-builded for them a royal house, even the house of the high priesthood. [JERUSALEM.. Because the midwives feared before the Lord, they obtained for themselves a good name in the midst of the ages, and made unto themselves houses,?the house of the Levites and the house of the high priesthood.] But when Pharoh saw this, he commanded all his people, saying, Every male child that is born to the Jehudaee you shall cast into the river; but every daughter you may spare.
II.     And Amram, a man of the tribe of Levi, went and returned to live in marriage with Jokeved his wife, whom he had put away on account of the decree of Pharoh. [JERUSALEM. And there went a man of the tribe of Levi and took Jokeved, who was beloved of him, (or, who was related to him,) to wife.] And she was the daughter of a hundred and thirty years when he returned to her; but a miracle was wrought in her, and she returned unto youth as she was, when in her minority she was called the daughter of Levi. And the woman conceived and bare a son at the end of six months; and she saw him to be a child of steadfastness, (or, of steadfast life,) and hid him three months, which made the number nine. But she could conceal him no longer, for the Mizraee had become aware of him. And she took an ark of papyrus, (tunes,) and coated it with bitumen and pitch, and placed the child within it, and laid him among the reeds on the bank of the river. And Miriam his sister stood at a distance to take knowledge of what would be done to him. And the Word of the Lord sent forth a burning sore and inflammation of the flesh upon the land of Mizraim; and the daughter of Pharoh came down to refresh herself at the river. And her handmaids, walking upon the bank of the river, saw the ark among the reeds, and put forth the arm and took it, and were immediately healed of the burning and inflammation. And she opened, and saw the child, and, behold, the babe wept; and she had compassion upon him, and said, This is one of the children of the Jehudaee. And his sister said to Pharoh's daughter, May I go and call for thee a nursing woman from the Jehudesses, to suckle the babe for thee ? And Pharoh's daughter said, Go; and the damsel went and called the child's mother. And the daughter of Pharoh said, Take this child and suckle it for me, and I will give thee thy wages And the woman took the child and suckled him. And the child grew, and was brought to Pharoh's daughter, and he was beloved by her as a son; and she called his name Mosheh, Because, said she, I drew him out of the water of the river. [JERUSALEM. I uplifted him.]
         And in those days when Mosheh was grown up, he went forth to his brethren, and saw the anguish of their souls, and the greatness of their toil. And he saw a Mizraite man strike a Jewish man of his brethren; and Mosheh turned, and considered in the wisdom of his mind, and understood that in no generation would there arise a proselyte from that Mizraite man, and that none of his children's children would ever be con-verted; and he smote the Mizraite, and buried him in the sand. [JERUSALEM. And Mosheh, by the Holy Spirit, considering both the young, men, saw that, behold, no proselyte would ever spring from that Mizraite; and he killed him, and hid him in the sand.]
         And he went out the second day, and looked; and, behold, Dathan and Abiram, men of the Jehudaee contended; and seeing Dathan put forth his hand against Abiram to smite him, he said to him, Wherefore dost thou smite thy companion ? And Dathan said to him, Who is he who hath appointed thee a chief man and a judge over us ? Wilt thou kill me, said he, as thou didst the Mizraite ? And Mosheh was afraid, and said, Verily, the thing has become known. And Pharoh heard this thing, and sought to kill Mosheh; and Mosheh escaped before Pharoh, to dwell in the land of Midian. And he sat by a well. And the priest of Midian had seven daughters; and they came and drew, and filled the watering-troughs, to give drink to the flocks of their father. But the shepherds came and drave them away. And Mosheh arose in the power of his might, and rescued them, and gave the flocks drink. And they came to Reuel, their grandfather, who said to them, How is it that you are come (so) early to-day? And they replied, A Mizraite man not only delivered us from the hand of the shepherds, but also himself drawing drew and watered the flock. And he said to his son's daughters, And where is he ? Why did you leave the man ? Call him, and let him eat bread. But when Reuel knew that Mosheh had fled from before Pharoh he cast him into a pit; but Zipporah, the daughter of his son, maintained him with food, secretly, for the time of ten years; and at the end of ten years brought him out of the pit. And Mosheh went into the bedchamber of Reuel, and gave thanks and prayed before the Lord, who by him would work miracles and mighty acts. And there was shown to him the Rod which was created between the evenings, and on which was engraven and set forth the Great and Glorious Name, with which he was to do the wonders in Mizraim, and to divide the sea of Suph, and to bring, forth water from the rock. And it was infixed in the midst of the chamber, and he stretched forth his hand at once and took it. Then, behold, Mosheh was willing to dwell with the man, and he gave Zipporah, the daughter of his son, to Mosheh. And she bare him a male child, and he called his name Gershom, Because, said he, a sojourner have I been in a strange land which is not mine.
         And it was after many of those days that the king of Mizraim was struck (with disease), and he commanded to kill the firstborn of the sons of Israel, that he might bathe himself in their blood. And the sons of Israel groaned with the labour that was hard upon them; and they cried, and their cry ascended to the high heavens of the Lord. And He spake in His Word to deliver them from the travail. And their cry was heard before the Lord, and before the Lord was the covenant remembered which He had covenanted with Abraham, with Izhak, and with Jakob. And the Lord looked upon the affliction of the bondage of the sons of Israel; and the repentance was revealed before Him which they exercised in concealment, so as that no man knew that of his companion.
III.     But Mosheh was keeping the flock of Jethro his father-in-law, the rabba of Midian; and he had led the flock to a pleasant place of pasturage which is behind the desert, and had come to the mountain on which was revealed the glory of the Lord, even Horeb. And Zagnugael, the angel of the Lord, appeared to him in a fame of fire in the midst of the bush. And he gazed, and, behold, the bush burned with fire, yet the bush was neither burned nor consumed with fire. [JERUSALEM. And he looked, and, behold, the bush burned with fire, yet remained in freshness, (or, was moist), neither was it consumed.] And Mosheh said, I will turn aside now and consider this great sight, why the bush is not burned. [JERU-SALEM. I will look at this great sight, wherefore the bush is refreshed and not burned.] And when it was seen before the Lord that he turned to look, the Lord called to him from the midst of the bush and said, Mosheh, Mosheh !  And he said, Behold me. And He said, Approach not hither, take the shoe from thy feet, for the place on which thou standest is a holy place; and upon it thou art to receive the Law, to teach it to the sons of Israel. And He said, I am the God of thy father, the God of Abraham, the God of Izhak, and the God of Jakob. And Mosheh covered his face; for he was afraid to look upon the height of the glory of the Shekinah of the Lord.
          And He said, The oppression of My people who are in Mizraim is verily manifest before Me, and heard before Me is their cry on account of them who hold them in bondage; for their affliction is known before Me. And I have revealed Myself to thee this day, that by My Word they may be delivered from the hand of the Mizraee, to bring them up out of the unclean land, unto a good land, and large in its boundaries, a land yielding milk and honey, unto the place where dwell the Kenaanaee, and the Hittaee, and the Amoraee, and the Pherizaee, and the Hivaee, and the Jebusaee. And now, behold, the cry of the sons of Israel cometh up before Me, and the bruising of the Mizraee wherewith they bruise them is also revealed before Me. And now, come, and I will send thee unto Pharoh, and thou shalt bring forth My people, the sons of Israel, out of Mizraim.
          And Mosheh said before the Lord, Who am I, that I should go to Pharoh, and bring forth the sons of Israel out of Mizraim? But He said, Therefore My Word shall be for thy help; and this shall be the sign to thee that I have sent thee: when thou hast, brought the people forth from Mizraim, ye shall worship before the Lord, because ye shall have received the Law upon this mountain.
          And Mosheh said before the Lord, Behold, I will go to the sons of Israel, and say to them, The Lord God of your fathers hath sent me to you: and they will say to me, What is His Name ? What shall I say to them ? And the Lord said unto Mosheh, He who spake, and the world was; who spake, and all things were. And He said, This thou shalt say to the sons of Israel, I AM HE WHO IS, AND WHO WILL BE, hath sent me unto you. [JERUSALEM. And the Word of the Lord said to Mosheh, He who spake to the world, Be, and it was; and who will speak to it, Be, and it will be. And he said, Thus shalt thou speak to the sons of Israel, EHEYEH hath sent me unto you.] And the Lord said again unto Mosheh, Thus shalt thou speak to the sons of Israel, The God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Izhak, and the God of Jakob, hath sent me unto you.  This is His Name for ever, and this is His Memorial to every generation and generation.
          Go, and assemble the elders of Israel, and say to them, The Lord God of your fathers hath appeared unto me, the God of Abraham, Izhak, and Jakob, saying, Remembering, I have remembered you, and the injury that is done you in Mizraim; and I have said in My Word, I will bring you up out from the oppression of the Mizraee into the land of the Kenaanaee, and Hittaee, and Amoraee, and Pherizaee, and Hivaee, and Jebusaee, to the land that yieldeth milk and honey. And they will hearken to thee: and thou and the elders of Israel shall go to the king of Mizraim and say to him, The Lord God of the Jehudaee hath called us; and now let us go a journey of three days into the wilderness, to sacrifice before the Lord our God. But it is manifest before Me that the king of Mizraim will not let you go, (no,) not from fear of Him who is Mighty, until that by My Word he shall have been punished with evil plagues. And ye will be hindered there until I have sent forth the stroke of My power, and have smitten Mizraee with all My wonders, that I will do among them; and afterward he will release you. And I will give this people grace in the eyes of the Mizraee; and it shall be that when ye go free from thence, ye shall not go empty. But a woman shall ask of her neighbour, and from those next to the wall of her house, [JERUSALEM. Fellow resident,] vessels of silver, and vessels of gold, and vestments; and you shall set them as crowns upon your sons and your daughters, and make the Mizraee empty.
IV.     And Mosheh answered and said, But, behold, they will not believe me, nor hearken to me; for they will say, The Lord hath not appeared to thee. And the Lord said to him, What is that in thy hand ? And he said, The rod. And He said, Cast it on the ground; and he cast it to the ground, and it became a serpent; and Mosheh fled from before it. [JERUSALEM. And He said, Cast it on the ground; and he cast it on the ground.] And the Lord said to Mosheh, Stretch forth thy hand and seize (it) by its tail. [JERUSALEM. And grasp the place of its tail.] And he stretched forth his hand and grasped it, and it became the rod in his hand: ?In order that they may believe that the Lord God of their fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Izhak, and the God of Jakob, hath revealed Himself to thee. And the Lord said to him again, Put now thy hand within thy breast (Choba); and he put it within his breast, and withdrew it, and, behold, his hand was leprous, it was white as snow. And He said, Return thy hand into thy bosom (Aitaph); and he returned his hand to his breast, and withdrew it from his breast, and it had become clean as his flesh. [JERUSALEM. Put now thy hand into thy breast, and he put his hand within his breast. And if they believe not these two signs, nor receive from thee, thou shalt take of the water of the river and pour it on the ground, and the water that thou shalt take from the river shall become blood upon the ground.
          And Mosheh said before the Lord, O Lord, I pray: I am not a man of words, nor ever have been before that Thou didst speak with Thy servant; for I am of a staggering  mouth and staggering speech. [JERUSALEM. For of a staggering mouth and difficult speech am I.] And the Lord said, Who is he who first put the language of the mouth into the mouth of man? or who hath appointed the dumb or the deaf, the open-seeing or the blind, but I the Lord ? And now go, and I by My Word will be with the speaking of thy mouth, and will teach thee what thou shalt say.
          And he said, I pray for mercy before the Lord. Send now Thy sending by the hand of Phinehas, by whom it is to be sent at the end of the days. [JERUSALEM. Send now by the hand of him by whom it is opportune to send.] And the anger of the Lord was kindled against Mosheh, and He said, Is it not manifest before Me that Aharon thy brother speaking can speak ? And, behold, also, he cometh forth to meet thee, and will see thee and rejoice in his heart. And thou shalt speak with him, and put the matter in his mouth, and My Word shall be with the word of thy mouth, and with the word of his mouth, and I will instruct you what you are to do. And he shall speak for thee with the people, and be to thee an interpreter, and thou to him the principal, seeking instruction from before the Lord. [JERUSALEM. He shall be to thee an interpreter, and thou to him one inquiring instruction from before the Lord.] And this rod take thou in thy hand to work therewith the signs.
          And Mosheh went, and returned unto Jethro his father in law, and said, I will now go to my brethren who are in Mizraim, to see how they now live. And Jethro said to Mosheh, Go in peace. And the Lord said unto Mosheh in Midian, Go, return to Mizraim; for they have come to nought, and gone down from their possessions; behold, all the men who sought to take thy life are reckoned as the dead.
          And Mosheh took his wife and his sons, and made them ride on the ass, and returned to the land of Mizraim. And Mosheh took the rod which he had brought away from the chamber of his father-in-law; and it was from the sapphire Throne of glory, in weight forty sein; and upon it was engraven and set forth the Great and Glorious Name by which the signs should be wrought before the Lord by his hand. And the Lord said to Mosheh, In going to return into Mizraim, consider all the miracles that I have put in thy hand, and do them before Pharoh: and I will make obstinate the disposition (passion) of his heart, and he will not deliver the people. And thou shalt say to Pharoh, Thus saith the Lord, Israel is My first-born son; and to thee I say, Let My son go free, that he may worship before Me; and if thou refuse to let him go, behold, I will slay thy first-born son.
          But it was on the way, in the place of lodging that the angel of the Lord met him, and sought to kill him, because Gershom his son had not been circumcised, inasmuch as Jethro his father-in-law had not permitted him to circumcise him: but Eliezer had been circum-cised, by an agreement between them two. And Zipporah took a stone, and circumcised the foreskin of Gershom her son, and brought the severed part to the feet of the angel, the Destroyer, and said, The husband sought to circumcise, but the father-in-law obstructed him; and now let this blood of the circumcision atone for my husband. [JERUSALEM. And she circumcised the foreskin of her son, and brought before the feet of the Destroyer, and said, The husband could have cir-cumcised, but the father-in-law did not permit him; but now, let the blood of this circumcision atone for the fault of this husband.] And the destroying angel desisted from him, so that Zipporah gave thanks, and said, How lovely is the blood of this circumcision that bath delivered my husband from the angel of destruction! [JERUSALEM. And when the Destroyer had ceased from him, Zipporah gave thanks and said, How lovely is the blood of this circumcision which hath saved my husband from the hand of the angel of death !]
          And the Lord had said to Aharon, Go and meet Mosheh in the desert. And he came and met him at the mountain where was revealed the glory of the Lord, and he embraced him. And Mosheh delivered to Aharon all these words with which he had sent him, and all the signs that he had instructed him to work. And Mosheh and Aharon went, and gathered together all the elders of the sons of Israel. And Aharon spake all the words which the Lord had spoken with Mosheh, and did the signs in the eyes of the peo-ple. And the people believed, and heard that the Lord had remembered the sons of Israel, and that their bondage was manifest before Him; and they bowed them-selves and worshipped. [JERUSALEM. And they kneeled down.]
V.      And after this Mosheh and Aharon went in unto Pharoh, and said, Thus saith the Lord, the God of Israel: Release My people, that they may make unto Me a festival in the wilderness. And Pharoh said, The name of the Lord is not made known to me, that I should receive His word to release Israel. I have not found written in the Book of the Angels the name of the Lord. Of Him I am not afraid, neither will I release Israel. And they said, The Name of the God of the Jehudaee is invoked by (or upon) us. We will go, then, to proceed three days into the desert, and offer the sacrifices of a festival before the Lord God, that death and slaughter befall us not. And the king of Mizraim said to Mosheh and Aharon, Why do you make the people cease from their labours? Go to your work. And Pharoh said, Behold, this people of the land are many, whom you would stop from their service. And Pharoh that day commanded the officers of the people and their exactors, saying, You shall no more give straw to the people to cast bricks as heretofore; let them go and collect straw for themselves; but the (same) number of bricks which they have heretofore made ye shall lay upon them, and not diminish from it, because they are idle; therefore they clamour, saying, Let us go to offer the sacrifice of a festival before our God. Make their work strenuous upon the men, that they may be occupied with it, and not be setting their hopes upon lying words. And the officers and exactors of the people went forth, and said to the people, Thus saith Pharoh, I will not give you straw; you must go and take straw wherever you can find it; for your work will not in anywise be diminished. And the people were scattered abroad in all the land of Mizraim to gather stubble for the straw. But the officers were pressing, saying, Fulfil your work day by day, as you did when the straw was given you. And the exactors whom Pharoh set over them as officers beat the sons of Israel, saying, Why have not you fulfilled your appointment, to cast (the same number of) bricks as heretofore, to-day as yesterday? And the foremen came, and cried before Pharoh, saying, Why hast thou dealt thus with thy ser-vents ? Thou hast not given thy servants the straw, and (yet) say they to us, Make the bricks; and, behold, they beat thy servants, and the guilty treatment of thy people is strong:?but it goeth up! But he said, You are idle, idle: therefore you are saying, Let us go and over the sacrifice of a festival before our God. And now, go, work; but the straw shall not be given you, yet the number of the bricks you shall produce. And the fore-men of the sons of Israel saw that they were in evil, (in his) saying, Ye are not to withhold the assignment of your bricks from day to day. And they met Mosheh and Aharon, who stood before them when they came out from the presence of Pharoh, and they said to them, Our affliction is manifest before the Lord, but our punishment is from you who have made our smell offensive before Pharoh and his servants; for you have occasioned a sword to be put into their hand to kill us. And Mosheh returned before the Lord, and said, O Lord, why hast Thou done evil to this people, and wherefore hast Thou sent me? From the hour that I went in unto Pharoh to speak in Thy name, this people hath suffered evil, and delivering Thou hast not delivered them.
VI.      And the Lord said unto Mosheh, Now have I seen what Pharoh hath done: for by a strong hand shall he release them, and with a strong hand drive them forth from his land.

Section XIV. Vaera.

          AND the Lord spake with Mosheh, and said to him, I am the Lord who revealed Myself to thee in the midst of the bush, and said to thee, I am the Lord. And I was revealed unto Abraham, and to Izhak, and to Jakob, as El-Shaddai; but My Name Ye-ya, as it discovereth My Glory, was not known to them. [JERUSALEM. And the Lord was revealed in His Word unto Abraham, to Izhak, and to Jakob, as the God of Heaven; but the Name of the Word of the Lord was not known to them.] And I confirmed also My covenant with them, to give them the land of Kenaan, the land of their sojourning in which they were sojourners. And now cometh before Me the groaning of the sons of Israel, because the Mizraee do enslave them; and I remember My covenant. Therefore say to the sons of Israel, I am the Lord; and I will bring you forth from the oppressive bondage of the Mizraee, and will deliver you from your servitude, and save you with an uplifted arm, and by great judgments. And I will bring you nigh before Me to be a people, and I will be a God unto you, and you shall know that I am the Lord your God who hath led you forth from the hard service of the Mizraee. And I will bring you into the land which I covenanted by My Word to give unto Abraham, to Izhak, and to Jakob; and I will give it to you for an inheritance. I Am the Lord. And Mosheh spake according to this to the sons of Israel; but they received not from Mosheh, through anxiety of spirit, and from the strange and hard service which was upon their hands. [JERUSALEM. From anxiety.]
          And the Lord spake to Mosheh, saying, Go in, speak with Pharoh, the king of Mizraim, that he release the children of Israel from his land. And Mosheh said before the Lord, Behold, the sons of Israel do not hearken to me; how then will Pharoh hearken to me, and I a man difficult of speech? And the Lord spake with Mosheh and with Aharon, and gave them admoni-tion for the sons of Israel, and sent them to Pharoh, king of Mizraim, to send forth the children of Israel from the land of Mizraim.
          These are the heads of the house of their fathers. -The sons of Reuben, the firstborn of Israel, Hanok and Phallu, Hezron and Karmi; these are the race of Reuben. And the sons of Shimeon, Jemuel, and Jamin, and Ohad, and Jakin, and Sochar, and Shaul (he is Zimri, who yielded himself unto fornication, as among the Kenaanaee); these are the race of Shimeon. And these are the names of the sons of Levi, according to their race: Gershon, and Kehath, and Merari. And the years of the life of Levi a hundred and thirty and seven years: he lived to see Mosheh and Aharon the deliverers of Israel. And the sons of Gershon,
Libni and Shemei, according to their generations. And the sons of Kehath, Amram, and Jitshar, and Hebron, and Uzziel. And the years of the life of Kehath the saint, a hundred and thirty and three years. He lived to see Phinehas, who is Elijah, the Great Priest, who is to be sent to the captivity of Israel at the end of the days. And the sons of Merari, Mahali and Mushi; these are the race of Levi, according to the generations. And Amram took Jokeved his cousin to wife, and she bare him Aharon and Mosheh; and the years of Amram the saint were a hundred and thirty and seven years. He lived to see the children of Rechabia bar Gershom bar Mosheh. And the sons of Jitshar (were) Korah, and Nepheg, and Zichri. And the sons of Uzziel, Mishael, and Elsaphan, and Sithri. And Aharon took Elisheba, daughter of Aminadab, sister of Nachshon, unto him to wife, and she bare him Nadab and Abibu, Elasar and Ithamar. And the sons of Korah, Assir, and Elkanah, and Abiasaph: these are the race of Korah. And Elasar bar Aharon took unto him a wife from the daughters of Jethro who is Putiel, and she bare him Phinehas. These are the heads of the fathers of the Levites, according to their generations. These are Aharon and Mosheh, to whom the Lord said, Bring forth the sons of Israel free from the land ; of Mizraim, according to their hosts;?these are they who spake with Pharoh, king of Mizraim, that he should send out the sons of Israel from Mizraim;?it is Mosheh the prophet, and Aharon the priest.
           And it was in the day when the Lord spake with Mosheh in the land of Mizraim, that Aharon gave a listening ear, and heard what He spake with him. And the Lord spake with Mosheh, and said to him, I am the Lord. Say to Pharoh, king of Mizraim, all that I tell thee. And Mosheh said before the Lord, Behold, I am difficult in speaking; how then will Pharoh hearken to me?
VII.      But the Lord said to Mosheh, Wherefore art thou fearful? Behold, I have set thee a terror to Pharoh, as if thou wast his God, and Aharon thy brother shall be thy prophet. Thou shalt speak to Aharon that which I command thee, and Aharon thy brother shall speak to Pharoh, that he release the sons of Israel from his land. But I will harden the disposition of Pharoh's heart, to multiply My signs and My wonders in the land of Mizraim. Nor will Pharoh hearken to you. But I will shoot among them the arrows of death, and inflict the plagues

Pgs. 457-469

Ch. 6-9

SECTION VAERA.

AND the Lord spake with Mosheh, and said to him, I am the Lord who revealed Myself to thee in the midst of the bush, and said to thee, I am the Lord. And I was revealed unto Abraham, and to Izhak, and to Jakob, as EI‑Shaddai; but My Name Ye‑ya, as it discovereth My Glory,[1] was not known to them. [JERUSALEM. And the Lord was revealed in His Word unto Abraham, to Izhak, and to Jakob, as the God of Heaven; but the Name of the Word of the Lord was not known. to them.] And I confirmed also My covenant with them, to give them the land of Kenaan, the land of their sojourning in which they were sojourners. And now cometh before Me the groaning of the sons of Israel, because the Mizraee do enslave them; and I remember My covenant. Therefore say to the sons of Israel, I am the Lord; and I will bring you forth from the oppressive bondage of the Mizraee, and will deliver you from your servitude, and save you with an uplifted arm, and by great judgments. And I will bring you nigh before Me to be a people, and I will be a God unto you, and you shall know that I am the Lord your God who hath led you forth from the hard service of the Mizraee. And I will bring you into the land which I covenanted by My Word to give unto Abraham, to Izhak, and to Jakob; and I will give it to you for an inheritance. I Am the Lord. And Mosheh spake according to this to the sons of Israel; but they received not from Mosheh, through anxiety of spirit, and from the strange and hard service which was upon their hands. [JERUSALEM. From anxiety.]

And the Lord spake to Mosheh saying, Go in, speak with Pharoh, the king of Mizraim, that he release the children of Israel from his land. And Mosheh said before the Lord, Behold, the sons of Israel do not hearken to me; how then will Pharoh hearken to me, and I a man difficult of speech? And the Lord spake with Mosheh and with Aharon, and gave them admonition for the sons of Israel, and sent them to Pharoh, king of Mizraim, to send forth the children of Israel from the land of Mizraim.

These are the heads of the house of their fathers. The sons of Reuben, the firstborn of Israel, Hanok and Phallu, Hezron and Karmi; these are the race of Reuben. And the sons of Shimeon, Jemuel, and Jamin, and Ohad, and Jakin, and Sochar, and Shaul (he is Zimri, who yielded himself unto fornication, as among the Kenaanaee); these are the race of Shimeon. And these are the names of the sons of Levi, according to their race: Gershon, and Kehath, and Merari. And the years of the life of Levi a hundred and thirty and seven years: he lived to see Mosheh and Aharon the deliverers of Israel. And the sons of Gershon, Libni and Shemei, according to their generations. And the sons of Kehath, Amram, and Jitshar, and Hebron, and Uzziel. And the years of the life of Kehath the saint, a hundred and thirty and three years. He lived to see Phinehas, who is Elijah, the Great Priest, who is to be sent to the captivity of Israel at the end of the days. And the sons of Merari, Mahali and Mushi; these are the race of Levi according to the generations. And Amram took Jokeved his cousin to wife, and she bare him Aharon and Mosheh; and the years of Amram the saint were a hundred and thirty and seven years. He lived to see the children of Rechabia bar Gershom bar Mosheh. And the sons of Jitshar (were) Korah, and Nepheg, and Zichri. And the sons of Uzziel, Mishael, and Elsaphan, and Sithri. And Aharon took Elisheba, daughter of Aminadab, sister of Nachshon, Unto him to wife, and she bare him Nadab and Abihu, Elasar and Ithamar. And the sons of Korah, Assir, and Elkanah, and Abiasaph: these are the race of Korah. And Elasar bar Aharon took unto him a wife from the daughters of Jethro who is Putiel, and she bare him Phinehas. These are the heads of the fathers of the Levites, according to their generations. These are Aharon and Mosheh, to whom the Lord said, Bring forth the sons of Israel free from the land of Mizraim, according to their hosts;‑these are they who spake with Pharoh, king of Mizraim, that he should send out the sons of Israel from Mizraim; it is Mosheh the prophet, and Aharon the priest.

And it was in the day when the Lord spake with Mosheh in the land of Mizraim, that Aharon gave a listening ear, and heard what He spake with him. And the Lord spake with Mosheh, and said to him, I am the Lord. Say to Pharoh, king of Mizraim all that I tell thee. And Mosheh said before the Lord, Behold, I am difficult in speaking; how then will Pharoh hearken to me?

VII. But the Lord said to Mosheh, Wherefore art thou fearful? Behold, I have set thee a terror to Pharoh, as if thou wast his God, and Aharon thy brother shall be thy prophet. Thou shalt speak to Aharon that which I command thee, and Aharon thy brother shall speak to Pharoh, that he release the sons of Israel from his land. But I will harden the disposition of Pharoh's heart to multiply My signs and My wonders in the land of Mizraim. Nor will Pharoh hearken to you. But I will shoot among them the arrows of death, and inflict the plagues of My mighty band upon Mizraim, and will bring out the sons of Israel free from among them. And Mosheh and Aharon did as the Lord commanded them, even so did they. And Mosheh was the son of eighty years, and Aharon the son of eighty and three years, at their speaking with Pharoh. And the Lord spake to Mosheh and to Aharon, saying, When Pharoh talketh with you, saying, Give us a miracle, thou shalt say to Aharon, Take thy rod, and cast it down before Pharoh, and it shall become a basilisk‑serpent;[2] for all the inhabiters of the earth shall hear the voice of the shriek of Mizraim when I shatter them, as all the creatures heard the shriek of the serpent when made naked at the beginning. [JERUSALEM. And throw down before Pharoh.]

And Mosheh and Aharon went in unto Pharoh, and did as the Lord had commanded. And Aharon threw down the rod before the sight of Pharoh, and before the sight of his servants, and it became a basilisk. But Pharoh called the hachems and magicians; and they also, Janis and Jamberes, magicians of Mizraim, did the same by their burnings of divination. They threw down each man his rod, and they became basilisks;[3] but were forthwith changed to be what they were at first; and the rod of Aharon swallowed up their rods. And the disposition[4] of Pharoh's heart was hardened, and he would not hearken to them, as the Lord had said.

And the Lord said to Mosheh, The disposition of Pharoh's heart is obdurated in refusing to release the people. Go unto Pharoh in the morning: behold, he cometh forth to observe divinations at the water as a magician; so shalt thou prepare thee to meet him on the bank of the river, and Aharon's rod that was changed to be a serpent thou shalt take in thy hand. [JERUSALEM. To refresh himself at the river.] And thou shalt say to him, The Lord God of the Jehudaee hath sent me unto thee, saying Release My people, that they may serve Me in the desert; and, behold, as yet thou bast not hearkened. Thus saith the Lord: By this sign thou shalt know that I am the Lord. Behold, with the rod that is in my hand, I will smite the waters of the river, and they shall be changed into blood. And the fish that are in the river shall die, and the river become foul, and the Mizraee shall desist from drinking water from the river.

And the Lord said to Mosheh, Tell Aharon, Take thy rod and stretch forth thy hand over the waters of the Mizraee over their rivers, Over their trenches, over their canals, and over every place for collecting their waters, and they will become blood; and there shall be blood in all the land of Mizraim, and in vessels of wood and in vessels of stone. [JERUSALEM. In vases.] And Mosheh and Aharon did so, as the Lord commanded; and he lifted up the rod, and smote the waters of the river in the sight of Pharoh, and in the sight of his servants; and all the waters of the river were turned into blood; and the fish that were in the river died; and the river became foul, and the Mizraee could not drink of the waters, of the river and the plague of blood was in all the land of Mizraim. But so (also) did the astrologers of Mizraim by their burnings, and turned the waters of Goshen into blood. And the design of Pharoh's heart was strengthened, and he would not hearken. to them, as the Lord had said. And Pharoh did what was needful to him, and went unto his house, nor did he set his heart upon this plague. And the Mizraee digged about the river for water to drink, but could not find them pure; for they were not able to drink of the water from the river.

And seven days were completed after the Lord bad smitten the river, and the Word of the Lord had afterward healed the river. And the Lord spoke to Mosheh, Go in unto Pharoh and say to him, Thus saith the Lord, Emancipate My people, that they may serve before Me. But if thou refuse to set them free, behold, I will plague all thy borders with frogs. And the river shall multiply frogs, and they shall ascend and come up into thy house, and into the bedchamber where thou sleepest, and upon thy couch; and into the house of thy servants, and among thy people, and into the ovens, and into thy baking‑troughs, and upon thy body, and upon the bodies' of thy people, and upon all thy servants, shall the frogs have power.

VIII. And the Lord said to Mosheh, Lift up thy hand with thy rod over the rivers, over the trenches, and over the canals, [JERUSALEM. Pools,] and I will bring up the frogs upon the land of Mizraim. And Aharon uplifted his hand over the waters of Mizraim, and the plague of frogs came up and covered the land of Mizraim. But Mosheh (himself) did not smite the waters, either with the blood or with the frogs because through them (the waters of the Nile) he had (found) safety the time that his mother laid him in the river. And the astrologers did likewise by their burnings, and brought up frogs upon the land of Mizraim. And Pharoh called to Mosheh and to Aharon, saying, Pray before the Lord, that He may remove the frogs from me and from my people; and I will release the people to offer the sacrifices of a feast before the Lord. And Mosheh said to Pharoh, Glorify thyself on account of me. At what time dost thou request that I should pray for thee, and for thy servants, and for thy people, that the frogs may be destroyed from thee and from thy house, and be left only in the river? And he said, To‑morrow. And he said, According to thy word: that thou mayest know that there is none like the Lord our God. [JERUSALEM. Give a sign, and keep at a distance, till I shall have prayed for thee.] And the frogs shall depart from thee, and from thy house, and from thy servants, and from thy people; and those only that are in the river shall remain. And Mosheh and Aharon went out from Pharoh, and Mosheh prayed before the Lord respecting the frogs, as he had proposed to Pharoh. And the Lord did according to the word of Mosheh; and the frogs died from the houses and from the courts and from the field, and they collected them in heaps and heaps, [JERUSALEM. Heaps, heaps,] and the land was corrupted. And Pharoh saw that he was refreshed from his molestation, but hardened his heart, and would not hearken to them, as the Lord had said.

And the Lord said to Mosheh, Speak unto Aharon, Lift up thy rod and smite the dust of the earth, and it shall become venomous insects[5] in all the land of Mizraim. But it shall not be by thee that the ground shall be smitten, because therein for thee was (the means of) safety when thou hadst slain the Mizraite and it received him. And they did so, and Aharon lifted up his hand with his rod, and smote the dust of the ground, and it became a plague of venomous insects upon the flesh of men and of cattle; all the dust of the earth was changed to become insects, in all the land of Mizraim. And the astrologers wrought with their burnings to bring forth the insects, but were not able; and the plague of insects prevailed upon men and upon cattle. And the astrologers said to Pharoh, This is not by the power or strength of Mosheh and Aharon; but this is a plague sent from before the Lord. Yet the design of Pharoh's heart was strengthened, and he would not hearken to them, as the Lord had said.

And the Lord spake to Mosheh, Arise in the morn­ing, and stand before Pharoh: behold, be goeth forth to observe divinations at the water, as a magician; and thou shalt say to him, Thus saith the Lord, Emancipate My people, that they may worship before Me; but if thou wilt not set My people free, behold, I will stir up among thee, and thy servants, and thy people, and thy house, a mixed multitude of wild beasts [JERUSALEM. A commixture,] and the houses of the Mizraee shall be filled with a swarm of wild beasts, and they shall be upon the land also. And I will do wonders that day in the land of Goshen where My people dwell, that there no swarms of wild beasts shall be;‑that thou mayest know that I the Lord am the Ruler in the midst of the land. And I will appoint redemption for My people, and upon thy people will I lay the plague: tomorrow this sign shall be. And the Lord did so; and sent the mixed multitude of wild beasts in strength to the house of Pharoh, and to the house of his servants and in all the land of Mizraim the inhabitants of the land were devastated from the swarm of wild beasts. And Pharoh called to Mosheh and to Aharon., saying, Go, worship with festival sacrifices before the Lord your God in this land. But Mosheh said, It will not be right to do so; because we shall take sheep, which are the abomination of the Mizraee, and offer them before the Lord our God. Behold if we offer the abomination of the Mizraee before them, they would stone us with stones as an act of justice. We will go three days journey into the wilderness to offer the festival sacrifices before our God, as He hath bidden us. And Pharoh said, I will release you to sacrifice before the Lord your God in the wilderness, only you shall not go to a greater distance. Pray, (too,) for me. And Mosheh said, I will go forth from thee, and pray before the Lord to remove the swarm of wild beasts from Pharoh, and from his servants, and from his people, to‑morrow; only let not Pharoh add to deceive, in not releasing the people to offer the festal sacrifices before the Lord. And Mosheh went out from Pharoh, and prayed before the Lord; and the Lord did according to the word of the prayer of Mosheh, and removed the swarm of wild beasts from Pharoh, and from his servants, and from his people; not one was left. Yet did Pharoh strengthen the design of his heart this time also, and released not the people.

IX. And the Lord said to Mosheh, Go in to Pharoh, and say to him, Thus saith the Lord, the God of the Jehudaee, Emancipate My people, that they may worship before Me. But if thou refuse to release, and hitherto thou hast constrained them, behold, the stroke of the Lord's hand shall be as it hath not been yet, upon thy cattle that are in the field, upon the horses, and upon the asses, upon the camels, oxen, and sheep, with a very mighty death. [JERUSALEM. Great conturbation.] And the Lord will work wonders between the flocks of Israel and the flocks of the Mizraee, that not any of those which belong to the sons of Israel shall die. And the Lord set a time, saying, To‑morrow will the Lord do this thing in the land. And the Lord did that thing the day after, and all the cattle of the Mizraee died; but of the cattle of the sons of Israel died not one. And Pharoh sent certain to look; and, behold, not one of the cattle of the sons of Israel had died, not even one. But the disposition of Pharoh, heart was aggravated, and he would not release the people.

And the Lord said to Mosheh and to Aharon, Take with you hands‑full of fine ashes from the furnace, and let Mosheh sprinkle them towards the height of the heavens in the sight of Pharoh. And the dust shall be upon all the land of Mizraim, upon man and upon beast, for a boil, producing tumours in all the land of Mizraim [JERUSALEM. Tumours.] And they took ashes of the furnace, and arose to meet Pharoh; and Mosheh sprinkled them towards the height of the heavens; and there came a boil multiplying tumours upon man and beast. And the astrologers could not stand before Mosheh, on account of the boil; for the plague of the boil was upon the astrologers, and upon all the Mizraee. And the Lord hardened the design of Pharoh's heart, and he would not hearken to them, as the Lord had said to Mosheh.

And the Lord said to Mosheh, Arise in the morning, and place thyself before Pharoh, and say to him, Thus saith the Lord, the God of the Jehudaee, Emancipate My people, that they may worship before Me. For at this time I will send upon thee a plague from the heavens, and all My plagues Wherewith I have plagued thee thou wilt cause to return upon thy heart, and upon thy servants, and upon thy people, (plagues) which have been sent from before Me, and not from the magic of the sons of men, that thou mayest know that there is none like Me in all the earth. Now could I send the plague of My strength by judgment (or, with justice) to strike thee and thy people with death, and destroy thee from the earth; but verily I have spared thee alive, not that I may benefit thee, but that My power may be made manifest to thee, and that My Holy Name may be made known in all the earth. Hitherto hast thou tyrannized over My people, instead of releasing them. [JERUSALEM. Relentlessly.] Behold, at this time tomorrow I will cause to come down from the treasures of the heavens a mighty hall, the like of which hath never been in Mizraim since the day when men were settled upon it until now. But now send, gather together thy flocks, and all that thou hast in the field (for) upon all men and cattle that are found in the field, and not gathered together within the house, will the hail come down, and they will die. Hiob, (Job,) who reverenced the word of the Lord, among the servants of Pharoh, gathered together his servants and his flocks within the house. But Bileam, who did not set his heart upon the word of the Lord, left his servants and his flocks in the field.

And the Lord said to Mosheh, Uplift thy hand towards the height of the heavens, and there shall be hail on all the land of Mizraim, upon men, and upon beasts, and upon every herb of the field in the land of Mizraim. And Mosheh lifted up his rod toward the height of the heavens, and the Lord gave forth thunders and hailstones with flaming, fire upon the ground; the Lord made the hail descend upon the land of Mizraim. And there was hail, and fire darting among the hail with exceeding force: unto it had never been the like in all the land of Mizraim ever since it was a nation and a kingdom. And the hail smote in all the land of Mizraim whatsoever was in the field, of men and of cattle, and all the herbage of the field the hail smote, and every tree of the field it shattered and uprooted. Only in the land of Goshen, where the children of Israel were, there was no hail. And Pharoh sent certain to call Mosheh and Aharon; and he said to them, This time I have sinned. I know that the Lord is a righteous God, and that I and my people have deserved every one of these plagues. Intercede before the Lord, that with Him it may be enough, and there may be no more maledictory thunders nor hail from the presence of the Lord; and I will release you, and no longer hinder. And Mosheh said to him, When I have gone out from thee into the city, I will outspread my hands in prayer before the Lord, and the thunders shall cease, and there shall be no more hail; that you may know that the earth is the Lord's. But I know that thou and thy servants release the people, they will have to be afraid before the Lord God. And the flax and the barley were beaten down, because the barley was in the ear, and the flax was making pods. [JERUSALEM. The flax was (making) pods, for it had cast its flowers.] But the wheat and the spelt were not smitten, because they are later. And Mosheh and Aharon went out from Pharoh to the suburb, and he stretched out his hands in prayer before the Lord, and the thunders of the curse were withheld, and the hail and rain that were descending came not on the earth. And Pharoh saw that the rain and hail and the thunders of the curse had ended, and he added to sin, and made strong the design of his heart, both he and his servants. And Pharoh's heart was made obstinate, and he would not release the children of Israel, as the Lord had said through Mosheh.

Section XV. Bo El Pharoh

         X. AND the Lord spake to Mosheh, Go in unto Pharoh; for I have made strong the design of his heart, and the design of the heart of his servants, to set these My signs among them; and that in the hearing of thy sons and of thy children's children may be told the wonders I have done in Mizraim, and the signs that I set among them, that ye may know that I am the Lord. And Mosheh and Aharon went in unto Pharoh, and said to him, Thus saith the Lord, the God of Israel, How long wilt thou refuse to humble thyself before Me? Let My people go, that they may worship before Me. But if thou refuse to let My people go, behold, to-morrow I bring the locust upon thy borders, and they shall cover the face of the ground, so that it will be impossible to see the ground, and shall destroy the remainder that was spared to you from the hail, and destroy every tree which groweth for you out of the field. And they shall fill thy house, and the houses of all thy servants, and the houses of the Mizraee, (the like of) which neither thy fathers nor thy forefathers have seen since the day that they were upon the earth unto this day. And he turned and went out from Pharoh.

          And the servants of Pharoh said, How long shall this man be a stumbling-block to us? Let the men be released, that they may worship before the Lord their God. Art thou not aware that by His hand it will be that the land of Mizraim shall be destroyed? And he commanded to bring back Mosheh and Aharon to Pharoh, and said to them, Go, worship before the Lord your God: but who are they that are to go? And Mosheh said, With our children and with our old men will we go; with our sons and with our daughters we will go; with our sheep and with our oxen we will go; for we have a solemn feast before the Lord. And he said to them, So may the Word of the Lord be a help to you: (but) how can I release (both) you and your children? The evil offence is in the look of your faces: (you think to go onward) in the way that you would walk, till the time that you shall have come to the house of the place of your habitation. (It shall be) not so as ye devise; but the men only shall go and worship before the Lord; for that it was which ye demanded. And he drave them out from before the face of Pharoh.
          And the Lord spake to Mosheh, Lift up thy hand over the land of Mizraim for the locust, that he may come up over the land of Mizraim, and destroy every herb of the earth, whatsoever the hail hath left. And Mosheh lifted up his rod over the land of Mizraim, and the Lord brought an east wind upon the country all that day and all the night; and in the morning the east wind bare the locust. And the locust came up over all the land of Mizraim, and settled in all the limits of Mizraim exceedingly strong. Before him there had been no locust so hard, nor will there be like him. And he covered the face of all the land, until the land was darkened, and every herb of the ground was consumed, and all the fruit of the tree that the hail had left; and nothing green of tree or herb of the field was left in all the land of Mizraim.
          And Pharoh made haste, and sent certain to call Mosheh and Aharon. And he said, I have sinned before the Lord your God and against you. But now, pardon my sin only this once, and pray before the Lord, that He would only remove from me this death. And he went out from Pharoh, and prayed before the Lord. And the Lord turned a wind from the west of exceeding strength, and it carried away the locust, and bare him to the sea of Suph: there was not one locust left in all the borders of Mizraim. And even such as had been salted in vessels for needed food, those, too, the western wind bare away, and they went. But the Lord strengthened the design of Pharoh's heart, and he would not release the children of Israel.
          And the Lord said to Mosheh, Lift up thy hand towards the height of the heavens, and there shall be darkness over all the land of Mizraim, in the morning, at the passing away of the first darkness of the night. [JERUSALEM. And they shall serve in darkness.] And Mosheh stretched out his hand towards the height of the heavens, and there was dark darkness in all the land of Mizraim three days. No man saw his brother, and none arose from his place three days. But among all the sons of Israel there was light, that the wicked among them who died might be buried, and that the righteous might be occupied with the precepts of the law in their dwellings. And at the end of three days Pharoh called Mosheh, and said, Go, worship before the lord; only your sheep and your oxen shall abide with me: your children also may go with you. But Mosheh said, Thou must also give into our hands holy oblations and burnt offerings, that we may perform service before the Lord our God. Our flocks, more-over, must go with us; not one hoof of them shall remain; for from them we are to take, to do service before the Lord our God. We cannot leave them; for we know not (as yet) in what manner we are to worship before the Lord, until we come thither. But the Lord made strong the design of Pharoh's heart, and he would not release them. And Pharoh said to him, Go from me. Beware that thou add not to see my face to speak before me one of these words that are so hard: for in the day that thou seest my face, my anger will grow strong against thee, and I will deliver thee into the hands of the men who seek thy life to take it. And Mosheh said, Thou hast spoken fairly. While I was dwelling in Midian, it was told me in a word from before the Lord, that the men who had sought to kill me had fallen from their means, and were reckoned with the dead. At the end there will be no mercy upon thee; but I will pray, and the plague shall be restrained from thee. And now I will see thy face no more. [JERUSALEM. And Pharoh said to him, Go from me. Beware that thou increase not my anger against thee by saying, Are not these hard words that thou speakest to me? Verily Pharoh would rather die than hear thy words. Beware, lest my anger grow strong against thee, and I deliver thee into the hands of this people, who require thy life to slay thee. And Mosheh said, Thou hast spoken truly. But it was certified to me at the former time when I dwelt in Midian, that all the men were dead who sought to kill my life. At the end there will be no mercy upon thee. Yet I will pray for thee, and this plague shall be restrained. But a tenth plague is for Pharoh, of (which the victim will be) thy firstborn son. And Mosheh said to him, Thou hast spoken fairly the truth: I will see thy face no more.]
XI.      And the Lord spake unto Mosheh, Yet one stroke will I bring upon Pharoh and upon the Mizraee, which shall be greater than all, and afterward will he send you hence: when he releases, there shall be to himself an end: driving, he will drive you forth from hence. Speak now in the hearing of the people, That every man shall demand from his Mizraite friend, and every woman of her Mizraite friend, vessels of silver and vessels of gold. And the Lord gave the people favour before the Mizraee; also the man Mosheh was very great in the land of Mizraim before the servants of Pharoh and before his people.
           And Mosheh spake (or, had spoken) to Pharoh, Thus saith the Lord, At this hour of the following night will I be revealed in the midst of the Mizraee, and every firstborn in the land of Mizraim shall die: from the firstborn of Pharoh who should sit upon the throne of his kingdom, unto the firstborn son of the humblest mother in Mizraim who grindeth behind the mills, and all the firstborn of  cattle. And there will be a great cry in all the land of Mizraim, because like the plague of this night there hath not been, and like the plague of this night there never will be one. But any of the children of Israel a dog shall not harm by lifting up his tongue against either man or beast ; that they may know that the Lord maketh distinction between the Mizraites and the sons of Israel. And thou shalt send down all thy servants to me, coming and beseeching me, saying, Go forth, thou and all the people who are with thee; and afterwards I will go. And he went out from Pharoh in great anger. But the Lord said to Mosheh, Pharoh will not hearken to you ; that I may multiply My wonders in the land of Mizraim. And Mosheh and Aharon did all these wonders before Pharoh; and the Lord strengthened the design of Pharoh's heart, and he would not release the sons of Israel from his land.
XII.    And the Lord spoke to Mosheh and to Aharon in the land of Mizraim, saying, This month is ordained to be to you the beginning of the months; and from it you shall begin to number for festivals, and times, and cycles; it shall be to you the first of the number of the months of the year. Speak to all the congregation of the children of Israel, saying, In the tenth of this month, whose time is appointed for this time (occasion), and not for (coming) generations, they shall take to them a lamb for the house of a family, and, if many in number, they shall take a lamb for a house: but if the men of the house are fewer than ten in number, in proportion to a sufficient number to eat the lamb, he and his neighbour who is nearest to his house shall take according to the number of souls: each man according to the sufficiency of his eating shall be counted for the lamb. The lamb shall be perfect, a male, the son of a year he shall be to you; from the sheep or from the young goats ye may take. And it shall be bound and reserved for you until the fourteenth day of this month, that you may not know the fear of the Mizraee when they see it; and ye shall kill him according to the rite of all to congregation of the assembly of Israel, between the suns. And you shall take of the blood and set it upon the two posts and upon the upper board outside of the houses in which you eat and sleep. And you shall eat the flesh on that night, the fifteenth of Nisan, until the dividing of the night roasted with fire, [JERUSALEM. Roasted,] without leaven, with horehound and lettuce shall you eat it. Eat not of it while living, neither boiled in wine, or oil, or other fluids, neither boiled in water, but roasted with fire, with its head, and its feet, and its inwards. Nor shall any be left of it till the morning; but what may remain of it in the morning you shall cover over, and in the daylight of the sixteenth day burn with fire; for you may not burn the residue of a holy oblation on the feast day. And according to this manner you shall eat it, this time, but not in (other) generations: your loins shall be girded, [JERUSALEM. Bound by the precepts of the law,] your shoes on your feet, and your staves in your hands; and you shall eat in the fear of the majesty of the Lord of the world; because mercy hath been shown to you from before the Lord. And I will be revealed in the land of Mizraim in the majesty of My glory this night, and with Me ninety thousand myriads of destroying angels; and I will slay all the firstborn in the land of Mizraim, of man and of beast, and against all the idols of the Mizraee I will execute four judgments: the molten idols shall be melted, the idols of stone be broken, the idols of clay shall he shattered, and the idols of wood be made dust, that the Mizraee may know that I am the Lord. And the blood of the paschal oblation, (like) the matter of circumcision, shall be a bail for you, to become a sign upon the houses where you dwell; and I will look upon the worth of the blood, and will spare you; and the angel of death, to whom is given the power to destroy, shall have no dominion over you in the slaughter of the Mizraee. And this day shall be to you for a memorial, and you shall celebrate it a festival before the Lord in your generations; by a perpetual statute shall you solemnize it. Seven days you shall eat unleavened bread: in the dividing of the day which precedes the feast you shall put away leaven from your houses; for whosoever eateth what is leavened, from the first day of the feast until the seventh day, that man shall be destroyed from Israel. And on the first day there shall be a holy congregation, and on the seventh day there shall be to you a holy congregation. No work shall be done among you, only that which must be done for every one's eating may be done by you. And you shall observe the feast of the unleavened bread, because in this same day the Lord will bring out your hosts free from the land of Mizraim; and you shall observe this day in your generations, a statute for ever. In Nisan, on the fourteenth day of the month, you shall kill the passover, and at evening on the fifteenth you shall eat unleavened bread until the twenty-first of the month. On the evening of the twenty-second you may eat leavened bread. For seven days leaven shall not be found in your houses; for whosoever eateth of leaven, that man shall perish from the congregation of Israel, whether he be a stranger or home-bred in the land. Any mixture of leaven you shall not eat; in every place of your habitation you shall eat unleavened bread.
          And Mosheh called all the elders of Israel, and said to them, Withdraw your hands from the idols of the Mizraee, and take to you from the offspring of the flock, according to your houses, and kill the paschal lamb And you shall take a bunch of hyssop, and dip it in the blood that is in the earthen vessel, and upon the upper bar without and upon the two posts you shall sprinkle of the blood which is in the earthen vessel, and not a man of you must come forth from the door of his hour till the morning. For the Glory of the Lord will be manifested in striking the Mizraee, and He will see the blood upon the lintel and upon the too posts, and the Word of the Lord will spread His protection over the door, and the destroying angel will not be permitted to enter your houses to smite.
          And you shall observe this thing for a statute to thee and to thy sons for a memorial for ever. And it shall be when you are come into the land that the Lord will give to you, as He hath spoken, that from the time of your coming you shall observe this service. And it shall be that when at that time your children shall say to you, What is this your service? you shall say, It is the sacrifice of mercy before the Lord, who had mercy in His Word upon the houses of the sons of Israel in Mizraim, when He destroyed the Mizraee, and spared our houses. And when the house of Israel heard this word from the mouth of Mosheh, they bowed and worshipped. And the sons of Israel went and did as the Lord com-manded Mosheh and Aharon, so did they hasten and do.
          And it was in the dividing, of the night of the fifteenth, that the Word of the Lord slew all the firstborn in the land of Mizraim, from the firstborn son of Pharoh, who would have sat upon the throne of his kingdom, unto the firstborn sons of the kings who were captives in the dungeon as hostages under Pharoh's hand; and who, for having rejoiced at the servitude of Israel, were punished as (the Mizraee): and all the firstborn of the cattle that did the work of the Mizraee died also.
          And Pharoh rose up in that night, and all the rest of his servants, and all the rest of the Mizraee; and there was a great cry, because there was no house of the Mizraee where the firstborn was not dead. And the border of the land of Mizraim extended four hundred pharsee; but the land of Goshen, where Mosheh and the sons of Israel were, was in the midst of the land of Mizraim; and the royal palace of Pharoh was at the entrance of the land of Mizraim. But when he cried to Mosheh and to Aharon in the night of the Pascha, his voice was heard unto the land of Goshen; Pharoh crying with a voice of woe, and saying thus: Arise, Go forth from among my people, both you and the sons of Israel ; and go, worship before the Lord, as you have said; your sheep also take, and whatever of mine you have spoken about, and go; and nothing ask I of you except that you pray for me that I may not die. When Mosheh and Aharon, and the sons of Israel, heard the voice of Pharoh's weeping, they were not mindful, until he came himself, and all his servants, and all the Mizraee, and urged all the people of the house of Israel, that they might hasten to send them forth from the land; For, said they, if they prolong here one hour more, behold, we are all dead. [JERUSALEM. For, said the Mizraee, if Israel delay one hour (longer), behold, all Mizraim dies.]
          And the people carried their dough upon their beads, being unleavened, and what remained to them of the paschal cakes and bitter things they carried, bound up with their raiment, upon their shoulders. And the sons of Israel did according to the word of Mosheh, and asked of the Mizraee vessels of silver and vessels of gold. And the Lord gave the people favour and compassion before the Mizraee, and they brought forth to them, and they emptied the Mizraee of their riches.
          And the sons of Israel moved forth from Pilusin towards Succoth, a hundred and thirty thousand, protected there by seven clouds of glory on their four sides: one above them, that neither hail nor rain might fall upon them, nor that they should be burned by the heat of the sun; one beneath them, that they might not be hurt by thorns, serpents, or scorpions; and one went before them, to make the valleys even, and the mountains low, and to prepare them a place of habitation. And they were about six hundred thousand men, journeying on foot, none riding on horses except the children five to every man; and a multitude of strangers, [JERUSALEM. A mixed multitude,] two hundred and forty myriads, went up with them, and sheep, and oxen, and cattle, very many. And they divided the dough which they brought out of Mizraim, which they had carried on their heads, and it was baked for them by the heat of the sun, (into) unleavened cakes, because it had not fermented; for the Mizraee had thrust them out, neither could they delay; and it was sufficient for them to eat until the fifteenth of the month Ijar; because they had not prepared provision for the way.
          And the days of the dwelling of the sons of Israel in Mizraim were thirty weeks of years, (thirty times seven years,) which is the sum of two hundred and ten years. But the number of four hundred and thirty years (had passed away since) the Lord spake to Abraham, in the hour that He spake with him on the fifteenth of Nisan, between the divided parts, until the day that they went out of Mizraim. And it was at the end of thirty years from the making of this covenant, that Izhak was born; and thence until they went out of Mizraim four hundred (years), on the selfsame day it was that all the hosts of the Lord went forth made free from the land of Mizraim.
          Four nights are there written in the Book of Memorials before the Lord of the world. Night the first,--when He was revealed in creating the world; the second,--when He was revealed to Abraham; the third,--when He was revealed in Mizraim, His hand killing all the firstborn of Mizraim, and His right hand saving the firstborn of Israel; the fourth,--when He will yet be revealed to liberate the people of the house of Israel from among the nations. And all these are called Nights to be observed; for so explained Mosheh, and said thereof, It is to be observed on account of the liberation which is from the Lord, to lead forth the people of the sons of Israel from the land of Mizraim. This is that Night of preservation from the destroying angel for all the sons of Israel who were in Mizraim, and of redemption of their generations from their captivity.
          [JERUSALEM. TARGUM. It is a night to be observed and celebrated for the liberation from before the Lord in bringing forth the sons of Israel, made free from the land of Mizraim. Four nights are there written in the Book of Memorial. Night first; when the Word of the Lord was revealed upon the world as it was created; when the world was without form and void, and darkness was spread upon the face of the deep, and the Word of the Lord illuminated and made it light; and he called it the first night. Night second; when the Word of the Lord was revealed unto Abraham between the divided parts; when Abraham was a son of a hundred years, and Sarah was a daughter of ninety years, and that which the Scripture saith was confirmed,--Abraham a hundred years, can he beget? and Sarah, ninety year old, can she bear? Was not our father Izhak a son of thirty and seven years, at the time he was offered upon the altar? The heavens were (then) bowed down and brought low, and Izhak saw their realities, and his eyes were blinded at the sight, and he called it the second night. The third night; when the Word of the Lord was revealed upon the Mizraee, at the dividing of the night; His right hand slew the firstborn of the Mizraee, His right hand spared the firstborn of Israel; to fulfil what the Scripture hath said, Israel is My firstborn son. And he called it the third night. Night the fourth; when the end of the age will be accomplished, that it might be dissolved, the bands of wickedness destroyed and the iron yoke broken. Mosheh came forth from the midst of the desert; but the King Meshiha (comes) from the midst of Roma. The Cloud preceded that, and the Cloud will go before this one; and the Word of the Lord will lead between both, and they shall proceed together. This is the night of the Pascha before the Lord, to be observed and celebrated by the sons of Israel in all their generations.]
          A sojourner or a hired stranger shall not eat thereof. In his own company he shall eat. Thou shalt not carry any of the flesh out of the house from (thy) company, nor send a gift one mail to his neighbour; and a bone of him shall not be broken for the sake of eating that which is within it. [JERUSALEM. A sojourning man and a hireling born of the Gentiles shall not eat of it.] All the congregation of Israel shall mix together, this one with that, one family with another, that they may perform it. And if a proselyte sojourn with you, and would perform the pascha before the Lord, let every male belonging to him be circumcised, and so be made fit to perform it; and he shall be as the native of the land: but no uncircumcised one of the sons of Israel shall eat thereof. One law shall there be as to appointments for the native and for the proselyte who sojourneth among you. And all the sons of Israel did as the Lord had commanded Mosheh and Aharon, so did they. And it was on that same day that the Lord brought forth the sons of Israel from the land of Mizraim, with their hosts.
XIII.   And the Lord spake unto Mosheh, saying, Sanctify before Me every firstborn male. Whatsoever openeth the womb of all the sons of Israel among men, and (also) among beasts, is Mine. And Mosheh said to the people, Remember this the day in which you went out free from Mizraim from the house of the bondage of slaves; for by great strength of hand did the Lord bring you forth from thence; and you shall not eat leaven. This day you are come out free; on the fifteenth of Nisan, which is the month of Abiba. And it shall be, when the Lord your God shall have brought you into the land of the Kenaanaee, and Hittaee, and Amoraee, and Hivaee, and Jebusaee, which He sware by His Word unto Abraham to give thee, a land producing milk and honey, that thou shalt keep this service in this month. Seven days shalt thou eat unleavened cakes, and on the seventh day shall be a feast before the Lord. Unleavened cakes shall be eaten seven days, and nothing leavened shall be seen with thee, nor leaven itself be seen with thee in all thy borders. And thou shalt instruct thy son on that day, saying, This precept is on account of what the Word of the Lord did for me in miracles and wonders, in bringing me forth from Mizraim. And this miracle shall be inscribed and set forth upon the tephilla of the hand, on the top of thy left (arm,) and for a memorial inscribed and set forth upon the tephilla of thy head, set between thine eyes on thy forehead; that the law of the Lord may be in thy mouth, because in strength, with a mighty hand, the Lord brought thee forth from Mizraim . Thou shalt therefore keep this statute of the Tephillin in the season to which it belongs, on work days, not on sabbaths or solemnities; and by day, not by night. [JERUSALEM. >From these days to those months.] And when I the Lord have brought thee into the land of the Kenaanaee, which I have sworn to thee and to thy fathers to give thee, thou shalt set apart before the Lord every one that openeth the womb; and every animal that its dam beareth and that openeth the womb if it be to thee a male thou shalt sanctify before the Lord. And every ass that openeth the womb thou shalt redeem with a lamb; and if thou redeem him not, thou shalt cut him off; [JERUSALEM. Thou shalt kill him;] and every firstborn man (child) among thy sons thou shalt redeem; but thy servant thou mayest not redeem with money.
          And when in future thy son shall ask thee, saying, What is this ordinance of the firstborn? thou shalt tell him: By the power of a mighty hand the Lord delivered us from Mizraim, redeeming us from the house of the servitude of slaves. And when the Word of the Lord had hardened the heart of Pharoh (that be would) not deliver us, he killed all the firstborn in the land of Mizraim, from the firstborn of man to the firstborn of cattle; therefore do I sacrifice before the Lord every male that openeth the womb, and every firstborn of my sons I redeem with silver.  And it shall be inscribed and set forth upon thy left land, and on the tephilla between thine eyebrows; because by mighty strength of hand the Lord brought us out of Mizraim.

Pgs. 483-504

Ch.13-17

SECTION XVI.

BESHALACH.

 

AND it was when Pharoh bad released the people, that the Lord did not conduct, them by the way of the land of the Phelishtaee though. that was the near one; for the Lord said, Lest the people be affrighted in seeing their brethren who were killed in war, two hundred thousand men of strength of the tribe of Ephraim, who took shields, and lances, and weapons of war, and went down to Gath to carry off the flocks of the Phelishtaee; and because the transgressed against the statute of the Word of the Lord, and went forth from Mizraim three years before the (appointed) end of their servitude, they were delivered into the hand of the Phelishtaee, who slew them. These are the dry bones which the Word of the Lord restored to life by the ministry (hand) of Yechezekel the prophet, in the vale of Dura; but which, if they (now) saw them, they would be afraid, and return into Mizraim. But the Lord led the people round by the way of the desert of the sea of Suph; and every one of the sons of Israel, with five children, went up from the land of Mizraim. Arid Mosheh carried up the ark in which were the bones of Joseph, from out of the Nilos, and took them with him; because, adjuring, he adjured the sons of Israel, saving, The Lord will surely remember you, and you shall carry up my bones with you.

 

And they journeyed from Succoth, the place where they had been covered with the clouds of glory, and sojourned in Ethan, which is on the side of the desert. [[JERUSALEM. IS. And the Word of the Lord conducted the people by the way of the desert of the sea of Suph; armed in good works went up the sons of Israel, free from the land of Mizraim. 19. For, adjuring, he adjured the sons of Israel, saving, The Lord remembering; will remember you in is Word, and in His good mercies. 20. Which cometh upon the end of the desert.] And the glory of the Shekinah of the Lord went before them by day in the column of the Cloud to lead them in the way, and at night the column of the Cloud removed behind them to darken on their pursuers behind them ; but to be a column of fire to enlighten them before, that they might go forward by day and by night. The column of the Cloud departed not by day, nor the column of fire by night, in leading on before the people. [[JERUSALEM. It ceased not.]

 

XIV. And the Lord spake to Mosheh, saying, Speak to the sons of Israel, that they return back, and encamp before the Mouths of Hiratha,[1] as they lie, created after the manner (likeness) of the children of men, male and female, and their eyes open to them: it is the place of Tanes, which is between Migdol and the sea, before the idol Zephon (Typhon), that is left of all the idols of Mizraim. For the Mizraee will say, More excellent is Baal Zephon than all idols, because it is left, and not smitten; and therefore will they come to worship it, and will find that you are encamped nigh unto it, on the border of the sea.

 

And Pharoh said to Dathan and Abiram, sons of Israel, who had remained in Mizraim, The people of the house of Israel are bewildered in the land: the idol Zephon hath shut them in close upon the desert. [JERUSALEM. 2. And they shall return and encamp before the caravansaries of Hiratha, between Migdol and the sea, before the idol of Zephon, ye shall encamp over against it. And Pharoh will say concerning the people of the sons of Israel, They are losing themselves in the wilderness: the idol of Peor hath shut them in before the desert.] And I will strengthen the design of Pharoh's heart to pursue after them, and I will be glorified upon Pharoh and upon his hosts, and the Mizraee shall know that I am the Lord. And they did so.

 

And the officers[2] who went with Israel announced that the people had fled. [[JERUSALEM. And it was declared to the king.] And the heart of Pharoh and his servants was turned unto evil against the people; and they said, What is this that we have done? for we have released Israel from serving us. And he himself prepared his chariot, and his people led he with him by soft words. And he took six hundred choice chariots, and all the chariots of the Mizraee his servants, who were afraid of the Word of the Lord, lest they should be killed with pestilence, if not with hail: and a third mule, for drawing and following swiftly, he added to each chariot. And the Lord hardened the design of the heart of Pharoh king of Mizraim, and he pursued after the sons of Israel. But the sons of Israel, going out with a high hand, were stronger than the Mizraee. And the Mizraee followed after them, and came upon them as they were encamped by the sea, gathering of pearls and goodly stones, which the river Pishon had carried from the garden of Eden into the Gihon, and the Gihon had carried into the sea of Suph, and the sea of Suph bad cast upon its bank. But all the chariot horses of Pharoh, and his horsemen, and his hosts (were coming) towards the Mouths of Hiratha, which are before the idol Zephon. And Pharoh saw the idol Zephon (still) preserved, and offered oblations before it. And the children of Israel lifted up their eyes, and, beheld, the Mizraee were pursuing them; and they were sorely afraid, and the children of Israel prayed before the Lord. But the wicked generation said to Mosheh, Because there were no places of burial for us in Mizraim, hast thou led us forth to die in the wilderness ? What hast thou done to us, in bringing us out of Mizraim? Was as not this the word that we spake to thee in Mizraim, Let the Lord manifest Himself over us and judge, saying, Desist from us, and we will serve the Mizraee? for it is better for us to serve the Mizraee than to perish in the desert. [JERUSALEM. 9. But the sons of Israel had gone out free.... Before the caravansaries of Hiratha, before the idol Zephon.]

 

Four parties were made (among) the sons of Israel on the shore of the Weedy Sea: one said, Let us go down into the sea; another said, Let us return into Mizraim; another said Let us set against them the line of battle; and another said Let us raise a cry against them, and confound them. Unto the company which said, Let us go down to the sea, spake Mosheh, Fear not, stand still, and see the salvation of the Lord, which will be wrought for you to‑day. To the company which said, Let us return into Mizraim Mosheh said, You shall not return; for, though you see the Mizraee to‑day, you will see them no more for ever. To the company who said, Let us set against them the line of battle, said Mosheh, Contend not; for the victory shall be wrought among you from the presence of the Lord. And to the company who said. Let us raise a cry against them, Mosheh said, Be silent; and give the glory, and praise, and exaltation to your God.

 

And the Lord said to Mosheh, Why standest thou praying before Me? Behold, the prayers of My people have come before thy own: speak to the sons of Israel, that they go forward; and thou, lift up thy rod, and stretch forth thy hand with it over the sea, and divide it: and the sons of Israel shall go through the midst of ,the sea upon the ground. For, behold, I will harden the design of the heart of the Mizraee, and they will go in after them; and I will be glorified upon Pharoh and upon all his hosts, upon his chariots and his horsemen; that the Mizraee may know that I am the Lord, when I am glorified upon Pharoh, upon his chariots and horsemen.

[JERUSALEM. 13. Four companies made the sons of Israel, standing by the Weedy Sea. One said, Let us fall upon the sea; another said, Let us return to Mizraim; another said, Let us array battle against them; and another said, Let us shout against them to confuse them. To that company who said, Let us fall upon the sea, Mosheh said, Fear not; stand still, and see the salvation of the Lord which shall be wrought for you this day. To the company who said, We will return unto Mizraim, Mosheh said, Fear not; for as you have seen the Mizraee to‑day, you will see them no more in bondage for ever. To the company who said, We will array battle against them, Mosheh said, Fear not; the Lord, in the glory of His Shekinah, will work the victory for your hosts. To the company who had said, Let us shout against them to confound them, Mosheh said, Fear not; stand and be silent; and give the glory, and praise, and exaltation unto Eloha. 15. And the Word of the Lord said to Mosheh, How long standest thou praying before Me ? Heard before Me are thy prayers; but the prayers of My people have preceded thine. Speak to the sons of Israel that they go forward; and thou, lift, up thy rod and stretch forth thy hand.]

 

And the Angel of the Lord who led the way before the hosts of Israel went and came behind them; and the column of the Cloud went from before and stood behind them: because the Mizraee threw darts and stones at the Israelites, but the Cloud intercepted them and it came between the host of Israel and the host of the Mizraee; a cloud, one half of which was light and one half darkness. On the one side it darkened upon the Mizraee, and on the other side it shined upon Israel all night; and one host did not attack the other all the night.

 

And Mosheh stretched out his hand over the sea, with the great and glorious rod which was created at the beginning, and on which were engraven and set forth the Great and Glorious Name, and the ten signs which had smitten the Mizraee, and the three fathers of the world, and the six mothers, and the twelve tribes of Jakob: and straightway the Lord brought a vehement east wind upon the sea all night, and made the sea dry; and divided the waters into twelve divisions according to the twelve tribes of Jacob. [JERUSALEM. 20. And the cloud was half light and half darkness: light, it enlightened upon Israel; and darkness, it darkened upon Mizraim. And those came not against these, to set battle in order, all the night. 21. And he stretched forth.] And the children of Israel went through the midst of the sea upon the ground, and the waters were congealed like a wall, three hundred miles on their right hand and on their left.

 

And the Mizraee followed and went in after them, all the horses of Pharoh, and his chariots and horsemen, into the midst of the sea. And it was that in the morning watch, at the time that the powers on high come to offer praise, the Lord looked forth with anger upon the hosts of the Mizraee from the column of fire, to hurl upon them flakes of fire and hail, and from the column of cloud, and confounded the host of the Mizraee and He brake (or, made rough) the wheels of Pharoh's carriages, so that they drave them with hardship, and that they went on and left them behind. And the Mizraee said one to another, Let us flee from the people of the house of Israel; for this is the Word of the Lord who fought for them in Mizraim.

 

And the Lord said to Mosheh, Stretch forth thy band over the sea, that the waters may return upon the Mizraee, upon their chariots and upon their horsemen. And Mosheh stretched out his hand over the sea, and the sea returned at the time of the morning unto its strength; and the Mizraee fled from before its waves. And the Lord strengthened the Mizraee in the midst of the sea, that they should not (soon) die in the midst of it, that they might receive the punishment which had been sent to them. [JERUSALEM. 24. And it was in the time of the morning that the Word of the Lord looked upon the host of the Mizraee, and hurled upon them bitumen (naphtha), and fire, and stones of hail, and conturbed the host of the Mizraee. And he unloosed the wheels of their carriages, so that they went, dragging them after them: the mules, going after their way before the wheels, were turned, so as that the wheels went before the mules, and they were cast into the sea. The Mizraee answered and said on to another, Let us flee from before the people of the sons of Israel; for this is the Word of the Lord who worketh victory for them in their battles; so that they set the back against Mizraim. 26. Stretch forth. 27. And Mosheh stretched forth his hand over the sea, and the sea returned at the time of the morning to its place.] And the waves of the sea returned, and covered the chariots, and the horsemen.. and all the host of Pharoh who had gone in after them, into the sea, not one among them was left. But the sons of Israel walked on the ground in the midst of the sea, and the waters to them were as walls on their right band and on their left. That day the Lord redeemed and saved Israel from the hand of the Mizraee; and Israel saw the Mizraee, dead and not dead, cast upon the shore of the sea. And Israel saw the power of the mighty hand by which the Lord had wrought the miracles in Mizraim; and the people feared before the Lord, and believed in the Name of the Word of the Lord, and in the prophecies of Mosheh His servant.

 

XV. Behold: then sang, Mosheh and the sons of Israel this song of praise before the Lord and saying they said:

 

Thanksgiving and praise we bring before the Lord Most High, who is glorified above the glorious, and exalted above the exalted; who punisheth by His Word whomsoever glorifieth himself before Him.

 

Therefore when Pharoh the wicked bare himself proudly before the Lord, and, being uplifted in his heart, followed after the people of the sons of Israel, their horses and their chariots He threw and buried in the sea of Suph.

 

[JERUSALEM. Then sang Mosheh and the sons of Israel the praise of this song, before the Lord, saying, to say: Thanksgiving and praise bring we before the Lord, who is high above the highest, and glorified above the glorious, and who punisheth by His Word whom. whomsoever glorifieth himself before Him. The horses and their riders, because they bare themselves proudly and followed after the people of the house of Israel, He hath thrown and buried in the sea of Suph.]

 

The Lord is Mighty, and greatly to be feared over all the world. He spake in His Word, and became to me a God of salvation.

 

From their mothers' breasts even the children have given signs with their fingers to their fathers, and said This is our God, who nourished us with honey from the rock, and with oil from the stone of clay, at the time when our mothers went forth upon the face of the :geld to give us birth, and leave us there; and He sent an angel who washed us and enwrapped us; and now will we praise Him: He is the God of our fathers, and we will exalt Him.

 

The sons of Israel said, The Lord is a man making war for us: from generation to generation He maketh known His power unto the people of the house of Israel. The Lord is His Name; according to His Name, so is His power; His Name shall be blessed for ever and ever.

 

The chariots of Pharoh and his hosts He hath cast into the sea; the goodliest of his young men hath He thrown and drowned in the sea of Suph. The deep covered them over, they wenr down and are buried in the depths of the sea, and are as silent as a stone.

 

Thy right hand, 0 Lord, how glorious is it in power? Thy right hand, 0 Lord, hath cut off the adversaries of Thy people who rose against them to do them hurt. And in the plenitude and greatness of Thy majesty Thou hast destroyed the walls of the enemies of Thy people.

 

Thou wilt pour upon them Thy fierce anger, Thou wilt consume them as the burning fire prevails over the stubble. For by the Word from before Thee the waters became heaps; they stood, as if bound like skins that confine flowing water, and the depths were congealed in the flood of the great sea.

 

Pharoh the wicked, the hater and adversary, did say, I will follow after the people of the sons of Israel, and will lay waste their camp on the bank of the sea: I will set war in array against them, and kill them, small and great, despoil them of much spoil, bring them back into great captivity, and divide their substance among my people who make war: and when my soul is satisfied with the blood of their slain, I will sheathe my sword, having, destroyed them with my right hand.

 

[JERUSALEM. The Lord is Mighty, and greatly to be praised and feared over all the world. He spake in His Word, and for us became salvation.

 

[From their mothers' breasts have even the children given signs with their fingers unto the fathers, and have said to them, This is our Father, who nourished us with honey from the rock, and gave us oil from the stone of clay.

 

[The sons of Israel answered and said one to another, He is our God, and we will praise Him; the God of our fathers, and we will exalt Him.

 

[The Lord in the glory of His Shekinah is He who worketh victory for your arms. From one generation to another He maketh known His power to the people of the house of Israel.

 

[His Name is the Lord: as is His Name, so is His power; let His name be glorified for ever and ever.

 

[Upon the chariots of Pharoh and his host He shot arrows in the sea; his goodly young men and his men of strength He hath drowned in the sea of Suph. How glorious is Thy right hand, 0 Lord, in power, which bath broken and shattered the walls of the enemies of Thy people!

 

[Pharoh the wicked, the hater and adversary, did say, I will follow after the people of the sons of Israel and will overtake them encamped at the side of the sea. I will lead them captive into great captivity, and despoil, them of great spoil; I will divide their substance among my men of war; and when my soul shall be satisfied with them, I will sheathe my sword, when I shall have destroyed them with my right hand.]

 

Thou didst blow with the wind from before Thee, 0 Lord, and the waves of the sea covered them; they went down, and sank as lead in the proud waters.

 

Who is like Thee among the exalted gods, 0 Lord, who is like Thee, glorious in holiness, fearful in praises, doing wonders and manifestations for Thy people, the house of Israel ?

 

The sea spake to the earth, Receive but the earth spake to the sea, Receive thy murderers. And the sea was not willing to overwhelm them, and the earth was not willing to swallow them up. The earth was afraid to receive them, lest they should be required from her in the day of the great judgment in the world to come, even as the blood of Habel will be required of her: whereupon Thou, 0 Lord, didst stretch forth Thy right hand in swearing to the earth that in the world to come they should not be required of her. And the earth opened her mouth and consumed them.

 

[JERUSALEM. The sea and the earth had controversy one with the other. The sea said to the earth, Receive thy children; and the earth said to the sea, Receive thy murderers. But the earth willed not to swallow them, and the sea willed not to overwhelm them. And by the Word from before Thee Thou. didst stretch forth Thy right hand in oath., and didst swear unto the earth that Thou wilt not require them of her in the world to come. Then did the earth open her mouth and swallow them up.]

 

Thou hast led in Thy mercy the people whom Thou hast redeemed, and given them the heritage of the mountain of Thy sanctuary, the place of the dwelling of Thy holy Shekinah.

 

The nations will hear and be afraid; terror will lay hold upon them, even upon all the pillars of the inhabitants of the Palestinian land. Behold, then will the princes of the Edomaee be confounded, the strong ones of Moaba will be seized with fear, their heart within them will melt away, even all the pillars of the inhabitants of the Kenaanian land.

 

Through the power of Thy mighty arm, let the terrors of death fall upon them, let them be silent as a stone, till the time when Thy people, 0 Lord, shall have passed the streams of Arnona, till the time when Thy people whom Thou didst ransom shall have crossed the dividing current of Jabeka.

 

Thou wilt bring them in, and plant them on the mountain of Thy sanctuary, the place which Thou hast provided before the throne of Thy glory, the house of Thy holy Shekinah, which Thou, 0 Lord, hast prepared, Thy sanctuary that with both hands Thou hast established.

 

When the people of the house of Israel beheld the signs and manifestations which the Holy One, whose Name be praised, had done at the sea of Suph, and the power of His hand, the children of the captives answering said one to the other, Come, and let us set the crown of majesty on the head of our Redeemer, who maketh to pass over, and passeth not; who changeth, and is not changed; whose is the crown of the kingdom; the King of kings in this world; whose, too, is the kingdom in the world to come, for ever and ever.

 

[JERUSALEM. 16. Thou wilt make the terror of death to fall upon them and undoing, by the power of Thy mighty arm, that they shall be as silent as a stone, until this people whom Thou hast redeemed shall have gone over the dividing stream of Jobeka and that of Jardena; till this people shall have passed over whom Thou hast ransomed for Thy Name. 17. Thou wilt bring them in, and wilt plant them in the mountain of Thy inheritance, the dwelling of the glory of Thy holiness, which Thou 0 Lord, hast prepared for Thyself, the sanctuary of the Lord that with both hands He hath established. 18. When the house of Israel had beheld the signs and wonders that the Holy One, Blessed be He, had wrought for them at the border of the sea, let His great Name be blessed for ever and ever,­ they gave glory and thanksgiving and exaltation unto their God. The sons of Israel answered and said one to another, Come, let us set the crown upon the bead of the Redeemer, who causeth to pass over, but is not passed; who changeth, but is not changed; the King of kings in this world; whose, too, is the crown of the kingdom of the world to come, and whose it will be for ever and ever.]

 

For Pharoh's horses with his chariots and horsemen went into the sea, and the Lord made the waters of the sea to return upon them; but the sons of Israel walked upon the land in the midst of the sea, and there did spring up sweet fountains and trees yielding food and verdure and ripe fruits, (even) on the ground of the sea.

 

And Miriam the prophetess, the sister of Aharon, took a tambourine in her hand, and all the women came out after her, dancing with tambourines and playing on instruments. [JERUSALEM. With tambourines dancing.] And Miriam sang to them, Let us give thanks and praise before the Lord, for might and supremacy are His; above the proud He is glorified, and above the lofty He is exalted. When the wicked, Pharoh in his pride followed after the people of the sons of Israel, his horses and his chariots did He cast and drown in the sea of Suph.

 

And Mosheh made Israel go forward from the sea of Suph, and they went forth into the wilderness of Chalutsa. [JERUSALEM. The way of Chalutsa.] And they journeyed three days in the desert, empty of instruction, and found no water. And they came to Marah, but could not drink the waters of Marah because they were bitter; therefore he called the name of it Marah. And the people murmured against Mosheh, saying, What shall we drink? [JERUSALEM. And the people contended.] And he prayed before the Lord, and the Lord showed him the bitter tree of Ardiphne;[3] and lie wrote upon it the great and glorious Name, and cast it into the midst of the waters, and the waters were rendered sweet. And there did the Word of the Lord appoint to him the ordinance of the Sabbath, and the statute of honouring father and mother, the judgments concerning wounds and bruises., and the punishments wherewith offenders are punished; and there he tried (them) with the tenth trial, and said, If you will truly hearken to the Word of the Lord your God, and do that which is right before Him, and will listen to His precepts and keep all His statutes, all those evil things that I laid upon the Mizraee I will not lay upon thee: but if thou wilt transgress against the word of the law, upon thee shall they be sent. If thou convert, I will remove them from thee; for I am the Lord thy Healer. [JERUSALEM. 25. And Mosheh prayed before the Lord, and the Word of the Lord showed him the tree of Ardiphne, and he cast it into the midst of the waters, and the waters were made sweet. There did the Word of the Lord show unto him statutes and orders of judgment, and there He tried him with trials in the tenth trial. 26. For I am the Lord who healeth thee by My Word.] And they came to Elim; and in Elim were twelve fountains of water, a fountain for each tribe; and seventy palm‑trees, corresponding with the seventy elders of Israel: and they encamped there by the waters. [JERUSALEM. And they came to Elim, where were twelve fountains of water, answering to the twelve tribes of Israel, and seventy palm‑trees, answering to the seventy elders of the sanhedrin of Israel.]

 

               XVI. And the whole congregation of Israel jour­neyed from Elim, and came to the desert of Sin, which is between Elim and Sinai, on the fifteenth day of the month of Ijar, the second month from their going forth from the land of Mizraim. And on that day the bread which they had brought out of Mizraim was finished. And all the sons of Israel grumbled against Mosheh and against Aharon in the desert. And the sons of Israel said to them, Would that we had died by the Word of the Lord in the land of Mizraim, when we sat by the cisterns of meat, and ate bread and had enough! Why hast thou brought us out into this wilderness to kill all this congregation with hunger? And the Lord said to Mosheh, Behold, I will cause the bread which hath been laid up for you from the beginning to descend from heaven: and the people shall go out and gather the matter of a day by the day, that I may try them whether they will keep the commandments of My law or not. And on the sixth day they shall prepare what they set before them to eat on the day of the Sabbath; and they shall mix in the houses and communicate in their dwellings, so that by carrying th)is to that, they may have double of that which they gather from day to day.

 

And Mosheh and Aharon said to all the sons of Israel, At evening you shall know that the Lord hath brought you out free from the land of Mizraim; and in the morning will be revealed to you the glory of the Shekinah of the Lord; and we, what are we accounted, that you complain against us? [JERUSALEM. And we, what are we accounted?] And Mosheh said, By this you shall know, when the Lord prepareth you at evening flesh to eat, and in the morning bread to satisfy, that your complainings wherewith you complain against Him are heard before the Lord. And we, what are we accounted? Your complaints are not against us, but against the Word of the Lord. Mosheh said to Aharon, Bid all the congregation of the sons of Israel draw nigh before the Lord; for your murmuring are heard before Him.

 

And it was while Aharon was speaking with all the congregation of Israel that they turned towards the desert, and, behold, the glory of the majesty of the Lord was revealed in the cloud of glory. And the Lord spake to Mosheh, saying Hearing I have heard the murmurings of the sons of Israel before Me. Speak thou with them, saying, Between the evenings (suns) you shall eat flesh, and in the morning shall you eat bread, and shall know that I am the Lord your God.

 

And it came to pass, that in the evening the pheasants[4] came up and covered the camp; and in the morning there was a fall of holy dew, prepared as a table, round about the camp: and the clouds ascended and caused manna to descend upon the dew; and there was upon the face of the desert a minute (substance) in lines,[5] minute as the hoar frost upon the ground. [JERUSALEM. As hoar frost.] And the sons of Israel beheld, and wondered, and said, a man to his companion, Man Hu?[6] for they knew not what it was. And Mosheh said to them, It is the bread which hath been laid up for you from the beginning in the heavens on high, and now the Lord will give it you to eat. This is the word which the Lord hath dictated: You are to gather of it, every man according to the number Of Your souls; every man according to the mouth of the number of the persons of his tabernacle, are you to take. And the sons of Israel did so, and gathered manna said to them, Let no man make a reserve of it till the morning. But (some of them) hearkened not to Mosheh: Dathan and Abiram, men of wickedness, did reserve of it till the morning; but it produced worms and putrefied; and Mosheh was angry with them. And they gathered from the time of the dawn until the fourth hour of the day, every man according to his eating; but at the fourth hour, when the sun had waxed hot upon it, it liquefied, and made streams of water, [JERUSALEM. Became as streams,] which flowed away into the Great Sea; and wild animals that were clean, and cattle, came to drink of it, and the sons of Israel hunted, and ate them. And it came to pass on the sixth day they gathered double bread, two homers a man; and all the princes of the congregation came and told Mosheh. And Mosheh said to them, This which the Lord hath told you, do. To‑morrow is the rest of the holy Sabbath before the Lord: That which is needful to have to bake for to‑morrow, bake to‑day; and what is needful to boil for to‑morrow, boil to‑day: and all whatever remaineth of that which on eat to‑day lay it up, and it shall be preserved until the morning. And they laid it up until the morning, as Mosheh had directed them; and it did not corrupt, and no worm was in it. And Mosheh said to them, Eat to-day, because this is the Sabbath day before the Lord. This day you will not find any in the feild. Six days you shall gather, but on the seventh day, which is the Sabbath, no manna will come down. And it was that on the seventh day some of the wicked people went forth to gather manna, but they found none. And the Lord said to Mosheh, How long will ye refuse to keep My commandments and My laws ? Behold, because I have given you the Sabbath, I gave you on the sixth day bread for two days. Let every man abide in his Place, and not wander from one locality to another, beyond four yards;[7] nor let any man go forth to walk beyond two thousand yards on the seventh day; for the people shall repose on the seventh day.

 

And the house of Israel called the name of it Manna; and it was like the seed of coriander,[8] white, and the taste of it like preparations of honey. [JERUSALEM. Like the seed of coriander, and the taste of it like confections of honey.] And Mosheh said, This is the thing which the Lord hath commanded to lay up of it a homer full to keep in your generations; that perverse generations may see the bread which you have eaten in the wilderness, in your coming forth out of the land of Mizraim. And Mosheh said to Aharon, Take one earthen vase, and put therein a full homera of manna, and lay it up before the Lord to be kept unto your generations. As the Lord commanded Mosheh, so did Aharon, lay it up before the testimony to be kept. And the children of Israel ate the manna forty years, until they came to ail inhabited land: manna did they eat forty days after his death, until they had passed the Jordena, and entered upon the borders of the land of Kenaan. And a homera is one tenth of three seahs.

 

XVII. And all the congregation of the sons of Israel journeyed from the desert of Sin by their journeyings according to the word of the Lord, and they encamped in Rephidim, a place where their bands were idle in the commandments of the law, and the fountains were dry, and there was no water for the people to drink. And the wicked of the, people contended with Mosheh, and said, Give us water, that we may drink. And Mosheh said to them, Why contend you with me? and why tempt you before the Lord? But the people were athirst for water, and the people murmured against Mosheh, and said, Why hast thou made us come up out of Mizraim, to kill us, and our children, and our cattle with thirst ? And Mosheh prayed before the Lord, saying What shall I do for this people? Yet a very little, and they will stone me. And the Lord said to Mosheh, Pass over before the people, and take with thee some of the elders of Israel, and the rod with which thou didst smite the river take in thy hand, and go from the face of their murmuring. Behold, I will stand before thee there, on the spot where thou sawest the impress[9] of the foot on Horeb; and thou shalt smite the rock with thy rod, and therefrom shall come forth waters for drinking, and the people shall drink. And Mosheh did so before the elders of Israel. And he called the name of that place Temptation and Strife; because there the sons of Israel contended with Mosheh, and because they tempted the Lord, saying, Doth the glory of the majesty of the Lord trul dwell among us, or not?

 

And Amalek came from the land of the south and leaped on that night a thousand and six hundred miles; and on account of the disagreement which had been between Esau and Jakob, he came and waged war with Israel in Rephidim, and took and killed (some of the) men of the house of Dan; for the cloud did not embrace them, because of the strange worship that was among them. And Mosheh said to Jehoshua, Choose such men as are strong in the precepts, and victorious in fight; and go, under the Cloud of glory, and set battle in array against the hosts of Amalek. To‑morrow I will stand, prepared with fasting, with the righteous fathers of the chiefs of the people, and the righteous mothers who are like the hills, with the rod with which the miracles have been wrought from before the Lord, in my hand. And Jehoshua did as Mosheh bad bidden him, to wage war with Amalek. And Mosheh, and Aharon, and Hur went up to the top of the height. And it was, when Mosheh lifted up his hands in prayer, that the house of Israel prevailed; and when he rested his hand from praying, that the house of Amalek prevailedand. And the hands of Mosheh were heavy, because the conflict was prolonged till the morrow, and the deliverance of Israel was not prepared on that day; and he could not hold them up in prayer; on which account he would have afflicted his soul. And they took a stone, and placed it under him, and he sat upon it; and Aharon and Hur supported his hand, this the one, and that the other; and his hands were outstretched with firmness, (or, fidelity,) in prayer and fasting, until the going down of the sun. And Jehoshua shattered Amalek, and cut off the heads, of the strong men of his people, by the mouth of the Word of the Lord, with the slaughter of the sword. [Jerusalem. 11. And it was that when Mosheh lifted up his hands in prayer, the house of Israel prevailed; and when his hands declined from prayer, Amalek prevailed; and (Israel) fell. in the line of battle. 12. And the hands of Mosheh were lifted up in prayer.]

 

And the Lord said unto Mosheh, Write this memorial in the book of the elders that were of old, and these words in the hearing, of Jehoshua, that blotting, I will blot out the memory of Amalek from under the heavens. And Mosheh builded an altar, and called the name of it, The Word of the Lord is my banner; for the sign which He hath wrought (in this) place was on my behalf. And he said, Because the Word of the Lord hath sworn by the throne of His glory, that He by His Word will fight against those of the house of Amalek, and destroy them unto three generations; from the generation of this world, from the generation of the Meshiha, and from the generation of the world to come. [JERUSALEM. 16. And he said, The oath hath come forth from beneath the throne of the Great One, of all the world the Lord; the first king who will sit upon the throne of the kingdom of the sons of Israel, Shaul, the son of Kish, will set the battle in array against the house of Amalek, and will slay them; and those of them that remain will Mardekai and Esther destroy. The Lord hath said by His Word that the memory of Amalek shall perish to the age of ages.]

 

 

[1] They were two lofty rocks, with a defile between them, called the (pi) mouth of the rocks.-- R.S. Izhaki, in loco.

[1] Oktaraia: "Octarions, prafecti militares."

[1] The Ardiphne, Hirdoph, and sometimes Rododaphne, is described in Shemoth Rabba as a tree which grows beside water and bears flowers like lilies, of a bitter taste. The name us given also to the bitter herbs eaten with the passover. (Tr. Pesachim, 39.) The old commentator in the Yalkut says, "This was one miracle within another, --bitter waters made sweet by a bitter tree."

Ch. 13-20

Pg. 504-515

SECTION XVII.

JETHRO.

And Jethro, prince of Midian, the father‑in‑law of Mosheh, heard all that the Lord had done for Mosheh and for Israel His people, and that the Lord had brought forth Israel from Mizraim. And Jethro the father‑in‑law of Mosheh took Zipporah his wife, whom Mosheh had sent back from him after going into Mizraim, and his two sons, the name of the one of whom was Gershom, Because He had said, I am a dweller in a strange land which is not mine; and the name of the other Eliezer, For (he had said) the God of my fathers was my helper, and saved me from the sword of Pharoh. And Jethro the father‑in‑law of Mosheh, and the sons of Mosheh, and his wife came to Mosheh at the desert in which be was sojourning hard by the mountain upon which the glory of the Lord was revealed to Mosheh at the beginning. And he said to Mosheh, I, thy father‑in‑law Jethro, have come to thee to be a proselyte; and if thou wilt not receive me on my own account, receive me for the sake of thy wife and of her two sons who are with her. And Mosheh came forth from under the cloud of glory to meet his father‑in‑law, and did obeisance, and kissed him and made him a proselyte; and they asked of each other's welfare, and came to the tabernacle, the house of instruction. And Mosheh recounted to his father‑in‑law all that the Lord had done to Pharoh and to the Mizraee on behalf of Israel; all the hardship they had found in the way, at the sea of Suph, and at Marah, and at Rephidim, and how Amalek had fought with them, and the Lord had delivered them. And Jethro rejoiced over all the good which the Lord had done unto Israel, and that He had given them manna, and the well, and that he had saved them from the hand of the Mizraee. And Jethro said, Blessed be the Name of the Lord who hath saved you from the hand of the Mizraee, and from the hand of Pharoh, and hath saved the people from under the tyranny of the Mizraee. Now have I known that the Lord is stronger than all gods; for by the very thing by which the Mizraee wickedly would have punished Israel by (drowning them in) the sea, upon themselves came the punishment, in being punished in the sea. And Jethro took burnt offerings and holy sacrifices before the Lord, and Aharon and all the elders of Israel. came to eat bread with the father‑in‑law of Mosheh before the Lord; and Mosheh stood and ministered before them.

And the day after, the day of reconciliation, Mosheh sat to judge the people: and the people stood before Mosheh from morning till evening. And the father‑in‑law of Mosheh saw how much he toiled and laboured for his people; and he said, What thing is this that thou art doing to the people? Why dost thou sit alone to judge, and all the people stand before thee from morning until evening? And Mosheh said to his father‑in‑law, Because the people come to me to inquire for instruction from before the Lord. When they have a matter for judgment, they come to me, and I judge between a man and his fellow, and make them to know the statutes and the law of the Lord. And the father-in‑law of Mosheh said to him, This thing that thou art doing is not well ordered; thou wilt verily wear thyself away. Aharon also, and his sons, and the elders of thy people, because the thing is heavier than thou art, able to do by thyseIf, (should take part in it.) Now hearken to me and I will advise thee; and may the Word of the Lord be thy helper! When thou art with the people who seek instruction from before the Lord, thou shouldst take their affair before the Lord, and give them counsel about the statutes and laws, make them understand the prayer they are to offer in the house of congregation, the manner of visiting the sick, of burying the dead, of being fruitful In doing good, and in the work and process of justice, and how to conduct themselves among the wicked. But thou shouldst elect from all the people men of ability who fear the Lord, upright men who hate to receive the mammon of dishonesty, and superappoint them to be heads of thousands, of hundreds, of fifties, and of tens. And let them judge the people at all times, and every great matter bring to thee, but every little thing let them judge themselves, that they may lighten the burden that is upon thee, and bear it with thee. If thou wilt do this, and exempt thyself from judging (every case) as the Lord shall give thee instruction, thou wilt be able to continue to hear them; and Aharon also and his sons, and all the elders of this people, will resort to the place of Judgment in peace. And Mosheh hearkened to his father‑in‑law, and did all that he had said. And Mosheh selected able men from all Israel, and appointed them chief, over the people, rabbans of thousands, six hundred; rabbans of hundreds, six thousand; rabbans of fifties, twelve thousand; and rabbans of tens, six Myriads. And they judged the people at all times; a bard case they, brought to Mosheh; but every light matter they judged it. And Mosheh parted from his father‑in‑law, and he went, and himself made proselytes of all the children of his land.

XIX. In the third month of the Exodus of the sons of Israel from the land of Mizraim, on that day, the first of the month, came they to the desert; for they had journeyed from Rephidim, and had come to the desert of Sinai and Israel encamped there in the desert, of one heart, nigh to the mountain. And Mosheh on the second day went up to the summit of the mount; and the Lord called to him from the mount, saying, This shalt thou speak to the men of the house of Jakob, and instruct the house of Israel. [JERUSALEM. And Mosheh went up to seek instruction from before the Lord; and the Word of the Lord anticipated him from the mountain, saying, Thus shalt thou speak to the men of the house of Jakob, and teach the congregation of the sons of Israel.]                                    

Ye have seen what I did to the Mizraee; and how I bare you upon the clouds as upon eagles' wings from Pelusin, to take you to the place of the sanctuary, there to solemnize the Pascha; and in the same night brought you back to Pelusin, and from thence have brought you nigh, to (receive) the doctrine of My law. And now, if you will truly hearken to My Word and keep My covenant, you shall be more beloved before Me than all the peoples on the face of the earth. And before Me you shall be crowned kings, and sanctified priests, and a holy people. These are the words thou shalt speak to the sons of Israel. And Mosheh came that day, and called the elders of the people, and set in order before them all these words which the Lord had commanded. And all the people responded together, and said, All that the Lord hath spoken we will do.

And Mosheh carried back the words of the people before the Lord. And the Lord said to Mosheh, Behold, on the third day I will reveal Myself to thee in the depth of the cloud of glory, that the people may hear while I speak with thee, and may believe in thee forever. And Mosheh delivered the words of the people before the Lord. [JERUSALEM. 4. You have seen what vengeance I have taken of the Mizraee, and (how) I bare you upon the light clouds as upon eagles' wings, and brought you nigh to the doctrine of My law. And now, if you will truly hearken to the voice of My Word, and will keep My covenant, you shall be unto My Name a distinct people, and beloved as a precious treasure above all peoples; for all the earth is to the Name of the Lord. And to My Name shall you be kings and priests and a holy people. These are the words thou shalt speak. And Mosheh came and called the sages of Israel and set in order before them all these words which the Word of the Lord had commanded him. And all the people answered together in the fulness of their heart, and said, All that the Word of the Lord hath spoken, we will do. And Mosheh returned the words of the people in prayer before the Lord. And the Word of the Lord said to Mosheh, Behold, My Word will be revealed to thee in the thickness of the cloud, that the people may hear while I speak with thee, and may also believe for ever in the words of the prophecy of thee, My servant Mosheh. And Mosheh delivered the words of the people in prayer before the Lord.]

And the Lord said to Mosheh on the fourth day, Go unto the people, and prepare them to‑day and tomorrow; let them wash their raiment, and be prepared On the third day; for on the third day the Lord will reveal Himself to the eyes of all the people, upon the Mount of Sinai. And thou shalt set limits for the people that they may stand round about the mountain, and shalt say, Beware that you ascend not the mount, nor come near its confines; whoever cometh nigh the mount will be surely put to death. Touch it not with the hand; for he will be stoned with hailstone, or be pierced with arrows of fire; whether beast or man, he will not live. But when the voice of the trumpet is heard, they may go up (forwards) towards the mount. [JERUSALEM. No man shall touch it with the hand; for stoned he will be stoned, or fiery arrows will flee against him; whether beast or man, he will not live. When the trumpet soundeth, they may go up toward the mountain.] And Mosheh went down that day to the people, and prepared the people, and they blanched their clothes. And he said to the people, Be ready for the third day; abstain from the marriage‑bed. [JERUSALEM. And he said to the people, Be ready for the third day; abstain from the marriage‑bed.]

And it was on the third day, on the sixth of the month, in the time of the morning, that on the mountain there were voices of thunders, and lightnings, and mighty clouds of smoke, and a voice of a trumpet exceeding loud; and all the people in the camp trembled. And Mosheh brought forth the people from the camp to meet the glorious Presence of the Lord; and suddenly the Lord of the world uprooted the mountain, and lifted it in the air, and it became luminous as a beacon, and they stood beneath the mountain. And all the mount of Sinai was in flame; for the heavens had overspread it, and He was revealed over it in flaming fire, and the smoke went up as the smoke of a furnace, and all the mountain quaked greatly. [JERUSALEM. And all mount Sinai sent up smoke, because the glory of the Shekinah of the Lord was revealed upon it in flame of fire.] And the voice of the trumpet went forth, and grew stronger: (then) Mosheh spake, and was answered from before the Lord with a gracious and majestic voice, and with pleasant and gracious words. And the Lord revealed Himself on mount Sinai upon the summit of the mountain, and the Lord called unto Mosheh from the summit of the mount, and Mosheh went up. And the Lord said to Mosheh, Descend, and warn the people, lest they come directly before the Lord to gaze, and many of them fall. The priests, also, who approach to minister before the Lord, must be sanctified, lest the Lord destroy them. And Mosheh said before the Lord, The people cannot come up to mount Sinai, because Thou didst instruct us, saying, Make limits to the mount, and sanctify it. And the Lord said to him, Go down, and then ascend, thou and Aharon with thee; but let not the, priests or the people directly come up to gaze before the Lord, lest He slay them. And Mosheh went down from the mountain to the people, and said to them, Draw nigh and hear the Law with Ten Words.[1] [JERUSALEM. And Mosheh went down from the mountain to the people, and said to them, Draw nigh and receive the Ten Words.]

XX. And the Lord spake all these words, saying: [JERUSALEM. And the Word of the Lord spake all the excellency[2] of these words saying:]

The first word, as it came forth from the mouth of the Holy One, whose Name be blessed, was like storms, and lightnings, and flames of fire, with a burning light on His right hand and on His left. It winged its way through the air of the heavens, and was made manifest unto the camp of Israel, and returned, and was engraven on the tables of the covenant that were given by the hand of Mosheh, and were turned in them[3] from side to side: and then called He, and said:

Sons of Israel My people, I am the Lord your God, who brought you out free from the land of Mizraim, from the house of the bondage of slaves. The second word which came forth from the mouth of the Holy One, whose name be blessed, was like storms, and lightnings, and flames of fire. A burning light was on His right hand and on His left and was borne through the air of the heavens, returned, and was made manifest unto the camp of Israel; it returned, and was engraven on the tables of the covenant, and was turned in them from side to side. Then called He, and said, House of Israel, My people, Thou shalt have no other God beside Me. You shall not make to yourselves image or figure, or any similitude of what is in the heavens above, or on the earth beneath, or in the waters under the earth. You shall not bow down to them, or worship before them; for I the Lord your God am a jealous God and an avenger, punishing with vengeance, recording the guilt of wicked fathers upon rebellious children unto the third and unto the fourth generation of them who hate Me; but keeping mercy and goodness for thousands of generations of the righteous who love Me, and who keep My commandments and My laws.

My people of the house of Israel, Let no one of you swear by the name of the Word of the Lord your God in vain; for in the day of the great judgment the Lord will not hold guiltless any one who sweareth by His name in vain.

My people of the house of Israel, Remember the day of Shabbatha, to sanctify it. Six days you shall labour, and do all your service: but the seventh day is (for) rest and quietude before the Lord your God: you shall not perform any work, you, and your sons, and your daughters, and your servants, and your handmaids, and your sojourners who are in your cities. For in six days the Lord created the heavens, and the earth, and the sea, and whatever is therein, and rested on the seventh day: therefore the Lord hath blessed the day of Shabbatha and sanctified it.

My people, the house of Israel, Let every man be instructed in the honour of his father and in the honour of his mother: that your days may be multiplied upon the land which the Lord your God giveth you.

My people, the sons of Israel, You. shall not be murderers; you shall not be companions of or partakers with murderers: in the congregations of Israel there shall not be seen a murderous people; neither shall your sons rise up after you and teach one another to take part with murderers: for on account of the guilt of murder the sword cometh forth upon the world.

My people of the house of Israel, Be ye not adulterers, nor companions nor partakers with adulterers: nor in the congregations of Israel shall there be seen an adulterous people, that your sons may not arise after you to teach one another to have part with adulterers: for through the guilt of adultery death cometh forth upon the world.

Sons of Israel My people, Ye shall not be thieves, nor companions nor partakers with thieves: there shall not be seen in the congregations of Israel a thievish people; that your sons may not arise after you to teach one another to have part with thieves: for on account of the guilt of theft famine cometh forth upon the world.

Sons of Israel My people, Ye shall not testify against your neighbours a testimony of falsehood, nor be companions or partakers with those who bear false witness nor shall there be seen in the congregations of Israel a people who testify a testimony of falsehood; neither shall your sons arise after you to teach one another to have part with those who testify falsehood: for because of the guilt of false testimony the clouds go up and the rain cometh not down, and dryness cometh upon the world.

Sons of Israel My people, Ye shall not be covetous companions or partakers with the covetous: nor shall there be seen in the congregations of Israel a covetous people; that your sons may not arise after you to teach one another to have part with the covetous: neither shall any among you covet the wife of his neighbour, nor his servant, nor his handmaid, nor his ox, nor his ass nor anything that belongeth to his neighbour; because through the guilt of covetousness the government breaketh in upon the possessions of men to take them, and the wealthy are made poor, and slavery cometh upon the world.

And all the people saw the thunders, and were turned back, every one as he heard them coming forth from the midst of the lights, and the voice of the trumpet as it will raise the dead, and the mountain smoking; and all the people saw and drew back, and stood twelve miles off. And they said to Mosheh, Speak thou with us, and we can hear; but let it not be spoken with us any more from before the Lord, lest we die. [JERUSALEM. And all the people saw the thunders and the lights, and the sound of the trumpet, and the mountain smoking; and the people saw and trembled, and stood afar off.]

And Mosheh said to the people, Fear not; for the glory of the Lord is revealed to try you, whether His fear is before your faces, that ye may not sin. And the people stood twelve miles off; but Mosheh drew near to the height of the darkness where was the glory of the Lord. And the Lord said to Mosheh, Speak thus to the sons of Israel: You have seen that from the heavens I have spoken with you; sons of Israel, My people, you shall not make, that you may worship, the likeness of the sun or the moon or the stars, or the planets, or the angels who minister before Me; idols of silver, nor idols of gold, ye shall not make to you. An altar of earth ye shall make to My Name, and sacrifice upon it thy burnt offerings and thy sanctified oblations from thy sheep and from thy oxen. And in every place where My Shekinah shall dwell, and thou worship before Me, there will I send My blessing upon thee, and will bless thee. But if thou wilt make an altar of stones unto My Name, thou shalt not build them sculptured; for if thou lift up iron, from which the sword is made, upon the stone, thou wilt profane it. And you, the priests, who stand to minister before Me, shall not ascend to My altar by steps, but by (sloping) bridges; that thy shame may not be seen thereupon. [JERUSALEM. An altar grounded in the earth shalt thou make unto My name, and shalt offer upon it your burnt offerings and sacred oblations, your sheep and your oxen. In every place in which ye shall memorialize My holy Name, My Word shall be revealed to you, and bless you. But if you make an altar of stones unto My Name, you shall not build it with sculptured ones, because the sword is made of iron. If thou workest with iron upon it, thou wilt profane it. You also, the priests, the sons of Aharon, who stand and minister beside Mine altar, shall not ascend by steps unto Mine altar, lest your shame be disclosed upon it.]

Ch. 21-24

Pgs. 515-527

SECTION XVIII.

MISHPATIM.

XXI. AND these are the orders of judgments which thou shalt order before them. If thou shalt have bought a son of Israel, on account of his theft, six years he shall serve, and at the incoming of the seventh he shall go out free without price. If he came in alone, he shall go out alone: but if (he be) the husband of a wife, a daughter of Israel, his wife shall go out with him. If his master give him a wife, an handmaid, and she bear him sons or daughters, the wife and her children shall belong to his master, and he may go out alone. But if the servant shall affirm and say, I love my master, my wife, and my children, (and) I will not go out free, then his master shall bring him before the judges, and shall receive from them the power, and bring him to the door that hath posts; and his master shall pierce his right ear with an awl; and he shall be a servant to serve him until the jubela. And if a man of Israel sell his daughter, a little handmaid, she shall not go forth according to the going forth of the servants of the Kenaanaee, who are set at liberty on account of the tooth or the eye; but in the years of remission, and with tokens, and at the jubela, and on the death of her master, and by redemption with money. If she hath not found favour before her master who bought her, then her father may redeem her; but to a foreigner he shall not have power to sell her; for as a vessel of her Lord he hath power over her. And if he had intended her for the side of his son, he shall do by her after the manner of the daughters of Israel. If he take another daughter of Israel to him beside her, her food, her adorning, and her conjugal rights, he shall not withhold from her. [JERUSALEM. And if he take another wife beside her, of her food, her adorning, and her going in and coming out with him, he shall not deprive her.] And if these three things he doth not for her, to covenant her to himself, or to his son, or to release her into the hand of her father, she shall go free without payment, and a writing of release he shall give her.

Whosoever smiteth a son or a daughter of Israel, so as to cause death, shall be put to death with the sword. But he who did not attack him, but mischance from before the Lord befell him at his hand, I will appoint thee a place where he may flee. But if a man come maliciously upon his neighbour to kill him with craft, though the priests are ministering at My altar, thence thou shalt take him, and slay him with the sword. [JERUSALEM. But if a man deviseth against his neighbour to kill him by guile, though the high priest were standing to minister before Me, from thence thou shalt bring him, and put him to death.] And he who woundeth his father or his mother shall die by strangling.[1] And he who stealeth a soul of the children of Israel, and selleth him, or if he be found in his possession, shall die by strangling. And he who curseth his father or his mother by the Great Name,[2] dying he shall die by being stoned with stones. And when men strive together, and one smite his neighbour with a stone, or with his fist, so that he die not, but fall ill, if he rise again from his illness, and walk in the street upon his staff, he who smote him shall be acquitted from the penalty of death; only for his cessation from labour, his affliction, his injury, his disgrace, and the hire of the physician, he shall make good until he be cured. And when a man hath smitten his Kenaanite man‑servant or maid‑servant with a staff, and he die the same day under his hand, he shall be judged with the judgment of death by the sword. But if the wounded person continue one or two days from time to time, he shall not be (so) judged; because with money he had bought him. If men when striving strike a woman with child, and cause her to miscarry, but not to lose her life, the fine on account of the infant which the husband of the woman shall lay upon him, he shall pay according to the sentence of the judges. But if death befall her, then thou shalt judge the life of the killer for the life of the woman. The value of an eye for an eye, the value of a tooth for a tooth, the value of a hand for a hand, the value of a foot for a foot, all equivalent of the pain of burning for burning, and of wounding for wounding, and of blow for blow. And when a man strikes the eye of his Kenaanite servant or handmaid, and causeth blindness, he shall let him go free, on account of the eye. And if he strike out the tooth of his Kenaanite man or maid‑servant, he shall make the servant free on account of the tooth.

And if an ox goreth a man or woman to cause death, the ox must be stoned, but shall not be killed that his flesh may be eaten; and the owner of the ox shall be exempt from the condemnation of death, and also from the price of the servant or handmaid. But if the ox (had been wont) to gore yesterday and before, and it had been attested before his owner three times, and he (had neglected) to restrain him, the ox, when he killeth man or woman, shall be stoned, and his master also shall die with a death sent upon him from heaven. Yet if a fine of money be laid upon him, he may give a ransom for his life, according to what shall be imposed on him by the sanhedrin of Israel. Whether the ox hath gored a son or a daughter of Israel, according to that judgment it shall be done to him. If an ox goreth a Kenaanite man‑servant or handmaid, the master of the man or woman‑servant shall give thirty sileen[3] of silver, and the ox shall be stoned. And if a man openeth a pit in the street, and doth not cover it, and an ox or an ass fall therein; the master of the pit shall deliver silver to give to its owner the price of the ox or the ass, and the dead body shall be his. And when an ox woundeth his neighbour's ox, and he die, they shall sell the living ox, and divide the price, and the price of the dead one shall they also divide. But if it hath been known that the ox was wont to gore in time past, and his master did not restrain him, he shall surely deliver ox for ox; but the carcase and the skin shall be his. When a man stealeth an ox or a sheep, and killeth or selleth it, five oxen shall he make good for one ox, because he hath hindered him from his ploughing; and four sheep for one, because he hath impoverished him by his theft, and not done service by it.

XXII. If a thief be found in a window of the wall, and be smitten and die, there shall not be on his account the guilt of the shedding of innocent blood. If the thing be as clear as the sun that he was not entering to destroy life, and one hath killed him, the guilt of the shedding of innocent blood is upon him; and if spared from his hand, restoring he shall restore. If he have not wherewith to restore, the beth din shall sell him for his theft until the year of release. If before witnesses, the thing stolen was found in his possession, from an ox or an ass, unto a sheep alive, he shall restore two for one. If a man break in upon a field or a vineyard, and send in his beast to feed in another man's field, the best of his field and the best of his vineyard he shall restore. If fire break out, and catch thorns, and consume the sheaves, or whatever is standing, or the field, whoever kindled the fire shall surely restore.

When a man confideth to his neighbour silver, or vessels to keep, without recompense for the care, and they be stolen from the man's house, if the thief be found, he shall restore two for one. If the thief be not found, the master of the house shall be brought before the judges, and shall swear that he hath not put forth his own hand upon the property of his neighbour. And about whatever is injured covertly, whether ox, or ass, or sheep, or raiment, of whatever is (so) lost, he shall make oath when he saith that so it is; and when the thing stolen shall be afterward found in the hand of the thief, the cause of both shall be brought before the judges, the cause of the householder and the cause of the thief; and whom the judges shall condemn, the thief shall restore twofold to his neighbour If a man deliver to his neighbour all ox, or a sheep, or any animal to keep, (if) he is to keep it without recompense, and it die, or be torn by wild beast, or be carried off, and no witness seeing who can testify it; an oath of the Lord shall be between them both, that he hath not put forth his hand upon the property of his neighbour; and the owner of the thing shall accept his oath, and he shall not (be required to) make it good. But if it be stolen from him who was to receive recompense for the care, he shall make it good to its owner. If it hath been torn by a wild beast, let him bring witnesses, or bring him to the carcase: because for that which is (so) torn he shall not make restitution. [JERUSALEM. 12. If it hath been really killed, he shall bring of its members, as a testimony, and for that which is killed he shall not make restitution.] And if a man borrow anything of his neighbour, and the vessel be broken, or the animal die, and the owner be not with it, lie shall certainly make it good. If the owner be with it, he shall not make it good: if it had been lent for profit, its loss came on account of its hire.

If a man seduce a virgin unbetrothed, and have criminal conduct with her, endowing, he shall endow her to be his wife. [JERUSALEM. 15. If a man seduce a virgin, unbetrothed, and have criminal conduct with her, endowing, he shall endow her to be a wife.] If this doth not appear to him (to be desirable), or if her father be not willing to give her to him fifty sileen of silver shall be laid upon him, according to the endowment of a virgin. Sons of My people Israel, whosoever practiseth witchcraft you shall not suffer to live. Whosoever lieth with a beast shall be stoned to death. Whosoever sacrificeth to the idols of the Gentiles shall be slain with the sword, and his goods be destroyed; for ye shall worship only the Name of the Lord. And the stranger you shall not vex with words, nor distress him by taking his goods: Remember, sons of Israel, My people, that you were strangers in the land of Mizraim. You shall not impoverish the widow or the orphan. If thou impoverish her, beware; for if they rise up and cry against you in prayer before Me, I will hear the voice of their prayer, and will avenge them, and My anger will be kindled, and I will slay you with the sword, and your wives shall be widows, and your children be orphans.

If thou lend money to (one of) My people, to (one of) the humble of My people, thou shalt not be to him as an usurer, neither lay it upon him that there shall be witnesses against him, or that he give pledges, or equivalents, or usury. [JERUSALEM. 24. If thou lend money to My people, to the poor of your people, you shall not be to him an oppressive creditor, or lay upon him either equivalents or usury.] If thou take (at all) for a pledge the garment of thy neighbour, thou shalt restore it to him before sunset; for it may be his taleth which alone covereth him; (or) it is his only garment in which he rests, which falleth upon his skin; and if thou take the coverlet of the bed whereon he lies, and he be heard before Me, I will hearken to his prayer; for I am Eloah the Merciful.

Sons of Israel My people, ye shall not revile your judges, nor curse the rabbans who are appointed rulers among thy people. The firsts[4] of thy fruits, and the firsts of thy wine‑press, thou shalt not delay to bring up in their time to the place of My habitation. The firstlings of thy males thou shalt separate before Me. So shalt thou do with the firstlings of thy oxen and sheep; seven days it shall be suckled by its mother, and on the eighth day thou shalt separate it before Me. And holy men, tasting unconsecrated things innocently, shall you be before Me; but flesh torn by wild beasts alive you may not eat, but throw it to the dog as his portion.

XXIII. Sons of Israel My people, take not up lying words from a man who accuseth his neighbour before thee, nor put thine hand with the wicked to become a false witness. Sons of Israel My people, you shall not go after the many to do evil, but to do good; and no one among you shall restrain himself from affirming justly concerning his neighbour in the judgment, by saying, Behold, the judgment sides with the many. [JERUSALEM. Sons of Israel My people, you shall not go after the multitude to do evil, but to do good; and no one of you shall restrain himself from setting forth the just cause of his neighbour in the judgment, nor say in your heart, The judgment sides with the many.] And to the poor man who is guilty in his cause, thou shalt not be partial in having compassion upon him; for there must not be respect of persons in judgment. If thou meet the ox of thine enemy whom thou dislikest on account of the wickedness which thou only knowest is in him, or an ass that wandereth from the way, thou shalt surely bring it to him. If thou seest the ass of thy enemy whom thou dislikest on account of the wickedness which thou only knowest to be in him, lying under his burden, and thou wouldst refrain thyself from going near him, thou shalt relinquish at once the dislike of thy heart against (thy enemy), and release and take care of the ass (or, charge thyself with him).

Sons of Israel My people, ye shall not warp the judgment of the poor in his cause. From a false matter keep distant. And when one hath gone forth from thy house of justice acquitted, and they (afterwards) find out his guilt; or one hath been brought out condemned, and they (afterward) find out his innocence,-­thou shalt not put him to death; for I will not hold (the former) innocent, nor the latter guilty. And thou mayest not receive a bribe; for a bribe blindeth their eyes who have taken it, and casteth down the wise from their seats, and perverteth the right words which are written in the law, and confoundeth the words that are in the mouth of the innocent in the hour of judgment. Thou shalt not oppress the stranger; for ye know the sigh of a stranger's soul; because ye were sojourners in the land of Mizraim.

Six years thou shalt sow thy land, and gather the produce; but the seventh year thou shalt exempt it from labour, and give up the fruit of it to be eaten by the poor of My people; and what they leave shall be eaten by the beasts of the field. And in like manner shalt thou do with thy vine and olive grounds. Six days do thy work, and on the seventh day repose, that thy ox and thy ass may rest, and that the uncircumcised son of thy handmaid, and the stranger, may rest. And of all the precepts that I have spoken to you, be carefull; and the names of the idols of the Gentiles remember not, nor let them be heard upon your lips.

Three times in the year thou shalt keep festival before Me. The feast of unleavened cakes thou shalt keep. Seven days thou art to eat unleavened bread, as I have instructed thee, in the time of the month of Abiba, because in it thou camest forth from Mizraim; and you shall not appear before Me empty. And the feast of the harvest first‑fruits of the work thou didst sow in the field; and the feast of gathering, at the end of the year, when thou hast gathered in thy work from the field. Three times in the year shall all thy males appear before the Lord the Ruler of the world.

Sons of Israel My people, while there is leaven in your houses you may not immolate the bloody sacrifice of My Pascha; nor shall the fat of the sacrifice of My Pascha remain without the altar until morning, nor of the flesh that you eat in the evening. The first of the choice fruits of thy ground thou shalt bring to the sanctuary of the Lord thy God. My people of the house of Israel, you are not permitted to dress or to eat of flesh and milk mingled together, lest I be greatly displeased; and I prepare you the wheat and the straw together for your food.

Behold, I will send an Angel before thee, to keep thee in the way, and to bring thee in to the place of My habitation which I have prepared. Be circumspect before Him, and obey His word, and be not rebellious against His words; for He will not forgive your sins, because His word is in My Name. For if thou wilt indeed hearken to His word, and do all that I speak by Him, I will be the enemy of thy enemy, and will trouble them who trouble thee. For My Angel shall go before thee, and bring thee to the Amoraee, and Pherizaee, and Kenaanaee, Hivaee, and Jebusaee; and I will destroy them. Thou shalt not worship their idols, nor serve them, nor do after their evil works; but thou shalt utterly demolish the house of their worship, and break the statues of their images. And you shall do service before the Lord our God and He will bless the provision of thy food and thy drinks, and remove the bitter plague from among thee. None shall be abortive or barren in thy land; the number of the days of thy life I will fulfil from day to day. My terror will I send before thee, and will perturb all the peoples to whom thou comest, that thou mayest wage battle against them; and I will make all thy enemies turn back before thee. And I will send the hornet before thee to drive out the Hivaee, and Kenaanaee, and Hitaee, from before thee. I will not expel them before thee in one year, lest the land become a wilderness, and the beasts of the field multiply upon thee, when they come to eat their carcasses, and injure thee. By little and little I will drive them out before thee, until thou art increased, and inherit the land. And I will set thy boundary from the sea of Suph, to the sea of the Philistaee, and from the desert unto the Pherat; for I will deliver into your hand all the inhabitants of the land, and thou shalt drive them out from before thee. Thou shalt make no covenant with them, nor with their idols. Thou shalt not let them dwell in thy land, lest they cause thee to err, and to sin before Me, when thou dost worship their idols; for they will be a stumbling‑block to thee.

XXIV. And Michael, the Prince of Wisdom, said to Mosheh on the seventh day of the month, Come up before the Lord, thou and Aharon, Nadab and Abihu, and seventy of the elders of Israel, and worship at a distance. And Mosheh alone shall approach before the Lord; but they shall not draw nigh, nor may the people come up with him.

And Mosheh came and set before the people all the words of the Lord, and all the judgments. And all the people answered with one voice, and said, All that the Lord hath spoken we will do. And Mosheh wrote the words of the Lord, and arose in the morning and builded an altar at the lower part of the mountain; and twelve pillars for the twelve tribes of Israel. And he sent the firstborn of the sons of Israel,-for until that hour had the firstborn had the (office of performing) worship, the tabernacle of ordinance not (as yet) being made, nor the priesthood given unto Aharon; and they offered burnt offerings and consecrated oblations of oxen before the Lord. And Mosheh took half of the blood of the offering, and put it in basins, and half of the blood of the offering he sprinkled upon the altar. And he took the Book of the Covenant of the Law and read before the people; and they said, All the words which the Lord hath spoken we will perform and obey. And Mosheh took half of the blood which was in the basins, and sprinkled upon the altar, to expiate the people, and said, Behold, this is the blood of the Covenant which the Lord hath made with you upon all these words.

And Mosheh and Aharon, Nadab and Abihu, and seventy of the elders of Israel, went up. And Nadab and Abihu lifted up their eyes, and saw the glory of the God of Israel; and under the footstool of His feet which was placed beneath His throne, was like the work of sapphire stone a memorial of the servitude with which the Mizraee had made the children of Israel to serve in clay and bricks, (what time) there were women treading clay with their husbands; the delicate young woman with child was also there, and made abortive by being beaten down with the clay. And thereof did Gabriel, descending, make brick, and, going up to the heavens on high, set it, a footstool under the cathedra of the Lord of the world whose splendour was as the work of a precious stone, and as the power of the beauty of the heavens when they are clear from clouds. [JERUSALEM. The footstool of His feet as the work of pure sapphire stones, and as the aspect of the heavens when they are cleared from clouds.]

But upon Nadab and Abihu, the comely young men, was the stroke not sent in that hour, but it awaited them on the eighth day for a retribution to destroy them; but they saw the glory of the Shekinah of the Lord, and rejoiced that their oblations were received with favour, and so did eat and drink.

And the Lord said to Mosheh, Ascend before Me at the mount, and I will there give thee the tables of stone on which I have set forth the rest of the words of the Law, and the six hundred and thirteen precepts which I have written for their instruction. And Mosheh arose and Jehoshua his minister; and Mosheh went up to the mountain on which was revealed the glory of the Shekinah of the Lord. And to the sages he had said, Expect us here, at the time of our return to you; and, behold, Aharon and Hur are with you; if there be any matter of judgment, bring it to them. And Mosheh went up into the mount, and the Cloud of Glory covered the mount. And the glory of the Lord's Shekinah abode upon the mountain of Sinai, and the Cloud of Glory covered it six days. And on the seventh day He called to Mosheh from the midst of the Cloud. And the appearance of the splendour of the glory of the Lord was as burning fire with flashes of devouring fire; and the sons of Israel beheld and were awe-struck. And Mosheh entered into the midst of the Cloud, and ascended the mountain; and Mosheh was upon the mountain forty days and forty nights, learning the words of the Law from the mouth of the Holy One, whose Name be praised.

Ch. 24-27

Pgs. 527-534

SECTION XIX.

TERUMAH.

XXV. And the Lord spake with Mosheh, saying, Speak unto the children of Israel, that they shall set apart (take) before me a Separation: of every one whose heart is willing, but not by constraint, ye shall take my separation. And this is the separation which you shall take of them: gold, and silver, and brass; and hyacinth, and purple, and crimson, and fine linen; and goats' skins, and skins of rams dyed red, and purpled skins, and woods of sittin, and olive oil for the light, and aromatics for the confection of the pure anointing oil, and of the fragrant incense; gems of beryl that are gems of perfection, for engraving and insertion in the ephoda and in the breastplate.

And they shall make a Sanctuary to My Name, that My Shekinah may dwell among them. According to all that I show thee, the likeness of the tabernacle and the likeness of all its vessels, so shalt thou make. And they shall make an ark of sitta wood; two cubits and a half its length, a cubit and a half its breadth, and a cubit and a half its height. And thou shalt cover it with pure gold within and without, and shalt make upon it a crown of gold round about. [JERUSALEM. A coronal of gold shall surround it.] And thou shalt cast for it four rings of gold, and set them upon its four corners; two rings for one side, and two rings for the second side. And thou shalt make staves of sitta wood, and cover them with gold; and thou shalt introduce the staves into the rings on the sides of the ark, that the ark may be carried upon them. The staves shall be inlaid in the rings of the ark, and not be removed from it. And thou shalt put within the ark the Testament that I will give thee.

And thou shalt make a (kaphortha) mercy‑seat of pure gold; two cubits and a half the length, and a cubit and a half the breadth, and its depth shall be a handbreadth (pusheka). And thou shalt make two kerubin, of pure beaten gold shalt thou make them on the two sides of the mercy‑seat. Thou shalt make one keruba on this side, and one keruba on that side of the mercy‑seat; you shall make the kerubaia on its two sides. And the kerubaia shall stretch forth their wings above, their heads over against each other, their wings overshadowing the mercy‑seat, and their faces over against each other; towards the mercy‑seat shall be the faces of the kerubaia. And thou shalt put the mercy‑seat above upon the ark, and within the ark thou shalt lay the Tables of the Testament that I will give thee. And I will appoint My Word with thee there, and will speak with thee from above the mercy‑seat, between the two kerubaia that are over the ark of the testament, concerning all that I may command thee for the sons of Israel.

And thou shalt make a table of sitta wood; two cubits its length, and a cubit its breadth, and a cubit and a half its height. And thou shalt overlay it with pure gold, and make for it a rim of gold round about. And thou shalt make to it a border, a handbreadth high round about, and make a golden wreath for its border round about. [JERUSALEM. A border of a span surrounding.] And thou shalt make for it four golden rings, and set the rings in its four corners which are at its four feet. Over against the border shall the rings be, for the place of the staves, to carry the table. And thou shalt make its dishes and its spoons, its tankards and its measures, which are for the service of libation; of pure gold shalt thou make them. And upon the table thou shalt set in order the interior bread before Me continually.

And thou shalt make a Candelabrum; of pure beaten gold shalt thou make the candelabrum; its base and shaft, its cups and apples and lilies, shall be of the same. Six branches shall spread out from its sides; three branches of the candelabrum from one side, and three branches of the candelabrum on the second side. Three calyxes adorned with their figurations on one branch, with apple and lily; and three calyxes adorned with their figurations on the other branch, with apple and lily: so for the six branches that spread out from the candelabrum. And upon the candelabrum there shall be four calyxes adorned with their figurations, their apples and lilies. And there shall be an apple under two branches of it, and an apple under two branches of it, and an apple under two branches of it, for the six branches which extend from the candelabrum. Their apples and their branches shall be of the same; all of it one beaten work of pure gold. And thou shalt make its seven lights, and the priest who ministers shall kindle the lights, that they may shine over upon its face. And its snuffers and its shovels of pure gold. Of a talent of pure gold shall he make it and all these its vessels. And look thou, and make according to their forms which thou hast seen in the mount.

XXVI. And the Tabernacle thou shalt make with ten curtains of fine linen twined, and hyacinth, and purple, and crimson, with figures of kerubin; with the work of the artificer shalt thou make them. The length of one curtain twenty and eight cubits, and the breadth of one curtain four cubits; the measure of one shall be that of all the curtains. Five curtains shall be coupled one with another, and five other curtains coupled one with another. And thou shalt make loops of hyacinth upon the edge of one curtain at the side in the place of coupling, and so shalt thou do in the edge of the second curtain in the place of conjoinment. Fifty loops shalt thou make in one curtain, and fifty loops shalt thou make in the side of the second curtain in the place of conjoinment, so that the loops may answer one to the other. And thou shalt make fifty taches of gold, and couple the curtains one with another with the taches, and the Tabernacle shall be conjoined to be one.

And thou shalt make curtains of goats' hair to extend over the tabernacle: twelve curtains thou shalt make them. The length of one curtain thirty cubits, and the breadth of one curtain four cubits; and the measure of one (shall be that of each) of the eleven (other) curtains. And thou shalt conjoin five curtains together, corresponding with the five books of the Law; and six curtains together, corresponding with the six orders of the Mishna; and shalt fold the sixth curtain over the front of the tabernacle. And thou shalt make fifty loops upon the edge of one curtain at the side of the place of coupling; and fifty loops in the edge of the second curtain at the place of coupling. And thou shalt make taches of brass, fifty, and put the taches into the loops, and conjoin the tabernacle, that it may be one.

And the surplus which remaineth of the curtains of the Tabernacle, the half curtain which remaineth, thou shalt spread over the hinder part of the Tabernacle. [JERUSALEM. And the surplus.] And the cubit here and the cubit there, of that which remaineth in the curtains of the tabernacle, shall hang over the sides of the tabernacle here and there, to cover it. And thou shalt make a covering for the tabernacle of rams' skins dyed red, and a covering of purple skins above. And thou shalt make the boards of the tabernacle of sittin woods; they shall stand up, after the manner of their plantation. [JERUSALEM. Slabs.] Ten cubits the length of the board, and a cubit and a half the breadth of one board. Two tenons to one board, each in its side answering to the other: so shalt thou do for all the boards of the tabernacle. And thou shalt make the boards of the tabernacle, twenty boards towards the wind on the south side. And thou shalt make forty bases of silver [JERUSALEM. Bases of silver.] beneath the twenty boards; two bases beneath one board with its two tenons, and two bases under the other board with its two tenons. And for the second side of the tabernacle towards the north wind twenty boards, and their forty bases of silver; two bases under one, and two bases under the other board. And for the side of the tabernacle westward thou shalt make six boards. And two boards shalt thou make at the corners of the tabernacle at their ends. And they shall be conjoined beneath, and in one manner shall be conjoined at their heads, with one ring; so shall it be with them both; for the two corners shall all they be. And there shall be eight boards and their silver bases; sixteen bases; two bases under one board, and two bases under another board. And thou shalt make bars of sittin woods, five for the boards of one side of the tabernacle, and five bars for the boards of the second side of the tabernacle, and five bars for the side of the tabernacle at their extremity towards the west, [JERUSALEM. And five bars for the boards of the side of the tabernacle stretching to the west.] And the middle bar in the midst of the boards passing from end to end shall be from the tree which Abraham planted in Beara of Sheba: for when Israel had crossed the sea, the angels cut down the tree and cast it into the sea, and it floated on the face of the waters. And an angel proclaimed, and said, This is the tree which Abraham planted in Beara of Sheba, and prayed there in the name of the Word of the Lord. And the sons of Israel shall take and make thereof the middle bar, seventy cubits in length, and with it shall wondrous things be done: for when they have reared up the tabernacle, it shall go round it like a serpent among the boards of the tabernacle and when they take it down, it shall become straight as a rod. And the boards thou shalt overlay with gold, and make of gold their rings for the place of the bars, and shalt overlay the bars with gold. And thou shalt rear the tabernacle according to the manner showed thee in the mountain.

And thou shalt make a veil of hyacinth, and purple, and crimson, and fine linen entwined; the work of the artificer shalt thou make it, with figures of kerubin. And thou shalt range it upon four pillars of sitta, covered with gold, their hooks of gold, upon four bases of silver. [JERUSALEM. And their hooks of gold.] And thou shalt place the veil under the taches, and bring in thither within the veil the ark of the testament: and thou shalt spread the veil for you between the Holy and the Holy of Holies. And thou shalt place the mercy-seat with the kerubaia produced of beaten work for it in the Holy of Holies.

And thou shalt set the Table outside of the veil, and the Candelabrum over against the table on the southern side of the tabernacle; but the table thou shalt arrange on the northern side. And thou shalt make a curtain for the door of the tabernacle, of hyacinth, purple, and crimson, and fine linen twined, the work of the embroiderer. And thou shalt make for the curtain five pillars of sitta, and cover them with gold, and their nails shall be of gold; and thou shalt cast for them five bases of brass.

XXVII. And thou shalt make the Alter of woods of sitta; five cubits the length, and five cubits the breadth: square shall be the altar, and its height three cubits. And thou shalt make its horns upon its four corners: the, horns shall be of it, they shall rise upward, and thou shalt cover it with brass. And thou shalt make its pots to carry away its ashes and its shovels, and its basins, and its thuribles; all its vessels thou shalt make of brass. [JERUSALEM. And thou shalt make its pots to carry its ashes, and its scoops and basins, and its fleshhooks, and its thuribles; all its vessels thou shalt make of brass.] And thou shalt make for it a grate of network of brass, and upon the network four brass rings upon its four corners. [JERUSALEM. A grate.] And thou shalt place it under the surroundings of the altar, beneath, that the network may be to the middle of the altar, that, if any fragment or fiery coal fall from the altar, it may fall upon the grate, and not touch the ground, and that the priests may take it from the grate, and replace it upon the altar. And thou shalt make staves of sittin woods, and overlay them with brass; and thou shalt place the staves within the rings, and the staves shall be on the two sides of the altar in carrying the altar, hollow: (with) boards filled with dust shalt thou make it; according to what showed thee in the mountain, so shall they make.

And thou shalt make the court of the tabernacle. For the southern side shall be hangings of fine linen twined; a hundred cubits the length for one side. [JERUSALEM. Hangings.] And its pillars twenty, and their foundations twenty, of brass; the looks of the pillars, and their rods, of silver. And so for the northern side, for length, the hangings a hundred (cubits) long, and their pillars twenty, and their foundations twenty, of brass; the hooks of the pillars, and their rods, of silver. And for the breadth of the court on the western side, the hangings shall be fifty cubits; their columns ten and their foundations ten. And for the breadth of the eastern side eastward fifty cubits; and fifteen cubits the hangings of the side, their pillars three and the their foundations three. And for the door of the court shall be a veil of ten cubits of hyacinth, and purple, and crimson, and fine linen twined, of embroidered work; their pillars four, and their foundations four. All the pillars of the court round about shall be united with silver rods; their hooks of silver, and their foundations of brass. The length of the court one hundred cubits, and the breadth fifty on the west and fifty on the east, and the height five cubits, of fine linen twined, and their foundations of brass. All the vessels of the tabernacle in all its service, and all the pins of the court around, of brass.

Ch. 28-30

Pgs. 535-545

SECTION XX.

TETSAVVEH.

And thou shalt instruct the sons of Israel to bring the pure olive oil, beaten, for illumination, that the lamps may burn continually. In the tabernacle of the covenant, without the veil that is before the testimony, Aharon and his sons shall set it in order from evening until morning before the Lord, an everlasting statute to your generations of the house of Israel.

XXVIII. And thou, bring near to thee Aharon thy brother, and his sons with him, from among the sons of Israel, to minister before Me: Aharon, Nadab, and Abihu, Elazar and Ithamar, the sons of Aharon. And thou shalt make garments of holiness for Aharon thy brother, for glory and for praise. And thou shalt speak with all who are wise of heart, and whom I have filled with the spirit of wisdom, that they make the vestments of Aharon to consecrate him to minister before Me. And these are the vestments they shall make: the breastplate and ephoda, and the robe, and the embroidered tunics, the mitres and girdles; and they shall make the holy garments for Aharon thy brother, and for his sons, to minister before Me. And they shall take from their treasures gold, and hyacinth, and purple, and crimson, and fine linen. And they shall male the ephod of hyacinth, and purple, and crimson, and fine linen, twined, the work of the artificer. Two shoulder (pieces) shall it have, conjoined to its two sides, and (so) it shall be united. And the ornamented girdle which is to be upon it shall be of the same work; of gold, hyacinth, purple, and crimson, and fine twined linen, shall it be. And thou shalt take two gems of onyx, and engrave upon them the names of the sons of Israel. Six of their names shall be engraven upon one gem, and the six remaining names upon the second gem; they shall be set in the order of their nativity. The engraved gems shall be the work of the artificer, engraven, and the engraving be distinct as the engraving of a ring; thou shalt engrave the two gems according to the names of the sons of Israel in their work round about; inset in gold shalt thou make them. And thou shalt fix the two gems upon the shoulders of the ephod, to be set for a memorial of righteousness for the sons, of Israel; and Aharon shall bear the names of the sons of Israel upon his two shoulders for a memorial. And thou shalt make the sockets of gold. And two chains of pure gold, measured shalt thou make them, of twisted work, and insert the twisted chains in the sockets. [JERUSALEM. Chains.]

And thou shalt make the BREASTPLATE OF JUDGMENT, by which are made known the judgments that are hidden from the judges; and the order of the victories of their battles, and amends that are made for the judges; the work of the artificer; as the work of the ephod, thou shalt make it; of gold, hyacinth, and purple, and crimson, and fine linen twined, thou shalt make it. Square shall it be, doubled; a span its length, and a span its breadth. [JERUSALEM. A handsbreadth.] And thou shalt fill it with a fulness of precious stones: four rows of precious gems, answering to the four regions of the world. The first row, carnelian, topaz, carbuncle; and on them shall be engraven and expressed the names of the tribes Reuben, Shemeon, and Levi. [JERUSALEM. And thou shalt fill it with a filling of stones, four rows of precious stone; the first row, carnelian, and topaz, and carbuncle; written with expression upon it (shall be) the name of the three tribes, Reuben, Shemeon, Levi.] And the name of the second row, smaragd, and sapphire and chalcedony; and upon them shall be engraven and expressed the names of the three tribes, Jehuda, Dan, and Naphtali. And the name of the third row, ligure, and agate, and amethyst; and upon them shall be written and expressed the names of three tribes, Gad, and Asher, and Issakar. And the name of the fourth row, chrysolite, onyx, and jasper; and upon them shall be written and expressed the names of three tribes, Zebulon, Joseph, and Benjamin. Set in gold shall they be, in their completeness. [JERUSALEM. And the second row, carbuncle, and sapphire, and amethyst; in writing expressed upon them, the name of the three tribes, Jehudah, Issakar, and Zebulon. And third row, ligure, and beryl, and smaragd; written expressly upon them (shall be) the name of the three tribes, Dan, Naphtali, and Gad. And the fourth row, chrysolite, bdellium, and margelite.[1] Written expressly upon them shall be the name of the three tribes, Asher, Joseph, and Benjamin: socketed in gold shall they be, in their completeness.] And the jewels shall be taken according to the names of the sons of Israel, twelve are they according to their names, engraven and set forth as the engraving of a ring; the gem of each man according to his name: (so) shall they be for the twelve tribes.

And thou shalt make upon the breastplate measured chains of twisted work of pure gold, and shalt make upon the breastplate two rings of pure gold, and put the two rings upon the two sides of the breastplate. And thou shalt put the two golden chains upon the two rings in the sides of the breastplate, and the two chains which are upon the two sides thou shalt put upon the two sockets, and set on the shoulders of the ephod against its front. And thou shalt make two golden rings, and fix them upon the two sides of the breastplate, in the border of it which is on the edge of the ephod inwardly. And thou shalt make (likewise) two golden chains, and fix them upon the two shoulders of the ephod beneath, towards its front, towards the place of its conjoinment above the girdle of the ephod; and they shall unite the breastplate with its rings to the rings of the ephod, with twined ribbon, of hyacinth, to be joined upon the girdle of the ephod, that the breastplate may not be removed from the ephod. And Aharon shall bear the names of the sons of Israel upon his heart what time he entereth into the sanctuary for a good memorial before the Lord continually.

And thou shalt put upon the breastplate of judgment the Uraia, which illuminate their words, and manifest the hidden things of the house of Israel, and the Tumaia, which fulfil (or perfect) their work to the high priest, who seeketh instruction by them before the Lord; because in them is engraven and expressed the Great and Holy Name by which were created the three hundred and ten worlds, and which was engraven and expressed in the foundation stone wherewith the Lord of the world sealed up the mouth of the great deep at the beginning. Whosoever remembereth that holy name in the hour of necessity shall be delivered. And they shall be upon Aharon's heart in the time that he entereth before the Lord; and Aharon shall bear the judgment of the sons of Israel before the Lord continually.

And thou shalt make the mantle‑robe (mintar meila) of the ephod, of twined thread of hyacinth; and an orifice shall be in the middle of its upper part; a border shall be upon its opening round about its orifice, the work of the sewer; as the orifice of a coat of mail it shall be, that it may not be rent. [JERUSALEM. And an orifice shall be in the middle of its head; a border shall surround the orifice, the work of the sewer; like the opening of a coat of mail shall it be, that it be not torn.] And thou shalt make upon the hem of it pomegranates of hyacinth, and purple, and crimson, upon its hem, round about, and bells of gold among them round about. A golden bell, and a pomegranate of hyacinth and crimson; a golden bell, and a pomegranate of hyacinth and crimson upon the border of the robe round about; their number, seventy and one. And it shall be a vestment upon Aharon to minister, and its voice shall be heard at the time that he hath entered the holy place before the Lord, and at the time that he cometh out, that he die not by the flaming fire.

And thou shalt make a plate (or crown) of pure gold, and engrave upon it with distinct engraving, HOLINESS TO THE LORD. And thou shalt put it on a twined ribbon of hyacinth, to make amends for boldness of face; and it shall be on the mitre above the tephillin of the head in front of the mitre shall it be. And it shall be in the front of Aharon's forehead, from time to time as it comes; and Aharon shall bear the iniquity of the consecrated things which the sons of Israel may consecrate; even of all their sacred gifts in which they have been insincere. And it shall be upon the front continually, for their reconciliation before the Lord. And thou shalt weave the tunic of fine linen to expiate for the shedding of innocent blood; and shalt make the tiara of fine linen to expiate for the pride of their thoughts; and the girdle shalt thou make of the work of the embroiderer. And for the sons of Aharon thou shalt make tunics, and girdles, and mitres, for glory and for praise. And with them thou shalt invest Aharon thy brother, and his sons with him, and anoint them, that they may offer their oblations; and sanctify them to minister before Me. And thou shalt make for them under‑garments of fine linen to cover the flesh of their shame; from the girt of the girdle of their loins unto their thighs they shall be. [JERUSALEM. Drawers of fine linen.] And they shall be upon Aharon and upon his sons at the time when they enter the tabernacle of testimony, or when they approach the altar to minister in the sanctuary, that they may not receive the punishment of flaming fire. This is an everlasting statute for him and for his sons after him.

XXIX. And this is the thing that thou shalt do to them to sanctify them, that they may serve before Me. Take one bullock, the young of a bullock, without spot; and two rams, unblemished (perfect); and unleavened bread, and unleavened cakes, mingled with olive oil; and wafers of unleavened bread anointed with olive oil, and with flour of wheat shalt thou make them. And thou shalt put them upon one basket, and offer them in the basket, and the bullock and the two rams they shall bring in a vehicle. And Aharon and his two sons thou shalt bring near to the door of the tabernacle of testimony, and wash them, in four measures of living water. And thou shalt take the vestments, and clothe Aharon with the tunic, and the robe of the ephod, and the ephod, and the breastplate, and gird him (or ordain him) with the girdle of the ephod. And thou shalt set the mitre on his head, and put the diadem upon which is engraven the Name of Holiness upon the mitre. And thou shalt take the anointing oil, and pour it upon his head and anoint him. And thou shalt bring his sons near, and dress them in the tunics, and indue (ordain) them with the girdles, Aharon and his sons, and wrap on them the mitres; and the priesthood shall be theirs by an everlasting statute.

And thou shalt offer the oblation of Aharon, and the oblation of his sons. And thou shalt bring the bullock before the tabernacle of ordinance, and Aharon and his sons shall lay their hands upon the head of the bullock, and thou shalt kill the bullock before the door of the tabernacle of ordinance; and take of the blood of the bullock, and put (it) on the horns of the altar with thy finger, and all the (remaining) blood thou shalt pour out at the foot of the altar. And thou shalt take all the fat that covereth the inwards, and what remaineth upon the caul of the liver, and the two kidneys, and the fat which is upon them, and set them in order upon the altar. And the flesh of the bullock, and his skin, and his dung, thou shalt burn with fire without the camp; it is a sin offering. And the one ram thou shalt take, and Aharon and his sons shall lay their hands on the head of the ram. And thou shalt kill the ram, and take his blood and sprinkle on the altar round about. And the ram shalt thou divide according to his members (dividings), and wash his inwards and his legs, and set them in order upon his members, and upon his head. [JERUSALEM. And the ram thou shalt divide according to his divisions, and shalt cleanse his inwards and his legs, and lay them upon his divided parts, upon his head.] And thou shalt offer the whole ram upon the altar, it is a holocaust before the Lord to be accepted with favour, an oblation it is before the Lord. And thou shalt take the second ram, and Aharon and his sons shall lay their hands upon the head of the ram. And thou shalt kill the ram, and take of his blood, and put upon the tip[2] of Aharon's right ear, and upon the tip of the right ear of his sons, and upon the thumb of their right hands, and upon the toe of their right feet, and pour the rest of the blood upon the altar round about.

And thou shalt take of the blood which is upon the altar, and of the anointing oil, and drop it upon Aharon, and upon his vestments, and on his sons, and on his sons' vestments with him. And thou shalt take of the ram, the fat and the tail, and the fat that covereth the inwards, and which remaineth upon the caul of the liver, and the two kidneys, and the fat that is upon them, and the right shoulder, for it is the ram of the oblation; and one round of bread, and one cake of bread mingled with oil, and one wafer from the basket of unleavened bread which is before the Lord; and thou shalt put all upon the hands of Aharon and upon the hands of his sons, and shalt uplift them for an elevation before the Lord. And thou shalt take them from their hands, and set them in order upon the altar upon the burnt offering, to be received with acceptance before the Lord: it is an oblation before the Lord. And thou shalt take the breast of the ram of Aharon's oblation, and uplift it, an elevation before the Lord, and it shall be thy portion. [JERUSALEM. The breast.] And thou shalt consecrate the breast of the elevation and the shoulder of the separation, which have been uplifted and separated from the ram of the oblation from the hand of Aharon and from the hand of his sons. And it shall be for Aharon and for his sons by a perpetual statute for the sons of Israel; because it is a separation, and a separation it shall be from the sons of Israel from the offerings of their consecration, their separation before the Lord. And the holy vestments of Aharon shall be to his sons after him, to be anointed in them, and in them to offer their oblations. Seven days shall the priest wear them, who ariseth after him from his sons, but not from the Levites, at the time when he entereth into the tabernacle of ordinance to minister in the sanctuary.

And thou shalt take the ram of the oblation, and boil its flesh in the holy place; and Aharon and his sons shall eat the flesh of the ram, and the bread that is in the basket at the door of the tabernacle of ordinance. And they shall eat those things by which atonemen, was made for them in offering their oblations to sanctify them to minister before Me: but the profane shall not eat; for they are holy. And if any of the flesh of the oblation and of the bread remain until the morning, thou shalt burn that which remaineth with fire; it shall not be eaten; for it is sacred. And thus thou shalt do to Aharon and to his sons according to all that I have prescribed to thee; seven days thou shalt offer their oblation. And a bullock for a sin offering thou shalt offer daily for atonement, and shalt anoint the altar in offering the atonement upon it; thou shalt anoint it, to consecrate it. Seven days make thou atonement upon the altar to consecrate it; and it shall be the altar of the Holy of Holies. Every one of the sons of Aharon who approacheth to the altar must be holy; to the rest of the people it is not lawful to approach, lest they be burned with the fiery flame which cometh from the holy place.

And this is the oblation which thou shalt perform upon the altar; two lambs of one year, daily, evermore. The one lamb thou shalt perform in the morning; and the second lamb thou shalt perform between the evenings. And the tenth of flour mingled with oil of olives beaten; (with) the fourth of a hina, and the libation of a fourth of a hina for the one lamb. And the second lamb thou shalt perform between the evenings: it shall be as the mincha of the morning, and as the libation thou shalt do it, to be received with acceptance, an oblation before the Lord; a perpetual holocaust for your generations at the door of the tabernacle of ordinance before the Lord; where I will appoint My Word to (meet) thee there, to speak with thee there. And there I will appoint My Word (to meet) with the sons of Israel, and I will be sanctified in their rulers for My glory. And I will sanctify the tabernacle of ordinance and the altar; and Aharon and his sons will I sanctify to minister before Me: and My Shekinah shall dwell in the midst of the sons of Israel, and I will be their God. And the sons of Israel shall know that I am their God, who led them out free from the land of Mizraim to make My Shekinah dwell among them. I am the Lord their God.

XXX. And thou shalt make an altar on which to burn incense of perfumes: of sitta wood shalt thou make it. A cubit its length, and a cubit its breadth; foursquare shall it be: and two cubits its height: and its upright horns shall be of it. And thou shalt overlay it with pure gold, its top, and its wall round about, and its horns; and make for it a border of gold round about. And two golden rings make thou for it beneath its border at the two corners, thou shalt make upon its two sides, to be the place for the staves by which it may be carried. And thou shalt make the staves of sitta wood, and cover them with gold. And thou shalt place it before the veil which is over the ark of the testimony, before the mercy seat that is upon the testimony, where I will appoint My Word to be with thee. And Aharon shall burn sweet incense upon it from morning to morning: when he ordereth the lamps, be shall burn it. And when Aharon kindleth the lamps between the evenings, he shall burn sweet incense perpetually before the Lord in your generations. Thou shalt not offer thereon the sweet incense of strange peoples, nor offer upon it burnt offerings, or minchas, nor pour libations. And Aharon shall expiate upon its horns once in the year with the blood of the sin offering for an expiation: once in the year shall he make atonement upon it on the day of atonement in your generations: it shall be most holy before the Lord.

Pgs. 545-561

Ch. 30-34

SECTION XXI.

KI THISSA.

And the Lord spake unto Mosheh, saying, When thou takest the sum of the sons of Israel according to their number, they shall give every man the ransom of their souls before the Lord when thou numberest them; that there may not be among them the calamity of death when thou dost number them. [JERUSALEM. When thou takest the head of the number of the sums of the sons of Israel.] This valuation was shown to Mosheh in the mountain as with a denarius of fire, and thus spake He to him: So shall every one who passeth to the numberment give a half shekel of the coin of the sanctuary: (a half shekel is twenty manin:) the half shekel is to be the separation before the Lord. Every one who passeth to the numbering, from a son of twenty years and upwards, shall give the seperation before the Lord. He who is rich shall not add to, and he who is poor shall diminish from, the half shekel in giving the seperation before the Lord, to atone for your souls. And thou shalt take the silver of the ransom from the sons of Israel, and apply it to the work of the tabernacle of ordinance; that it may be for the sons of Israel for a good memorial before the Lord, as a ransom for your souls.

And the Lord spake to Mosheh, saying, And thou shalt make a laver of brass, and its foundation of brass, for purification; and shalt set it between the tabernacle of ordinance and the altar, and put water therein. And they shall take from it for a cleansing ablution. And Aharon and his sons shall sanctify their hands and their feet with its water; at the time of their entering into the tabernacle of ordinance they shall sanctify with water, that they die not by the fiery flame: and it shall be to them an everlasting statute, to him and to his sons in their generations.

And the Lord spake to Mosheh, saying, And thou also take to thee the first aromatics, choice myrrh, in weight five hundred minas, and sweet cinnamon of half the weight, two hundred and fifty minas, and sweet calamus in weight two hundred and fifty minas and cassia in weight five hundred minas of shekels, in the shekel of the sanctuary, and olive oil a vase full, in weight twelve logas, a loga for each tribe of the twelve tribes. [JERUSALEM. And thou take to thee the chief goodly spices, choice myrrh, in weight five hundred minas of shekels.] And thou shalt make of it a holy anointing oil, perfumed with perfume, the work of the perfumer, of compounded perfumes : a holy anointing oil shall it be. And with it anoint thou the tabernacle of ordinance, and the ark of the testimony, and the table and all its vessels, and the candelabrum and its vessels, and the altar of sweet incense, and the altar of burnt offering and all its vessels, and the laver and its foundation, and consecrate them, and they shall be most holy. Every one of the priests who approacheth to them shall be sanctified; but of the rest of the tribes, (whoever toucheth them) shall be consumed by the fiery flame from before the Lord. But Aharon and his sons anoint thou, and consecrate them to minister before Me. And speak thou to the sons of Israel, saying, This shall be a holy anointing oil before Me unto your generations. Upon the flesh of man it may not be poured, and the like of it you shall not make to resemble it; unto you it shall be most sacred. The man who compoundeth the like of it, or putteth it upon the unconsecrated who are not of the sons of Aharon, shall be destroyed from his people.

And the Lord said to Mosheh, Take to thee spices, balsam, and onycha, and galbanum, choice spices, and pure frankincense, weight for weight shall it be. [JERUSALEM. Balsam, spikenard‑myrrh, and galbanum.] And confect therewith a fragrant incense, the work of the compounder, a pure and sacred mixture. [JERUSALEM. Commixed.] And beat, and make it small, and of it some shalt thou put before the testimony in the tabernacle of ordinance, where I will appoint My Word to be with thee. Most sacred shall it be to you. And of the sweet incense thou shalt make, the like shall not be made among you; it shall be sacred to you before the Lord: the man who maketh the like of it to smell thereto shall be destroyed from his people.

XXXI. And the Lord Spake with Mosheh, saying, Look, Mosheh, I have called by name the good Bezalel:[1] bar Uri bar Hur, of the tribe of Jehudah, and have fulfilled him with the Spirit of holiness from before the Lord, in wisdom and in intelligence, in knowledge, and in all workmanship; to think in their thoughts so as to work (perfectly) in gold, and in silver, and in brass; and in the cutting of jewels for their insetting, and in the carving of woods, to make all manner of work. [JERUSALEM. See, Mosheh, behold, I have anointed and called by a good name Bezalel.] And, behold, I have appointed with him Ahaliab bar Achisamah, of the tribe of Dan; and in the heart of every one wise hearted I have added the Spirit of wisdom, that they may perform all whatever I have commanded thee. The tabernacle of ordinance, and the ark of the testimony and the mercy seat which is over it; and all the vessels of the tabernacle; and the table, and all its vessels; and the altar of sweet incense, and the altar of burnt offering, and all its vessels; and the laver, and its foot; and the vestments for ministration, the holy vestments of Aharon the priest, and the vestments of his sons for ministry; and the oil of anointing; and the sweet incense for the sanctuary; even all whatever I have commanded thee, they shall make.

And the Lord spake with Mosheh, saying, Also, speak thou with the sons of Israel, saying, Ye shall keep the day of My Sabbaths indeed; for it is a sign between My Word and you, that you may know that I am the Lord who sanctify you. Ye shall keep the Sabbath, because it is holy to you; whosoever profaneth it, dying he shall die; whoso doeth work therein, that man shall be destroyed from his people. Six days ye shall do work; but the seventh day is Sabbath, the holy Sabbath before the Lord. Whoso doeth work upon the Sabbath, dying he shall die, by the casting of stones. The sons of Israel shall therefore keep the Sabbath, to perform the delightful exercises of the Sabbath; (it is) for your generations an everlasting statute; between My Word and the sons of Israel it is a sign for ever. For in six days the Lord created and perfected the heavens and the earth; and in the seventh day He rested and refreshed.

And He gave to Mosheh, when He had finished to speak with him in Mount Sinai, the two tablets of the testimony, tablets of sapphire‑stone from the throne of glory, weighing forty sein, inscribed by the finger of the Lord.

XXXII. But the people saw that Mosheh delayed to come down from the mount, and the people gathered together unto Aharon, when they saw that the time he had appointed to them had passed; and Satana had come, and caused them to err, and perverted their hearts with pride. And they said to him, Arise, make us gods that shall go before us; for as for this Mosheh the man who brought us up from the land of Mizraim, he may have been consumed in the mountain by the fire which flameth from before the Lord, (and) we know not what hath befallen him in his end. And Aharon said to them, Deliver the golden rings that are in the ears of your wives, your sons, and your daughters, and bring them to me. And their wives denied themselves to give their ornaments to their husbands; and all the people at once delivered up the golden rings which were in their ears, and brought them to Aharon. And he took them from their hands, and bound them in a wrapper, and wrought it with a tool, having made a molten calf; and he said, These, Israel, are thy gods, which brought thee forth from the land of Mizraim. For Aharon had seen Hur slain before him, and was afraid; and he builded an altar before him, and Aharon cried with doleful voice, and said, Let there be a feast before the Lord to‑morrow, of the sacrifice of the slain of these adversaries who have denied their Lord, and have changed the glory of the Shekinah of the Lord for this calf. [JERUSALEM. And Aharon saw Hur slain before him, and was afraid; and he builded an altar before him, and Aharon cried and said, A feast.] And on the day following, they arose, and sacrificed burnt-offerings; and the people sat around to eat and to drink, and rose up to disport themselves with strange service. [JERUSALEM. And they rose up to disport themselves with strange service.]

And the Lord said to Mosheh, Descend from the greatness of thine honour; for I have not given thee greatness except on account of Israel. But now thy people, whom thou didst bring up from the land of Mizraim, have corrupted their works; quickly have they declined from the way which I taught them in Sinai, (that) ye shall not make yourselves image, or figure, or any similitude; for now have they made to them a molten calf, and have worshipped it, and sacrificed to it, and proclaimed before it, These are thy gods, Israel, which brought thee up from the land of Mizraim. And the Lord said to Mosheh, The pride of this people is manifest before Me, and, behold, it is a people of hard nack. And now, cease from thy prayer, and cry not for them before Me; for I will let My anger burn like strong fire against them, and consume them, and I will make thee a great people.                                    

And Mosheh was shaken with fear, and began to pray before the Lord his God; and he said,wherefore should Thy wrath, O Lord, prevail against Thy people whom Thou didst bring up from the land of Mizraim, with great power and with a mighty hand. Why should the Mizraee who are remaining say, It was for evil that He led them out, to kill them among the mountains of Tabor and Hermon, and Sirion and Sinai, and to destroy them from the face of the earth? Turn from Thy strong anger, and let there be relenting before Thee over the evil that Thou hast threatened to do unto Thy people. Remember Abraham, and Izhak, and Israel, Thy servants, to whom Thou didst swear in Thy Word and didst say to them, I will multiply your children as the stars of the heavens, and all this land of which I have told you will I give to your sons, and they shall inherit for ever. And there was relenting before the Lord over the evil which He had thought to do unto His people. And Mosheh turned, and went down from the mount, and the two tables of the testimony were in his hands, inscribed on their two sides, here and there were they inscribed. And the tables were the work of the Lord, and the writing was the Lord's writing, inscribed and manifested upon the tables.

And Jehoshua heard the voice of the people exulting with joy before the calf. [JERUSALEM. Doing evil.] And he said to Mosheh, There is the voice of battle in the camp. But he said, It is not the voice of the strong, who are victorious in battle, nor the voice of the weak, who are overcome by their adversaries in the fight; but the voice of them who serve with strange service, and who make merriment before it, that I hear. [JERUSALEM. The voice of them who praise in strange service.] And it was when Mosheh came near the camp, and saw the calf, and the instruments of music in the hands of the wicked, who were dancing and bowing before it, and Satana among them dancing and leaping before the people, the wrath of Mosheh was suddenly kindled, and he cast the tables from his hands, and brake them at the foot of the mountain;- the holy writing that was on them, however, flew, and was carried away into the air of the heavens;‑ and he cried, and said, Woe upon the people who heard at Sinai from the mouth of the Holy One, Thou shalt not make to thyself an image, or figure, or any likeness,- and yet, at the end of forty days, make a useless molten calf! And he took the calf which they had made, and burned it in fire, and bruised it into powder, and cast (it) upon the face of the water of the stream, and made the sons of Israel drink; and whoever had given thereto any trinket of gold, the sign of it came forth upon his nostrils. And Mosheh said unto Aharon, What did this people to thee, that thou hast brought upon them a great sin? And Aharon said, Let not my lord's anger be strong: thou knowest the people, that they are the children of the Just; but evil concupiscence hath made them to err: and they said to me, Make us gods that may go before us; for this Mosheh, the man who brought us up from the land of Mizraim, is consumed in the mountain, by the flaming fire from before the Lord, and we know not what hath been done to him in his end. And I said to them, Whoever hath gold, let him deliver and give it to me; and I cast it into the fire, and Satana entered into it, and there came out of it the similitude of this calf! And Mosheh saw that the people were naked; for they had been stripped by the hand of Aharon of the holy crown which was upon their head, inscribed and beautified with the great and glorious Name; and that their evil report would go forth among the nations of the earth, and they would get to them an evil name unto their generations. [JERUSALEM. And Mosheh saw the people that they were uncovered; for they had been stripped of the golden crown which was upon their head, whereon the Name had been engraven and set forth, at Mount Horeb.] And Mosheh stood in the sanhedrin gate of the camp, and said, Who feareth the Lord, let him come to me. And there gathered to him all the sons of Levi. And he said to them, Thus hath said the Lord, the God of Israel, Whosoever hath sacrificed to the idols of the Gentiles, let him be slain with the sword. And now, go, pass through from the gate of the sanhedrin to the gate of the house of judgment, in the camp, and with prayer before the Lord that He will forgive you this sin, take vengeance upon the wicked workers of strange worship and slay, even a man his brother, and a man his companion, and a man his neighbour. And the sons of Levi did according to the word of Mosheh; and of the people who had the mark in their nostrils there fell that day by the slaughter of the sword about the number of three thousand men.

And Mosheh said, Offer your oblation for the shedding of the blood that is upon your hands, and make atonement for yourselves before the Lord, because you have smitten a man his son or his brother, and that you may bring a blessing upon you this day. And it came to pass on the day following, that Mosheh said to the people, You have sinned a great sin; but now I will go up and will pray before the Lord, if haply I may obtain forgiveness of your sin. And Mosheh returned, and prayed before the Lord, and said, I supplicate of Thee, Thou Lord of all the world, before whom the darkness is as the light! Now have this people sinned a great sin, and have made to them gods of gold; but now, if Thou wilt forgive their sin, forgive; but if not, blot me, I pray, from the book of the just, in the midst of which Thou hast written my name. And the Lord said to Mosheh, It is not right that I should blot out thy name; but whosoever sinneth before Me, him will I blot from My book. But now, go lead the people to the place of which I have told thee; behold, My angel shall proceed before thee; but in the day of My visitation I will visit upon them their sin. And the Word of the Lord plagued the people, because they had bowed themselves to the calf that Aharon had made.

XXXIII. And the Lord spake with Mosheh, Go, remove thee hence, lest My anger grow hot against the people, and I consume them. Therefore proceed thou, and the people whom thou didst bring up out of the land of Mizraim, (to that land) which I have covenanted unto Abraham, to Izhak, and to Jakob, saying, Unto thy sons will I give it. And I will appoint before thee an angel, and by his hand will cast out the Kenaanaee, Amoraee, Hittaee, and Pherizaee, Hivaee, and Jebusaee; to the land producing milk and honey. For the Shekinah of My Glory cannot go up among you, nor My Majesty dwell in the habitation of their camp, because thou art a hard‑necked people, lest I destroy you in the way.

And the people heard this evil word, and mourned; and no man put on his accustomed ornaments,[2] which had been given them at Mount Sinai, and on which was inscribed and set forth the great and holy Name. And the Lord said to Mosheh, Speak to the sons of Israel, Ye are a hard‑necked people: were the glory of My Shekinah to go up with you, in one little hour I should destroy you. And now put thy accustomed ornaments from thee, that it may be manifest before Me what I may do to thee. And the sons of Israel were deprived of their usual adornments, on which was written and set forth the great Name; and which had been given them, a gift from Mount Horeb. And Mosheh took and hid them in his tabernacle of instruction. But the tabernacle he took away from thence, and spread it without the camp, and removed it from the camp of the people to the distance of two thousand cubits; and it was called the Tabernacle of the House of Instruction: and it was that when any one turned by repentance with a true heart before the Lord, he went forth to the Tabernacle of the House of Instruction that was without the camp, to confess and pray for the pardon of his sins; and praying he was forgiven. And it was when Mosheh passed forth from the camp to go to the tabernacle that all the wicked people arose, and stood, every man at the door of his tent, and looked with the evil eye after Mosheh, when he entered the tabernacle. And it came to pass when Mosheh had gone into the tabernacle, the column of the glorious Cloud descended and stood at the door of the tabernacle; and the Word of the Lord spake with Mosheh. And all the people beheld the column of the Cloud standing at the door of the tabernacle, and the whole people at once rose up and worshipped towards the tabernacle, standing every man at the door of his tent.

And the Lord spake with Mosheh word for word,- the voice of the word was heard, but the Majesty of the Presence was not seen,- in the way that a man converseth with his companion: and after the speaking voice had ascended, he returned to the camp, and delivered the word to the congregation of Israel. But his minister, Jehoshua bar Nun, a young man, removed not from the tabernacle. [JERUSALEM. But his minister, Jehoshua bar Nun, a young man, passed not from within the tabernacle.]

And Mosheh said before the Lord, Lo, what hast Thou said to me, Take this people up? but Thou hast not made me to know whom Thou wilt send with me. By Thy Word Thou hast said, I have ordained thee with a goodly name, and thou hast found favour before Me. But now I pray, if I have found mercy before Thee, make me to know the way of Thy goodness, to understand Thy mercy when in Thy dealing with just men it falleth to them as it (falleth) to the guilty, and to the guilty as to the just; but, on the contrary how it (indeed) befalleth the just according to their righteousness and the guilty according to their guilt: that I may find mercy before Thee, and it be made manifest by Thee that this people is Thy people. And He said, Await, until the face of My displeasure shall have gone away, and afterward I will give thee rest. And he said to Him, If Thy wrath go not from us, suffer us not to go up from hence under the frown of Thy displeasure. In what will it be known that I have found mercy before Thee but in the converse of Thy Shekinah with us, that distinguishing signs may be wrought for us, in the withholdment of the Spirit of prophecy from the nations, and by Thy speaking by the Holy Spirit to me and to Thy people, that we may be distinguished from all the peoples upon the face of the earth? And the Lord said to Mosheh, This thing also which thou hast spoken of, will I do; for thou hast found mercy before Me, and I have ordained thee with a goodly name. And he said, Show now unto me Thy glory: but He said, Behold, I will make all the measure of My good­ness pass before thee, and I will give utterance in the good name of the Word of the Lord before thee; and I will have compassion upon whom I see it right to have compassion, and will be merciful to whom I see it right to have mercy. [JERUSALEM. And He said, Behold, I will make all the measure of My goodness to pass before thee, and I will give utterance in the Name of the Lord before thee, and I will have compassion upon whom I see it right to have compassion, and will be merciful upon whom I see it right to have mercy.] And He said, Thou canst not see the visage of My face; for no man can see Me and abide alive. And the Lord said, Behold, a place is prepared before Me, and thou shalt stand upon the rock. And it shall be that when the glory of My Shekinah passeth before thee, I will put thee in a cavern of the rock, and will overshadow thee with My Word until the time that I have passed by. [JERUSALEM. And I will overshadow with My hand.] And I will make the host of angels who stand and minister before Me to pass by, and thou shalt see the handborder of the tephilla of My glorious Shekinah; but the face of the glory of My Shekinah thou canst not be able to see. [JERUSALEM. And I will cause the hosts of angels who stand and minister before Me to pass by, and will make known the oracle; for the glory of My Shekinah thou art not able to behold.

XXXIV. And the Lord said to Mosheh, Hew thee two tables of stone, as the former, and write upon the tables the words that were upon the former tables which thou didst break; and be ready in the morn; and at morning ascend thou Mount Sinai and stand there before Me on the summit of the mountain. No man shall ascend with thee, nor any man be seen on all the mountain, nor sheep, nor oxen grazing on the side of the mount. And he hewed two tables of stone like the former: and Mosheh arose in the morning and ascended Mount Sinai, as the Lord had instructed him, and took in his hand the two tables of stone.

And the Lord revealed Himself in the cloud of the glory of His Shekinah, and Mosheh stood with Him there; and Mosheh called on the Name of the Word of the Lord. And the Lord made His Shekinah to pass by before his face, and proclaimed, The Lord, the Lord God, merciful and gracious, long‑suffering, and nigh in mercies, abounding to exercise compassion and truth; keeping mercy and bounty for thousands of generations, absolving and remitting guilt, passing by rebellions, and covering sins; pardoning them who convert unto the law, but holding not guiltless in the great day of judg­ment those who will not convert; visiting the sins of fathers upon rebellious children upon the third and upon the fourth generation. And Mosheh made haste and bowed himself upon the earth and worshipped. [JERUSALEM. And the glory of the Shekinah of the Lord passed by before him; and Mosheh prayed, and said, Lord, Lord God, merciful and gracious, slow to be angry but nigh to be merciful, and abounding to exercise kindness and truth; keeping goodness for thousands of generations; absolving and remitting sin and transgressions, but not to acquit the guilty in the great day of judgment; and remembering the sins of wicked fathers upon rebellious children upon the third and upon the fourth generation. And Mosheh hastened and prostrated himself upon the earth, and gave thanks and glorified.]

And he said, If now I have found mercy before the Lord let the Shekinah of the Glory of the Lord go among us; for it is a people of hard neck; but pardon Thou our guilt and our sin, and give us the inheritance of the land which Thou didst covenant unto our fathers, and change us not to become an alien people. And He said, Behold, I make covenant that I will not change this people to become an alien people; nevertheless from thee shall proceed a multitude of the righteous; and with all thy people will I do wondrous things in the time when they go into captivity by the rivers of Bavel: for I will bring them up from thence, and make them dwell from within the river Sambation; and like wonders shall not be created among all the inhabitants of the earth, nor among any nation. And all the people among whom thou wilt dwell shall see in that day the work of the Lord; for terrible is the thing that I will do with thee.                                                                 

Observe thou that which I command thee this day: behold, I drive out from before thee the Amoraee, and Kenaanaee, and Hittaee, and Pherizaee, and Hivaee, and Jebusaee. Take heed to thee, lest thou strike covenants with the inhabitants of that land into which thou art to enter; that it may not be a stumbling‑block unto thee. But thou shalt rather destroy their high places, and break their statues, and cut down their groves; for it is not lawful for thee to worship other gods; for the Lord is zealous and avengeful; His Name is God, the Zealous and the Avenger. Lest thou strike covenant with the dwellers in the land, and they draw thee astray after their idols, and they sacrifice to their idols, and invite thee, and thou eat of the sacrifices of their idols and thou take of their daughters for thy sons, and when their daughters wander after their idols they make thy sons also go astray after their idols. [JERUSALEM. And they cause to err.] Molten gods you shall not make to you.

You shall observe the feast of the unleavened. Seven days thou shalt eat unleavened (cakes), as I have commanded thee, in the time of the month Abiba; for in the month of Abiba you came out free from Mizraim. Whatever openeth the womb is Mine; and of all cattle thou art to consecrate the males, of oxen, and of sheep. But the firstling of an ass thou mayest redeem with a lamb; but if thou redeem him not, thou shalt cut him off with the blade. And each firstborn of thy sons thou must redeem; and they shall not appear before Me empty [JERUSALEM. All firstlings opening the womb thou shalt sanctify unto My Name; all the firstborn of your males, the first that breaketh. through the womb, of oxen and of sheep. 20. My people of the house of Israel, it shall not be allowed you to see the Lord your God empty of any precept.]

Six days shalt thou work, and in the seventh day have rest; in ploughing time and in harvest thou shalt rest. [JERUSALEM. In ploughing.] The feast of weeks also shalt thou make to thee in the time of the firsts of the wheat harvest; and the feast of ingathering at the conclusion of the ear. Three times in the year shall all thy males appear before the Master of the world, the Lord God of Israel. For I will drive out the nations from before thee, and enlarge thy borders; and no man shall covet thy land at the time of thy going up to appear before the Lord thy God thrice in the year.

You shall not sacrifice the victim of My passover before you have done away with leaven; nor suffer the fat of the paschal sacrifice to remain about the altar till the morning. [JERUSALEM. You shall not sacrifice with leaven the blood of the paschal victim, nor suffer the flesh which you sacrifice on the night of the feast of the first of Pascha to remain from the evening till the morning.] The best of the firstfruits of your land ye shall bring to the sanctuary of the Lord your God. You are not allowed to boil or to eat flesh and milk mixed together, lest My displeasure be kindled against you, and the fruit of your trees, with the grapes in their branches and their leaves, be laid waste together [JERUSALEM. The first (best) of the firstfruits of your produce ye shall bring to the sanctuary of the Lord your God. My people of the house of Israel, ye shall not be allowed to boil or to eat flesh and milk mixed together.]

And the Lord said to Mosheh, Write thou these words; for upon the expression of these words have I stricken My covenant with thee and with the people of Israel. And he was there before the Lord forty days and forty nights; he ate no bread nor did he drink water; and he wrote upon the other tables the words of the covenant, the Ten Words which had been written upon the former tables.

And it was at the time when Mosheh came down from the mountain of Sinai, with the two tables of the testimony in the hand of Mosheh, in his descending from the mount, that Mosheh knew not that the visage (form) of his face shone with the splendour which had come upon him from the brightness of the glory of the Lord's Shekinah in the time of His speaking with him. [JERUSALEM. That the beams of his face did shine.] And Aharon and all the sons of Israel saw Mosheh, and, behold, the glory of the form of his face shined, and they were afraid to come near to him. And Mosheh called to them and Aharon, and all the princes who had been appointed chiefs in the congregation returned, and Mosheh conversed with them. And afterward drew nigh all the sons of Israel, and he taught them all that the Lord had spoken to him on Mount Sinai. And when Mosheh had finished to speak with them, he put over the form of his face a veil. [JERUSALEM. A cloth.] And when Mosheh went in before the Lord to speak with Him, he removed the veil from his countenance until he came forth; and he came forth and spake to the sons of Israel what had been commanded. And the sons of Israel saw the countenance of Mosheh, that the glory of the form of Mosheh's face was shining. And Mosheh replaced the veil upon his face until the time of his going in to speak with Him.

Pgs. 562-572

Ch. 34-38

SECTION XXII.

VAIYAKHEL.

And Mosheh gathered together all the congregation of the sons of Israel, and said to them: These are the things which the Lord hath commanded to be done. Six days thou shalt do work, and on the seventh day there shall be to you the holy Sabbath of repose before the Lord. Whoever doeth work on the Sabbath day, dying he shall die by the casting of stones. My people of the sons of Israel, ye shall not kindle a fire in any place of your habitations on the day of the Sabbath. [JERUSALEM. Ye shall not kindle a fire in any place of the house of your dwelling on the Sabbath day.]

And Mosheh spake to all the assembly of the children of Israel, saying, This is the word which the Lord hath commanded, saying, Take of you a separation before the Lord: whosoever is moved in his heart, let him present the separation for the Lord; gold, or silver, or brass, or hyacinth, or purple, or scarlet, or fine linen, or goats' hair, or rams' skins dyed red, or skins of seals, (purple skins), and woods of sitta; or oil for the lights, aromatics for the anointing oil, and sweet incense; the onyx stones, and stones for completing the enchasement of the ephoda and the breastplate. And let all the wise‑hearted among you give and make all that the Lord hath commanded: The tabernacle, its tent, and its covering, its hasps, and its boards, its bars, and its pillars, and its bases. [JERUSALEM. The tabernacle, and its tent, and its covering, its hasps, and boards, and its bars, its pillars, and its bases.] The ark, with its staves, and the mercy seat, and the veil for the covering; and the table, and its staves, and all its vessels, and the bread for the Presence; and the candelabrum for illumination, with the lamps, and the oil for the light; and the altar of sweet incense, and its staves, and the anointing oil, and the sweet incense, and the curtain for the door of the tabernacle of ordinance; the altar of burnt offering, and its brasen grate, with its staves, and its vessels, and the laver, with its base; and the curtains of the court, with its pillars, and bases, and the hanging for the gate of the court, and the pins of the tabernacle, and the pins of the court, and their cords; the vestments of ministration, for ministering in the sanctuary, and the holy vestments for Aharon the priest, and the vestments of his sons for ministering. And all the congregation of the sons of Israel went out from before Mosheh

And every man whose heart moved him, and every one who was filled with the Spirit of prophecy, came, and brought what he had for a separation before the Lord for the work of the tabernacle of ordinance, and for all its service, and for the holy vestments. And with the men came the women, every one whose heart was moved, and brought chains, and necklaces, rings, bracelets, and every ornament of gold; every one offering up the offering of gold before the Lord. And every one with whom was found hyacinth, or purple, or crimson, or fine linen, goats' hair, or purple skins, brought the separation before the Lord; and all with whom were found woods of sitta for all the work of the service brought. And every woman whose heart was wise spun with her hands, and brought the spun work of hyacinth, and purple, and crimson, and fine linen. And all the women whose hearts were moved in wisdom spun goats' hair (while) upon their bodies, and sheared them, being alive. And the clouds of heaven went to the Phison, and drew up from thence onyx stones, and stones for infilling, to enchase the ephod and the breastplate, and spread them upon the face of the wilderness; and the princes of Israel went, and brought them for the need of the work. And the clouds of heaven returned, and went to the garden of Eden, and took from thence choice aromatics, and oil of olives for the light, and pure balsam for the anointing oil, and for the sweet incense. Every man, a son of Israel, and (every) woman, a daughter of Israel, who was moved in heart, brought for all the work which the Lord by Mosheh had commanded to be made; so brought the children of Israel the votive gift before the Lord.

     And Mosheh said to the sons of Israel, See, the Lord hath ordained with a good name Bezalel bar Uri bar Hur, of the tribe of Jehudah, and hath filled him with the Spirit of prophecy from before the Lord, in wisdom, in understanding, in knowledge, and in all handicraft; and to instruct artificers to work in gold, and in silver, and in brass, and in the cutting of precious stones, to perfect by them the work, and in the fabrication of wood, to work in all the work of arti­ficers. [JERUSALEM. And in the cutting of precious stones for completion, and the workmanship of wood, to work in all the work of the artificer.] And to teach art‑work to the rest of the artificers he imparted skill to his heart, and to (that of) Ahaliab bar Achisamak, of the tribe of Dan. He filled them with wisdom of heart to make all the work of the carpenter and the embroiderer, in hyacinth, and in purple, and in crimson, and in fine linen; and of the sewer, to fashion all the work, and to teach the workmen.

XXXVI. And Bezalel and Ahaliab wrought, and every man wise in heart, to whom the Lord had given wisdom and intelligence to understand and to make all the work for the service of the sanctuary, according to all that the Lord had commanded. And Mosheh called Bezalel and Ahaliab, and every man wise in heart, to whose heart the Lord had given wisdom, every one whose heart was moved, to draw near, and do the work itself. And they took from before Mosheh all the separation that the children of Israel had brought for the work of the service of the sanctuary, to make it. And they still brought to him the voluntary gift, morning after morning from their possessions. [JERUSALEM.The gift.] And all the wise men who did all the work of the sanctuary came, each man from the work which he had done; and they said to Mosheh, The people abound in bringing (more) than is enough for the service of the work, which the Lord hath ordained. And

Mosheh commanded, and they made proclamation through the camp, saying, Neither man nor woman may make any more work for the holy separation: and the people ceased from bringing. For what had been done was according to the sufficiency of all the work; and they did it, and had more than enough.

And all the wise in heart made the TABERNACLE; ten curtains of fine linen, and hyacinth, and purple, and scarlet, figured with kerubin, the work of the embroiderer, he made them. The length of one curtain twenty and eight cubits, the sum of one curtain ; the measure was one for all the curtains. And he conjoined five curtains one with another, and (the other) five curtains conjoined he one with another. And he made loops of hyacinth upon the edge of one curtain, at the place of conjunction in the side; so made he in the side at the place of conjunction in the other curtain. [JERUSALEM. In the jointure.] Fifty loops he made in one curtain, and fifty loops made he at the place of juncture of the edge of the second curtain; the loops were arranged one over against the other. [JERUSALEM. Answering to each other.] And he made fifty taches of gold, and conjoined one curtain with another with the taches, and there was one tabernacle. And he made curtains of goats' hair to spread upon the tabernacle: eleven curtains he made them. The length of one cur­tain thirty cubits, and four cubits the breadth of one curtain; one measure for the eleven curtains. And he joined five curtains together, corresponding with the five books of the law; and six curtains together, corresponding with the six orders of the Mishna. And he made fifty loops in the border of the curtain at the place of conjuncture, and fifty loops made he upon the border of the curtain at the second place of conjuncture. And he made taches of brass to compact the tabernacle, that

it might become one. And he made a covering for the tabernacle of rams' skins reddened, and of purple skins to protect it above. And he made the boards of the tabernacle of sitta wood, standing up, after the way of their plantation; ten cubits the length of the board, and a cubit and a half of a cubit the breadth of one board. Each board had two tenons arranged, one side for the midst of the other side; and so did he for all the boards of the tabernacle. And he made the boards of the the tabernacle twenty boards, on the side of the south wind; and forty sockets of silver he made under the twenty boards; two sockets beneath one board for its two tenons, and two sockets under another board for its two tenons. And for the second side of the tabernacle on the north he made twenty boards, and their forty sockets of silver; two sockets beneath one board, and two sockets beneath another board. And to the border of the tabernacle westwar he made six boards, and two boards made he at the corners of the tabernacle at their extremes. [JERUSALEM. At the declivities.] And they were conjoined below, and joined together were they at their tops with one ring; so made he both of them at the two corners. [JERUSALEM. And they were twins.] And eight boards there were, and their sockets of silver, sixteen sockets; two sockets, and two sockets under one board. And be made bars of sitta wood; five for the boards of one side of the tabernacle, and five bars for the boards of the second side of the tabernacle, and five bars for the boards of the tabernacle at the ends westward. And be made the middle bar to mortise in the midst of the boards from end to end,‑of the tree which our father Abraham planted in Beira of Sheba, praying there in the Name of the Word of the Lord, the everlasting, God. [JERUSALEM. And he, made the middle board to go along among the boards.] And the boards he overlaid with gold, and the rings be made of gold, as the place for the bars; and he covered the bars with gold.

And he made the VEIL of hyacinth, and purple, and crimson, and fine linen twined, the work of the artificer; figured with kerubin he made it. And he made for it four pillars of sitta wood, and covered them with gold, and their hooks of gold, and cast for them four sockets of silver. And he made a curtain for the door of the tabernacle, of hyacinth, and purple, and crimson., and fine linen twined, the work of the embroiderer, and its five pillars, and their five hooks; and be covered their capitals and their joinings with gold, and their five bases with brass.

XXXVII. And Bezalel made the ARK of sitta wood; two cubits and a half its length, and a cubit and half its breadth, and a cubit and half its height. And he covered it with pure gold within and without, and made for it a crown of gold round about. And he cast for it four golden rings upon its four corners; two rings upon one side of it, and two rings upon its second side. And he made the staves of it of sitta wood, and covered them with gold, and put the staves into the rings upon the sides of the ark, to carry the ark.

And he made the MERCY SEAT of pure gold; two cubits and a half the length, and a cubit and half its breadth; but its thickness was a span. And be made two kerubin of pure gold, beaten made be them, on the two sides of the mercy seat. One keruba on this side, and one keruba on that side, of beaten work; and the kerubin were face to face. They were not separated from the mercy seat; but by the wisdom of the Spirit of prophecy, he made the kerubin on its two sides. And the kerubaia spread forth their wings, with their heads upward, overshadowing the mercy seat with their wings, and their faces were toward each other, over against the mercy seat were the faces of the kerubaia.

And he made the TABLE of sitta wood, two cubits its length, and a cubit its breadth, and a cubit and half its height. And he covered it with pure gold, and made for it a golden crown round about. And he made a border for it, its height a span round about. [JERUSALEM. A border, a span around, and he made a coronal of gold for the surrounding border.] And he made a crown of gold for the border round about. And he cast for it four golden rings, and set the rings upon the four corners of its four feet. Over agaagainst the border were the rings, the place for the staves in carrying the table. And he made the staves of sitta wood, and covered them with gold, for carrying the table. And he made the vessels to be upon the table, its dishes, and its bowls, and its measures, and its cups for the lavings[1] of pure gold.

And he made the CANDELABRUM of pure gold, beaten made he the candelabrum; its base and its shaft, its cups, its apples, and its lilies were of the same. And six branches came forth from its sides; three branches of the candelabrum on one side, and three branches of the candelabrum on the second side. Three embossed cups with their figurations on one branch, with the apple and lily, and three embossed cups with their figurations on the other branch, with the apple and lily; so the six branches which proceeded from the candelabrum. And upon the candelabrum, four embossed cups with their figurations of apples and lilies. And an apple (was) under two branches of the same, and an apple under two branches of the same, and an apple under two branches of the same, for the six branches that proceeded from it. Their apples and their branches were of the same, all of it one beaten work of pure gold: of a talent of pure gold made he it and all its vessels.

And he made the ALTAR OF SWEET INCENSE of sitta wood, a cubit its length, and a cubit its breadth, foursquare, and two cubits was its height; its two upright horns were of the same. And he overlaid it with pure gold, its top and its sides round about, and its horns; and he made for it a golden crown round about. And two golden rings he made for it under its crown, at its two corners, upon its two sides, to be the place of the staves by which to carry it. And the staves be made of sitta wood, and overlaid them with gold. And he made the sacred oil of anointing, and the pure sweet incense, the work of the perfumer.

XXXVIII. And he made the ALTAR OF BURNT OFFERING of Sitta wood; five cubits its length, and five cubits its breadth, four‑square, and three cubits its height. And he made horns upon its four corners; of the same were its horns stretching upward; and he covered it with brass. And he made all the vessels of the altar; the pots, and the cleaners, and the basins, and the fleshhooks, and the pans, all its vessels made he of brass. And he made the grate of the altar, of brasen network under the border beneath, reaching to the middle of it, to receive the cinders and bones that fell from the altar. And he cast four rings, for the four corners of the grate, of brass, (to be) places for the staves. And he made the staves of sitta wood, and coated them with brass. And he put the staves into the rings, upon the sides of the altar, to carry it by them: hollow with boards, and filled with earth made he it.

And he made the brasen Laver, and its foundation of brass, from the brasen mirrors of the pious women, who, at the season, came to pray at the door of the tabernacle of appointment, standing with their oblations, giving thanks and confession, and returning to their husbands, the mothers of righteous children, who had been purified from the uncleanness of their blood. [JERUSALEM. And he made the laver of brass, and the base thereof of brass, with, the mirrors of the pious women who were devout at the gate of the tabernacle of appointment.] And he made the court; on the southern side, the curtains of the court (made he) with fine linen, a hundred cubits, their pillars twenty, and their bases twenty, of brass; the hooks of the pillars and their rods were of silver. And on the north side, a hundred cubits, their pillars twenty, and their bases twenty, of brass; the hooks of the pillars and their rods were of silver. And the curtains of the western side, fifty cubits, their pillars ten, and their bases ten; the hooks of the pillars, and their rods, were of silver. And on the east side, eastward, fifty cubits. And the curtains were fifteen cubits on a side; their pillars three, and their bases three. And for the second side of the door of the court, here and there, at the gate of the court, curtains fifteen cubits, their pillars three and their bases three. All the curtains of the court round about were of fine linen twined. And the bases of the pillars were of brass, the hooks of the pillars and their rods of silver, and the overlaying of their capitals silver, and the rods silver; so were made all the pillars of the court. And the hanging for the gate of the court was made of embroidered work in hyacinth, and purple, and crimson, and fine linen twined; and twenty cubits (was) the length, and the height on its breadth five cubits, corresponding with the curtains of the court. And their pillars four, and their bases four, of brass; their hoks silver, and the overlaying of their capitals, and their rods, silver. But all the pins of the tabernacle, and of the court round about, were of brass.

Pgs. 571-580

Ch. 38-40

SECTION XXIII.

PEKUDEY.

These are the sums, weights, and numbers of the Tabernacle of the Testimony, which were counted by the word of the mouth of Mosheh. But the service of the Levites was by the hand of Ithamar bar Aharon the priest. And Bezalel bar Uri bar Hur, of the tribe of Jehudah, made all that the Lord had commanded Mosheh; and with him, Ahaliab bar Achisamak, of the tribe of Dan, a worker in wood, and an artificer, and an embroiderer in hyacinth, and in purple, and in crimson, and in fine linen.

All the gold that was used in making the whole work of the sanctuary, and it was the amount of the gold of the oblation, (was) twenty and nine talents, and seven hundred and thirty shekels, in the shekel of the sanc­tuary. This was the gold of the oblation, which every man of the sons of Israel, whose heart was willing, had offered as a separation. And the silver of them who were numbered of the sons of Israel, who gave at the time when Mosheh numbered them, every one for the redemption of his soul, a hundred talents, and a thousand and seven hundred and seventy and five shekels, of the shekel of the sanctuary. A drachma for (each) head, a half shekel of the shekel of the sanctuary, for every one who passed to the numberments, from twenty years and upwards, for six hundred and thirty thousand and five hundred and fifty (men). And there were a hundred talents of silver for casting the bases of the sanctuary, and the bases of the veil, a hundred bases, answering to the talents, a talent for a base. And with the thousand and seven hundred and seventy and five shekels, he made hooks for the pillars, and the overlaying of their capitals and their rods. And the brass of the oblation was seventy talents, and two thousand and four hundred shekels. And he made with it the bases of the gate of the tabernacle of ordinance, and the brasen altar, and the brasen grate for it, and all the vessels of the altar. And the bases of the court round about, and the bases of the gate of the court, and all the pins of the tabernacle, and all the pins of the court round about.

XXXIX. And of the hyacinth, and purple, and crimson, they made the vestments of ministration, to minister in the sanctuary. And they made the holy vestments of Aharon the priest, as the Lord had commanded Mosheh. And he made the ephoda of gold, hyacinth, and purple, and fine linen twined. And they beat out the plates of gold, and cut them into threads to inwork with the hyacinth, and the purple, and the crimson, and the fine linen, the work of the artificer. Shoulderpieces made they for it conjoined; upon its two sides were they conjoined. And its ordered band[1] that was upon it was of the same; it was according to its work, of gold, hyacinth, and purple, and crimson, and fine linen twined, even as the Lord had commanded Mosheh. And they wrought the jewels of onyx, enchased, set, inwrought, graved with graven writing, setting forth the names of the sons of Israel. And he set them on the shoulders of the ephoda, as stones of memorial for the sons of Israel, as the Lord commanded Mosheh.

And he made the Breastplate, the work of the arti­ficer, according to the work of the ephoda, of gold, hyacinth, and purple, and crimson, and fine linen twined. Foursquare was it; doubled they made the breastplate, a span its length, and a span its breadth. [JERUSALEM. A palm its length, and a palm its breadth, doubled.] And they filled it with four rows of precious gems, (margalyan,) corresponding with the four corners of the world. The first row, carnelian, topaz, and carbuncle, row one: and upon them were engraven and expressed the names of three tribes, Reuben, Shimeon, and Levi. And the name of the second row, smarag, and sapphire, and chalcedony: and upon them was inscribed and set forth the name of three tribes, Jehudah, Dan, and Naphtali. And the name of the third row, ligure, agate, and amethyst: and upon them inscribed and set forth the name of three tribes, Gad, Asher, and Issakar. And the name of the fourth row, chrysolite, and onyx, and jasper: and upon them inscribed and set forth the name of three tribes, Zebulon, Joseph, and Benjamin: enchased and set in gold in their infillings. And the gems were according to the names of the sons of Israel, twelve, according to their names; the writing engraven, inscribed, and set forth as the engraving of a ring; each man's gem according to his name in the twelve tribes. And they made upon the breastplate wreathen chains, entwined work, of pure gold. And they made two sockets of gold, and two golden rings, and set the two rings on the two sides of the breastplate. And they put the two entwinements of gold within the two rings upon the two sides of the breastplate, and the two chains that were arranged on the two sides they fastened upon the two sockets, and set them on the shoulders of the ephoda, toward its front. And they made two golden rings and set them upon the two sides of the breastplate, upon its edge, that was on the border of the ephod inward. And they made two golden rings, and arranged them upon the two shoulders of the ephod below, toward its front, over against the place of conjoinment above the band of the ephod, and fitted the breastplate by its rings to the rings of the ephod by a ribbon of hyacinth, that it might adhere to the band of the ephod, and that the breastplate be not loosened from being upon the ephod, as the Lord commanded Mosheh.

And he made the mantle‑robe, a work of the weaver, of twined thread of hyacinth. And the aperture of the upper robe (was) double in the midst, like the opening of a piece of armour, with a border round about its edge, that it might not be torn. And they made upon the bottom of the upper robe pomegranates of hyacinth, and purple, and crimson, and (fine linen) entwined. And they made golden bells, and set the bells among the pomegranates upon the border of the mantle‑robe, round about among the pomegranates; a bell and a pomegranate, a bell and a pomegranate, all of them seventy upon the bottom of the upper robe round about to minister in; as the Lord commanded Mosheh.

    And they made the plate of the crown of holiness of pure gold, and wrote upon it, inscribed, engraven, and set forth, HOLINESS TO THE LORD. And they set upon it a twined ribbon of hyacinth, to put it upon the tiara above the forehead; as the Lord commanded Mosheh.                                                        

And all the work of the tabernacle, the tabernacle of ordinance, was completed: and the sons of Israel did as the Lord commanded Mosheh, so did they. And they brought the tabernacle to Mosheh at his house of instruction, (beth Midrash,) where sat Mosheh and his sons, where he gave direction to them concerning the order of the priesthood; and there, and Aharon, (also) sat the elders of Israel. And they brought to him the tabernacle and all its vessels: its taches, its boards, its bars, its pillars, and its bases; and the covering of reddened rams' skins, and the covering of purple skins, and the veil that was to be spread; and the ark of the testimony, and its staves, and the mercy-seat, and the kerubaia produced of beaten work of the same, the one here, and the other there; and the table, and all its vessels, and the bread of faces; and the candelabrum, and its lamps, the lamps of order, which were ordained to correspond to the seven stars, that rule in their prescribed places in the firmament by day and by night; and the oil for the lights, and the golden altar, and the consecration oil, and the sweet incense, and the hanging for the door of the tabernacle; and the brasen altar, and its brasen grate, and its staves, and all its utensils; and the laver, and its base; the curtain‑work of the court, and its pillars, and the bases and the veil of the gate of the court, its cords, and pins, and all the vessels for the service of the tabernacle, even the tabernacle of ordinance; and the vestments of ministration for ministering in the sanctuary, the holy vestments of Aharon the priest, and the vestments of his sons, to minister. According to all that the Lord had commanded Mosheh, so had the sons of Israel made all the service, and, behold, they had made it as the Lord had commanded, so had they made it. And Mosheh blessed them, and said, May the Shekinah of the Lord dwell within the work of your hands!

XL. And the Lord spake with Mosheh, saying, On the day of the first month, that is the month of Nisan, on the first of the month, thou shalt rear up the tabernacle, the tabernacle of ordinance. And thou shalt set there the ark of the testimony, and overlay the ark with the mercy seat. And thou shalt bring in the table on the north side, because, from thence are given riches; for from thence distil the drops of the latter rain upon the herbs, for the food of the inhabiters of the world; and thou shalt arrange its orders, two rows of bread, comprising six cakes in a row, answering to the tribes of Jakob. And thou shalt bring in the candelabrum, on the south side, because there are the paths of the sun and of the moon, and the pathways of the luminaries; and thence are the treasures of the wisdom which resembleth the light. And thou shalt kindle the seven lamps, corresponding to the seven stars which resemble the just, who shine unto eternity in their righteousness. And thou shalt place the golden altar for sweet incense before the ark of the testimony; because the wise who are diligent in the law have a perfume fragrant as the sweet incense. And thou shalt set the veil at the gate of the tabernacle; because the righteous so covereth with their righteousness the people of the house of Israel. And thou shalt place the altar of burnt offering before the door of the tabernacle of ordinance; because the rich, who spread the table before their doors and feed the poor, shall have their sins forgiven what time they make the offering upon the altar. And thou shalt place the laver between the tabernacle of ordinance and the altar, and put water therein for the sins of such as convert by repentance, and pour off their perversity like water. And thou shalt place the court round about, because of the merit of the fathers of the world, which encom­passeth the people of the house of Israel round about. And thou shalt set the hanging of the gate of the court on account of the merit of the mothers of the world, which spreadeth at the gate of Gehennam, that none may enter there of the souls of the children of the peo­ple of Israel. And thou shalt take the consecration‑oil, and anoint the tabernacle, and all that is therein, and shalt sanctify it, on account of the crown of the kingdom of the house of Jehudah, and of the King Meshiha, who is to redeem Israel at the end of the days. And thou shalt anoint the altar of burnt offering, and all its ves­sels, and consecrate the altar, that it may be an altar most holy, on account of the crown of the priesthood of Aharon, and his sons, and of Elijah, the great Priest who is to be sent at the end of the captivity. And thou shalt anoint the laver, and its base, and consecrate it, on account of Jehoshua thy minister, chief of the sanhedrin of his people; by whose hand the land of Israel is to be partitioned: and of Meshiha bar Ephraim, who shall spring from him, by whose hand the house of Israel is to vanquish Gog and his confederates at the end of the days.

And thou shalt bring Aharon and his sons to the door of the tabernacle of ordinance, and wash them with water, and clothe Aharon with the holy vestments, and anoint him, and consecrate him; that he may minister before Me. And his sons thou shalt bring near, and dress them with tunics, and anoint them, as thou didst anoint their father, that they may minister before Me; and their consecration shall be for a perpetual priesthood in their generations.

And Mosheh did all that the Lord commanded, so did he. And it was in the first month, that is, the month Nisan, in the second year, in the first of the month, that he reared up the tabernacle. And Mosheh reared the tabernacle, and placed its bases, and set its boards, and placed its bars, and reared its pillars. And he spread the tent over the tabernacle, and placed the covering of the tabernacle upon it above, as the Lord commanded Mosheh. And he took the two tables of stone, the tables of the covenant which were given to him in Horeb, and set them up for a sign in the House of Instruction: they are the tables of the testimony. And the broken tables (he deposited) in the ark. And he set the staves in the ark, and placed the mercy seat, with the kerubaia that were produced for it of beaten work, upon the ark above. And be brought the ark into the tabernacle and set the veil of the covering and shadowed there with the ark of the testimony, as the Lord commanded Mosheh.

And he placed the table in the tabernacle of ordinance, at the side of the tabernacle northward without the veil, and set in order upon it the rows of bread before the Lord, as the Lord commanded Mosheh. [JERUSALEM. And he set in order upon it the order of the bread of faces before the Lord.] And he placed the candelabrum in the tabernacle of ordinance, over against the table upon the side of the tabernacle southward, and kindled the lamps before the Lord, as the Lord commanded Mosheh. And he set the golden altar in the tabernacle of ordinance before the veil, and burned sweet incense upon it, as the Lord commanded Mosheh. And he set the hanging at the gate of the tabernacle. And the altar of burnt offering he placed at the gate of the tabernacle, and offered thereon the burnt offering and the oblation, as the Lord commanded Mosheh. And he set the layer upon its foundation between the tabernacle of ordinance and the altar, and put living water therein for purification, that it may not fail, nor become corrupt all the days. And Mosheh, and Aharon, and his sons, took from it for their ablutions, and sanctified therewith their hands and their feet; at the time they entered into the tabernacle of ordinance, or approached unto the altar, they purified themselves, as the Lord commanded Mosheh. And he reared up the court round about the tabernacle and the altar, and placed the hanging which was for the gate of the tabernacle. And Mosheh completed the work.

Then the Cloud of Glory overspread the tabernacle of ordinance, and the glory of the Shekinah of the Lord filled the tabernacle. And Mosheh was not able to enter the tabernacle of ordinance, because the Cloud of Glory rested upon it, and the glory of the Lord's Shekinah filled the tabernacle.

At the time when the Cloud of Glory ascended from the tabernacle, the sons of Israel went forward in all their journeys; but if the Cloud of Glory went not up, they did not go forward until the day when it ascended. For the Cloud of the Glory of the Lord overspread the tabernacle by day, and (as) a column of fire it gave light in the night, that all the sons of Israel might see in all their journeys. [JERUSALEM. Because the Cloud of the Glory of the Lord's Shekinah overspread the tabernacle by day, and a fire shined upon it all the nights; all the sons of Israel seeing in all their journeys.]

[1] Or, "girdle of ordination."

END OF THE PALESTINIAN TARGUM

ON THE SEPHER SHEMOTH.



[1] Or, "girdle of ordination."

 



[1] Castel, col 1332

 



[1] Or, "I have called by a good name Bezalel."

[2] Or, "appointed arms."



[1] The three Chaldee Targums vary in the translation of the names of these gems. For the convenience of the student I will set them down in one view.

Hebrew Text. 1. Odem, pitedah, bareketh. 2. Nophek, sapphir, yahalon. 3. Leshem, shebo, achlama. 4. Tarshish, shoham, yashepheh.

Onkelos. 1. Samkan, jarkan, or jarktha, barkan. 2. Izmargadin, schabziz, sibhalom. 3. Kankire, tarkaja, ain-ingla. 4. Kerum-yama, burella, pantire.

Jonathan. 1. Simuktha, yarketha, barketha. 2. Izmorad, saphirinon, kadekodin. 3. Kanjerinun, arekin, ain-egel. 4. Kerum-yama-rabba, birlevath-chala, margenith-apantirin.

Jerusalem. 1. Samketha, yarketha, barketha. 2. Kadkedana, simphuryana, ein-igla. 3. Zozin, berulin, zemargedin. 4. Kerum yama, bedolcha, margalitha. We cannot render some of these by the names of the stones with which we are familiar with absolute certainty. Much curious matter on the chapter may be found in, "Die Urim und Thummim, die altesten Gemmen. Von J.J. Bellermann." Berlin. 1824.

[2] Lit., "cartilage."

 


[1] Lit., "by suffocation with the towel."

[2] Or, "by thr Name of Manifestation;" the Shem Hamephirash.

[3] Shekels.

[4] Bekurey.



[1] Im asareti dibraia.

[2] Shebach, "praise".

[3] Mithhaphik behon.

 



[1] They were two lofty rocks, with a defile between them, called the (pi) mouth of the rocks.-- R.S. Izhaki, in loco.

[2] Oktaraia: "Octarions, prafecti militares."

[3] The Ardiphne, Hirdoph, and sometimes Rododaphne, is described in Shemoth Rabba as a tree which grows beside water and bears flowers like lilies, of a bitter taste. The name us given also to the bitter herbs eaten with the passover. (Tr. Pesachim, 39.) The old commentator in the Yalkut says, "This was one miracle within another, --bitter waters made sweet by a bitter tree."

[4] Phisyonin.

[5] Mesargal.

[6] "What is it?"

[7] Garmidee.

[8] Kusebar.

[9] Roshem.

 



[1] Or, "in the face of My Shekinah."

[2] Chive chureman.

[3] Churemana.

[4] Yistra, "disposition," or "design."

[5] Kalma, "genus fornicae."- Castel. Heb. text, kinnim, "gnats."