Chapter 2

6:16. And these are the names of the sons of Levi by their kindreds: Gerson, and Caath, and Merari. And the years of the life of Levi were a hundred and thirty-seven.

6:17. The sons of Gerson: Lobni and Semei, by their kindreds.

6:18: The sons of Caath: Amram, and Isaar, and Hebron and Oziel. And the years of Caath's life, were a hundred and thirty-three.

6:19. The sons of Merari: Moholi and Musi. These are the kindreds of Levi by their families.

6:20. And Amram took to wife Jochabed his aunt by the father's side: and she bore him Aaron and Moses. And the years of Amram's life, were a hundred and thirty-seven.

6:21. The sons also of Isaar: Core, and Nepheg, and Zechri.

6:22. The sons also of Oziel: Mizael, and Elizaphan, and Sethri.

6:23. And Aaron took to wife Elizabeth the daughter of Aminadab, sister of Nahason, who bore him Nadab, and Abiu, and Eleazar, and Ithamar.

6:24. The sons also of Core: Aser, and Elcana, and Abiasaph. These are the kindreds of the Corites.

6:25. But Eleazar the son of Aaron took a wife of the daughters of Phutiel: and she bore him Phinees. These are the heads of the Levitical families by their kindreds.

6:26. These are Aaron and Moses, whom the Lord commanded to bring forth the children of Israel out of the land of Egypt by their companies.

6:27. These are they that speak to Pharao, king of Egypt, in order to bring out the children of Israel from Egypt: these are that Moses and Aaron,

6:28. In the day when the Lord spoke to Moses in the land of Egypt.

6:29. And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying: I am the Lord; speak thou to Pharao, king of Egypt, all that I say to thee.

6:30. And Moses said before the Lord: Lo I am of uncircumcised lips, how will Pharao hear me?

Exodus Chapter 7

Moses and Aaron go into Pharao: they turn the rod into a serpent; and the waters of Egypt into blood, which was the first plague. The magicians do the like, and Pharao's heart is hardened.

7:1. And the Lord said to Moses: Behold, I have appointed thee the god of Pharao; and Aaron, thy brother, shall be thy prophet.

The god of Pharao... Viz., to be his judge; and to exercise a divine power, as God's instrument, over him and his people.

7:2. Thou shalt speak to him all that I command thee; and he shall speak to Pharao, that he let the children of Israel go out of his land.

7:3. But I shall harden his heart, and shall multiply my signs and wonders in the land of Egypt.

I shall harden, etc... not by being the efficient cause of his hardness of heart, but by permitting it; and by withdrawing grace from him, in punishment of his malice; which alone was the proper cause of his being hardened.

7:4. And he will not hear you: and I will lay my hand upon Egypt, and will bring forth my army and my people, the children of Israel, out of the land of Egypt, by very great judgments.

7:5. And the Egyptians shall know that I am the Lord, who have stretched forth my hand upon Egypt, and have brought forth the children of Israel out of the midst of them.

7:6. And Moses and Aaron did as the Lord had commanded; so did they.

7:7. And Moses was eighty years old, and Aaron eighty-three, when they spoke to Pharao.

7:8. And the Lord said to Moses and Aaron:

7:9. When Pharao shall say to you, Shew signs; thou shalt say to Aaron: Take thy rod, and cast it down before Pharao, and it shall be turned into a serpent.

7:10. So Moses and Aaron went in unto Pharao, and did as the Lord had commanded. And Aaron took the rod before Pharao and his servants, and it was turned into a serpent.

7:11. And Pharao called the wise men and the magicians; and they also by Egyptian enchantments and certain secrets, did in like manner.

Magicians... Jannes, and Mambres, or Jambres, 2 Tim. 3.8.

7:12. And they every one cast down their rods, and they were turned into serpents: but Aaron's rod devoured their rods.

7:13. And Pharao's heart was hardened, and he did not hearken to them, as the Lord had commanded.

7:14. And the Lord said to Moses: Pharao's heart is hardened, he will not let the people go.

7:15. Go to him in the morning, behold he will go out to the waters: and thou shalt stand to meet him on the bank of the river: and thou shalt take in thy hand the rod that was turned into a serpent.

7:16. And thou shalt say to him: The Lord God of the Hebrews sent me to thee, saying: Let my people go to sacrifice to me in the desert: and hitherto thou wouldst not hear.

7:17. Thus therefore saith the Lord: In this thou shalt know that I am the Lord: behold I will strike with the rod, that is in my hand, the water of the river, and it shall be turned into blood.

7:18: And the fishes that are in the river, shall die, and the waters shall be corrupted, and the Egyptians shall be afflicted when they drink the water of the river.

7:19. The Lord also said to Moses: Say to Aaron, Take thy rod; and stretch forth thy hand upon the waters of Egypt, and upon their rivers, and streams and pools, and all the ponds of waters, that they may be turned into blood: and let blood be in all the land of Egypt, both in vessels of wood and of stone.

7:20. And Moses and Aaron did as the Lord had commanded: and lifting up the rod, he struck the water of the river before Pharao and his servants: and it was turned into blood.

7:21. And the fishes that were in the river died; and the river corrupted, and the Egyptians could not drink the water of the river, and there was blood in all the land of Egypt.

7:22. And the magicians of the Egyptians with their enchantments did in like manner; and Pharao's heart was hardened, neither did he hear them, as the Lord had commanded. 7:23. And he turned himself away, and went into his house, neither did he set his heart to it this time also.

7:24. And all the Egyptians dug round about the river for water to drink; for they could not drink of the water of the river.

7:25. And seven days were fully ended, after that the Lord struck the river.

Exodus Chapter 8

The second plague is of frogs: Pharao promiseth to let the Israelites go, but breaketh his promise. The third plague is of sciniphs. The fourth is of flies. Pharao again promiseth to dismiss the people, but doth it not.

8:1. And the Lord said to Moses: Go in to Pharao, and thou shalt say to him: Thus saith the Lord: Let my people go to sacrifice to me.

8:2. But if thou wilt not let them go, behold I will strike all thy coasts with frogs.

8:3. And the river shall bring forth an abundance of frogs; which shall come up and enter into thy house, and thy bedchamber, and upon thy bed, and into the houses of thy servants, and to thy people, and into thy ovens, and into the remains of thy meats:

8:4. And the frogs shall come in to thee, and to thy people, and to all thy servants.

8:5. And the Lord said to Moses: Say to Aaron: Stretch forth thy hand upon the streams, and upon the rivers and the pools, and bring forth frogs upon the land of Egypt.

8:6. And Aaron stretched forth his hand upon the waters of Egypt, and the frogs came up, and covered the land of Egypt.

8:7. And the magicians also, by their enchantments, did in like manner, and they brought forth frogs upon the land of Egypt.

8:8. But Pharao called Moses and Aaron, and said to them: Pray ye to the Lord to take away the frogs from me and from my people; and I will let the people go to sacrifice to the Lord.

Pray ye to the Lord, etc... By this it appears, that though the magicians, by the help of the devil, could bring frogs, yet they could not take them away: God being pleased to abridge in this the power of Satan. So we see they could not afterwards produce the lesser insects; and in this restraint of the power of the devil, were forced to acknowledge the finger of God.

8:9. And Moses said to Pharao: Set me a time when I shall pray for thee, and for thy servants, and for thy people, that the frogs may be driven away from thee and from thy house, and from thy servants, and from thy people; and may remain only in the river.

8:10. And he answered: To morrow. But he said: I will do according to thy word; that thou mayest know that there is none like to the Lord our God.

8:11. And the frogs shall depart from thee, and from thy house, and from thy servants, and from thy people; and shall remain only in the river.

8:12. And Moses and Aaron went forth from Pharao: and Moses cried to the Lord for the promise, which he had made to Pharao concerning the frogs.

8:13. And the Lord did according to the word of Moses: and the frogs died out of the houses, and out of the villages, and out of the fields:

8:14. And they gathered them together into immense heaps, and the land was corrupted.

8:15. And Pharao seeing that rest was given, hardened his own heart, and did not hear them, as the Lord had commanded.

Pharao hardened his own heart... By this we see that Pharao was himself the efficient cause of his heart being hardened, and not God.-See the same repeated in ver. 32. Pharao hardened his heart at this time also: likewise chap. 9.7, 35, and chap. 13.15.

8:16. And the Lord said to Moses: Say to Aaron: Stretch forth thy rod, and strike the dust of the earth; and may there be sciniphs in all the land of Egypt.

Sciniphs... Or Cinifs, Hebrew Chinnim, small flying insects, very troublesome both to men and beast.

8:17. And they did so. And Aaron stretched forth his hand, holding the rod; and he struck the dust of the earth, and there came sciniphs on men and on beasts: all the dust of the earth was turned into sciniphs through all the land of Egypt.

8:18: And the magicians with their enchantments practised in like manner, to bring forth sciniphs, and they could not: and there were sciniphs as well on men as on beasts.

8:19. And the magicians said to Pharao: This is the finger of God. And Pharao's heart was hardened, and he hearkened not unto them, as the Lord had commanded.

8:20. The Lord also said to Moses: Arise early, and stand before Pharao; for he will go forth to the waters: and thou shalt say to him: Thus saith the Lord: Let my people go to sacrifice to me.

8:21. But if thou wilt not let them go, behold I will send in upon thee, and upon thy servants, and upon thy houses, all kind of flies: and the houses of the Egyptians shall be filled with flies of divers kinds, and the whole land wherein they shall be.

8:22. And I will make the land of Gessen wonderful in that day, so that flies shall not be there: and thou shalt know that I am the Lord in the midst of the earth.

8:23. And I will put a division between my people and thy people: to morrow shall this sign be.

8:24. And the Lord did so. And there came a very grievous swarm of flies into the houses of Pharao and of his servants, and into all the land of Egypt: and the land was corrupted by this kind of flies.

8:25. And Pharao called Moses and Aaron, and said to them: Go and sacrifice to your God in this land.

8:26. And Moses said: It cannot be so: for we shall sacrifice the abominations of the Egyptians to the Lord our God: now if we kill those things which the Egyptians worship, in their presence, they will stone us.

The abominations, etc... That is, the things they worship for Gods: oxen, rams, etc. It is the usual style of the scriptures to call all idols and false gods, abominations, to signify how much the people of God ought to detest and abhor them.

8:27. We will go three days' journey into the wilderness; and we will sacrifice to the Lord our God, as he hath commanded us.

8:28. And Pharao said: I will let you go to sacrifice to the Lord your God in the wilderness, but go no farther: pray for me.

8:29. And Moses said: I will go out from thee, and will pray to the Lord: and the flies shall depart from Pharao, and from his servants, and from his people to morrow: but do not deceive any more, in not letting the people go to sacrifice to the Lord.

8:30. So Moses went out from Pharao, and prayed to the Lord.

8:31. And he did according to his word: and he took away the flies from Pharao, and from his servants, and from his people: there was not left so much as one.

8:32. And Pharao's heart was hardened, so that neither this time would he let the people go.

Exodus Chapter 9

The fifth plague is a murrain among the cattle. The sixth, of boils in men and beasts. The seventh, of hail. Pharao promiseth again to let the people go, and breaketh his word.

9:1. And the Lord said to Moses: Go in to Pharao, and speak to him: Thus saith the Lord God of the Hebrews: Let my people go to sacrifice to me.

9:2. But if thou refuse, and withhold them still:

9:3. Behold my hand shall be upon thy fields; and a very grievous murrain upon thy horses, and asses, and camels, and oxen, and sheep.

9:4. And the Lord will make a wonderful difference between the possessions of Israel and the possessions of the Egyptians, that nothing at all shall die of those things that belong to the children of Israel.

9:5. And the Lord appointed a time, saying: To morrow will the Lord do this thing in the land.

9:6. The Lord therefore did this thing the next day: and all the beasts of the Egyptians died, but of the beasts of the children of Israel there died not one.

All the beasts... That is, many of all kinds.

9:7. And Pharao sent to see; and there was not any thing dead of that which Israel possessed. And Pharao's heart was hardened, and he did not let the people go.

9:8. And the Lord said to Moses and Aaron: Take to you handfuls of ashes out of the chimney, and let Moses sprinkle it in the air in the presence of Pharao.

9:9. And be there dust upon all the land of Egypt: for there shall be boils and swelling blains both in men and beasts, in the whole land of Egypt.

9:10. And they took ashes out of the chimney, and stood before Pharao, and Moses sprinkled it in the air; and there came boils with swelling blains in men and beasts.

9:11. Neither could the magicians stand before Moses, for the boils that were upon them, and in all the land of Egypt.

9:12. And the Lord hardened Pharao's heart, and he hearkened not unto them, as the Lord had spoken to Moses.

Hardened, etc... See the annotations above, chap. 4.21, chap. 7.3, and chap. 8.15.

9:13. And the Lord said to Moses: Arise in the morning, and stand before Pharao, and thou shalt say to him: Thus saith the Lord, the God of the Hebrews: Let my people go to sacrifice to me.

9:14. For I will at this time send all my plagues upon thy heart, and upon thy servants, and upon thy people; that thou mayst know that there is none like me in all the earth.

9:15. For now I will stretch out my hand to strike thee, and thy people, with pestilence, and thou shalt perish from the earth.

9:16. And therefore have I raised thee, that I may shew my power in thee, and my name may be spoken of throughout all the earth.

9:17. Dost thou yet hold back my people; and wilt thou not let them go?

9:18: Behold I will cause it to rain to morrow at this same hour, an exceeding great hail; such as hath not been in Egypt from the day that it was founded, until this present time.

9:19. Send therefore now presently, and gather together thy cattle, and all that thou hast in the field; for men and beasts, and all things that shall be found abroad, and not gathered together out of the fields which the hail shall fall upon, shall die.

9:20. He that feared the word of the Lord among Pharao's servants, made his servants and his cattle flee into houses:

9:21. But he that regarded not the word of the Lord, left his servants, and his cattle in the fields.

9:22. And the Lord said to Moses: Stretch forth thy hand towards heaven, that there may be hail in the whole land of Egypt upon men, and upon beasts, and upon every herb of the field in the land of Egypt.

9:23. And Moses stretched forth his rod towards heaven, and the Lord sent thunder and hail, and lightnings running along the ground: and the Lord rained hail upon the land of Egypt.

9:24. And the hail and fire mixt with it drove on together: and it was of so great bigness, as never before was seen in the whole land of Egypt since that nation was founded.

9:25. And the hail destroyed through all the land of Egypt all things that were in the fields, both man and beast: and the hail smote every herb of the field, and it broke every tree of the country.

9:26. Only in the land of Gessen, where the children of Israel were, the hail fell not.

9:27. And Pharao sent and called Moses and Aaron, saying to them: I have sinned this time also, the Lord is just: I and my people, are wicked.

9:28. Pray ye to the Lord that the thunderings of God and the hail may cease: that I may let you go, and that ye may stay here no longer.

9:29. Moses said: As soon as I am gone out of the city, I will stretch forth my hands to the Lord, and the thunders shall cease, and the hail shall be no more: that thou mayst know that the earth is the Lord's:

9:30. But I know that neither thou, nor thy servants do yet fear the Lord God.

9:31. The flax therefore, and the barley were hurt, because the barley was green, and the flax was now bolled;

9:32. But the wheat, and other winter corn were not hurt, because they were lateward.

9:33. And when Moses was gone from Pharao out of the city, he stretched forth his hands to the Lord: and the thunders and the hail ceased, neither did there drop any more rain upon the earth.

9:34. And Pharao seeing that the rain, and the hail, and the thunders were ceased, increased his sin:

9:35. And his heart was hardened, and the heart of his servants, and it was made exceeding hard: neither did he let the children of Israel go, as the Lord had commanded by the hand of Moses.

Exodus Chapter 10

The eighth plague of the locusts. The ninth, of darkness: Pharao is still hardened.

10:1. And the Lord said to Moses: Go in to Pharao; for I have hardened his heart, and the heart of his servants: that I may work these my signs in him,

10:2. And thou mayst tell in the ears of thy sons, and of thy grandsons, how often I have plagued the Egyptians, and wrought my signs amongst them: and you may know that I am the Lord.

10:3. Therefore Moses and Aaron went in to Pharao, and said to him: Thus saith the Lord God of the Hebrews: How long refusest thou to submit to me? let my people go, to sacrifice to me.

10:4. But if thou resist, and wilt not let them go, behold I will bring in to-morrow the locusts into thy coasts;

10:5. To cover the face of the earth, that nothing thereof may appear, but that which the hail hath left may be eaten: for they shall feed upon all the trees that spring in the fields.

10:6. And they shall fill thy houses, and the houses of thy servants, and of all the Egyptians: such a number as thy fathers have not seen, nor thy grandfathers, from the time they were first upon the earth, until this present day. And he turned himself away, and went forth from Pharao.

10:7. And Pharao's servants said to him: How long shall we endure this scandal? Iet the men go to sacrifice to the Lord their God. Dost thou not see that Egypt is undone?

10:8. And they called back Moses, and Aaron, to Pharao; and he said to them: Go, sacrifice to the Lord your God: who are they that shall go?

10:9. Moses said: We will go with our young and old, with our sons and daughters, with our sheep and herds: for it is the solemnity of the Lord our God.

10:10. And Pharao answered: So be the Lord with you, as I shall let you and your children go: who can doubt but that you intend some great evil?

10:11. It shall not be so, but go ye men only, and sacrifice to the Lord: for this yourselves also desired. And immediately they were cast out from Pharao's presence.

10:12. And the Lord said to Moses: Stretch forth thy hand upon the land of Egypt unto the locust, that it come upon it, and devour every herb that is left after the hail.

10:13. And Moses stretched forth his rod upon the land of Egypt: and the Lord brought a burning wind all that day, and night; and when it was morning, the burning wind raised the locusts.

10:14. And they came up over the whole land of Egypt; and rested in all the coasts of the Egyptians, innumerable, the like as had not been before that time, nor shall be hereafter.

10:15. And they covered the whole face of the earth, wasting all things. And the grass of the earth was devoured, and what fruits soever were on the trees, which the hail had left; and there remained not any thing that was green on the trees, or in the herbs of the earth, in all Egypt.

10:16. Wherefore Pharao in haste called Moses and Aaron, and said to them: I have sinned against the Lord your God, and against you.

10:17. But now forgive me my sin this time also, and pray to the Lord your God, that he take away from me this death.

10:18: And Moses going forth from the presence of Pharao, prayed to the Lord:

10:19. And he made a very strong wind to blow from the west, and it took the locusts and cast them into the Red Sea: there remained not so much as one in all the coasts of Egypt.

10:20. And the Lord hardened Pharao's heart, neither did he let the children of Israel go.

10:21. And the Lord said to Moses: Stretch out thy hand towards heaven: and may there be darkness upon the land of Egypt so thick that it may be felt.

Darkness upon the land of Egypt, so thick that it may be felt... By means of the gross exhalations, which were to cause and accompany the darkness.

10:22. And Moses stretched forth his hand towards heaven: and there came horrible darkness in all the land of Egypt for three days.

10:23. No man saw his brother, nor moved himself out of the place where he was: but wheresoever the children of Israel dwelt, there was light.

10:24. And Pharao called Moses and Aaron, and said to them: Go, sacrifice to the Lord: let your sheep only, and herds remain, let your children go with you.

10:25. Moses said: Thou shalt give us also sacrifices and burnt- offerings, to the Lord our God.

10:26. All the flocks shall go with us; there shall not a hoof remain of them: for they are necessary for the service of the Lord our God: especially as we know not what must be offered, till we come to the very place.

10:27. And the Lord hardened Pharao's heart, and he would not let them go.

10:28. And Pharao said to Moses: Get thee from me, and beware thou see not my face any more: in what day soever thou shalt come in my sight, thou shalt die.

10:29. Moses answered: So shall it be as thou hast spoken, I will not see thy face anymore.

Exodus Chapter 11

Pharao and his people are threatened with the death of their firstborn.

11:1. And the Lord said to Moses: Yet one plague more will I bring upon Pharao and Egypt, and after that he shall let you go, and thrust you out.

11:2. Therefore thou shalt tell all the people, that every man ask of his friend, and every woman of her neighbour, vessels of silver and of gold.

11:3. And the Lord will give favour to his people in the sight of the Egyptians. And Moses was a very great man in the land of Egypt, in the sight of Pharao's servants, and of all the people.

11:4. And he said: Thus saith the Lord: At midnight I will enter into Egypt:

11:5. And every firstborn in the land of the Egyptians shall die, from the firstborn of Pharao who sitteth on his throne, even to the firstborn of the handmaid that is at the mill, and all the firstborn of beasts.

11:6. And there shall be a great cry in all the land of Egypt, such as neither hath been before, nor shall be hereafter.

11:7. But with all the children of Israel there shall not a dog make the least noise, from man even to beast; that you may know how wonderful a difference the Lord maketh between the Egyptians and Israel.

11:8. And all these thy servants shall come down to me, and shall worship me, saying: Go forth thou, and all the people that is under thee: after that we will go out.

11:9. And he went out from Pharao exceeding angry. But the Lord said to Moses: Pharao will not hear you, that many signs may be done in the land of Egypt.