unto him, Depart out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and come into the land which I 4 shall shew thee. Then he came out of the land of the Chaldeans, and dwelt in Haran ; when his father was dead, he removed him thence into this land, in which ye now dwell. 5 And he gave him no inheritance in it, not even to set his foot on: yet he promised that he would give it to him for a possession, and to his seed after him, when as yet he had no 6 child. And God spake thus, That his seed should sojourn in a strange land; and that they should be enslaved and oppressed four 7 hundred years. And God said, The nation whom they shall serve, I will judge; and after that they shall come forth, and serve me in 8 this place. And he gave him the covenant of circumcision: and so Abraham begat Isaac, and circumcised him the eighth day; and Isaac begat Jacob, and Jacob begat the twelve patri9 archs. And the patriarchs, moved with envy, sold Joseph into Egypt: But God was with 10 him, and delivered him out of all his afflictions,

and gave him wisdom and favor in the sight of Pharaoh king of Egypt; and he made him 11 governor over Egypt, and all his house.

Now

there came a dearth over all the land of Egypt, and Canaan, and great affliction; and our fath12 ers found no sustenance. But when Jacob

heard that there was corn in Egypt, he sent 13 out our fathers first. And at the second time

Joseph was made known to his brethren and Joseph's kindred was made known unto Pha14 raoh. Then Joseph scnt, and called his father

Jacob to him, and all his kindred, threescore 15 and fifteen souls. And Jacob went down into 16 Egypt, and died, he and our fathers, and were carried over into Shechem, and laid in the sepulchre which Abraham bought for a sum of money of the sons of Emmor, of Shechem. 17 But when the time of the promise drew near which God had sworn to Abraham, the 18 people grew and multiplied in Egypt, until

another king arose who knew not Joseph. 19 The same dealt deceitfully with our kindred, and oppressed our fathers, requiring them to cast out their young children, that they might 20 not live. In which time Moses was born, and

was exceedingly fair;* and was nourished in 21 his father's house three months: and when he

was cast out,† Pharaoh's daughter took him 22 up, and nourished him for her own son. And Moses was educated in all the learning of the Egyptians, and was mighty in words and in 23 deeds. And when he was forty years old,

it came into his heart to visit his brethren the 24 children of Israel. And seeing one of them

* Was pleasing to God, or a favorite of heaven. The original admits of either sense, that he was of fair form and appearance; or a favorite child of providenec.

† According to the cruel deeree of the king of Egypt. See 19th verse.

The Egyptians were at that period the most civilized nation of the earth. From them, probably, after the time of Moses, the Greeks received the first knowledge of many of the arts of life. For the knowledge of alphabetic writing the Greeks probably are indebted to the Phonecians; who derived it from their neighbors, the Jews. When the Israelites were acquainted with letters, the Egyptians made use of hieroglyphic writings.

suffer wrong, he defended him, and avenged him who was oppressed, and smote the Egyp25 tian: for he supposed his brethren would have

understood, how that God, by his hand, would 26 deliver them: but they understood not.* And the next day he shewed himself unto them as they strove, and would have reconciled them, saying, Sirs, ye are brethren; why do ye 27 wrong one to another? But he who did his neighbor wrong, thrust him away, saying, Who made thee a ruler and a judge over us? 28 Wilt thou kill me, as thou killedst the Egyp29 tian yesterday? Then Moses fled at this

saying, and was a stranger in the land of Mid30 ian, where he begat two sons. And when forty years were expired, there appeared to him in the wilderness of mount Sinai an angel of the Lord, in a flame of fire in a bush. 31 When Moses saw it, he wondered at the sight; and as he drew near to behold it, the voice of 32 the Lord came unto him, saying, I am the God of thy fathers, the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, aud the God of Jacob. Then 33 Moses trembled, and durst not behold. Then the Lord said to him, Put off thy shoes from thy feet, for the place where thou standest is 34 holy ground. I have seen, I have seen the affliction of my people in Egypt, and I have heard their groanings, and am come down to

* But it does not appear from the history of Moses, that he had any intimations at this time, of being appointed the deliverer of the Israelites from Egyptian bondage.

This repetition implies that God was not indifferent to their sufferings.

deliver them and now, come, I will send thee 35 into Egypt. This Moses whom they refused, saying, Who made thee a ruler and a judge? the same God sent to be a ruler and a Savior, by the hand of the angel who appeared to him 36 in the bush, He brought them out, after that he had shewed wonders and signs in the land of Egypt, and in the Red Sea, and in the wilderness forty years.

*37

This is that Moses who said unto the children of Israel, A prophet shall the Lord your God raise up unto you of your brethren like 38 unto me: him shall ye hear. This is he who was in the church in the wilderness,* with the angel who spake to him in mount Sinai, and with our fathers who received the living oracles 39 to give unto us. Whom our fathers would

not obey, but thrust from them, and in their 40 hearts turned back again into Egypt; saying unto Aaron, Make us gods to go before us: for as for this Moses who brought us out of the land of Egypt, we know not what is be41 come of him. And they made a molten calf in those days, and offered sacrifice unto the idol, and rejoiced in the works of their own 42 hands. Then God turned, and gave them up to worship the host of heaven,† as it is written in the book of the prophets, O house of Israel, have ye offered to me slain beasts, and sacri

* That is, Moses is he who was in the church in the wilderness; and who received the living (or life-giving) oracles from God, to give to us.

That is, the sun and moon, which were objects of worship among the heathens.

fices, by the space of forty years in the wilder43 ness?* Yes, ye took up the tabernacle of Moloch, and the star of your god Remphan, images which ye made, to worship; and I will carry you away beyond Babylon. Our 44 fathers had the tabernacle of witness in the wilderness, as God had appointed, who spake unto Moses, that he should make it according 45 to the fashion that he had seen. Which our fathers also received who came with Joshuat into the possessions of the Gentiles, whom God drave out before the face of our fathers 46 even unto the days of David. Who found

favour before God, and desired to provide a 47 tabernacle for the God of Jacob. But Solo48 mon built him an house. However, the Most

High dwelleth not in temples made with hands, 49 as saith the prophet. Heaven is my throne, and earth is my footstool. What house will ye build me? saith the Lord: or what is the 50 place of my rest? Hath not my hand made all these things?

51

Ye stiff-necked, and uncircumcised in heart and ears, ye do always resist the Holy Spirit : 52 as your fathers did, so do ye. Which of the prophets have not your fathers persecuted? They have also slain those who predicted the coming of that righteous person, of whom ye

* See Amos v. 25. It is there a question, and so it should be here.

† Jesus, in Greek, has the same meaning, as Joshua in Hebrew.

See Isaiah chap. lxvi. 1, 2.

§ Neh. ix. 20. Isaiah Ixiii. 10.