Lost Books of the Bible (134 page)

CHAPTER 78

1 At that time Baal Channan son of Achbor, king of Edom, died and was buried in his house in the land of Edom.

2 After his death the children of Esau sent to the land of Edom, and took from there a man who was in Edom, whose name was Hadad, and they made him king over them in the place of Baal Channan, their king.

3 And Hadad reigned over the children of Edom forty-eight years.

4 When he reigned he resolved to fight against the children of Moab to bring them under the power of the children of Esau as they were before, but he was not able to because the children of Moab heard this thing, and they rose up and hurried to elect a king over them from among their brothers.

5 Afterward they gathered together a large crowd, and sent them to the children of Ammon their brothers for help to fight against Hadad king of Edom.

6 And Hadad heard the thing which the children of Moab had done, and was greatly afraid of them, and refrained from fighting against them.

7 In those days Moses, the son of Amram, in Midian, took Zipporah,
the daughter of Reuel the Midianite, for a wife.

8 And Zipporah walked in the ways of the daughters of Jacob, she was nothing short of the righteousness of Sarah, Rebecca, Rachel and Leah.

9 And Zipporah conceived and gave birth to a son and he called his name Gershom, for he said, I was a stranger in a foreign land; but he circumcised not his foreskin, at the command of Reuel his father-in-law.

10 And she conceived again and gave birth to a son, but circumcised his foreskin, and called his name Eliezer, for Moses said, Because the God of my fathers was my help and delivered me from the sword of Pharaoh.

11 And Pharaoh king of Egypt greatly increased the labor of the children of Israel in those days, and continued to make his yoke heavier on the children of Israel.

12 And he ordered an announcement to be made in Egypt, saying, Give no more straw to the people to make bricks with, let them go and gather themselves straw as they can find it.

13 Also the number of bricks which they shall make let them give each day, and diminish nothing from them, for they are idle in their work.

14 And the children of Israel heard this, and they mourned and sighed, and they cried to the Lord on account of the bitterness of their souls.

15 And the Lord heard the cries of the children of Israel, and saw the oppression with which the Egyptians oppressed them.

16 And the Lord was zealous for his people and his inheritance, and heard their voice, and he resolved to take them out of the affliction of Egypt, to give them the land of Canaan for a possession.

CHAPTER 79

1 Iin those days Moses was feeding the flock of Reuel the Midianite his father-in-law, beyond the wilderness of Sin, and the stick which he took from his father-in-law was in his hand.

2 And it came to pass one day that a kid of goats strayed from the flock, and Moses pursued it and it came to the mountain of God to Horeb.

3 When he came to Horeb the Lord appeared there to him in the bush, and he found the bush burning with fire, but the fire had no power over the bush to consume it.

4 Moses was greatly astonished at this sight because the bush was not consumed, and he approached to see this mighty thing; the Lord called to Moses out of the fire and commanded him to go down to Egypt to Pharaoh king of Egypt, to send the children of Israel from his service.

5 And the Lord said to Moses, Go, return to Egypt for all those men who sought your life are dead, and you shall speak to Pharaoh to send forth the children of Israel from his land.

6 The Lord showed him to do signs and wonders in Egypt before the eyes of Pharaoh and the eyes of his subjects, in order that they might believe that the Lord had sent him.

7 Moses listened to all that the Lord had commanded him, and he returned to his father-in-law and told him these things, and Reuel said to him, Go in peace.

8 Moses rose up to go to Egypt and took his wife and sons with him; he was at an inn in the road, and an angel of God came down, and sought an occasion against him.

9 He wished to kill him on account of his firstborn son because he had not circumcised him and had gone contrary to the covenant which the Lord had made with Abraham.

10 For Moses had listened to the words of his father-in-law which he had spoken to him, not to circumcise his first born son, so he  did not circumcise him.

11 Zipporah saw the angel of the Lord seeking an occasion against Moses, and she knew that this thing was because of his not having circumcised her son Gershom.

12 Zipporah hurried and took some of the sharp rock stones that were there, and circumcised her son, and delivered her husband and her son from the hand of the angel of the Lord.

13 Aaron the son of Amram, the brother of Moses, was in Egypt walking at the river side on that day.

14 And the Lord appeared to him in that place; he said to him, Go now toward Moses in the wilderness.  And he went and met him in the mountain of God, and he kissed him.

15 Aaron lifted up his eyes and saw Zipporah the wife of Moses and her children, and he said to Moses, Who are these to you?

16 And Moses said to him, They are my wife and sons which God gave to me in Midian; the thing grieved Aaron on account of the woman and her children.

17 Aaron said to Moses, Send away the woman and her children that they may go to her father's house, and Moses listened to the words of Aaron, and did so.

18 Zipporah returned with her children and they went to the house of Reuel, and remained there until the time arrived when the Lord had visited his people and brought them forth from Egypt from the hand at Pharaoh.

19 Moses and Aaron came to Egypt to the community of the children of Israel and spoke to them all the words of the Lord, and the people rejoiced a very great rejoicing.

20 Moses and Aaron rose up early the next day and went to the house of Pharaoh, and they took in their hands the stick of God.

21 When they came to the king's gate, two young lions were confined there with iron instruments;  no person went out or came in from before them, unless those whom the king ordered to come, when the conjurors came and withdrew the lions by their incantations, and this brought them to the king.

22 Moses hurried and lifted up the stick on the lions and loosed them, and Moses and Aaron came into the king's house.

23 The lions also came with them in joy, and they followed them and rejoiced as a dog rejoices over his master when he comes from the field.

24 When Pharaoh saw this thing he was astonished at it and was greatly terrified at the report, for their appearance was like the appearance of the children of God.

25 And Pharaoh said to Moses, What do you require? And they answered him saying, The Lord God of the Hebrews has sent us to you, to say, Send forth my people that they may serve me.

26 When Pharaoh heard their words he was greatly terrified before them, and he said to them, Go today and come back to me tomorrow. And they did according to the word of the king.

27 When they had gone Pharaoh sent for Balaam the magician and to Jannes and Jambres his sons and to all the magicians and conjurors and counselors which belonged to the king; they all came and sat before the king.

28 And the king told them all the words which Moses and his brother Aaron had spoken to him; the magicians said to the king, But how could the men come to you, on account of the lions which were confined at the gate?

29 The king said, Because they lifted up their rod against the lions and loosed them, and came to me, and the lions also rejoiced at them as a dog rejoices to meet his master.

30 Balaam the son of Beor the magician answered the king saying, These are none other than magicians like ourselves.

31 So now send for them and let them come and we will try them, and the king did so.

32 In the morning Pharaoh sent for Moses and Aaron to come before the king, and they took the rod of God and came to the king and spoke to him saying,

33 Thus said the Lord God of the Hebrews, Send away my people that they may serve me.

34 And the king said to them, But who will believe you that you are the messengers of God and that you come to me by his order?

35 Now therefore give a wonder or sign in this matter, and then the words which you speak will be believed.

36 Aaron hurried and threw the rod out of his hand before Pharaoh and before his servants, and the rod turned into a serpent.

37 The sorcerers saw this and each man cast his rod on the ground and they became serpents.

38 The serpent of Aaron's rod lifted up its head and opened its mouth to swallow the rods of the magicians.

39 Balaam the magician answered and said, This thing has been from the days of old that a serpent should swallow its fellow, and that living things devour each other.

40 So now restore it to a rod as it was at first and we will also restore our rods as they were at first; if your rod shall swallow our rods we will know that the spirit of God is in you, and if not, you are only a magician like ourselves.

41 Aaron hurried and stretched forth his hand and caught hold of the serpent's tail and it became a rod in his hand; the sorcerers did the same with their rod and got hold each man of the tail of his serpent, and they became rods as at first.

42 When they were restored to rods, the rod of Aaron swallowed up their rods.

43 And when the king saw this thing, he ordered the book of records that related to the kings of Egypt to be brought; they brought the book of records, the chronicles of the kings of Egypt in which all the idols of Egypt were inscribed, for they thought they would find there the name of Jehovah, but they found it not.

44 And Pharaoh said to Moses and Aaron, Behold I have not found the name of your God written in this book, and his name I do not know.

45 The counselors and wise men answered the king, We have heard that the God of the Hebrews is a son of the wise, the son of ancient kings.

46 Pharaoh turned to Moses
and Aaron and said to them, I know not the Lord whom you have declared, neither will I send his people away.

47 And they answered and said to the king, The Lord God of Gods is his name; he proclaimed his name over us from the days of our ancestors and sent us, saying, Go to Pharaoh and say to him, Send my people away that they may serve me.

48 Now therefore send us, that we may take a journey for three days in the wilderness and there may sacrifice to him, for from the days of our going down to Egypt, he has not taken from our hands either burnt offering, oblation or sacrifice; if you will not send us, his anger will be set ablaze against you and he will strike Egypt either with the plague or with the sword.

49 And Pharaoh said to them, Tell me now his power and his might.  They said to him, He created the heaven and the earth, the seas and all their fish; he formed the light, created the darkness, caused rain on the earth and watered it, and made the herbage and grass to sprout; he created man and beast and the animals of the forest, the birds of the air and the fish of the sea, and by his mouth they live and die.

50 Certainly he created you in your mother's womb and put into you the breath of life, and reared you and placed you on the royal throne of Egypt, and he will take your breath and soul from you and return you to the ground from where you were taken.