not go empty: but every woman shall borrow of her neighbour, and of her that sojourneth in her house, jewels of silver, and jewels of gold, and raiment and ye shall put them upon your sons, and upon your daughters; and ye shall spoil the Egyptians. And Moses answered and said, But, behold, they will not believe me, nor hearken unto my voice: for they will say, The LORD hath not appeared unto thee. And the LORD said unto him, What is that in thine hand? And he said, A rod. And he said, Cast it on the ground. And he cast it on the ground, and it became a serpent; and Moses fled from before it. And the LORD said unto Moses, Put forth thine hand, and take it by the tail. And he put forth his hand, and caught it, and it became a rod in his hand: That they may believe that the LORD God of their fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, hath appeared unto thee. And the LORD said furthermore unto him, Put now thine hand into thy bosom. And he put his hand into his bosom: and when he took it out, behold, his hand was leprous as snow. And he said, Put thine hand into thy bosom again. And he put his hand into his bosom again; and plucked it out of his bosom, and, behold, it was turned again as his other flesh. And it shall come to pass, if they will not believe thee, neither hearken to the voice of the first sign, that they will believe the voice of the latter sign. And it shall come to pass, if they will not believe also these two signs, neither hearken unto thy voice, that thou shalt take of the water of the river, and pour it upon the dry land: and the water which thou takest out of the river shall become blood upon the dry land.-Exodus III.; IV. 1-9.

MOSES AND AARON BEFORE PHARAOH.

THE children of Israel were living in Egypt, in the land of Goshen; but the kings who now ruled Egypt were not friendly to them, as the king had been in the days of Joseph. The people were slaves, and many of them made bricks for Pharaoh. They took the soft mud of the Nile and mixed it with broken straw and pressed the bricks into shape and dried them in the hot sun.

We have read how they were made to build for Pharaoh the store-cities Pithom and Raamses. Some of the great walls which they built at Pithom may still be seen, and they seem to tell again the very story of the Bible; for here are some of the bricks nicely made, and here higher in the wall are some made hastily and with rushes mixed in them instead of straw, and here are some of the bricks with nothing to bind the mud together. We seem to see the taskmasters hurrying the people at their work, not giving them straw, but still requiring the full number of bricks.

The great Rameses had now died, who fought so many battles and built so many temples, and we believe that his son was now king, called Meneptah II. One of Pharaoh's homes was at the city Zoan, afterwards called Tanis, in the Delta and not far from Goshen.

Moses and Aaron did the signs that the Lord gave them power to do, and brought plagues upon the land of Egypt,

before Pharaoh and the Egyptians were willing that the children of Israel

should go. First, Aaron

cast down the rod before Pharaoh and it became a serpent, but the magicians also by their evil arts made their rods become serpents, and Pharaoh would not believe. Then, at the word of Moses and Aaron, the river and all the water in Egypt became blood, but Pharaoh would not hear. Next a plague of frogs came up through all the land; still Pharaoh refused. Then there came lice in all the land, and then great swarms of flies, but there were no flies in the land of Goshen. Then there came a deadly disease upon all the cattle of the Egyptians, but not one of the cattle of Israel died. Then boils came upon the Egyptians themselves; still Pharaoh would not obey the Lord. Then a terrible storm of hail fell in all the land of Egypt, and clouds of locusts devoured every green thing that was left. Then darkness came over all the land for three days, but the children of Israel had light. Last of all the oldest born in every family of the Egyptians died, and the same night the children of Israel started on their journey out of the house of bondage. We will read about Moses and Aaron before Pharaoh, and about one of the plagues, the hail.

And the LORD said to Aaron, Go into the wilderness to meet Moses. And he went, and met him in the mount of God, and kissed him. And Moses told Aaron all the words of the LORD who had sent him, and all the signs which he had commanded him. And Moses and Aaron went and gathered together all the elders of the children of Israel: and Aaron spake all the words which the LORD had spoken unto Moses, and did the signs in the sight of the people. And the people believed: and when they heard that the LORD had visited the children of Israel, and that he had looked upon their affliction, then they bowed their heads and worshipped.

And afterward Moses and Aaron went in, and told Pharaoh, Thus saith the LORD God of Israel, Let my people go, that they may hold a feast unto me in the wilderness. And Pharaoh said, Who is the LORD, that I should obey his voice to let Israel go? I know not the LORD, neither will I let Israel go. And they said, The God of the Hebrews hath met with us: let us go, we pray thee, three days' journey into the desert, and sacrifice unto the LORD our God; lest he fall upon us with pestilence, or with the sword. And the king of Egypt said unto them, Wherefore do ye, Moses and Aaron, let the people from their works? get you unto your burdens. And Pharaoh said, Behold, the people of the land now are many, and ye make them rest from their burdens. And Pharaoh commanded the same day the taskmasters of the people, and their officers, saying, Ye shall no more give the people straw to make brick, as heretofore: let them go and gather straw for themselves. And the tale of the bricks, which they did make heretofore, ye shall lay upon them; ye shall not diminish ought thereof: for they be idle; therefore they cry, saying, Let us go and sacrifice to our God. Let there more work be laid upon the men, that they may labour therein; and let them not regard vain words. And the taskmasters of the people went out, and their officers, and they spake to the people, saying, Thus saith Pharaoh, I will not give you straw. Go ye, get you straw where ye can find it yet not ought of your work shall be diminished. So the people were scattered abroad throughout all the land. of Egypt to gather stubble instead of straw. And the taskmasters hasted them, saying, Fulfil your works, your daily tasks, as when there was straw. And the officers of the children of Israel, which Pharaoh's taskmasters had set over them, were beaten, and demanded, Wherefore have ye not fulfilled your task in making brick both yesterday and to day,

(By permission of T. H. McAllister, N. Y.)
Making mud bricks, Egypt.

"Let" means "hinder."

as heretofore? Then the officers of the children of Israel came and cried unto Pharaoh, saying, Wherefore dealest thou thus with thy servants? There is no straw given unto thy servants, and they say to us, Make brick:

and, behold, thy servants are beaten; but the fault is in thine own people. But he said, Ye are idle, ye are idle: therefore ye say, Let us go and do sacrifice to the LORD. Go therefore now, and work; for there shall no straw be given you, yet shall ye deliver the tale of bricks. And the officers of the children of Israel did see that they were in evil case, after it was said, Ye shall not minish ought from your bricks of your daily task. And they met Moses and Aaron, who stood in the way, as they came forth from Pharaoh: and they said unto them, The LORD look upon you, and judge; because ye have made our savour to be abhorred in the eyes of Pharaoh, and in the eyes of his servants, to put a sword in their hand to slay us. And Moses returned unto the LORD, and said, Lord, wherefore hast thou so evil entreated this people? why is it that thou hast sent me? For since I came to Pharaoh to speak in thy name, he hath done evil to this people; neither hast thou delivered thy people at all. . . .

And the LORD said unto Moses, Rise up early in the morning, and stand before Pharaoh, and say unto him, Thus saith the LORD God of the Hebrews, Let my people go, that they

may serve me. For I will at
this time send all my plagues
upon thine heart, and upon
thy servants, and upon thy
people; that thou mayest know
that there is none like me in
all the earth. For now I will
stretch out my hand, that I
may smite thee and thy people
with pestilence; and thou shalt
be cut off from the earth. And
in very deed for this cause have
I raised thee up, for to shew
in thee my power; and that my
name may be declared through-
out all the earth. As yet exalt-
est thou thyself against my people, that thou wilt not let them go? Behold,
to morrow about this time I will cause it to rain a very grievous hail, such
as hath not been in Egypt since the foundation thereof even until now.

Tombs at Beni Hassan: before the time of
Abraham.

Send therefore now, and gather thy cattle, and all that thou hast in the field; for upon every man and beast which shall be found in the field, and shall not be brought home, the hail shall come down upon them, and they shall die. He that feared the word of the LORD among the servants of

(By permission of Egypt Exploration Fund.)

Workmen of ancient Egypt, pictured in a tomb at Beni Hassan.

Row 1. Makers of flint knives. Sandal makers.

Row 2. Bow makers. Coopers. Arrow makers. Making chairs and boxes.

Row 3. Goldsmiths.

Row 4. Potters.

Row 5. Flax cultivation and linen makers.

Row 6. Harvesting.

Row 7. Ploughing and sowing.

Pharaoh made his servants and his cattle flee into the houses: and he that regarded not the word of the LORD left his servants and his cattle in the field.

And the LORD said unto Moses, Stretch forth thine hand toward heaven, that there may be hail in all the land of Egypt, upon man, and upon beast,