(12) Then the Egyptians, oft admonished, continued unwise; and the Hebrews were spectators of the calamities that others suffered, learning in safety the power of God. And when the Egyptians gave no heed to the effects of that power, through their foolish infatuation disbelieving, then, as is said, "the children knew" what was done; and the Hebrews afterwards going forth, departed carrying much spoil from the Egyptians, not for avarice, as the cavillers say, for God did not persuade them to covet what belonged to others. But, in the first place, they took wages for the services they had rendered the Egyptians all the time; and then in a way recompensed the Egyptians, by afflicting them in requital as avaricious, by the abstraction of the booty, as they had done the Hebrews by enslaving them. Whether, then, as may be alleged is done in war, they thought it proper, in the exercise of the rights of conquerors, to take away the property of their enemies, as those who have gained the day do from those who are worsted (and there was just cause of hostilities. The Hebrews came as suppliants to the Egyptians on account of famine; and they, reducing their guests to slavery, compelled them to serve them after the manner of captives, giving them no recompense); or as in peace, took the spoil as wages against the will of those who for a long period had given them no recompense, but rather had robbed them, [it is all one.]

(6) Now, the Greeks had the advantage of receiving from Moses all these, and the knowledge of how to make use of each of them. And, for the sake of example, I shall cite one or two instances of leadership. Moses, on leading the people forth, suspecting that the Egyptians would pursue, left the short and direct route, and turned to the desert, and marched mostly by night. For it was another kind of arrangement by which the Hebrews were trained in the great wilderness, and for a protracted time, to belief in the existence of one God alone, being inured by the wise discipline of endurance to which they were subjected. The strategy of Moses, therefore, shows the necessity of discerning what will be of service before the approach of dangers, and so to encounter them. It turned out precisely as he suspected, for the Egyptians pursued with horses and chariots, but were quickly destroyed by the sea breaking on them and overwhelming them with their horses and chariots, so that not a remnant of them was left.

(7) Afterwards the pillar of fire, which accompanied them (for it went before them as a guide), conducted the Hebrews by night through an untrodden region, training and bracing them, by toils and hardships, to manliness and endurance, that after their experience of what appeared formidable difficulties, the benefits of the land, to which from the trackless desert he was conducting them, might become apparent. Furthermore, he put to flight and slew the hostile occupants of the land, falling upon them from a desert and rugged line of march (such was the excellence of his generalship). For the taking of the land of those hostile tribes was a work of skill and strategy.

(51) He makes sugar to grow in your mouth, Therefore, bite not the innocent with your teeth; Bear in mind the divine stroke that tarries not." God made the Nile blood to the Egyptians, He preserved the Israelites from the peril, That you might know how God discerns The Nile learned of God discernment God's mercy made the Nile wise, Of His mercy He created wisdom in inanimate things, Of His mercy wisdom accrued to inanimate things,

(2) His heart prompted him and he devised [a cunning plan

(1) Moses said, "Their sorcery confuses them; What can I do? These people have no discernment." God said, "I will generate in them discernment; Although like a sea their waves cast up foam, O Moses, thou shalt prevail over them; fear not!" The magicians gloried in their own achievements, But when Moses' rod became a snake, they were confounded. Whoso boasts of his beauty and wit, Sorcery fades away, but the miracles of Moses advance. Both resemble a dish falling from a roof: The noise of the dish of sorcery leaves only cursing;

(31) They have no tenderness or gentleness or amity, Love and tenderness are qualities of humanity, Woman is a ray of God, not a mere mistress, The Creator's self, as it were, not a mere creature! Moses and Pharaoh, alike doers of God's will, Verily, both Moses and Pharaoh walked in the right way, Though seemingly the one did so, and the other not. By day Moses wept before God, At midnight Pharaoh lifted up his cry, Saying, "What a yoke is this upon my neck, O God!

(7) Wherefore he himself writes in the lines: "Thou shalt the might of the unwearied winds make still, Which rushing to the earth spoil mortals' crops, And at thy will bring back the avenging blasts." And they say that he was followed by some that used divinations, and some that had been long vexed by sore diseases. They plainly, then, believed in the performance of cures, and signs and wonders, from our Scriptures. For if certain powers move the winds and dispense showers, let them hear the psalmist: "How amiable are; thy tabernacles, O Lord of hosts!" This is the Lord of powers, and principalities, and authorities, of whom Moses speaks; so that we may be with Him. "And ye shall circumcise your hard heart, and shall not harden your neck any more. For He is Lord of lords and God of gods, the great God and strong," unit so forth. And Isaiah says, "Lift your eyes to the height, and see who hath produced all these things."

Then follows a very long account of the dealings of Moses, an incarnation of true reason, with Pharaoh, the exponent of mere opinion or illusion. It begins with a long discussion between Moses and Pharaoh. Moses tells Pharaoh that both of them alike owe their bodies to earth and their souls to God, and that God is their only lord. Pharaoh replies that he is lord of Moses, and chides Moses for his want of gratitude to himself for nurturing him in his childhood. Moses replies that he recognizes no lord but God, and reminds Pharaoh how he had tried to kill him in his infancy. Pharaoh complains that he is made of no account by Moses, and Moses retorts that in order to cultivate a waste field it is necessary to break up the soil; and in order to make a good garment, the stuff must first be cut up; and in order to make bread, the wheat must first be ground in the mill, and so on. The best return he can make to Pharaoh for his hospitality to him in his infancy is to set him free from his lust-engendered illusions, like a fish from the fish-hook which has caught him. Pharaoh then twits Moses with his sorceries in changing his staff into a serpent, and thereby beguiling the people. Moses replies that all this was accomplished not by sorcery, like that of Pharaoh's own magicians, but by the power of God, though Pharaoh could not see it, owing to his want of perception of divine things. The ear and the nose cannot see beautiful objects, but only the eye, and similarly the sensual eye, blinded by lust, is impotent to behold spiritual truth. On the other hand, men of spiritual insight, whose vision is purged from lust, become as it were all eyes, and no longer see double, but only the One sole real Being. Man's body, it is true, is formed of earth, but by discipline and contrition it may be made to reflect spiritual verities, even as coarse and hard iron may be polished into a steel mirror. Pharaoh ought to cleanse the rust of evil-doing from his soul, and then he would be able to see the spiritual truths which Moses was displaying before him. The door of repentance is always open. Moses then promised that if Pharaoh would obey one admonition he should receive in return four advantages. Pharaoh was tempted by this promise, and asked what the admonition was. Moses answered that it was this, that Pharaoh should confess that there is no God except the One Creator of all things in heaven and on earth. Pharaoh then prayed him to expound the four advantages he had promised, saying that possibly they might cure him of infidelity, and cause him to become a vessel of mercy, instead of one of wrath. Moses then explained that they were as follows:

(20) And in one place, Moses writes, "He made the devil a serpent those whom he has in his generation." Also, in the book which is called "Exodus," it is written thus: "He contended against the magicians, when the place was full of serpents according to their wickedness; and the rod which was in the hand of Moses became a serpent, (and) it swallowed the serpents of the magicians."

(29) Then God stirred up a Prophet among them, even Moses, who gave them Laws, and sharp Doctrines, as Nature required; and these were given them (through the Spirit of the great World) in Zeal, in the Fire. Yet seeing they would live still in the Roughness, therefore they were tried [or tempted to see,] Rule, or Dominion. whether they would live in the Father; and God gave them Bread from Heaven, and fed them forty Years, to try what Manner of People they would be, and whether they would by any Means be brought to cleave to God: He gave them Ordinances and Customs [to observe,] in Meats and Drinks, and also a priestly Order, with heavy and hard Precepts and Punishments, which he published also to them; but it availed not, they were only wicked, and walked in the Dominion [or Regimen] of the Stars; and yet far worse, [they walked] altogether according to the Wrathfulness of Hell.

(89) And when they saw the Lord of the sheep, they turned to flee before His face, but that sea gathered itself together, and became as it had been created, and the water swelled and rose till it covered those wolves.

(89) And that sea was divided, and the water stood on this side and on that before their face, and their Lord led them and placed Himself between them and the wolves.

(28) Then God (out of the Fierceness of the first Principle) burnt Sodom and Gomorrah, those five Kingdoms, with Fire, for then God promised the chosen Generation, that if they would walk before him, he would bless them as the Stars of Heaven, and make them so great [that they should not be numbered,] and yet there were still among them evil Birds hatched. And then God brought them into a strange Land, and prospered them, to try whether they would acknowledge his Goodness, and depend on him, but they were yet worse.