“But not I,” said Moses, “at least from thee; I, consecrated from my mother’s womb, the discloser of divine mysteries, the mouthpiece of God, I will not surrender my soul into thy hand.” Then Sammael flew away. But a voice fell from heaven, “Moses, Moses, thine hour is come!” “My Lord,” answered Moses, “give not my soul into the hands of the Angel of Death.” Then the Bath-kol, the heavenly voice, fell again, “Be comforted. I myself will take thy soul, and I myself will bury thee.”[577] Then Moses went home, and knocked at the door. His wife Zipporah opened; and when she saw him pale and trembling, she inquired the reason. Moses answered, “Give God the praise. My hour of death is come.” “What! must a man who has spoken with God die like ordinary mortals?” “He must. Even the angels Gabriel, Michael, and Israfiel must die; God alone is eternal, and dies not.” Zipporah wept, and swooned away. When she recovered her senses, Moses asked, “Where are my children?” “They are put to bed, and are asleep.” “Wake them up; I must bid them farewell.” Zipporah went to the children’s bed and cried, “Arise, poor orphans! arise, and bid your father farewell; for this is his last day in this world, and the first in the world beyond.” The children awoke in terror, and cried, “Alas! who will pity us when we are fatherless? who will stand protector on our threshold?” Moses was so moved that he wept. Then God said to him, “What mean these tears? Fearest thou death, or dost thou part reluctantly with this world?” “I fear not death, nor do I part reluctantly with this world; but I lament these children, who have lost their grandfather Jethro and their uncle Aaron, and who now must lose their father.” “In whom then did thy mother confide, when she cast thee in the bulrush ark into the water?” “In Thee, O Lord.” “Who gave thee power before Pharaoh? who strengthened thee with thy staff to divide the sea?” “Thou, O Lord.” “Who led thee through the wilderness, and gave thee bread from heaven, and opened to thee the rock of flint?” “Thou, O Lord.” “Then canst thou not trust thy orphans to Me, who am a father to the fatherless? But go, take thy staff, and extend it once more over the sea, and thou shalt have a sign to strengthen thy wavering faith.” Moses obeyed. He took the rod of God in his hand, and he went down to the sea-beach, and he lifted the rod over the water. Then the sea divided, and he saw in the midst a black rock. And he went forward into the sea till he reached the rock, and then a voice said to him, “Smite with thy staff!” And he smote, and the rock clave asunder, and he saw at its foundations a little cavity, and in the cavity was a worm with a green leaf in its mouth. The worm lifted up its voice and cried thrice, “Praised be God, who doth not forget me, though I, a little worm, lie in loneliness here! Praised be God, who hath nourished and cherished even me!”