At the last moment a heavenly voice came forth, and said: ‘The hour of thy death has come.’ Moses then said to the Holy One, blessed be He: ‘O Lord of the universe, remember the day on which Thou didst reveal Thyself unto me in the bush, and didst say unto me: “Come, and I will send thee unto Pharaoh, that thou mayest bring forth My people the children of Israel out of Egypt.”[43] Remember the time when I stood upon mount Sinai for forty days and forty nights. I implore Thee, deliver me not unto the hand of the angel of death.’ Whereupon a heavenly voice came forth, and said unto him: ‘Fear not! I Myself shall take charge of thee and of thy burial.’ At that moment Moses arose, and sanctified himself, as do the Seraphim. The Holy One came down from the highest heaven of heavens to take the soul of Moses, and with Him were three ministering angels, Michael, Gabriel, and Zagzagel. Michael arranged Moses’ bed, and Gabriel spread a garment of fine linen at his head; Zagzagel was at his feet. Michael stood at one side, and Gabriel at the other. The Holy One then said to Moses: ‘Moses, close thine eyelids, one upon the other; place thy hands upon thy breast; place thy feet one upon the other.’ Moses did as he was commanded. At that moment the Holy One summoned the soul from Moses’ body, and said unto her: ‘My daughter, one hundred and twenty years have I appointed for thee to be in Moses’ body; the time to depart has now arrived. Come thou forth, tarry not.’ The soul said unto Him: ‘Lord of the universe, I know that Thou art the God of all spirits, and that all the souls, the souls of the living and of the dead, are delivered into Thy hands, and that Thou didst create and fashion me, and put me into Moses’ body for one hundred and twenty years. Now is there in the world a body purer than that of Moses, upon which there never was any pollution, nor worm and maggot? Therefore I love it, and desire not to depart from it.’ But the Holy One said: ‘O soul, come forth, tarry not. I shall bring thee up to the highest heaven of heavens, and cause thee to dwell under My Throne of Glory near the Cherubim, Seraphim, and hosts of other angels.’ The soul then said: ‘O Lord of the universe, when from Thy Shekinah in heaven there came down two angels, Uzzah and Azzael, they coveted the daughters of the earth, and corrupted their way upon the earth, so that Thou didst suspend them between heaven and earth. But the son of Amram has not come in unto his wife from the day Thou didst reveal Thyself unto him in the bush, as it is written: “And Miriam and Aaron spoke against Moses because of the Cushite woman whom he had married, for he had married a Cushite woman.”[44] I implore Thee, let me remain in Moses’ body.’