Aggada -- Translations into English; Bible. Old Testament -- Legends; Jewish legends; Midrash -- Translations into English
Israel, but thou didst in silence hear the daughters of Jethro say to
their father, 'An Egyptian delivered us out of the hands of the
shepherds,' without correcting them by saying, 'I am a Hebrew;' and
therefore shall not even thy bones be brought into the land of Israel."
[885]
Moses furthermore said to God: "O Lord of the world! With the word,
'Behold' did I begin Thy praise, saying, 'Behold, the heaven and the
heaven of heavens is the Lord's' and with that very world, 'Behold,'
dost thou seal my death, saying, 'Behold, thy days approach that thou
must die.'" God replied to this: "A wicked man in his envy sees only
the profits, but not the expenditures of his neighbor. Dost thou not
recall that when I wanted to send thee to Egypt, thou didst also
decline My request with the word, 'Behold,' saying, 'Behold, they will
not believe me.' Therefore did I say, 'Behold, thy days approach that
thou must die.'" [886] "As furthermore," continued God, "thou didst say
to the sons of Levi when they asked thy forgiveness, 'Enough, ye take
too much upon ye, ye sons of Levi,' so too shall I answer thy prayer
for forgiveness, 'Let it suffice thee; speak no more unto Me of this
matter.'"
"O Lord of the world!" again pleaded Moses, "Wilt not Thou recall the
time when thou didst say to me, 'Come now, therefore, and I will send
thee unto Pharaoh, that thou mayest bring forth My people the children
of Israel out of Egypt.' Let them be led by me into their land as I led
them out of the land of bondage." But to this also God found a reply:
"Moses, wilt not thou recall the time when thou didst say to Me, 'O my
Lord, send, I pray Thee by the hand of him whom Thou wild send?' 'With
the measure that a man uses, shall measure be given him.' [887] I
announce death to thee with the word, 'Behold,' saying 'Behold, thy
days approach that thou must die,' because I wanted to point out to
thee that thou diest only because thou are a descendant of Adam, upon
whose sons I had pronounced death with the word, 'Behold,' saying to
the angels: 'Behold, the man is become as one of us, to know good and
evil; and now, lest he put forth his hand, and take also of the tree of
life, and eat, and live forever.'" [888]
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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