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Book of Jasher 76



Book of Jasher 76

Chapter 76

 

1.                 
And Moses the son of Amram was still
king in the
land of Cush in those
days, and he prospered in his kingdom, and he conducted the government of the
children of
Cush in justice,
in righteousness, and integrity.

2.                 
And all the children of Cush loved Moses
all the days that he reigned over them, and all the inhabitants of the
land of Cush were greatly
afraid of him.

3.                 
And in the fortieth year of the reign
of Moses over
Cush, Moses was
sitting on the royal throne whilst Adoniah the queen was before him, and all
the nobles were sitting around him.

4.                 
And Adoniah the queen said before the
king and the princes, What is this thing which you, the children of
Cush, have done
for this long time?

5.                 
Surely you know that for forty years
that this man has reigned over
Cush he has not
approached me, nor has he served the gods of the children of
Cush.

6.                 
Now therefore hear, O ye children of Cush, and let
this man no more reign over you as he is not of our flesh.

7.                 
Behold Menacrus my son is grown up,
let him reign over you, for it is better for you to serve the son of your lord,
than to serve a stranger, slave of the king of
Egypt.

8.                 
And all the people and nobles of the
children of
Cush heard the words
which Adoniah the queen had spoken in their ears.

9.                 
And all the people were preparing
until the evening, and in the morning they rose up early and made Menacrus, son
of Kikianus, king over them.

10.            
And all the children of Cush were afraid
to stretch forth their hand against Moses, for the Lord was with Moses, and the
children of
Cush remembered
the oath which they swore unto Moses, therefore they did no harm to him.

11.            
But the children of Cush gave many
presents to Moses, and sent him from them with great honor.

12.            
So Moses went forth from the land of
Cush, and went home and ceased to reign over Cush, and Moses was sixty-six
years old when he went out of the land of Cush, for the thing was from the
Lord, for the period had arrived which he had appointed in the days of old, to
bring forth Israel from the affliction of the children of Ham.

13.            
So Moses went to Midian, for he was
afraid to return to
Egypt on account
of Pharaoh, and he went and sat at a well of water in Midian.

14.            
And the seven daughters of Reuel the
Midianite went out to feed their father’s flock.

15.            
And they came to the well and drew
water to water their father’s flock.

16.            
So the shepherds of Midian came and
drove them away, and Moses rose up and helped them and watered the flock.

17.            
And they came home to their father
Reuel, and told him what Moses did for them.

18.            
And they said, An Egyptian man has
delivered us from the hands of the shepherds, he drew up water for us and
watered the flock.

19.            
And Reuel said to his daughters, And
where is he? wherefore have you left the man?

20.            
And Reuel sent for him and fetched
him and brought him home, and he ate bread with him.

21.            
And Moses related to Reuel that he
had fled from
Egypt and that he
reigned forty years over
Cush, and that
they afterward had taken the government from him, and had sent him away in
peace with honor and with presents.

22.            
And when Reuel had heard the words of
Moses, Reuel said within himself, I will put this man into the prison house,
whereby I shall conciliate the children of
Cush, for he has
fled from them.

23.            
And they took and put him into the
prison house, and Moses was in prison ten years, and whilst Moses was in the
prison house, Zipporah the daughter of Reuel took pity over him, and supported
him with bread and water all the time.

24.            
And all the children of Israel were yet in
the
land of Egypt serving the
Egyptians in all manner of hard work, and the hand of
Egypt continued in
severity over the children of
Israel in those
days.

25.            
At that time the Lord smote Pharaoh
king of Egypt, and he afflicted with the plague of leprosy from the sole of his
foot to the crown of his head; owing to the cruel treatment of the children of
Israel was this plague at that time from the Lord upon Pharaoh king of Egypt.

26.            
For the Lord had hearkened to the
prayer of his people the children of
Israel, and their
cry reached him on account of their hard work.

27.            
Still his anger did not turn from
them, and the hand of Pharaoh was still stretched out against the children of
Israel, and Pharaoh hardened his neck before the Lord, and he increased his
yoke over the children of Israel, and embittered their lives with all manner of
hard work.

28.            
And when the Lord had inflicted the
plague upon Pharaoh king of Egypt, he asked his wise men and sorcerers to cure
him.

29.            
And his wise men and sorcerers said
unto him, That if the blood of little children were put into the wounds he
would be healed.

30.            
And Pharaoh hearkened to them, and
sent his ministers to Goshen to the children of Israel to take their little
children.

31.            
And Pharaoh’s ministers went and took
the infants of the children of Israel from the bosoms of their mothers by
force, and they brought them to Pharaoh daily, a child each day, and the
physicians killed them and applied them to the plague; thus did they all the
days.

32.            
And the number of the children which
Pharaoh slew was three hundred and seventy-five.

33.            
But the Lord hearkened not to the
physicians of the king of Egypt, and the plague went on increasing mightily.

34.            
And Pharaoh was ten years afflicted
with that plague, still the heart of Pharaoh was more hardened against the
children of Israel.

35.            
And at the end of ten years the Lord
continued to afflict Pharaoh with destructive plagues.

36.            
And the Lord smote him with a bad
tumor and sickness at the stomach, and that plague turned to a severe boil.

37.            
At that time the two ministers of
Pharaoh came from the land of Goshen where all the children of Israel were, and
went to the house of Pharaoh and said to him, We have seen the children of
Israel slacken in their work and negligent in their labor.

38.            
And when Pharaoh heard the words of
his ministers, his anger was kindled against the children of Israel
exceedingly, for he was greatly grieved at his bodily pain.

39.            
And he answered and said, Now that
the children of Israel know that I am ill, they turn and scoff at us, now
therefore harness my chariot for me, and I will betake myself to Goshen and
will see the scoff of the children of Israel with which they are deriding me;
so his servants harnessed the chariot for him.

40.            
And they took and made him ride upon
a horse, for he was not able to ride of himself;

41.            
And he took with him ten horsemen and
ten footmen, and went to the children of Israel to Goshen.

42.            
And when they had come to the border
of Egypt, the king’s horse passed into a narrow place, elevated in the hollow
part of the vineyard, fenced on both sides, the low, plain country being on the
other side.

43.            
And the horses ran rapidly in that
place and pressed each other, and the other horses pressed the king’s horse.

44.            
And the king’s horse fell into the
low plain whilst the king was riding upon it, and when he fell the chariot
turned over the king’s face and the horse lay upon the king, and the king cried
out, for his flesh was very sore.

45.            
And the flesh of the king was torn
from him, and his bones were broken and he could not ride, for this thing was
from the Lord to him, for the Lord had heard the cries of his people the
children of
Israel and their
affliction.

46.            
And his servants carried him upon
their shoulders, a little at a time, and they brought him back to
Egypt, and the horsemen
who were with him came also back to
Egypt.

47.            
And they placed him in his bed, and
the king knew that his end was come to die, so Aparanith the queen his wife
came and cried before the king, and the king wept a great weeping with her.

48.            
And all his nobles and servants came
on that day and saw the king in that affliction, and wept a great weeping with
him.

49.            
And the princes of the king and all
his counselors advised the king to cause one to reign in his stead in the land,
whomsoever he should choose from his sons.

50.            
And the king had three sons and two
daughters which Aparanith the queen his wife had borne to him, besides the
king’s children of concubines.

51.            
And these were their names, the
firstborn Othri, the second Adikam, and the third Morion, and their sisters,
the name of the elder Bathia and of the other Acuzi.

52.            
And Othri the first born of the king
was an idiot, precipitate and hurried in his words.

53.            
But Adikam was a cunning and wise man
and knowing in all the wisdom of
Egypt, but of
unseemly aspect, thick in flesh, and very short in stature; his height was one
cubit.

54.            
And when the king saw Adikam his son
intelligent and wise in all things, the king resolved that he should be king in
his stead after his death.

55.            
And he took for him a wife Gedudah
daughter of Abilot, and he was ten years old, and she bare unto him four sons.

56.            
And he afterward went and took three
wives and begat eight sons and three daughters.

57.            
And the disorder greatly prevailed
over the king, and his flesh stank like the flesh of a carcass cast upon the
field in summer time, during the heat of the sun.

58.            
And when the king saw that his
sickness had greatly strengthened itself over him, he ordered his son Adikam to
be brought to him, and they made him king over the land in his place.

59.            
And at the end of three years, the
king died, in shame, disgrace, and disgust, and his servants carried him and
buried him in the sepulcher of the kings of
Egypt in Zoan
Mizraim.

60.            
But they embalmed him not as was
usual with kings, for his flesh was putrid, and they could not approach to
embalm him on account of the stench, so they buried him in haste.

61.            
For this evil was from the Lord to
him, for the Lord had requited him evil for the evil which in his days he had
done to
Israel.

62.            
And he died with terror and with
shame, and his son Adikam reigned in his place.

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