The Bible, Douay-Rheims Part 45

16:34. As the Lord commanded Moses. And Aaron put it in the tabernacle to be kept.

16:35. And the children of Israel ate manna forty years, till they came to a habitable land: with this meat were they fed, until they reached the borders of the land of Chanaan.

16:36. Now a gomor is the tenth part of an ephi.

Exodus Chapter 17

The people murmur again for want of drink; the Lord giveth them water out of a rock. Moses lifting up his hand in prayer, Amalec is overcome.

17:1. Then all the mult.i.tude of the children of Israel setting forward from the desert of Sin, by their mansions, according to the word of the Lord, encamped in Raphidim, where there was no water for the people to drink.

17:2. And they chode with Moses, and said: Give us water, that we may drink. And Moses answered them: Why chide you with me? Wherefore do you tempt the Lord?

17:3. So the people were thirsty there for want of water, and murmured against Moses, saying: Why didst thou make us go forth out of Egypt, to kill us and our children, and our beasts with thirst?

17:4. And Moses cried to the Lord, saying: What shall I do to this people? Yet a little more and they will stone me.

17:5. And the Lord said to Moses: Go before the people, and take with thee of the ancients of Israel: and take in thy hand the rod wherewith thou didst strike the river, and go.

17:6. Behold I will stand there before thee, upon the rock h.o.r.eb, and thou shalt strike the rock, and water shall come out of it that the people may drink. Moses did so before the ancients of Israel:

17:7. And he called the name of that place Temptation, because of the chiding of the children of Israel, and for that they tempted the Lord, saying: Is the Lord amongst us or not?

17:8. And Amalec came, and fought against Israel in Raphidim.

17:9. And Moses said to Josue: Choose out men; and go out and fight against Amalec: tomorrow I will stand on the top of the hill, having the rod of G.o.d in my hand.

17:10. Josue did as Moses had spoken, and he fought against Amalec; but Moses, and Aaron, and Hur, went up upon the top of the hill.

17:11. And when Moses lifted up his hands, Israel overcame; but if he let them down a little, Amalec overcame.

17:12. And Moses's hands were heavy: so they took a stone, and put under him, and he sat on it: and Aaron and Hur stayed up his hands on both sides. And it came to pa.s.s, that his hands were not weary until sunset.

17:13. And Josue put Amalec and his people to flight, by the edge of the sword.

17:14. And the Lord said to Moses: Write this for a memorial in a book, and deliver it to the ears of Josue; for I will destroy the memory of Amalec from under heaven.

17:15. And Moses built an altar; and called the name thereof, The Lord, my exaltation, saying:

17:16. Because the hand of the throne of the Lord, and the war of the Lord shall be against Amalec, from generation to generation.

Exodus Chapter 18

Jethro bringeth to Moses his wife and children. His counsel.

18:1. And when Jethro the priest of Madian, the kinsman of Moses, had heard all the things that G.o.d had done to Moses, and to Israel his people, and that the Lord had brought forth Israel out of Egypt:

18:2. He took Sephora, the wife of Moses, whom he had sent back:

18:3. And her two sons, of whom one was called Gersam: his father saying, I have been a stranger in a foreign country.

18:4. And the other Eliezer: For the G.o.d of my father, said he, is my helper, and hath delivered me from the sword of Pharao.

18:5. And Jethro, the kinsman of Moses, came with his sons, and his wife to Moses into the desert, where he was camped by the mountain of G.o.d.

18:6. And he sent word to Moses, saying: I Jethro, thy kinsman, come to thee, and thy wife, and thy two sons with her.

18:7. And he went out to meet his kinsman, and wors.h.i.+pped and kissed him: and they saluted one another with words of peace. And when he was come into the tent,

18:8. Moses told his kinsman all that the Lord had done to Pharao, and the Egyptians in favour of Israel: and all the labour which had befallen them in the journey, and that the Lord had delivered them.

18:9. And Jethro rejoiced for all the good things that the Lord had done to Israel, because he had delivered them out of the hands of the Egyptians.

18:10. And he said: Blessed is the Lord, who hath delivered his people out of the hand of Egypt.

18:11. Now I know, that the Lord is great above all G.o.ds; because they dealt proudly against them.

18:12. So Jethro, the kinsman of Moses, offered holocausts and sacrifices to G.o.d: and Aaron and all the ancients of Israel came, to eat bread with him before G.o.d.

18:13. And the next day Moses sat to judge the people, who stood by Moses from morning until night.

18:14. And when his kinsman had seen all things that he did among the people, he said: What is it that thou dost among the people? Why sittest thou alone, and all the people wait from morning till night?

18:15. And Moses answered him: The people come to me to seek the judgment of G.o.d?

18:16. And when any controversy falleth out among them, they come to me to judge between them, and to shew the precepts of G.o.d, and his laws.

18:17. But he said: The thing thou dost is not good.

18:18: Thou art spent with foolish labour, both thou, and this people that is with thee; the business is above thy strength, thou alone canst not bear it.

18:19. But hear my words and counsels, and G.o.d shall be with thee. Be thou to the people in those things that pertain to G.o.d, to bring their words to him:

18:20. And to shew the people the ceremonies, and the manner of wors.h.i.+pping; and the way wherein they ought to walk, and the work that they ought to do.

18:21. And provide out of all the people able men, such as fear G.o.d, in whom there is truth, and that hate avarice, and appoint of them rulers of thousands, and of hundreds, and of fifties, and of tens,

18:22. Who may judge the people at all times: and when any great matter soever shall fall out, let them refer it to thee, and let them judge the lesser matters only: that so it may be lighter for thee, the burden being shared out unto others.

18:23. If thou dost this, thou shalt fulfil the commandment of G.o.d, and shalt be able to bear his precepts: and all this people shall return to their places with peace.

18:24. And when Moses heard this, he did all things that he had suggested unto him.

18:25. And choosing able men out of all Israel, he appointed them rulers of the people, rulers over thousands, and over hundreds, and over fifties, and over tens.

18:26. And they judged the people at all times: and whatsoever was of greater difficulty they referred to him, and they judged the easier cases only.

18:27. And he let his kinsman depart: and he returned and went into his own country.