Antiquities of the Jews — Book 2, Chapter 13

1. So Moses, when he understood that the Pharaoh, in whose reign he fled
away, was dead, asked leave of Raguel to go to Egypt, for the benefit of
his own people. And he took with him Zipporah, the daughter of Raguel,
whom he had married, and the children he had by her, Gersom and Eleazer,
and made haste into Egypt. Now the former of those names, Gersom, in the
Hebrew tongue, signifies that he was in a strange land; and Eleazer,
that, by the assistance of the God of his fathers, he had escaped from
the Egyptians. Now when they were near the borders, Aaron his brother,
by the command of God, met him, to whom he declared what had befallen
him at the mountain, and the commands that God had given him. But as
they were going forward, the chief men among the Hebrews, having learned
that they were coming, met them: to whom Moses declared the signs he had
seen; and while they could not believe them, he made them see them, So
they took courage at these surprising and unexpected sights, and hoped
well of their entire deliverance, as believing now that God took care of
their preservation.

2. Since then Moses found that the Hebrews would be obedient to
whatsoever he should direct, as they promised to be, and were in love
with liberty, he came to the king, who had indeed but lately received
the government, and told him how much he had done for the good of the
Egyptians, when they were despised by the Ethiopians, and their country
laid waste by them; and how he had been the commander of their forces,
and had labored for them, as if they had been his own people and he
informed him in what danger he had been during that expedition, without
having any proper returns made him as he had deserved. He also informed
him distinctly what things happened to him at Mount Sinai; and what God
said to him; and the signs that were done by God, in order to assure him
of the authority of those commands which he had given him. He also
exhorted him not to disbelieve what he told him, nor to oppose the will
of God.

3. But when the king derided Moses; he made him in earnest see the signs
that were done at Mount Sinai. Yet was the king very angry with him and
called him an ill man, who had formerly run away from his Egyptian
slavery, and came now back with deceitful tricks, and wonders, and
magical arts, to astonish him. And when he had said this, he commanded
the priests to let him see the same wonderful sights; as knowing that
the Egyptians were skillful in this kind of learning, and that he was
not the only person who knew them, and pretended them to be divine; as
also he told him, that when he brought such wonderful sights before him,
he would only be believed by the unlearned. Now when the priests threw
down their rods, they became serpents. But Moses was not daunted at it;
and said, "O king, I do not myself despise the wisdom of the Egyptians,
but I say that what I do is so much superior to what these do by magic
arts and tricks, as Divine power exceeds the power of man: but I will
demonstrate that what I do is not done by craft, or counterfeiting what
is not really true, but that they appear by the providence and power of
God." And when he had said this, he cast his rod down upon the ground,
and commanded it to turn itself into a serpent. It obeyed him, and went
all round, and devoured the rods of the Egyptians, which seemed to be
dragons, until it had consumed them all. It then returned to its own
form, and Moses took it into his hand again.

4. However, the king was no more moved when it was done than before; and
being very angry, he said that he should gain nothing by this his
cunning and shrewdness against the Egyptians;—and he commanded him that
was the chief taskmaster over the Hebrews, to give them no relaxation
from their labors, but to compel them to submit to greater oppressions
than before; and though he allowed them chaff before for making their
bricks, he would allow it them no longer, but he made them to work hard
at brick-making in the day-time, and to gather chaff in the night. Now
when their labor was thus doubled upon them, they laid the blame upon
Moses, because their labor and their misery were on his account become
more severe to them. But Moses did not let his courage sink for the
king's threatenings; nor did he abate of his zeal on account of the
Hebrews' complaints; but he supported himself, and set his soul
resolutely against them both, and used his own utmost diligence to
procure liberty to his countrymen. So he went to the king, and persuaded
him to let the Hebrews go to Mount Sinai, and there to sacrifice to God,
because God had enjoined them so to do. He persuaded him also not to
counterwork the designs of God, but to esteem his favor above all
things, and to permit them to depart, lest, before he be aware, he lay
an obstruction in the way of the Divine commands, and so occasion his
own suffering such punishments as it was probable any one that
counterworked the Divine commands should undergo, since the severest
afflictions arise from every object to those that provoke the Divine
wrath against them; for such as these have neither the earth nor the air
for their friends; nor are the fruits of the womb according to nature,
but every thing is unfriendly and adverse towards them. He said further,
that the Egyptians should know this by sad experience; and that besides,
the Hebrew people should go out of their country without their consent.