Exodus — Chapter 11
And GOD said to Moses, “I will bring but one more plague upon Pharaoh and upon Egypt; after that he shall let you go from here; indeed, when he lets you go, he will drive you out of here one and all.
Tell the people to borrow, each man from his neighbor and each woman from hers, objects of silver and gold.”
GOD disposed the Egyptians favorably toward the people. Moreover, Moses himself was much esteemed in the land of Egypt, among Pharaoh’s courtiers and among the people.
Moses said, “Thus says GOD: Toward midnight I will go forth among the Egyptians,
and every [male] first-born in the land of Egypt shall die, from the first-born of Pharaoh who sits on his throne to the first-born of the slave woman who is behind the millstones; and all the first-born of the cattle.
And there shall be a loud cry in all the land of Egypt, such as has never been or will ever be again;
but not a dog shall snarlasnarl In contrast to others “move (or whet) his tongue.” at any of the Israelites, at human or animal—in order that you may know that GOD makes a distinction between Egypt and Israel.
“Then all these courtiers of yours shall come down to me and bow low to me, saying, ‘Depart, you and all the people who follow you!’ After that I will depart.” And he left Pharaoh’s presence in hot anger.
Now GOD had said to Moses, “Pharaoh will not heed you, in order that My marvels may be multiplied in the land of Egypt.”
Moses and Aaron had performed all these marvels before Pharaoh, but GOD had stiffened the heart of Pharaoh so that he would not let the Israelites go from his land.
✦ Connected Across Traditions
The Golden Rule
Matthew 7:12
“Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.”
Hadith (An-Nawawi 13)
“None of you truly believes until he wishes for his brother what he wishes for himself.”
Mahabharata 5.1517
“One should never do to another what one regards as injurious to oneself.”
Dhammapada 10:1
“All tremble at violence; all fear death. Putting oneself in the place of another, one should not kill nor cause another to kill.”