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[40]
But he came near, and lifted up his hands to heaven, and cried out
with a loud voice, in order to be heard by the whole multitude, and said,
"O Lord of the creatures that are in the heaven, in the earth, and
in the sea; for thou art the most authentic witness to what I have done,
that it has all been done by thy appointment, and that it was thou that
affordedst us assistance when we attempted any thing, and showedst mercy
on the Hebrews in all their distresses; do thou come now, and hear all
that I say, for no action or thought escapes thy knowledge; so that thou
wilt not disdain to speak what is true, for my vindication, without any
regard to the ungrateful imputations of these men. As for what was done
before I was born, thou knowest best, as not learning them by report, but
seeing them, and being present with them when they were done; but for what
has been done of late, and which these men, although they know them well
enough, unjustly pretend to suspect, be thou my witness. When I lived a
private quiet life, I left those good things which, by my own diligence,
and by thy counsel, I enjoyed with Raguel my father-in-law; and I gave
myself up to this people, and underwent many miseries on their account.
I also bore great labors at first, in order to obtain liberty for them,
and now in order to their preservation; and have always showed myself ready
to assist them in every distress of theirs. Now, therefore, since I am
suspected by those very men whose being is owing to my labors, come thou,
as it is reasonable to hope thou wilt; thou, I say, who showedst me that
fire at mount Sinai, and madest me to hear its voice, and to see the several
wonders which that place afforded thou who commandedst me to go to Egypt,
and declare thy will to this people; thou who disturbest the happy estate
of the Egyptians, and gavest us the opportunity of flying away from our
under them, and madest the dominion of Pharaoh inferior to my dominion;
thou who didst make the sea dry land for us, when we knew not whither to
go, and didst overwhelm the Egyptians with those destructive waves which
had been divided for us; thou who didst bestow upon us the security of
weapons when we were naked; thou who didst make the fountains that were
corrupted to flow, so as to be fit for drinking, and didst furnish us with
water that came out of the rocks, when we were in want of it; thou who
didst preserve our lives with [quails, which was] food from the sea, when
the fruits of the ground failed us; thou didst send us such food from heaven
as had never been seen before; thou who didst suggest to us the knowledge
of thy laws, and appoint to us a of government, - come thou, I say, O Lord
of the whole world, and that as such a Judge and a Witness to me as cannot
be bribed, and show how I never admitted of any gift against justice from
any of the Hebrews; and have never condemned a man that ought to have been
acquitted, on account of one that was rich; and have never attempted to
hurt this commonwealth. I am now and am suspected of a thing the remotest
from my intentions, as if I had given the preisthood to Aaron, not at thy
command, but out own favor to him; do thou at this time demonstrate that
all things are administered by thy providence and that nothing happens
by chance, but is governed by thy will, and thereby attains its end: as
also demonstrate that thou takest care that have done good to the Hebrews;
demonstrate this, I say, by the punishment of Abiram and Dathan, who condemn
thee as an insensible Being, and one overcome by my contrivances. This
thou do by inflicting such an open punishment on these men who so madly
fly in the face of thy glory, as will take them out of the world, not in
an manner, but so that it may appear they do die after the manner of other
men: let that ground which they tread upon open about them and consume
them, with their families and goods. This will be a demonstration of thy
power to all and this method of their sufferings will be an instruction
of wisdom for those that entertain profane sentiments of thee. By this
means I shall be a good servant, in the precepts thou hast given by me.
But if the calumnies they have raised against me be true, mayst thou preserve
these men from every evil accident, and bring all that destruction on me
which I have imprecated upon them. And when thou hast inflicted punishment
on those that have endeavored to deal unjustly with this people, bestow
upon them concord and peace. Save this multitude that follow thy commandments,
and preserve them free from harm, and let them not partake of the punishment
of those that have sinned; for thou knowest thyself it is not just, that
for the wickedness of those men the whole body of the Israelites should
suffer punishment."
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