God had given him. But Pharaoh would not listen to
him.

Then God commanded Moses again, and he brought other plagues upon the
Egyptians; but Pharaoh would not give up.

At last, however, God sent a still more terrible trouble; for the
first-born of every Egyptian family, and even the first-born among their
flocks, died; although the Israelites, who were constantly praying to
the Lord and making sacrifices, were spared, as they had been all the
time.

Then Pharaoh was frightened into obeying God, and he let the Israelites
go; so they started at once for the land of Canaan, and the Lord guided
them by a cloud, which at night looked like a pillar of fire.

When the Israelites had reached the Red Sea, they found that Pharaoh
was pursuing them with a large army. But God commanded Moses to stretch
forth his rod over the sea; he did so, and the waters parted, making a
high wall upon either side, so that the children of Israel passed
through and reached the other side in safety. Pharaoh and his hosts
followed and were all drowned.

When the children of Israel saw that they were safe, they sang a
beautiful song of praise to God, and then they went on their way again.

After they had traveled for some time, they were in need of bread and
meat, and they complained about Moses because he had brought them to a
land where they had not enough to eat. But God sent them plenty of
quails and also a substance which they could use for bread. Later, when
they wanted water, the Lord commanded Moses, and he struck a rock with
his rod, and pure water poured out of it, so that the thirsty people and
their animals had all that they wanted.

In this way God took care of them as they journeyed through the new and
strange country toward the promised land, and Moses became the law-giver
of the Israelites, receiving his commandments from God.

JACOB AND ESAU.

Jacob and Esau were twin brothers, sons of Isaac and Rebekah. Esau was
the dearer to his father; but Rebekah loved Jacob more, and she wished
her favorite son to have the birthright, or larger portion of the
property, which really belonged to Esau because he was a little the
older.

One day Esau came in from hunting, very tired and hungry, and sold his
birthright to Jacob for a kind of stew called pottage.

Afterward, when Isaac had grown very old, he sent Esau one day to get
some of his favorite meat, saying that when he returned he should have
his father's blessing.