Moses Quotes

We have collected and put the best Moses quotes. Enjoy reading these insights and feel free to share this page on your social media to inspire others.

May these Moses quotes on many subjects inspire you to never give up and keep working towards your goals. Who knows—success could be just around the corner.

Moses מֹשֶׁה (MósheMōšehموسى Mūsa) is a figure appearing in the Pentateuch as the Hebrew liberator, leader, lawgiver, and prophet.

Moses was a prophet according to the teachings of the Abrahamic religions. Scholarly consensus sees Moses as a legendary figure and not a historical person while retaining the possibility that a Moses-like figure existed.

See also: Moses, Moses’ Prayer, Story Of Moses, and A reformer and educator, Prophet Moses

The Ten Commandments

Moses Quotes

Moses in The Hebrew Bible

… Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I fear no evil, for you are with me…Surely goodness and love will follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever. – Moses

…he who goes down to the grave does not return. – Moses

…the dust returns to the ground it came from, and the spirit returns to God who gave it. – Moses

Behold, when I come unto the children of Israel, and shall say unto them, The God of your fathers hath sent me unto you; and they shall say to me, What is his name? what shall I say unto them? – Moses, 3:13 As recorded

BOLD Immersion was about exposing students to a talented and diverse community, learning about the technology industry from a non-technical point of view, and growing my skills. – Moses

But now mine own eyes have beheld God; but not my natural, but my spiritual eyes, for my natural eyes could not have beheld; for I should have withered and died in his presence; but his glory was upon me; and I beheld his face, for I was transfigured before him. – Moses, Book of Moses 1:11

Come with me if you want to live! – Moses

Do not give back to his master a servant who has gone in flight from his master and come to you: let him go on living among you in whatever place is most pleasing to him. – Moses

Do not worship any other god, for the Lord, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God. – Moses

Fear not! Stand your ground … the Lord himself will fight for you; you have only to keep still. – Moses

Fear not: for God is come to prove you, and that his fear may be before your faces, that ye sin not. – Moses, 20:20 (KJV) (Exodus)

Fear not: for God is come to prove you, and that his fear may be before your faces, that ye sin not. – Moses

Have you forgotten God? Even if you have, He has not forgotten you. – Moses

He who goes down to the grave does not return. – Moses

I am not eloquent. – Moses

I am slow of speech and slow of tongue. – Moses

I have been a stranger in a foreign land.– Moses, 2:22 (KJV), Jewish Publication Society translation (1985; 1999)

I pray thee, if I have found grace in thy sight, shew me now thy way, that I may know thee, that I may find grace in thy sight: and consider that this nation is thy people. – Moses, 33:13 (KJV)

I will now turn aside, and see this great sight, why the bush is not burnt. – Moses, 3:3 (KJV) (Exodus)

Kill every male among the little ones, and kill every woman who has known man by lying with him. But all the young girls who have not known man … , keep alive for yourselves. – Moses

Let my teaching fall like rain and my words descend like dew, like showers on new grass, like abundant rain on tender plants. – Moses

Never leave fish to find fish. – Moses

No lusting after your neighbor’s house – or wife or servant or maid or ox or donkey. Don’t set your heart on anything that is your neighbor’s. – Moses

O my LORD, I am not eloquent, neither heretofore, nor since thou hast spoken unto thy servant: but I am slow of speech, and of a slow tongue. – Moses, 4:10 (KJV) (Exodus)

Our journey is just beginning. – Moses

Paintin’s not important. What’s important is keepin’ busy. – Moses

See, I am setting before you today a blessing and a curse- the blessing if you obey the commands of the LORD your God that I am giving you today; the curse if you disobey the commands of the LORD your God and turn from the way that I command you today by following other gods, which you have not known. – Moses

See, I have set before you this day life and good, death and evil… I have set before you life and death, blessing and curse; therefore choose life. – Moses

The dust returns to the ground it came from, and the spirit returns to God who gave it. – Moses

The Lord your God will raise up a Prophet like me from among your own people. Listen carefully to everything He tells you. Anyone who will not listen to that Prophet will be cut off from God’s people and utterly destroyed. – Moses

What shall I do unto this people? they be almost ready to stone me. – Moses, 17:4 (KJV) (Exodus)

When either a man or a woman makes a special vow, the vow of a Nazarite, to separate himself to the Lord, he shall separate himself from wine and strong drink. – Moses

Who am I, that I should go unto Pharaoh, and that I should bring forth the children of Israel out of Egypt? – Moses

Would God that all the Lord’s people were prophets, and that the Lord would put his spirit upon them! – Moses

Yet it seems that a final race struggle is unavoidable – Moses

You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise. – Moses

YOU SHALL not sacrifice to the Lord your God an ox or sheep with a blemish or any defect whatsoever, for that is an abomination to the Lord your God. – Moses

You shall not steal, nor deal falsely, nor lie to one another. – Moses

Exodus 3:1-21(NIV)

Moses and the Burning Bush

1. Now Moses was tending the flock of Jethro his father-in-law, the priest of Midian, and he led the flock to the far side of the wilderness and came to Horeb, the mountain of God.

2. There the angel of the LORD appeared to him in flames of fire from within a bush. Moses saw that though the bush was on fire it did not burn up.

3. So Moses thought, “I will go over and see this strange sight—why the bush does not burn up.”

4. When the LORD saw that he had gone over to look, God called to him from within the bush, “Moses! Moses!”

And Moses said, “Here I am.”

5.“Do not come any closer,” God said. “Take off your sandals, for the place where you are standing is holy ground.”

6. Then he said, “I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob.” At this, Moses hid his face, because he was afraid to look at God.

7. The LORD said, “I have indeed seen the misery of my people in Egypt. I have heard them crying out because of their slave drivers, and I am concerned about their suffering.

8. So I have come down to rescue them from the hand of the Egyptians and to bring them up out of that land into a good and spacious land, a land flowing with milk and honey—the home of the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites.

9. And now the cry of the Israelites has reached me, and I have seen the way the Egyptians are oppressing them.

10. So now, go. I am sending you to Pharaoh to bring my people the Israelites out of Egypt.”

11. But Moses said to God, “Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh and bring the Israelites out of Egypt?”

12. And God said, “I will be with you. And this will be the sign to you that it is I who have sent you: When you have brought the people out of Egypt, you will worship God on this mountain.”

13. Moses said to God, “Suppose I go to the Israelites and say to them, ‘The God of your fathers has sent me to you,’ and they ask me, ‘What is his name?’ Then what shall I tell them?”

14. God said to Moses, “I AM WHO I AM. This is what you are to say to the Israelites: ‘I AM has sent me to you.’”

15. God also said to Moses, “Say to the Israelites, ‘The LORD, the God of your fathers—the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob—has sent me to you.’

“This is my name forever,
the name you shall call me
from generation to generation.

16. “Go, assemble the elders of Israel and say to them, ‘The LORD, the God of your fathers—the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob—appeared to me and said: I have watched over you and have seen what has been done to you in Egypt.

17. And I have promised to bring you up out of your misery in Egypt into the land of the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites—a land flowing with milk and honey.’

18. “The elders of Israel will listen to you. Then you and the elders are to go to the king of Egypt and say to him, ‘The LORD, the God of the Hebrews, has met with us. Let us take a three-day journey into the wilderness to offer sacrifices to the LORD our God.’

19. But I know that the king of Egypt will not let you go unless a mighty hand compels him.

20. So I will stretch out my hand and strike the Egyptians with all the wonders that I will perform among them. After that, he will let you go.

21. “And I will make the Egyptians favorably disposed toward this people, so that when you leave you will not go empty-handed.

Exodus 32.31-32: “So Moses went back to the Lord and said, ‘Oh, what a great sin these people have committed! They have made themselves gods of gold. But now, please forgive their sin-but if not, then blot me out of the book you have written.‘”

The Quran The Kaaba

The Quran and The Kaaba

Moses in The Holy Quran

The Chapter of al-A‘raf (the Heights 103-137)

  1. Then, after them (those early Messengers), We sent Moses to the Pharaoh and his chiefs with Our Revelations and signs (miracles to support him), but they treated them wrongfully. So look, how was the outcome for those causing disorder and corruption!
  2. And Moses said: “Pharaoh! I am a Messenger from the Lord of the worlds,
  3. “Bound in truth to say nothing about God except the truth. I have surely come to you with a clear proof from your Lord (Who creates, nourishes, and sustains you). So let the Children of Israel go with me!”
  4. He (the Pharaoh) said: “If you have come with a sign, then bring it forth, if you are truthful!”
  5. Then he (Moses) threw down his staff, and thereupon it was a serpent manifest (clear for all to see as a sign).
  6. And he drew forth his (right) hand (from his armpit, where he had put it), and thereupon it was shining white to those looking on.
  7. The chiefs among the people of the Pharaoh said (discussing the matter among themselves): “This is, indeed (as the Pharaoh says), a learned, skillful sorcerer,
  8. “Who seeks to drive you out from your land. Then, what do you advise (to do)?”
  9. They said (to the Pharaoh): “Put him and his brother off for a while, and (in the meantime) send forth heralds to all cities,
  10. “To bring to your presence every learned, skillful sorcerer.”
  11. The sorcerers came to the Pharaoh and said: “We must surely have a reward, if we are the victors.”
  12. (The Pharaoh) answered: “Yes, and you will indeed be among those near-stationed to me.”
  13. They (the sorcerers) said: “Moses! Either you throw first or we will be the first to throw!”
  14. He answered: “Throw!” And when they threw (whatever they held in their hands to make spells), they cast a spell upon the people’s eyes (i.e. overawed and deluded them), and produced a mighty sorcery.
  15. We revealed to Moses: “Throw down your staff!” And behold! It swallowed up their false devices.
  16. Thus was the truth made victorious, and all that they were doing was proved false.
  17. Thus were they (the Pharaoh and his chiefs) defeated there (in front of everyone’s eyes), and brought low,
  18. And the sorcerers threw themselves down, prostrating,
  19. And they said: “We have come to believe in the Lord of the worlds,
  20. “The Lord of Moses and Aaron.”
  21. The Pharaoh said: “What! Do you believe in Him before I give you permission? This is indeed a plot you have contrived in the city, that you may drive out its (native) people from it. But you shall come to know!
  22. “I will certainly have your hands and feet cut off alternately, and then I will certainly have you crucified all together.”
  23. They responded: “Indeed, to our (true and everlasting) Lord are we bound to return.
  24. “You take vengeance on us only because we have come to believe in our Lord’s Messages when they came to us. “Our Lord! Pour out upon us persevering patience, and take our souls to You as Muslims (wholly submitted to You)!”
  25. The chiefs among the Pharaoh’s people said: “Will you (O Pharaoh) leave Moses and his people to cause disorder and corruption in the country, and forsake you and your deities?” He replied: “We will kill their sons and let live their women (to serve and satisfy our desires). And, indeed, we hold irresistible sway over them.”
  26. Moses said to his people: “Seek help from God and be patient, persevering. The earth belongs indeed to God, and He makes it an inheritance for whom He wills of His servants. The (final, happy) outcome is in favor of the God-revering, pious.”
  27. They (having been subjected to persecutions by the Pharaoh) said: “We suffered hurt before you came to us, and since you came to us.” He (Moses) replied: “It may well be that your Lord is going to destroy your enemy and make you the inheritors of rule in (some part of) the earth: and then, He will look to see how you act (when you hold power).”
  28. And We certainly seized the clan (the court and military aristocracy) of the Pharaoh with years of famine and scarcity of corps, so that they might reflect and be mindful.
  29. But whenever prosperity came their way, they would say: “This is but our due and by our deserving,” and whenever evil befell them, they would attribute it to the ill augury (they alleged) of Moses and whoever was in his company. Beware! Their auspice (whether evil or good) was decreed by God, but most of them did not know (being ignorant of true knowledge).
  30. And they would say: “Whatever sign you produce before us to cast a spell on us, we are not going to believe you.”
  31. So (in order that they might reflect and be mindful), We sent upon them floods and (plagues of) locusts and vermin, and frogs, and (water turning into) blood: distinct signs one after another. Yet they remained arrogant, and they were a criminal people committed to accumulating sins.
  32. Each time a plague befell them, they would say: “O Moses, pray for us to your Lord for the covenant He has made with you (of servanthood and Messengership with respect to His Lordship): for sure, if you remove this plague from us, we will surely believe in you, and we will surely let the Children of Israel go with you.”
  33. But when We removed the plague from them for a term in which they were to fulfill (what they promised), they then broke their promise.
  34. So We inflicted Our retribution on them (just as they deserved), and so caused them to drown in the sea, as they denied Our signs (with willful persistence), and were heedless of them.
  35. And We made the people who had been persecuted and oppressed (for centuries) inherit all the easts and wests (the whole length and breadth) of the land that We had blessed (with benefits for humankind). And your Lord’s gracious word to the Children of Israel was fulfilled, for they had endured patiently; and We obliterated what the Pharaoh and his people had produced (by art or industry), and what they had erected (of castles, palaces, gardens, and the like).

The Chapter of al-A‘raf (the Heights 159-166)

  1. And of the people of Moses, there was a community who guided by the truth (by God’s leave) and dispensed justice by it.
  2. We divided Moses’ people into twelve tribes, forming them into communities. We revealed to Moses when his people asked him for water (on the occasion that they were left without water in the desert), saying: “Strike the rock with your staff!” And (as soon as he struck) there gushed forth from it twelve springs. Each tribe knew their drinking place. And We caused the cloud to shade them, and sent down upon them manna and quails: “Eat of the pure, wholesome things that We have provided for you.” And (by disobeying Our commandments) they wronged not Us, but themselves they used to wrong.
  3. And when they were told, “Dwell in this town and eat (of the fruits) thereof as you may desire, and say words of imploring forgiveness and loyalty to Him, and enter it (not through different ways, with the aim of plundering it and massacring its people, but) through its gate humbly, and in utmost submission to God, so that We forgive you your misdeeds.” We will increase the reward for those devoted to doing good, aware that God is seeing them.
  4. But those among them who persisted in wrongdoing changed what had been said to them (regarding humility, imploring forgiveness, submission, and loyalty) for another saying (and acted contrarily to how they had been ordered). So We sent down on them a scourge from heaven because they were persistent in wrongdoing.
  5. Ask them about the township that was by the sea: how its people were violating the Sabbath when their fish came swimming to them on the day of their Sabbath, but on the day they did not keep Sabbath, they did not come to them. Thus did We test them as they were transgressing (all bounds).
  6. And when a community of people among them asked (others who tried to restrain the Sabbath-breakers): “Why do you preach to a people whom God will destroy or punish with a severe punishment?” They said: “So as to have an excuse before your Lord, and so that they might keep from such disobedience in reverence for God.”
  7. Then, when they became heedless of all that they had been reminded of, We saved those who had tried to prevent the evil-doing, and seized the others who had been doing wrong with an evil punishment for their transgressions.
  8. Then, when they disdainfully persisted in doing what they had been forbidden to do, We said to them: “Be apes, miserably slinking and rejected!”

The Chapter of TaHa (20.9-97)

  1. Has the report of Moses come to you?
  2. (He was traveling with his family in the desert) when he saw a fire, and so said to his family: “Wait here! Indeed I perceive a fire far off. Perhaps I can bring you a burning brand from it, or find guidance by the fire.”
  3. Then when he came near to it, he was called by name: “O Moses!
  4. “Indeed it is I, I am your Lord. So take off your sandals, for you are in the sacred valley of Tuwā.
  1. “I have chosen you (to be My Messenger), so listen to what is revealed (to you).
  2. “Assuredly, it is I. I am God; there is no deity save Me. So worship Me, and establish the Prayer in conformity with its conditions for remembrance of Me.
  3. “Surely the Last Hour is bound to come (unexpectedly. It is so great a truth that) I all but keep it hidden so that every soul may strive for what it strives for (and achieve the just recompense for it).
  4. “So do not let anyone who does not believe in it and (instead) follows his own desire and caprice, turn you from (believing in, and preaching the truth about) it, lest you then perish!
  5. “What is that in your right hand, Moses?”
  6. He said: “It is my staff. I lean on it, and with it I beat down leaves for my flock, and I have some other uses for it.”
  7. (God) said: “Throw it down, O Moses!”
  8. So he threw it down, and there and then it was a snake, slithering.
  9. (God) said: “Take hold of it and do not fear! We will return it to its former state.
  10. “Now, put your (right) hand under your armpit: it will come forth shining white, flawless, as another (miraculous) sign,
  11. “So that We may show you some of Our greatest miraculous signs.
  12. “Go to the Pharaoh, for he has indeed rebelled.”
  13. (Moses) said: “My Lord! Expand for me my breast.
  14. “Make my task easy for me.
  15. “Loosen a knot from my tongue (to make my speech more fluent),
  16. “So that they may understand my speech clearly.
  17. “And appoint a minister (helper) for me from my family:
  18. “Aaron, my brother.
  19. “Confirm my strength with him,
  20. “And let him share my task;
  21. “So that we may glorify You much,
  22. “And mention and remember You abundantly.
  23. “Surely You are ever seeing and watching us.”
  24. (God) said: “Your request has already been granted, O Moses.
  25. “And assuredly We did bestow Our favor upon you at another time before.
  1. “We inspired in your mother that which she was to be inspired with, saying:
  2. ‘Place the child in a chest and cast it into the river, then the river will throw it up on the bank: one who is both My enemy and his enemy (the Pharaoh, who has decided to kill all the newborn sons of the Children of Israel) will take him up.’ I cast over you (Moses) love from Me (protecting you, so love for you was aroused in the hearts of people who saw you), and so that you were brought up under My eyes.
  3. “When your sister (on your mother’s instruction, knowing the Pharaoh’s household had taken you in) went and said: ‘Shall I guide you to one who will nurse him?’ Thus (and it is We Who made none other capable of nursing you) We returned you to your mother, so that she might rejoice and forget her grief. And (much later on) you killed a man (not intending it), so We saved you from the (ensuing) trouble, and We tested you with trial (of different kinds and degrees only to perfect you). You stayed for years among the people of Midian, and then you attained to the (quality of mind and spirit) expected of and decreed for you, O Moses.
  4. “And I have attached you to Myself (and so trained you to My service).
  5. “Go, you and your brother, with My miraculous signs (with which I have provided you), and never slacken in remembrance of Me and reminding (others) of Me.
  6. “Go, both of you, to the Pharaoh for he has exceedingly rebelled.
  7. “But speak to him with gentle words, so that he might reflect and be mindful or feel some awe (of me, and behave with humility).”
  8. They said: “Our Lord, we fear lest he act hastily in regard to us (not allowing us to complete our preaching), or become (more) tyrannical.”
  9. He said: “Do not fear! Surely I am with you, hearing and seeing.
  10. “Go to him and say: ‘We are indeed Messengers of your Lord (Who has created and sustains you), so let the Children of Israel go with us, and do not cause them to suffer (longer). Assuredly we have come to you with a manifest proof from your Lord. And peace (success, and safety, and triumph) is upon him who follows His guidance.
  11. ‘It has surely been revealed to us that (only) punishment is upon him who denies and turns away (from God’s call).’”
  12. (When they had spoken to the Pharaoh as God had commanded them,) the Pharaoh said: “Who is this Lord of you two, O Moses?”
  13. (Moses) said: “Our Lord is He Who creates everything and endows each thing with its particular character, and then guides (it to the fulfillment of the aim and purpose of its existence).”
  14. (The Pharaoh) said: “Then, what is the case with the earlier generations (all of whom have passed away— how are they recompensed for their beliefs and deeds)?”
  1. (Moses) answered: “My Lord holds the knowledge of them in a Record. My Lord never errs, nor forgets.”
  2. He Who has made the earth a cradle for you and traced out roads on it for you, and sends down water from the sky, and produces with it pairs of various plants.
  3. Eat thereof, and feed your cattle. Surely, in all this are signs (manifesting the truth) for people of sound, unbiased thinking.
  4. From it (earth), We create you, and into it, are We returning you; and out of it, will We bring you forth a second time.
  5. We certainly showed the Pharaoh Our signs, all of them (including those We granted particularly to Moses), but he contradicted them and refused (to believe).
  6. He said: “Moses, have you come to drive us from our land with your sorcery?
  7. “Then, We will most certainly produce before you sorcery like it. So appoint a meeting between us and you, which neither we nor you will fail to keep, in an open, level place convenient (to both of us).”
  8. (Moses) said: “The meeting will be on the Day of the Festival, and let the people assemble in the forenoon.”
  9. The Pharaoh then left, and he (set out to) mobilize all his devices, then presented himself (at the appointed meeting).
  10. Moses said to them (warning them before it was too late for them to be warned): “Woe to you! Do not fabricate lies against God (such as falsely describing His clear proofs as sorcery, falsely pretending that His Message to you aims at driving you out of your land, or by adopting other deities than Him), lest He ruin you with a severe scourge. Whoever fabricates a lie is doomed.”
  11. (Moses’ warning having influenced some among the sorcerers)) they began to debate their affair among themselves. (Whereupon, the Pharaoh’s men intervened, and) spoke to them secretly.
  12. (, They said: “These two men are surely sorcerers intent on driving you out of your land with their sorcery and doing away with your exemplary way of life.
  13. “So gather your devices, and then come in ordered ranks (as an organized, unified force), for the one who gains the upper hand today has surely triumphed.”
  1. They (the sorcerers) said: “Moses, either you throw or we will be the first to throw!”
  2. He said: “No, you throw first!” And there and then, by their sorcery, their ropes and their staffs seemed to him to be slithering.
  3. Then Moses felt in his soul a bit apprehensive (that people may have been influenced by their sorcery).
  4. We said: “Do not fear! You surely, you are the uppermost.
  5. “Throw that which is in your right hand: it will swallow up all that they have contrived. What they have contrived is only a sorcerer’s artifice. And a sorcerer can never prosper, whatever he may aim at.”
  6. And so (it happened, and) the sorcerers were thrown down, prostrate. They proclaimed: “We have come to believe in the Lord of Aaron and Moses!”
  7. (The Pharaoh) said: “Do you believe in Him before I give you permission? I see that he (Moses) is your master who taught you sorcery! I will surely have your hands and feet cut off alternately, and have you crucified on the trunks of palm-trees, and you will certainly come to know which of us (– the Lord of Aaron and Moses or I –) is more severe in punishment and (whose punishment is) more lasting!”
  8. They said: “We will never prefer you above the clear evidence (manifesting the truth) that has come before us, and above Him Who originated us. So decree whatever you decree: you can decree only for the life of this world.
  9. “We have surely come to believe in our Lord, and (we hope) that He may forgive us our faults and that sorcery to which you compelled us. God is the best (in giving reward), and the most permanent.”
  10. Whoever comes before his Lord as a disbelieving criminal, for him surely there will be Hell: he will neither die therein nor live.
  11. Whereas he who comes before Him as a believer who did good, righteous deeds, for such are high ranks and lofty stations –
  12. Gardens of perpetual bliss through which rivers flow, therein to abide. Such is the recompense of whoever attains purity.
  1. We revealed to Moses: “Set forth with My servants by night, and (when you reach the sea’s edge with the Pharaoh and his army in pursuit) strike for them a dry path with your staff through the sea, and you need have no fear of being overtaken (by Pharaoh) or of drowning in the sea.”
  2. Then the Pharaoh pursued them with his armed hosts, and they were overwhelmed by the sea to their complete destruction.
  3. The Pharaoh had led his people astray (and finally he led them to destruction); he did not guide them (either to the truth or to prosperity).
  4. O Children of Israel! We saved you from your enemy; and We made a covenant with you through Moses on the right side of Mount Sinai (and granted you the Torah); and We sent down on you manna and quails (to sustain you in the desert).
  5. (We said:) Eat of the pure, wholesome things that We have provided for you, but do not exceed the bounds therein (by wastefulness, ingratitude, unlawful earnings, and the like). Otherwise, My condemnation will justly fall upon you, and upon whoever My wrath falls, he has indeed thrown himself into ruin.
  6. Yet I am surely All-Forgiving to whoever repents and believes and does good, righteous deeds, and thereafter, keeps himself on the right path.
  7. (When Moses came to Our appointment with him in Mount Sinai to receive the Torah, We asked him:) “Moses, what has caused you to leave your people behind in such haste?”
  8. He replied: “They are following in my footsteps; and I have shown haste to come to You so that You may be well-pleased with me.”
  9. (God) said: “Then (know that) We have put your people to a test in your absence, and the Sāmirī has led them astray.”
  10. So Moses returned to his people in anger and sorrow. He said: “My people! Did your Lord not make you a fair promise (that He would grant you the Torah for your happiness in both worlds, and settle you in the land the environs of which He has blessed)? Did, then, the time appointed (for my absence) seem too long to you, or did you desire that a condemnation from your Lord should fall upon you, that you broke your promise to me?”
  11. They said: “We did not break our promise to you of our own accord (with intent), but we were loaded with (sinful) loads of ornaments of the people (of Egypt), and we threw them (to get rid of them), in the same way as the Sāmirī threw (them, into a fire).”
  1. And then he brought out for them a calf, shaping to it (from the molten ornaments) a body (which made a sound like) mooing. Then they said (some of them to others): “This is your deity and the deity of Moses, but he has forgotten.”
  2. Did they not see at all that (even) it could not return to them a word (for answer), and had no power to harm or benefit them?
  3. And Aaron had certainly said to them, before Moses’ return (warning them:) “O my people! You are only being tested through this (idol, to prove the quality of your understanding and faith). Truly Your Lord is the All-Merciful (Who is most forgiving), so follow me and obey my order!”
  4. But they said: “We will by no means cease to worship it until Moses comes back to us.”
  5. (Having returned, and unaware of Aaron’s warning, Moses) said: “O Aaron! What prevented you, when you saw them gone astray,
  6. “From following me? Have you, then, disobeyed my order?”
  7. Aaron said: “O son of my mother! Do not seize me by my beard, nor by my head! I was afraid lest you should say: ‘You have caused division among the Children of Israel, and paid no heed to my orders!’ ”
  8. (Moses turned to the Sāmirī and) said: “What is the matter with you, O Sāmirī (that you did such a monstrous thing)?”
  9. He answered: “I have seen something which they were unable to see, and so I took a handful (of dust) from the trail of the messenger (the archangel Gabriel) and cast it into the molten ornaments: thus did my soul prompt me to act.” 
  10. (Moses) said: “Be gone, then! (The sentence) upon you is that in this present life, you say ‘Touch me not!’ (to warn people against proximity to you); and surely there is for you a promise (of punishment) that you cannot evade. Now look to this deity of yours to whose worship you have become devoted: we will most certainly burn it, and scatter whatever remains of it over the sea!

The Chapter of al-Qasas (the Stories 28.2-46)

  1. Tā. Sīn. Mīm.
  2. These are the Revelations of the Book: clear in itself and clearly showing the truth.
  3. We now convey to you with truth some of the exemplary events which took place between Moses and the Pharaoh, for people who will believe.
  4. The Pharaoh turned into an arrogant tyrant in the land (of Egypt) and divided its people into castes. One group of them he humiliated and oppressed, slaughtering their sons and letting live their womenfolk (for further humiliation and suffering). He surely was one of those spreading disorder and corruption.
  5. But We willed to bestow Our favor upon those who were humiliated and oppressed in the land, and make of them exemplary leaders (to guide people on the way to God, and in their lives), and make them inheritors (of the glory of the Pharaoh, and the land in which We produced blessings for people);
  6. And to establish them in the land with power, and let the Pharaoh and Hāmān and their hosts experience what they feared from them (the people they had oppressed).
  7. We inspired the mother of Moses, saying: “Suckle him (for a time, without anxiety for his life), then when you have cause to fear for him, put him in the river, and do not fear or grieve. We will surely return him to you and make him one of our Messengers.”
  8. Then, the family of Pharaoh picked him up only to be an adversary and a source of grief for them. Indeed the Pharaoh, Hāmān and their hosts were habitually in the wrong (sinful in their treatment of people and, especially, of the Children of Israel).
  9. The Pharaoh’s wife said (to him): “(Here is a child that will be) a means of happiness for me and for you. Do not kill him. Maybe he will prove useful for us, or we may adopt him as a son.” They were unaware (of how the events were being prepared, and how their outcome would turn to be in the end).
  10. A void grew in the heart of the mother of Moses, and she would almost have disclosed all about him (in the hope that he would be returned to her) had We not strengthened her heart so that she might have faith (in Our promise).
  11. She said to his sister: “Follow him (secretly).” So she watched him from afar, while the others were not aware.
  12. We had forbidden wet-nurses for him from before (so that he refused the milk of the nurses called by the Queen to suckle him). Then his sister (who was able to get into the palace) said: “Shall I guide you to a family that will nurse him for you, and they will take care of him?”
  13. And thus, We returned him to his mother, so that she might rejoice and forget her grief, and that she might certainly know that God’s promise was true. But most people do not know this.
  1. When Moses reached his full manhood and grew to maturity, We granted him sound, wise judgment, and special knowledge. Thus do We reward those devoted to doing good as if seeing God.
  2. (One day he left the palace where he was living and) he entered the city at a time when he was unnoticed by its people, and found therein two men fighting: one of his own people and the other of their enemies (the native Copts). The one from his people called on him for help against the other, who was from their enemies. So Moses struck him with his hand and caused his death (unintentionally). He said: “This (enmity and fighting) is of Satan’s doing. Surely he is manifestly a misleading enemy.”
  3. He said (in supplication): “My Lord! Indeed I have wronged myself, so forgive me.” So He forgave him. Surely He is the One Who is the All-Forgiving, the All-Compassionate (especially toward His believing, repentant servants).
  4. “My Lord!” Moses said, “For as much as You have blessed me with favors, I will never be a supporter of the guilty.”
  5. Now, in the morning, he was in the city, apprehensive and watchful. And the man who had sought his help on the day before (turned up) and cried out to him again for help. Moses said to him: “You are indeed, obviously, an unruly hothead.”
  6. But then, when he was about to fall upon the man who was an enemy of them both, he (the Israelite who thought that Moses would attack him because he had chided him severely) said: “Moses, do you intend to kill me as you killed a person yesterday? You want only to become a tyrant in this land; you do not want to be of those who set things right!”
  7. Then a man (from the royal court) came running from the farthest end of the city (where the court was) and said: “Moses, now the chiefs are deliberating upon your case to kill you, so leave the city. I am surely one of your sincere well-wishers.”
  8. So he left the city, apprehensive and looking around. He said (in supplication): “My Lord, save me from these wrongdoing, oppressive people!”
  1. As he headed towards Midian (the nearest territory independent of Egyptian rule), he said: “I hope my Lord will guide me on the right way (so as to avoid capture by Egyptian forces).”
  2. When he arrived at the wells of Midian, he found there a group of people watering their flocks, and he found, apart from them, two women (maidens) holding back their flock. He said: “What is the matter with you?” The two (women) said: “We do not water our flock until the shepherds take their flocks away. (It is we who do this work because) our father is a very old man.”
  3. So Moses watered their flock for them, and then he withdrew to the shade and said (in supplication): “My Lord! Surely I am in need of whatever good you may send down to me.”
  4. Thereafter, one of the two (maidens) approached him, walking bashfully, and said: “My father invites you, so that he may reward you for watering our flock for us.” So when he came to him and told him the whole of his story, he said: “Worry no longer! You are now safe from the wrongdoing, oppressive people.”
  5. One of the two daughters said: “Father, employ him, for the best whom you could employ should be one strong and trustworthy (as he is).”
  6. (The father) said to Moses: “I want to marry one of these two daughters of mine to you if you serve me for eight years (according to the lunar calendar). But if you should complete ten years, that would be an act of grace from you. I do not mean to impose any hardship on you. You will find me, God willing, one of the righteous.”
  7. (Moses) answered: “So let it be between me and you. Whichever of the two terms I fulfill, let there be no ill-will against me. God is a Guarantor over what we say.”
  1. When Moses fulfilled the term and was traveling with his family (in the desert), he perceived a fire from the direction of the Mount (Sinai). He said to his family: “Wait here! For I perceive a fire far off; I may bring you from there some information (about where we are, and the way we should take), or a burning brand from the fire so that you may (kindle a fire and) warm yourselves.”
  2. When he came to the fire, he was called from the right bank of the valley in the blessed ground, from the tree: “O Moses! Surely it is I, I am God, the Lord of the worlds.
  3. “Throw down your staff. (He threw it, and) when he saw it (as a big snake) slithering as if a small serpent, he turned about retreating, and did not turn back. “O Moses, come forward and have no fear. You (chosen as a Messenger) are indeed of those who are secure.
  4. “Put your (right) hand into your bosom: it will come forth shining white without flaw; and now hold your arms close to yourself, free of awe (and ready to receive My command). These are two proofs (of your Messengership) from your Lord (for you to demonstrate) to the Pharaoh and his chiefs. Surely, they are a transgressing people.”
  5. (Moses) said: “My Lord! I killed a person among them, so I fear that they will kill me (and not let me convey Your Message).
  6. “And my brother Aaron – he is one more eloquent in speech than me, so ( appointing him also as a Messenger,) send him with me as a helper to confirm my truthfulness, for indeed I fear that they will deny me.”
  7. He said: “We will strengthen you through your brother and will invest both of you with power and authority; and they will not be able to reach you (with any harm they intend) from awe of Our signs (miracles). You two, and all who follow you, will be the victors.”
  1. When Moses came to them (the Pharaoh and his chiefs) with Our manifest signs, they said: “This (that you show as miracles to prove your Messengership) is nothing but sorcery contrived. And we never heard this (the call to Him Whom you call the Lord of the worlds) in the time of our forefathers of old.”
  2. (Moses) said: “My Lord knows best who has come with the true guidance from Him, and to whom the ultimate abode of happiness will belong (both in the world and in the Hereafter). Surely the wrongdoers do not prosper (nor attain their goals).”
  3. The Pharaoh (turned to the chiefs and) said: “O you nobles! I do not know that you have another deity than me. Well, then, O Hāmān, kindle (the furnace) for me to bake bricks, and make me a lofty tower so that I may have a look at the God of Moses, though I surely think that he is a liar.”
  4. He grew arrogant in the land, he and his hosts, against all right, and they thought that they would never be brought back to Us (for judgment).
  5. So We seized him and his hosts, and cast them into the sea. Then see what was the outcome for the wrongdoers!
  6. We have made them leaders (exemplary patterns) of misguidance calling (those who would follow them) to the Fire. And (even though they employ many in their service in this world) on the Day of Resurrection, they will not be helped.
  7. We have caused a curse to pursue them in this world (and increase them in sin because of their being leaders in misguidance, misleading those who followed them), and on the Day of Resurrection, they will be among the spurned (those utterly deprived of God’s Mercy).
  8. And indeed, after We had destroyed those earlier (wrongdoing) generations, We granted Moses the Book (the Torah) as lights of discernment and insight for people, and as guidance and mercy, so that they might reflect and be mindful.
  1. (All that We have told you about Moses and the Book granted to him is a Revelation We reveal to you, O Muhammad, for) you were not present on the spot lying to the western side (of the valley) when We decreed the Commandment (the Torah) to Moses, nor were you a witness (to what happened there).
  2. But (after them) We brought into being many generations, and long indeed were the ages that passed over them. (The information you give about them is also that which We reveal to you, just as what you tell about what happened concerning Moses in Midian is also a Revelation. For) neither did you dwell among the people of Midian so that you are conveying to them (the Makkan people) Our Revelations (about what Moses did in Midian). Rather, We have been sending Messengers (to convey Our Revelations).
  3. And neither were you present on the side of the Mount Sinai when We called out (to Moses), but (We reveal all this to you) as a mercy from your Lord so that you may warn a people to whom no warner has come before you, so that they may reflect and be mindful.

The Chapter of ash-Shu‘ara’ (the Poets 26.10-66)

  1. (Remember) when your Lord called Moses, saying: “Go to the wrongdoing people,
  2. “The people of the Pharaoh. Will they not give up their way in fear of Me and take the way of piety?”
  3. Moses replied: “My Lord! I fear that they will deny me,
  4. “And my breast will be constricted (so that I fail to show the necessary perseverance and tolerance), and my tongue will not be free (to convey Your Message with the right fluency), so appoint Aaron as a Messenger beside me.
  5. “They also have a charge of crime against me, so I fear that they will kill me (and not let me convey Your Message).”
  6. (God) said: “Not so, indeed! Go forth, then, the two of you, with Our miraculous signs (with which I have provided you). We will surely be with you all (you and them), listening attentively (to all that is to happen between you).
  7. “So go, both of you, to the Pharaoh and say: ‘We have come with a message from the Lord of the worlds (He Who has created and sustains everything):
  8. ‘Let the Children of Israel go with us!’ ”
  9. (When Moses delivered his message, the Pharaoh) said: “Did we not bring you up among us (in our palace) when you were a child? And you spent many years of your life among us!
  10. “Then you committed that heinous deed of yours which you did, (proving thereby that) you are indeed one of the ungrateful.”
  1. (Moses) said: “I committed that deed unintentionally when I did not know (it would end in the way it did).
  2. “Then I fled from you when I feared (living together with) you (any longer), but (since then) my Lord has granted to me sound, wise judgment, and has made me one of His Messengers.
  3. “As for that favor you taunt me with: (it is owed to the fact) that you have enslaved the Children of Israel.”
  4. (The Pharaoh) said: “What (and who) is that, ‘the Lord of the worlds’?”
  5. (Moses) answered: “The Lord (Creator, Sustainer, and sole Ruler) of the heavens and the earth and all that is between them, if you would but (let yourselves be) convinced!”
  6. (The Pharaoh) said to those around him: “Do you not hear (what he is saying)?”
  7. (Moses) continued: “Your Lord, and the Lord of your forefathers.”
  8. (The Pharaoh) exclaimed: “See! This Messenger of yours who has been sent to you is assuredly a madman.”
  9. (Moses) went on: “He is the Lord of the east and the west and all that is between them, if you would but reason and understand!”
  10. (The Pharaoh) threatened: “If you, (O Moses,) take any deity other than me (to worship, to offer your prayer and sacrifices to, and to seek help from), I will most certainly make you one of those imprisoned.”
  11. (Moses) said: “Even if I have brought you something clear (which demonstrates that I am speaking the truth)?”
  12. (The Pharaoh) answered: “Then, produce it if you are truthful (in your claim)!”
  13. Thereupon, Moses threw down his staff, and it was manifestly a serpent.
  14. And he drew forth his (right) hand (from his armpit where he had put it), and thereupon it was shining white to those looking on.
  15. (The Pharaoh) said to the chiefs around him: “This is indeed a learned, skillful sorcerer,
  16. “Who seeks to drive you out from your land by his sorcery. What, then, do you advise (me to do)?”
  17. They said: “Put him and his brother off for a while, and (in the meantime) send forth heralds to all cities,
  18. “To bring to your presence every learned, skillful sorcerer.”
  19. So the sorcerers were assembled (to contend with Moses) at the appointed time on a day (made) well-known (to all),
  20. And it was said to the people: “Will you not assemble (and attend also)?
  1. “We are expecting that the sorcerers will triumph and we will follow them (in their religion).”
  2. So then the sorcerers came forth (for the encounter) and said to the Pharaoh: “We shall surely have a reward, if we are the victors, shall we?”
  3. (The Pharaoh) answered: “Yes, indeed. And you will then be among those near-stationed to me.”
  4. Moses said to them (the sorcerers): “Throw whatever you are going to throw!”
  5. So they threw their ropes and staffs, saying: “By the might and glory of Pharaoh, we will surely be the victors.”
  6. Thereafter, Moses threw his staff, and behold, it swallowed up their false devices.
  7. The sorcerers threw themselves down, prostrating,
  8. And they said: “We have come to believe in the Lord of the worlds,
  9. “The Lord of Moses and Aaron!”
  10. (The Pharaoh) said: “What! Do you believe in Him before I give you permission? For sure he is your chief who has taught you sorcery. But, in time, you will certainly come to know. I will most certainly have your hands and feet cut off alternately, and then I will most certainly have you crucified all together.”
  11. “We ardently desire that our Lord will forgive us our sins for we are the first to believe.”
  12. (Events developed to the point that) We revealed to Moses: “Set forth with My servants by night; surely, you will be pursued.”
  13. Then the Pharaoh sent heralds to the cities (to mobilize his troops),
  14. (Saying:) “Those people are indeed a paltry band;
  15. “And (forgetting their lack in numbers and power), they have offended against us (and so provoked our wrath).
  16. “As for us, we are assuredly a numerous host, ever on guard.”
  17. Thus did We drive them out of (all that they had enjoyed of) gardens and springs,
  18. And treasures, excellent dwellings, and noble status.
  19. Things happened thus, and We made the Children of Israel survive them and inherit (the same kind of bounties).
  20. At sunrise, the Pharaoh set off in pursuit of them.
  1. When the two hosts came in view of each other, the companions of Moses said: “We are certainly overtaken!”
  2. He replied: “Certainly not. My Lord is surely with me; He will guide me (to deliverance).”
  3. We revealed to Moses: “Strike the sea with your staff.” Thereupon the sea split, and each part became like a towering mountain.
  4. We brought the others (the Pharaoh and his host) close to the same spot.
  5. And We saved Moses and all those who were with him.
  6. Afterwards, We caused the others to drown.

The Chapter of al-Baqara (The Cow 2.47-71)

  1. O Children of Israel! Remember My favor that I bestowed upon you, and that I once exalted you above all peoples;
  2. And be fearful of and strive to be guarded against a day when (everybody will be seeking a means to save himself, and when) no soul will pay on behalf of another, nor will any intercession (of the sort common in the world but which does not meet with God’s permission and approval) be accepted from any of them, nor will compensation be received from them, nor will they be helped.
  1. And (remember) that We saved you from the clan (the court and military aristocracy) of the Pharaoh, afflicting you with the most evil suffering (by enslaving you to such laborious tasks as construction, transportation and farming), slaughtering your sons and letting live your womenfolk (for further humiliation and suffering). In that was a grievous trial from your Lord.
  2. And remember when (after years of struggle to escape Egypt, you had just reached the sea with the army of the Pharaoh in close pursuit and) We parted the sea for you and saved you, and (as sheer grace from Us, which you had no part in) caused the family of the Pharaoh to drown while you were looking on.
  3. And when, on another occasion, We appointed with Moses forty nights, then (during the time he stayed on Mount Sinai, ) you adopted the (golden) calf as deity and worshipped it after him; and you were wronging yourselves thereby with a most heinous wrong.
  4. Then (even though adopting as deity any other than God is an unpardonable sin, We accepted your atonement and) We pardoned you after that, that you might (acknowledge Our many and great favors to you and) give thanks (believing in God and worshipping Him alone, and carrying out His commandments.)
  5. And remember when We granted Moses (while he was on Mount Sinai for forty nights) the Book and the Criterion to distinguish between truth and falsehood, and the knowledge, and the power of judgment to put it into effect, that you might be guided to truth and abide by it.
  6. And when Moses said to his people: “O my people, assuredly you have wronged yourselves by adopting the (golden) calf as deity; so turn in repentance to your All-Holy Creator (Who is absolutely above having any partners), and kill amongst yourselves those who have committed that great offense, thus purifying yourselves of this tremendous sin. That will be best for you in the sight of your All-Holy Creator, and He will accept your repentance and pardon you. Surely He is the One Who accepts repentance and returns it with liberal forgiveness and additional reward, the All-Compassionate.
  7. And (despite all that had occurred and the manifest signs of your Lord that you witnessed over many years, a time came) when you said: “Moses, we will never believe in you (whether the commandments you have brought are really from God) unless we plainly see God (speaking to you).” Thereupon, the thunderbolt (that you saw come unexpectedly) seized you. Motionless, as if dead, you were gazing.
  8. Then after that death-like state (and your spiritual death), We revived you (recovering you from the death-like state) so that you might give thanks.
  9. And (since, unaided, you could not survive in the desert without shelter and food) We caused the cloud (which you plainly saw was assigned for you) to shade you, and sent down upon you manna and quails: “Eat of the pure, wholesome things that We have provided for you.” Yet (in breaking the laws, in refusing to obey the injunctions about even those foods) they did not wrong Us, but they were wronging themselves.
  1. And remember (after you had been wandering in the desert, how We guided you to a town) when We commanded: “Enter this town and eat (of the fruits) thereof as you may desire to your hearts’ content. Enter it (not through different ways with the aim of plundering and massacring its people but) through its gate humbly and in utmost submission to God. Say words of imploring forgiveness and loyalty to Him, that We forgive you your misdeeds.” We will increase the reward for those devoted to doing good, aware that God is seeing them.
  2. Then those who persisted in wrongdoing changed what had been said to them (regarding humility, imploring forgiveness, submission, and loyalty) for another saying (and so acted contrarily to how they had been ordered.) So We sent down upon those who did wrong a scourge from heaven because they were continually transgressing .
  3. Again (remember) when Moses (on an occasion when his people were without water in the desert) beseeched water for his people, so We told him: “Strike the rock with your staff!” (As soon as he struck) there gushed forth from it twelve springs. Each tribe knew their drinking place. Eat and drink of that which God has provided, and do not go about acting wickedly on earth, causing disorder and corruption.
  4. And (remember the time) when you said: “Moses, we will no longer be able to endure one sort of food. Pray for us to your Lord, that He may bring forth for us of all that the soil produces – its green herbs, and its cucumbers, and its corn, and its lentils, and its onions.” He (Moses) responded: “Would you have in exchange what is meaner for what is better? Get you down to Egypt (or some city); surely there is for you there what you ask for.” So, in the end, ignominy and misery were pitched upon them, and they earned wrath (a humiliating punishment) from God. That was because they were persistently disbelieving in Our Revelations and rejecting Our signs (despite continuously observing them in their lives), and killing the Prophets against all right and truth. That was because they disobeyed and kept on exceeding the bounds (of the Law).
  1. (The truth is not as they – the Jews – claim, but this:) Those who believe (i.e. professing to be Muslims), or those who declare Judaism, or the Christians or the Sabaeans (or those of some other faith) – whoever truly believes in God and the Last Day and does good, righteous deeds, surely their reward is with their Lord, and they will have no fear, nor will they grieve.
  2. And (remember) when We took your promise (to keep Our covenant) and (in order to stress the importance of both the covenant and keeping it, and warn you against breaking it,) We raised the Mount (causing it to tower) over you: “Hold firmly to what We haven given you (of the Book) and study its commandments and instructions so that you may attain reverent piety toward God and His protection (against any kind of straying and its consequent punishment in this world and the Hereafter.)”
  3. Then, after that, you turned away again (breaking your promise and disobeying the commandments of the Book). So, had it not been for the grace of God to you and His mercy (overlooking your offenses and forgiving you), surely you would have been of the losers (in this world and the next.).
  4. You surely know of those among you who exceeded the bounds with respect to the Sabbath, how We said to them, “Be you apes, miserably slinking and rejected.”
  5. We made it a severe affliction exemplary for their own generations and those to follow them, and instruction and guidance for the God-revering, pious.
  6. And (remember) when Moses told his people: “God commands you to sacrifice a cow.” They responded: “Are you making fun of us?” He replied: “I seek refuge in God lest I should be among the ignorant (by making fun of anybody.)”
  7. They said, “Pray for us to your Lord that He may make clear to us what it should be like.” He (Moses) answered: “He says, it should be a cow neither old nor virgin, middling between the two. So do what you are commanded.”
  8. They (continuing to make trouble about the matter) responded: “Pray for us to your Lord that He may make clear to us what color it should be.” He (Moses) answered: “He says, it should be a yellow cow, radiant in its color, gladdening those who see.”
  1. They (still unwilling to carry out the order) replied: “Pray for us to your Lord that He make clear to us what it should be like; cows are much alike to us; and if God wills, we will then be guided (to find the precise type of cow we are commanded to sacrifice, and sacrifice it.)”
  2. He (Moses) answered: “He says, it is a cow unyoked to plough the earth or water the tillage, one kept secure and sound, with no blemish on it.” “Now you have brought the truth,” they answered; and they sacrificed it, though they all but did not.

The Chapter of Ghafir (Forgiver 40.23-46)

  1. We surely sent Moses with clear signs from Us (including miracles to support him), and a manifest authority,
  2. To the Pharaoh, and Hāmān, and Korah, but they said: “(This man is) a sorcerer, a liar!”
  3. When he brought them the truth from Our Presence (so clearly that they could not deny it), they said: “Kill the sons of those who believe (in his Message) along with him and let live their womenfolk (for further humiliation and suffering).” But the scheming of unbelievers is but bound to fail.
  1. The Pharaoh said (to his chiefs): “Let me kill Moses, and let him call upon his Lord! I fear lest he alter your religion (replacing it with his), or lest he provoke disorder in the land.”
  2. Moses said: “Indeed I seek refuge in my Lord, Who is your Lord as well, from every haughty one who disbelieves in the Day of Reckoning.”
  3. (At just that moment) a believing man from among the clan (and Government Board) of the Pharaoh, who until then had concealed his faith, (came forward and) said: “Would you kill a man only because he declares, ‘My Lord is God!’, when he has indeed come to you with clear proofs from your Lord? If he be a liar, then his lie will be (reckoned) against him; but if he is true (in his proclamations), then something of what he threatens you with will befall you. Surely, God does not guide (either to truth or to any achievement) one who (transgressing all bounds) is wasteful (of his God-given faculties), and a liar.
  4. “O my people! You enjoy the dominion today, being uppermost in the land; but who could help us against the punishment of God, should it come to us?” The Pharaoh said (to his people): “I would show you only what I see (as needing to be done), and I guide you only to the right way (to follow).”
  5. But he who believed said: “O my people! I do indeed fear for you the like of the day (of disaster) of the communities (that, before you, also denied the Messengers sent to them);
  6. “The like of what befell the people of Noah, the ‘Ād, and the Thamūd, and others that came after them; and God never wills any wrong for (His) servants.
  7. “O my people! I do indeed fear for you the Day of the Summons (the Day when people will vainly be calling out to one another for help, and cursing one another in distress);
  8. “The Day when you will (strive in vain desperation) to turn and flee (from the Fire), having none to protect you from (the punishment of) God. Whomever God leads astray, there is no guide.
  1. “And (reflect that) Joseph brought to you the manifest truths before, but you never ceased to doubt as to what he brought you. But when he finally died, you said that God would no longer send a Messenger after him. Thus God leads astray one who (transgressing all bounds) is wasteful (of his God-given faculties), persistently doubting (without good reason) –
  2. “Those who dispute concerning God’s signs and Revelations without any authority that has reached them. It is grievous and loathsome in the sight of God and those who believe. Thus, God impresses (a seal) on every haughty, tyrant’s heart.”
  3. The Pharaoh said: “O Hāmān! Build me a lofty tower so that I may attain the ways,
  4. “The ways of (peering into) the skies, and that I may have a look at the God of Moses, though I surely think that he is a liar.” Thus were his evil deeds decked out to be appealing to the Pharaoh, and he was debarred from the (right) way. And the scheme of the Pharaoh ended in nothing but destruction.
  5. And the one who believed said (continuing his warnings): “O my people! Follow me so that I may guide you to the way of right guidance.
  6. “O my people! The life of this world is but a (passing) enjoyment, while the Hereafter – that is indeed the home of permanence.
  7. “Whoever does an evil is not recompensed except with the like of it; whereas whoever does good, righteous deeds – whether man or woman – and is a believer, such will enter Paradise, being provided there without measure.
  1. “O my people! How is it with me that I call you to salvation when you call me to the Fire!
  2. “You call me so that I should disbelieve in God and associate with Him partners about whose partnership I have no sure knowledge; and I call you to the All-Glorious with irresistible might (Able to destroy whoever rebels against Him), the All-Forgiving (Who forgives whoever turns to Him in repentance).
  3. “Without doubt you call me, but to one who has no title (to be called to) in the world, or in the Hereafter; our return will be to God, and those who (transgressing all bounds) are wasteful (of their God-given faculties) – they will be companions of the Fire.
  4. “Soon you will remember all that I now am telling you. As for me, I commit my affair to God (in full submission). Surely God sees the servants well.”
  5. So God preserved him from the evils they schemed (against him), while a most evil punishment overwhelmed the clan (the court and military aristocracy) of the Pharaoh:
  6. The Fire: they are exposed to it morning and evening; and when the Last Hour comes in (and the Judgment is established, it is ordered): “Admit the clan of the Pharaoh into the severest punishment.”

The Chapter of Yunus (Jonah 10.75-93)

  1. Moses said: “Do you speak of the truth like this when it has come to you? Is this sorcery? But sorcerers do not prosper.”
  2. They said: “Have you come to us to turn us away from what we found our forefathers following, and that high authority in this land may belong to you two? Never will we believe in you two!”
  1. And the Pharaoh said: “Bring me every learned, skillful sorcerer!”
  2. When the sorcerers came, Moses said to them: “Throw down what you will throw.”
  3. When they had thrown (whatever they had in their hands and produced a mighty sorcery), Moses said: “What you have brought is but sorcery. Surely God will bring it to nothing and prove it false. God never validates and sets right the work of those who cause disorder and corruption.
  4. “And God proves by His decrees the truth to be true and makes it triumph, however hateful this is to the disbelieving criminals.”
  5. (In the beginning,) none save a young generation among his people truly believed in and followed Moses, for (they were in) fear that the Pharaoh and the chiefs among them (who collaborated with the Pharaoh in order not to lose their wealth) would subject them to persecutions. The Pharaoh was indeed a haughty tyrant in the land, and he was, indeed, one of those who commit excesses.
  6. And Moses said (in earnest advice to his people): “If you believe in God, then put your trust in Him, if you are Muslims (who have wholly submitted yourselves to Him).”
  7. They invoked (verbally and by their actions): “In God we put our trust. Our Lord! Do not make us a target of persecution for the wrongdoing people!
  8. “And save us through Your mercy from those disbelieving people!”
  9. We revealed to Moses and his brother: “Appoint houses for your people in Egypt (as places of refuge and coming together in God’s cause), and (as a whole community) make your homes places to turn to God, and establish the Prescribed Prayer in conformity with its conditions. And (O Moses,) give glad tidings to the believers!”
  10. Moses prayed to God: “Our Lord! Surely You have granted the Pharaoh and his chiefs splendor and riches in the life of this world, and so, our Lord, they lead people astray from Your way. Our Lord! Destroy their riches, and press upon their hearts, for they do not believe until they see the painful punishment.”
  1. God said: “The prayer of you two (O Moses and Aaron) has indeed been answered; so (since the realization of your goals is dependent upon your way of conduct), continue steadfastly on the Straight Path, and do not follow the way of those who have no knowledge (of right and wrong) and act in ignorance.”
  2. And We brought the Children of Israel across the sea, and the Pharaoh and his hosts pursued them with vehement insolence and hostility, until (they were overwhelmed by the waters of the sea opened for Moses and his people to cross,) and when the drowning overtook the Pharaoh, he exclaimed: “I have come to believe that there is no deity save Him in whom the Children of Israel believe, and I am of the Muslims (those who have submitted themselves wholly to Him).”
  3. Now? – (You surrender now) when before this you always rebelled and were of those engaged in causing disorder and corruption?
  4. So this day (as a recompense for your belief in the state of despair which will be of no avail to you in the Hereafter), We will save only your body, that you may be a sign for those to come after you. Surely, a good many people among humankind are heedless of Our signs (full of clear warning and lessons).
  5. And, indeed, We settled the Children of Israel in a proper place of dwelling, and provided them with pure, wholesome things. They did not suffer discord until after the knowledge came to them (of the way they would have to follow, and of what they would meet as a result of what they did). Your Lord will surely judge among them on the Day of Resurrection concerning that on which they used to differ.

The Chapter of al-Isra’ (The Night Journey 17.4-7)

  1. We decreed in the Book for the Children of Israel (as a consequence of their ingratitude and disobedience to the Book): “You will most certainly cause corruption and disorder in the land twice, and (elated with extreme arrogance) you will act with great insolence.”
  2. Hence, when the time of the first of the two came, We roused and sent against you some servants of Ours of great might (chosen by Us to punish you), and they ravaged the land, searching the innermost parts of your homes. That was a threat to be executed.
  3. Then We gave the turn back to you to prevail over them, and strengthened you with resources and children, and made you the more numerous in human power (than before).
  4. If you do good (aware that God is seeing you), you do good to your own selves; and if you do evil, it is likewise to your own selves. And so, when the time (for the fulfillment) of the second decree comes, (We rouse new enemies against you) to disgrace you utterly and to enter the Temple as the others entered it before, and to destroy entirely all that they conquer.

The Chapter of al-Isra’ (The Night Journey 17.101-104)

  1. We certainly granted to Moses nine clear signs (miracles). So ask the Children of Israel (what happened despite these miracles): when he came to them (and asked the Pharaoh to let the Children of Israel leave Egypt with him, and even after he showed to them these miracles), the Pharaoh said to him: “Earnestly, O Moses, I earnestly consider you to be one bewitched.”
  2. (Moses) said: “You know for certain that no one but the Lord of the heavens and the earth has sent down these (signs) as openings to discernment and insight. And earnestly, O Pharaoh, I earnestly consider you to be one doomed to loss.”
  3. Then the Pharaoh intended to terrify them from the land (of Egypt) and destroy them, but We caused him and all who were with him to drown.
  4. And after that, We said to the Children of Israel: “Dwell now securely in the land (which God has decreed for you and commanded you to enter). But when the time (for the fulfillment) of the last decree comes, We will bring you as a mixed crowd (gathered from disparate nations).

The Chapter of ad-Dukhan (Smoke 44.17-33)

  1. Before them, assuredly We tried the people of the Pharaoh, when there came to them a noble Messenger,
  2. Saying: “Deliver to me the servants of God! I am a trustworthy Messenger sent to you (by God).”
  3. “And do not exalt yourself in proud defiance against God (by disobeying His order, and so rejecting my Messengership). Surely I have come to you with an evident authority.
  4. “I have sought refuge in my Lord, Who is surely also your Lord, from your stoning me to death.
  5. “If you will not believe in me, then keep away from me (let me go)!”
  6. Then he called upon his Lord: “These are indeed a guilty people committed to accumulating sin.”
  7. Then (his Lord commanded him): “Set forth with My servants by night. You are sure to be pursued.
  8. “And now leave the sea in quiet (as it was when it divided for you), for they are a host destined to be drowned.”
  9. How many were the gardens and springs that they left behind;
  10. And cornfields, and excellent dwellings, and elevated, honored situations;
  11. And other comforts of life, in which they used to take delight!
  12. Just so! And We made another people heirs (to the bounties they enjoyed).
  13. And neither the heaven nor the earth shed tears over them, nor were they given a respite (when the punishment became due on them).
  14. And indeed, We delivered the Children of Israel from the humiliating persecutions
  15. Of the Pharaoh. He was indeed a haughty tyrant committing excesses.
  16. And with knowledge (deliberately, and for a purpose known to Us) We chose them (the Children of Israel) over all other peoples (in their time).
  17. And (as a favor) We granted them many signs (miracles), in which there was a manifest trial.

The Chapter of az-Zukhruf (Ornaments 43.46-55)

  1. Assuredly, We sent Moses to the Pharaoh and his chiefs with Our clear signs (miracles demonstrating Our being the sole Deity and Lord to be worshipped), and he said: “I am a Messenger of the Lord of the worlds.”
  2. But when he came to them with Our clear signs (miracles), they then ridiculed them.
  3. We displayed to them sign after sign, each greater than the other, and We seized them with (diverse forms of) punishment so that they might turn back (from the way they followed).
  4. (Whenever We seized them with a punishment) they would say (to Moses): “O Sorcerer! Pray for us to your Lord by the covenant He has made with you (that He will remove affliction from us if we believe); for we will surely accept right guidance.”
  5. But when We removed the punishment from them, they then broke their promise.
  6. The Pharaoh made this proclamation among his people: “O my people! Does not the dominion of Egypt belong to me, as well as these rivers flowing beneath me? Will you not see the truth?
  7. “And, am I not better than this man, who is despicable and can scarcely express himself clearly?
  8. “(If he is true in his claim) why are bracelets of gold not dropped upon him (from the sky), or why do there not come with him angels (to support him in his cause)?”
  9. Thus did he make fools of his people and demeaned them, and they obeyed him. Assuredly, they were a people given to transgression.
  10. So finally when they incurred Our condemnation, We took retribution on them, and We caused them to drown all together.
  11. So We made them a thing of the past, and a precedent (in entering the Fire), and an example to later generations.
  12. And when the Son of Mary (Jesus) has been presented as an example (of God’s Power and Oneness, and to refute his being deified by many Christians), your people turn from it in disdain;
  13. And they say, “Are our deities better or is he?” They put it to you only for disputation. Indeed, they are a people addicted to contentiousness.

The Chapter of al-Ma’ida (The Table 5.20-26)

  1. And (remember) when Moses warned his people, saying: “O my people! Remember God’s favor upon you, for He appointed among you Prophets, and appointed (among you) rulers (while in Egypt; and made you free to manage your own affairs), and He granted to you favors such as He had not granted to anyone else in the worlds.
  2. “O my people! Enter the holy land which God has prescribed for you and commanded you to enter; and do not turn back (from faith to your previous state), for then you will turn about as losers (in both this world and the Hereafter).”
  3. They said: “Moses, therein live a people of exceeding strength: we cannot enter it unless they depart from it; so if they depart from it, then we will surely enter it.”
  4. Said two men from among those who feared (God’s punishment for disobedience to Him), and whom God had favored (with faith, sagacity, and devotion): “Enter upon them through the gate (by frontal attack). For once you have entered it, you will surely be the victors. And in God you must put your trust if you are truly believers.”
  1. They said: “O Moses! By no means will we enter it as long as they are there. Go forth, then, you and your Lord, and fight, both of you. (As for ourselves) we will be sitting just here!”
  2. He (Moses) said (turning to His Lord with entreaty): “O my Lord! I have power over none except my own self and my brother (Aaron) only; so You judge and separate between us and these transgressing people!”
  3. He (God) said (passing this judgment): “Then, this (land) shall now be forbidden to them for forty years, while they shall wander about on earth, bewildered. Do not grieve over that transgressing people.”

The Chapter of an-Naml (Ants 27.7-14)

  1. (Remember and recount to them) when Moses (while traveling in the desert saw a fire and) said to his family: “I perceive a fire far off. (Wait here,) I will bring you from there some information (about where we are and the way we should take), or bring you at least a burning brand so that you may (kindle a fire and) warm yourselves.”
  2. When he came to it, he was called: “Blessed is he who is at the fire and those who are around it; and All-Glorified is God (above having any resemblance with the created), the Lord of the worlds.
  3. “O Moses! It is I, God, the All-Glorious with irresistible might, the All-Wise.
  4. “Now, throw down your staff.” (He threw it, and) when he saw it (as a big snake) slithering (so swiftly) as if a small snake, he turned his back to flee. “O Moses, have no fear. The Messengers (those who enjoy nearness to Me and, therefore, absolute security) do not (have any reason to) feel fear in My Presence.
  5. “Only those who have done wrong (should fear). But if (they repent and) substitute good in place of evil – surely I am All-Forgiving, All-Compassionate.
  6. “Put your (right) hand into your bosom: it will come forth shining white without flaw. It is (one) among the nine signs (miracles for you to show) to the Pharaoh and his people. Surely, they are a transgressing people.”
  7. But when Our signs came to them in plain sight and clear enough to have opened their eyes to truth, they said: “This is clearly nothing but sorcery.”
  8. They rejected them out of mere iniquity and self-exaltation, although their consciences were convinced of their being true. So, see what was the outcome for those given in to spreading disorder and corruption.

The Chapter of An-Nazi‘at (The Snatchers 79.15-25)

  1. Has the report of Moses come to you?
  2. When His Lord called out to him in the sacred Valley of Tuwa’:
  3. “Go to the Pharaoh, for he has exceedingly rebelled.
  4. “And say to him, ‘Would you (do you have intent or inclination to) attain to purity?
  5. ‘Then I will guide you to your Lord so you stand in awe of Him (and behave with humility).’ ”
  6. He (went to the Pharaoh and) showed him the great sign (the miracle of the Staff).
  7. But the Pharaoh denied (his Messengership) and defied (him).
  8. Thereafter, he turned away and set out to struggle (with him).
  9. Then he gathered (his men and hosts), and made a proclamation,
  10. Saying: “I am your Supreme Lord!”
  11. And so God seized him and made an example of him, of punishment in the later and the earlier (life).
burning bush

“I am that, I am” from Exodus 3:14 where God reveals himself to Moses through the sign of a burning bush. Moses asks God what his name is and God responds, “I am that, I am”.

From Wikiquote

  • I have been a stranger in a strange land.
    • 2:22 (KJV)
    • A sojourner have I become in a foreign land.
      • Everett Fox translation (1983)
    • I have been a stranger in a foreign land.
      • Jewish Publication Society translation (1985; 1999)
  • I will now turn aside, and see this great sight, why the bush is not burnt.
    • 3:3 (KJV)
  • Who am I, that I should go unto Pharaoh, and that I should bring forth the children of Israel out of Egypt?
    • 3:11 (KJV)
  • Behold, when I come unto the children of Israel, and shall say unto them, The God of your fathers hath sent me unto you; and they shall say to me, What is his name? what shall I say unto them?
    • 3:13 As recorded in 3:14-15 God responds: I AM THAT I AM (אהיה אשר אהיה Ehyeh asher ehyeh)
      Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, I AM hath sent me unto you.
      Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, the LORD God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, hath sent me unto you: this is my name for ever, and this is my memorial unto all generations.
  • But for this very reason I have kept you in existence: to show you my power and to have my name declared in all the earth.
    • Jehovah, 9:16, New World Translation of the Holy Scriptures
  • O my LORD, I am not eloquent, neither heretofore, nor since thou hast spoken unto thy servant: but I am slow of speech, and of a slow tongue.
    • 4:10 (KJV)
  • Jehovah will rule as king forever and ever.
    • Exodus 15:18, New World Translation of the Holy Scriptures
  • What shall I do unto this people? they be almost ready to stone me.
    • 17:4 (KJV)
  • Fear not: for God is come to prove you, and that his fear may be before your faces, that ye sin not.
    • 20:20 (KJV)
  • I pray thee, if I have found grace in thy sight, shew me now thy way, that I may know thee, that I may find grace in thy sight: and consider that this nation is thy people.
    • 33:13 (KJV)
  • If thou meet thine enemy’s ox or his ass going astray, thou shalt surely bring it back to him again.
    • 23:4 (KJV)

Numbers

  • And Moses cried unto the LORD, saying: ‘Heal her now, O God, I beseech Thee.
    • 12:13
  • And Moses, and Eleazar the priest, and all the princes of the congregation, went forth to meet them without the camp; and Moses was wroth with the officers of the host, with the captains over thousands, and captains over hundreds, which came from the battle; and Moses said unto them, Have ye saved all the women alive? behold, these caused the children of Israel, through the counsel of Balaam, to commit trespass against the Lord in the matter of Peor, and there was a plague among the congregation of the Lord. Now, therefore, kill every male among the little ones, and kill every woman that hath known a man by lying with him; but all the women-children, that have not known a man by lying with him, keep alive for yourselves.
    • 31:13–18, (KJV)

Deuteronomy

  • Behold, I have set the land before you: go in and possess the land which the LORD sware unto your fathers, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, to give unto them and to their seed after them. And I spake unto you at that time, saying, I am not able to bear you myself alone: The LORD your God hath multiplied you, and, behold, ye are this day as the stars of heaven for multitude. How can I myself alone bear your cumbrance, and your burden, and your strife? Take you wise men, and understanding, and known among your tribes, and I will make them rulers over you. And ye answered me, and said, The thing which thou hast spoken is good for us to do.
    So I took the chief of your tribes, wise men, and known, and made them heads over you, captains over thousands, and captains over hundreds, and captains over fifties, and captains over tens, and officers among your tribes. And I charged your judges at that time, saying, Hear the causes between your brethren, and judge righteously between every man and his brother, and the stranger that is with him. Ye shall not respect persons in judgment; but ye shall hear the small as well as the great; ye shall not be afraid of the face of man; for the judgment is God’s: and the cause that is too hard for you, bring it unto me, and I will hear it. And I commanded you at that time all the things which ye should do.

    • 1:12 – 18 (KJV)
  • Ask now of the days that are past which were before thee, since the day God created man upon earth.
    • 4.32 (KJV) as quoted in Genesis Rabbah 1Tales and Maxims from the Midrash by Rev. Samuel Rapaport, (1907), p. 57
  • You yourselves have been shown these things so you will know that Jehovah is the true God; there is no other besides him. Know, therefore, on this day, and take it to heart that Jehovah is the true God in the heavens above and on the earth beneath. There is no other.
    • 4:35, 39 (NWT)

Book of Moses

Quotations of Moses from the Book of Moses from the Pearl of Great Price of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints scriptures.
  • But now mine own eyes have beheld God; but not my natural, but my spiritual eyes, for my natural eyes could not have beheld; for I should have withered and died in his presence; but his glory was upon me; and I beheld his face, for I was transfigured before him.
    • Book of Moses 1:11

Legend of the Jews

  • God gave you the Torah and wrought marvels for you, in order, through this and through the observances of the laws which He imposed upon you, to distinguish you before all other nations on earth. Consider, however, that whereas up to this time you have been ignorant, and your ignorance served as your excuse, you now know exactly what to do and what not to do. Until now you did not know that the righteous are to be rewarded and the godless to be punished in the future world, but now you know it. But as long as you will have a feeling of shame, you will not lightly commit sins.
    • Louis Ginzberg, Moses Chosen as Intermediator, Chapter II, “The Legend of the Jews”

The Ascension of Moses

  • In the last heaven Moses saw two angels, each five hundred parasangs in height, forged out of chains of black fire and red fire, the angels Af, “Anger,” and Hemah, “Wrath,” whom God created at the beginning of the world, to execute His will. Moses was disquieted when he looked upon them, but Metatron embraced him, and said, “Moses, Moses, thou favorite of God, fear not, and be not terrified,” and Moses became calm. There was another angel in the seventh heaven, different in appearance from all the others, and of frightful mien. His height was so great, it would have taken five hundred years to cover a distance equal to it, and from the crown of his head to the soles of his feet he was studded with glaring eyes. “This one,” said Metatron, addressing Moses, “is Samael, who takes the soul away from man.” “Whither goes he now?” asked Moses, and Metatron replied, “To fetch the soul of Job the pious.” Thereupon Moses prayed to God in these words, “O may it be Thy will, my God and the God of my fathers, not to let me fall into the hands of this angel.”
    • Louis Ginzberg, The Ascension of Moses, Chapter IV, “The Legend of the Jews”

Quran

  • Moses said to him: “May I follow thee, on the footing that thou teach me something of the (Higher) Truth which thou hast been taught?” (The other) said: “Verily thou wilt not be able to have patience with me!” And how canst thou have patience about things about which thy understanding is not complete?” Moses said: “Thou wilt find me, if Allah so will, (truly) patient: nor shall I disobey thee in aught.” He said: If you would follow me, then do not question me about any thing until I myself speak to you about it.
    So they both proceeded: until, when they were in the boat, he scuttled it. Said Moses: “Hast thou scuttled it in order to drown those in it? Truly a strange thing hast thou done!” He answered: “Did I not tell thee that thou canst have no patience with me?” Moses said: “Rebuke me not for forgetting, nor grieve me by raising difficulties in my case.”
    Then they proceeded: until, when they met a young man, he slew him. Moses said: “Hast thou slain an innocent person who had slain none? Truly a foul (unheard of) thing hast thou done!” He answered: “Did I not tell thee that thou canst have no patience with me? (Moses) said: “If ever I ask thee about anything after this, keep me not in thy company: then wouldst thou have received (full) excuse from my side.”
    Then they proceeded: until, when they came to the inhabitants of a town, they asked them for food, but they refused them hospitality. They found there a wall on the point of falling down, but he set it up straight. (Moses) said: “If thou hadst wished, surely thou couldst have exacted some recompense for it!” He answered: “This is the parting between me and thee: now will I tell thee the interpretation of (those things) over which thou wast unable to hold patience. “As for the boat, it belonged to certain men in dire want: they plied on the water: I but wished to render it unserviceable, for there was after them a certain king who seized on every boat by force. “As for the youth, his parents were people of Faith, and we feared that he would grieve them by obstinate rebellion and ingratitude (to Allah and man). So we desired that their Lord would give them in exchange (a son) better in purity (of conduct) and closer in affection. As for the wall, it belonged to two youths, orphans, in the Town; there was, beneath it, a buried treasure, to which they were entitled: their father had been a righteous man: So thy Lord desired that they should attain their age of full strength and get out their treasure – a mercy (and favour) from thy Lord. I did it not of my own accord. Such is the interpretation of (those things) over which thou wast unable to hold patience.”

    • Quran, sura 18:66-18:82; as translated by Abdullah Yusuf Ali, Qur’an, the Holy Qur’an: Text, Translation and Commentary, 1939-1940.
  • And mention in the Book, Moses. Indeed, he was chosen, and he was a messenger and a prophet. And We called him from the side of the mount at [his] right and brought him near, confiding [to him]. And We gave him out of Our mercy his brother Aaron as a prophet.
    • Quran, sura 19 51-53
  • And Pharaoh’s wife said: A refreshment of the eye to me and to thee – slay him not; maybe he will be useful to us, or we may take him for a son. And they perceived not.
    • Quran sura 28 9

Quotes about Moses

  • The reason why Moses forbids eating the pelican and swan (Deuteronomy, xiv. 16, 17), classing the two among the unclean fowls, and permits eating “the bald locusts, beetles, and the grasshopper after his kind” (Leviticus xi. 22.), is a purely physiological one, and has to do with mystic symbology only in so far as the word “unclean,” like every other word, ought not to be understood literally; for it is esoteric like all the rest, and may as well mean “holy” as not. It is a very suggestive blind in connection with certain superstitions—e.g., that of the Russian people, who will not use the pigeon for food; not because it is “unclean” but because the “Holy Ghost” is credited with having appeared under the form of a dove.
    • Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, The Secret Doctrine: The Synthesis of Science, Religion, and Philosophy’,’ Volume 1, (footnotes) (1893)
  • The supreme law-giver, who received from God that remarkable code upon which the religious, moral, and social life of the nation was so securely founded… [and] one of the greatest human beings with the most decisive leap forward ever discernable in the human story.
    • Winston Churchill (November 8, 1931), “Moses”, Sunday Chronicle, National Churchill Museum, Thoughts, 205.
  • And Moses was a hundred and twenty years old when he died: his eye was not dim, nor his natural force abated. … And there has not arisen a prophet since in Israel like Moses, whom the LORD knew face to face, in all the signs and the wonders, which the LORD sent him to do in the land of Egypt to Pharaoh, and to all his servants, and to all his land, and in all that mighty hand, and in all the great terror which Moses shewed in the sight of all Israel.
    • Deuteronomy Ch. 34
  • I am firmly convinced that the passionate will for justice and truth has done more to improve man’s condition than calculating political shrewdness which in the long run only breeds general distrust. Who can doubt that Moses was a better leader of humanity than Machiavelli?
    • Albert Einstein, in “Moral Decay” (1937) in Out of My Later Years (1950)
  • Even the man Moses, the meekest of men, was wrathful sometimes.
    • George Eliot, Adam Bede, Ch. 50
  • Familiar as the voice of the mind is to each, the highest merit we ascribe to Moses, Plato and Milton is that they set at naught books and traditions, and spoke not what men, but what they thought. A man should learn to detect and watch that gleam of light which flashes across his mind from within, more than the lustre of the firmament of bards and sages.
    • Ralph Waldo Emerson in “Self-Reliance”, in Essays and English Traits (1841)
  • And she called his name Moses: and she said, Because I drew him out of the water.
    • Exodus 2:10 (KJV)
  • Who made thee a prince and a judge over us? intendest thou to kill me, as thou killedst the Egyptian?
    • Exodus 2:14 (KJV)
  • And it came to pass, when Moses came down from mount Sinai with the two tables of testimony in Moses’ hand, when he came down from the mount, that Moses wist not that the skin of his face shone while he talked with him. And when Aaron and all the children of Israel saw Moses, behold, the skin of his face shone; and they were afraid to come nigh him.
    • Exodus 34:29-30 (KJV)
  • In calling his two sons by the names of Gershom and Eliezer, Moses, like Joseph and other righteous men, intended to have the fact of God’s help constantly before him. Since his sons would be with him, and he would often address them or call them by name, he would remember his gratitude to God.
    • Exodus Rabbah 1Tales and Maxims from the Midrash by Rev. Samuel Rapaport, (1907), p. 89
  • Moses, when tending Jethro’s flock in the wilderness, proved himself a tender shepherd. He was not above carrying a little lamb, becoming footsore in its search for water, on his shoulder back to the flock. God said, ‘This tender shepherd of man’s flock shall be the shepherd of my own flock.’
  • Moses, leading Jethro’s flock into the wilderness, was typical of his leading God’s flock in the wilderness. Sheltering, feeding, and getting drink for the sheep were the forerunners of his obtaining for Israel the sheltering protection of the pillars of fire and cloud, and a supply of manna, quails, and water in the wilderness.
    • Exodus Rabbah 2Tales and Maxims from the Midrash by Rev. Samuel Rapaport, (1907), p. 91
  • By faith Moses, when he was come to years, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter; Choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God, than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season; Esteeming the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures in Egypt: for he had respect unto the recompence of the reward. By faith he forsook Egypt, not fearing the wrath of the king: for he endured, as seeing him who is invisible.
    • The Epistle to the Hebrews 11:24-27 (KJV)
  • The divine authority of Moses and the prophets was admitted, and even established, as the firmest basis of Christianity.
    • Edward Gibbon, in Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, Vol. 2 (1880) p. 78
  • Who through deserts and wanderings guided the emigrant nations. Yea, I could even believe I were speaking with Joshua or Moses.
    • Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, Hermann and Dorothea (1797)
  • Here he had studied and written; here gone through fast and vigil, and come forth half alive; here striven to pray; here borne a hundred thousand agonies! There was the Bible, in its rich old Hebrew, with Moses and the Prophets speaking to him, and God’s voice through all!
    • Nathaniel Hawthorne, The Scarlet Letter, Ch. XX
  • After the establishment of settled life in Egypt in early times, which took place, according to the mythical account, in the period of the gods and heroes, the first… to persuade the multitudes to use written laws was Mneves [Moses], a man not only great of soul but also in his life the most public-spirited of all lawgivers whose names are recorded.
    • Hecateus of Abdera as quoted by Droge, Arthur J (1989), Homer or Moses?: Early Christian Interpretations of the History of Culture, Mohr Siebeck.
  • The true God may be personated. As He was, first, by Moses, who governed the Israelites, that were not his, but God’s people, not in his own name, with hoc dicit Moses, but in God’s name, with hoc dicit Dominus.
    • Thomas Hobbes, Of Man, Being the First Part of Leviathan, Ch. XVI : Of Persons, Authors, and Things Personated
  • The shamir was the seventh of the ten marvels created in the evening twilight of the first Friday (Ab. v. 6; comp. Pes. 54a; Sifre, Deut. 355; Mek., Beshallaḥ, 5 [ed. Weiss, p. 59b; ed. Friedmann, p. 51a]), and it was followed, significantly enough, by the creation of writing, the stylus, and the two tables of stone. Its size was that of a grain of barley; it was created after the six days of creation. Nothing was sufficiently hard to withstand it; when it was placed on stones they split in the manner in which the leaves of a book open; and iron was broken by its mere presence. The shamir was wrapped for preservation in spongy balls of wool and laid in a leaden box filled with barley bran.
With the help of this stone Moses engraved the names of the twelve tribes on the breastplate of the high priest, first writing on the stones with ink and then holding the shamir over them, whereupon the writing sank into the stones.

  • Jewish EncyclopediaShamir
  • Whoever speaks of his own originality is seeking his own glory; but whoever seeks the glory of the one who sent him, this one is true and there is no unrighteousness in him. Moses gave you the Law, did he not? But not one of you obeys the Law. Why are you seeking to kill me?” The crowd answered: “You have a demon. Who is seeking to kill you?” In answer Jesus said to them: “One deed I performed, and you are all surprised.
    • Jesus, Gospel of John 7:18-21, NWT
  • What is this? Eighth and ninth book of Moses. Secret of all secrets. Seal of King David.
    • James Joyce, Ulysses, 10.844
  • Whitman, the one man breaking a way ahead. Whitman, the one pioneer. And only Whitman. No English pioneers, no French. . . The same in America. . . Whitman, like a strange, modern, American Moses.
    • D. H. Lawrence, Studies in Classic American Literature (1923) p. 179
  • Looking first to those who have become Princes by their merit, and not by their good fortune, I say that the most excellent among them were Moses, Cyrus, Romulus, Theseus, and the like … And if their actions and the particular institutions of which they were the authors be studied, they will be found not to differ from those of Moses, instructed though he was by so great a teacher.
    • Niccolo Machiavelli, The Prince, Ch. VI
  • Riley: Yo, Huey, look at this! You talk about how bad the NRA is, well check out who’s down…
    It’s that Moses guy from that movie –
Huey: First of all, Moses isn’t just a character in a movie, second, he wasn’t white, third …
I’ll check the old testament, but I’m pretty sure Moses wasn’t packin’ heat.
    • Aaron McGruder, The Boondocks, (6/12/2000).
  • However weak, foolish, and even criminal parents may be, a child ought to honour them as Moses commanded, for the injunction is, and should be, entirely unconditional.
    • Mark Rutherford (William Hale White), Catherine Furze (1893), Ch. 13
  • Let us therefore be more considerate builders, more wise in spiritual architecture, when great reformation is expected. For now the time seems come, wherein Moses the great prophet may sit in heaven rejoicing to see that memorable and glorious wish of his fulfilled, when not only our seventy elders, but all the Lord’s people are become prophets.
    • John Milton, Areopagitica
  • The next remove must be to the study of politics; to know the beginning, end, and reasons of political societies; … After this they are to dive into the ground of law and legal justice; delivered first, and with best warrant by Moses.
    • John Milton, Tractate on Education
  • I do not understand the request of Moses, ‘Show me thy glory,’ but if he were here . . . after allowing him time to drink the glories of flower, mountain, and sky, I would ask him how they compared with those of the Valley of the Nile . . . and I would inquire how he had the conscience to ask for more glory, when such oceans and atmospheres were about him.
    • John Muir, John of the Mountains : The Unpublished Journals of John Muir (1938) edited by Linnie Marsh Wolfe, p. 24
  • Moses, I believe, was too good a judge of such subjects to put his name to that account. He had been educated among The Egyptians, who were a people as well skilled in science, and particularly in astronomy, as any people of their day; and the silence and caution that Moses observes in not authenticating the account, is a good negative evidence that he neither told it nor believed it The case is, that every nation of people has been world-makers, and the Israelites had as much right to set up the trade of world-making as any of the rest; and as Moses was not an Israelite, he might not choose to contradict the tradition..
    • Thomas Paine, The Age of Reason, Part First (1793), Sect. IV
  • It is somewhat curious that the three persons whose names are the most universally recorded were of very obscure parentage. Moses was a foundling; Jesus Christ was born in a stable; and Mahomet was a mule driver.
    • Thomas Paine, The Age of Reason, Part First (1793), Ch. VII
  • It has been estimated that one third of our Western civilization bears the mark of its Jewish ancestry.
    • Huston Smith, The World’s Religions: Our Great Wisdom Traditions (1991), p. 271
  • An Egyptian priest named Moses, who possessed a portion of the country called the Lower Egypt, being dissatisfied with the established institutions there, left it and came to Judaea with a large body of people who worshipped the Divinity. He declared and taught that the Egyptians and Africans entertained erroneous sentiments, in representing the Divinity under the likeness of wild beasts and cattle of the field; that the Greeks also were in error in making images of their gods after the human form. For God [said he] may be this one thing which encompasses us all, land and sea, which we call heaven, or the universe, or the nature of things….
    By such doctrine Moses persuaded a large body of right-minded persons to accompany him to the place where Jerusalem now stands..

    • Strabo, The Geography, XVI 35, 36, Translated by H.C. Hamilton and W. Falconer, pp. 177–78,
  • A motley crowd was thus collected and abandoned in the desert. While all the other outcasts lay idly lamenting, one of them, named Moses, advised them not to look for help to gods or men, since both had deserted them, but to trust rather in themselves, and accept as divine the guidance of the first being, by whose aid they should get out of their present plight.
    • Tacitus, The Histories, Volume 2, Book V. Chapters 5, 6 p. 208.
  • Life is not hurrying
    on to a receding future, nor hankering after
    an imagined past. It is the turning
    aside like Moses to the miracle
    of the lit bush, to a brightness
    that seemed as transitory as your youth
    once, but is the eternity that awaits you.

    • R. S. Thomas, in “The Bright Field” in Laboratories of the Spirit (1975), p. 60
  • After supper she got out her book and learned me about Moses and the Bulrushers, and I was in a sweat to find out all about him; but by and by she let it out that Moses had been dead a considerable long time; so then I didn’t care no more about him because I don’t take no stock in dead people.
    • Mark Twain, Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Ch. I
  • While Moses on the top of Mount Sinai conversed with God, the rebellious people on the plain below adored the golden calf. Notwithstanding my youth, my spirit has no fears of falling into a like rebelliousness. I might commune with God in full security, if the enemy did not come to attack me in the sanctuary itself.
  • Juan Valera, Pepita Jimenez (1874), “May 7th
  • Let me tell you something that we Israelis have against Moses. He took us 40 years through the desert in order to bring us to the one spot in the Middle East that has no oil! – Golda Meir
  • It takes courage to attempt the impossible. What would we think of Moses today if when it was time to part the red sea, he had said Why don’t you guys go build a bridge? – Source Unknown
  • No one asks you to throw Mozart out of the window. Keep Mozart. Cherish him. Keep Moses too, and Buddha and Lao Tzu and Christ. Keep them in your heart. But make room for the others, the coming ones, the ones who are already scratching on the window-panes. – Henry Miller
  • Rabbi Zusya said that on the Day of Judgment, God would ask him, not why he had not been Moses, but why he had not been Zusya. – Walter Kaufmann
  • How far would Moses have gone if he had taken a poll in Egypt? – Harry S Truman
  • Lycurgus, Numa, Moses, Jesus Christ, Mohammed, all these great rogues, all these great thought-tyrants, knew how to associate the divinities they fabricated with their own boundless ambition. – Marquis De Sade
  • If Moses had gone to Harvard Law School and spent three years working on the Hill, he would have written the Ten Commandments with three exceptions and a saving clause. – Charles Morgan
  • You and I know and do not believe that life is so dear and peace so sweet as to be purchased at the price of chains and slavery. If nothing is worth dying for, when did this begin…? …Should Moses have told the children of Israel to live in slavery under the pharaohs? Should Christ have refused the cross? Should the patriots of Concord Bridge have thrown down their guns and refused to fire the shot heard ’round the world? – Ronald Reagan
  • For me chemistry represented an indefinite cloud of future potentialities which enveloped my life to come in black volutes torn by fiery flashes, like those which had hidden Mount Sinai. Like Moses, from that cloud I expected my law, the principle of order in me, around me, and in the world. I would watch the buds swell in spring, the mica glint in the granite, my own hands, and I would say to myself: I will understand this, too, I will understand everything. – Primo Levi

Leave a Reply