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Verses 7-9

"And I will take you to me for a people, and I will be to you a God: and ye shall know that I am Jehovah your God, who bringeth you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians. And I will bring you in unto the land which I sware to give to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob; and I will give it you for a heritage: I am Jehovah. And Moses spake unto the children of Israel, but they hearkened not unto Moses for anguish of spirit, and for cruel bondage."

"Hearkened not unto Moses ..." This is not hard to understand. The Israelites were almost totally crushed and frustrated. Their burdens had increased intolerably. As far as they could see, it appeared to them that matters were merely getting worse due to the intervention of Moses.

"Anguish of spirit ... cruel bondage ..." These are bitter words indeed, the cries of the hopeless and the helpless. The Samaritan version adds a verse here, rejected in the ASV, but nevertheless in harmony with the situation: "And they said to him (Moses), Let us alone, and let us serve the Egyptians; for it is better for us to serve the Egyptians than to die in the wilderness."[31] Some believe that the Samaritan version receives some support from Exodus 14:12.[32]

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