At the end of his long and eventful life, Moses is told by God that he may
not cross the Jordan River. He is to go up the mountain, look over the river,
and see the good land that is to be his people's land. And when he has seen it,
he is to be no more. He is to be gathered to his ancestors.
The oratorio, in seven parts and 36 numbers, tells a retrospective, a looking-back,
story of the life of Moses.
NUMBERS 27:12-13
CHORUS Go up into this mountain
And see the land
Which I have given Israel.
And when you have seen it,
You shall be gathered to your people.
DEUTERONOMY 3:23-25
MOSES: And I besought the Lord at that time,
saying, "Oh, Lord God,
You have begun to show
Thy servant thy greatness,
And thy mighty hand.
"For what God is there in heaven or in earth,
That can do according to thy works
And according to thy might?
"I pray Thee, let me go over
And see the good land,
The good land that is beyond Jordan."
EXODUS 3:1
THE ECSTATIC (story teller):
Now Moses kept the flocks of his father-in-law,
The priest of Midian.
And he led the flock to the side of the wilderness,
And came to the mountain of God.
EXODUS 3:2
THE ECSTATIC:
And the angel of the Lord
Appeared to him in a flame of fire
Out of the midst of a bush,
And he looked, and lo!
The bush burned with fire.
But the bush was not consumed.
EXODUS 3:4-6
THE ECSTATIC:
When the Lord saw
That he turned asided to see,
God called to him: Moses, Moses.
And he said, Here am I.
I am the God of your fathers,
The God of Isaac, the God of Jacob.
And Moses hid his face
For he was afriad to look at God.
EXODUS 3:11-13
MOS: Who am I,
That I should lead the sons of Israel
Out of Egypt?
CHOR: I will surely be with you.
For this shall be a token to you:
You shall serve God on this mountain.
MOS: If I come to Israel and say,
The God of your fathers
Has sent me to you?
And if they ask me, what is his name?
What should I tell them?
What should I say to them?
EXODUS 3:14-15
CHOR: Say this, I AM THAT I AM,
Say this to the people of Israel.
Say to the people of Israel, I AM.
I AM the Lord, God of Abraham and Isaac.
I AM has sent me, say I AM THAT I AM.
Say I AM, the Lord, your God.
EXODUS 4:10
MOS: Oh, my Lord, I am not eloquent,
Not now, not before, and not since
Thou hast spoken to thy servant,
For I am slow of speech and of tongue.
NUMBERS 24:5-6
CHOR: How fair are your tents,
O Jacob, O Jacob.
How fair are your tents,
O Jacob,
Your encampments, O Israel.
Like valleys that stretch afar,
Like gardens beside a river.
How fair are your tents,
O Jacob, O Jacob.
How fair are your tents,
O Jacob.
Of my people who are in Egypt.
I have come to deliver them
Out of the hand of the Egyptians.
NUMBERS 24:3-4
ECST: The oracle of Balaam,
Son of Beor.
The oracle of one whose eye is opened.
The oracle of one who hears the words of God,
Who sees the vision of the Almighty,
Falling down, but having eyes uncovered.
NUMBERS 23:21-24, 9-10
ECST: He has not behld
Misfortune in Jacob,
Nor has he seen trouble
In Israel.
The Lord their God is with them
And the shout of a king is among them.
For from the top of the mountain
I see him, from the hills,
I behold him.
Lo, a people dwelling alone,
Not reckoning itself among the nations.
Who can count the dust of Jacob?
Like a lioness it rises up,
And like a lion it lifts itself,
It does not lie down,
Till it devours the prey,
And drinks the blood of the slain.
DEUTERONOMY 2:33-35
CHOR And the Lord our God delivered him before us.
And we smote him, and his sons, and all his people.
And we took all his cities at that time.
And we utterly destroyed the men,
Utterly destroyed the women,
Utterly destroyed the little children,
We left none to remain.
And the Lord our God delivered him before us.
And we smote him, and his sons, and all his people.
EXODUS 20:3-17
CHOR Thou shalt have no other god before me.
Thou shalt not make unto thee a graven image
or any likeness of any living thing in heaven
or on earth or in the water; thou shalt not
bow down to them and serve them.
Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain.
Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy.
Honor thy father and thy mother.
Thou shalt not kill.
Thou shalt not steal.
Thou shalt not commit adultery.
Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbor.
Thou shalt not covet anything that is thy neighbor's.
DEUTERONOMY 4:6
MOS Keep therefore, and do them,
For this is your wisdom and your understanding
In the sight of the nations,
Which shall hear all these statutes and say:
DEUTERONOMY 4:6-9
CHOR Surely this great nation is
a wise and understanding people.
For what nation is there so great
Who hath God so nigh unto them as the Lord.
Teach your children,
teach this law to your children.
Teach it to your children's children.
Surely this great nation is
a wise and understanding people.
And what great nation is there
that has statutes and rules
so righteous as all this law?
Take heed to yourself and keep your soul closely.
Teach this law to your children,
Teach it to your children's children.
EXODUS 14, NUMBERS 11, EXODUS 5
CHOR The Lord look upon you and judge.
What have you done to us now?
You made of us an offense in the eye of the Pharaoh.
What shall we eat? What shall we drink?
Would we had died by the hand of the Lord
in the Land of Egypt. Would wee had died!
The Lord look upon you and judge.
What have you done to us now?
You made of us an offense in the eye of the Pharaoh.
Would we had died by the side of the fleshpots
We sat there and ate to the full. Would we had died!
The Lord look upon you and judge.
What have you done to us now?
Now our strength is gone,
There is nothing at all
But this manna.
NUMBERS 13
CHOR And the men who were the heads
Of the people of Israel
Spied out the land, and said:
There we say Nephilim.
We seemed like grasshoppers.
NUMBERS 14, 16
CHOR Would that we had died.
Would that we had died there,
In the Land of Egypt.
Or that we had died here,
Here in this wilderness.
Would we had died there, the land of Egypt,
Or would we'd died here, here in this wilderness.
Why does the Lord bring us into this desert?
Why bring us all here to fall and die by the sword?
Take us from milk and honey, land of the Pharaoh,
Kill us in the wilderness, our little ones will fall a prey.
And for this, you would exalt yourself?
You'd be a prince?
Take us from Pharaoh, the land of milk and honey
Into this desert, we'll fall and die by the sword.
Take us from milk and honey, land of the Pharaoh,
And in the wilderness all to fall a prey.
You Moses have gone too far.
Every one of the congregation is holy,
Every one of them, Moses.
Moses, you have gone too far.
Why did you bring us into this desert?
Why must we die here, here in this wilderness?
Take us from milk and honey, land of the Pharaoh,
Kill us in the wilderness, our little ones will fall a prey.
And for this you would exalt yourself, you'd be a prince.
Take us back to Egypt, Moses.
Let us go back to Egypt.
You, Moses, have gone too far.
Would that we had died.
MOS Behold I will strike
the waters that are in the Nile.
CHOR And all the waters turned into blood
All the waters which were in the Nile.
MOS Sing to the Lord.
CHOR And the frogs came up
and the frogs came over the land.
Stretch out your rod and strike dust from the earth,
that it may become lice.
Then there came a grievous swarm of flies.
Sing to the Lord.
Behold the hand of the Lord then sent a very severe plague
On all the cattle which were in the fields.
CHOR All the cattle died.
Take handsful of dust
And it shall become boils.
CHOR And the Lord sent thunder and lightning,
and great hail and fire.
MOS, CHOR How long refuse us?
How long refuse to let us go?
Thus say'th the Lord, how long?
How long refuse my people,
How long refuse to let them go?
How long refuse us?
How long refuse to let us go?
Thus say'th the Lord, how long?
I will bring locusts
Into the country,
And they will cover over,
For them no one will see the land.
MOS How long?
CHOR How long refuse us?
How long refuse to let us go?
Locusts! Locusts! Locusts!
They will cover over,
For them no one will see the land.
MOS And they will eat all that is left
CHOR After the hail.
MOS, CHOR Darkness, darkness.
Heavy darkness, darkness.
Heavy dark,
Dark that can be felt.
Darkness: it can be felt.
Darkness.
ECST: Then Pharaoh said,
Get away, go,
Never see my face again.
MOS: As you say,
I will not see your face again.
CHOR: Then did Pharaoh's daughter
Bring him up to be her son.
She called him Moses,
She called his name Moses.
She said, I drew him from the waters.
Go up, and see the good land.
I called him Moses, I drew him from the waters.
Go up. You shall be gathered to your people.
