hem to defend themselves,
in case Moses should use force against them.

2. But he came near, and lifted up his hands to heaven, and cried out
with a loud voice, in order to be heard by the whole multitude, and
said, "O Lord of the creatures that are in the heaven, in the earth, and
in the sea; for thou art the most authentic witness to what I have done,
that it has all been done by thy appointment, and that it was thou that
affordedst us assistance when we attempted any thing, and showedst mercy
on the Hebrews in all their distresses; do thou come now, and hear all
that I say, for no action or thought escapes thy knowledge; so that thou
wilt not disdain to speak what is true, for my vindication, without any
regard to the ungrateful imputations of these men. As for what was done
before I was born, thou knowest best, as not learning them by report,
but seeing them, and being present with them when they were done; but
for what has been done of late, and which these men, although they know
them well enough, unjustly pretend to suspect, be thou my witness. When
I lived a private quiet life, I left those good things which, by my own
diligence, and by thy counsel, I enjoyed with Raguel my father-in-law;
and I gave myself up to this people, and underwent many miseries on
their account. I also bore great labors at first, in order to obtain
liberty for them, and now in order to their preservation; and have
always showed myself ready to assist them in every distress of theirs.
Now, therefore, since I am suspected by those very men whose being is
owing to my labors, come thou, as it is reasonable to hope thou wilt;
thou, I say, who showedst me that fire at mount Sinai, and madest me to
hear its voice, and to see the several wonders which that place afforded
thou who commandedst me to go to Egypt, and declare thy will to this
people; thou who disturbest the happy estate of the Egyptians, and
gavest us the opportunity of flying away from our under them, and madest
the dominion of Pharaoh inferior to my dominion; thou who didst make the
sea dry land for us, when we knew not whither to go, and didst overwhelm
the Egyptians with those destructive waves which had been divided for
us; thou who didst bestow upon us the security of weapons when we were
naked; thou who didst make the fountains that were corrupted to flow, so
as to be fit for drinking, and didst furnish us with water that came out
of the rocks, when we were in want of it; thou