My venerable and beloved King and Friend:
With what emotions of joy and gratitude I embraced your princely son, Remeses, I can feebly express! I give God thanks for this happiness, vouchsafed to me in my eighty-first year, of hearing from you again, and by the mouth of your son. I rejoice to hear of your welfare, and prosperous reign. The sight of the young Remeses revives all the past, and in his face I see, with delight, your features and smile. I also perceive that he possesses all your virtues, and, above all, that you have taught him the knowledge of the true God. His presence here, and his readiness to come across the desert to see me, gratifies me. It assures me that I am loved by you both! Although, my friend, I have not written to you—for, since my flight from Egypt, my life has been wholly without events—yet, from time to time, by foreign merchants who have been in Tyre, I have had news of you, and of your prosperity. Until I beheld your son, I believed that I was quite forgotten!
I shall keep Remeses with me as long as he will remain. My way of life, however, is humble. We are a pastoral people, and my occupation is that of a shepherd; for, though I am chief shepherd of the land, yet do I not disdain to lead my own flocks to feed upon the mountains,—where, as they browse, I meditate in solitude upon God, and also think upon the sad condition of my brethren in bondage in Egypt. Four kings have reigned and perished, and yet the sons of Jacob toil on, exchanging only one oppressor for another, each more cruel than the last! But the day draws near for their deliverance, O Sesostris, my friend and brother! The four hundred years of prophecy are drawing to a close! On the arrival of every caravan from Egypt I look for intelligence, that a deliverer has arisen, who, lifting the standard of the God of Abraham, shall call on Israel to rally around it, exchange their spades for spears, assert their freedom, and defy Pharaoh and his power! Who will be this hero of God? Who the favored man, to whom shall be committed the happiness and glory of leading the mighty Hebrew nation out of Egypt? Will they hear his voice? Will they acknowledge his authority? Will they have the courage to follow him? or has the yoke of Egypt, so long bound their necks down, that they have no hope nor desire to be free? Thus I meditate upon their fate, and meanwhile pray earnestly to my God to send the deliverer of my people; for the time is come when He will remember His promise to Abraham, and to our fathers!
From the painful accounts that your son Remeses gives me, the cup of their bondage is full to overflowing!—also the cup of Egypt!—for the same prophecy which foretells their deliverance after four hundred years, adds, "and the nation which they serve will I judge." Thus, O king, do I look forward to the overthrow of the power of Egypt, when God shall send His angel to deliver Israel from beneath Pharaoh's hand of iron.
What courage, wisdom, patience, meekness, faith, dignity of person, and ardent piety, must the servant of God have, who will lead Israel out of bondage! What man on earth is sufficient for this high office? What man in all Egypt, among the Hebrews, has God raised up and endowed with these attributes? Alas, I know none! They are all oppressed and broken in heart, and the spirit of manhood has died out within them! But He who wills can do! and He can arm with power the weakest instrument of His will! Let us trust in Him! for by His arm, whoever be the agent, they will be delivered.
During my exile I have re-written the book of the life of the Prince of Uz, with great care, and a larger share of the wisdom of God. At the same time I have instructed many, in Midian, in the truths of God. It has also seemed good to me, under the inspiration of the Almighty, to write, from our divine traditions, a narrative of the first acts of creation, from the beginning, when God created the heavens and the earth, down to the death of Prince Joseph. Of this book, a copy has been made by my wife Zipporah, which I will send to you by Prince Remeses for your acceptance.
With greetings of true and holy friendship, I am, O King Sesostris, thy servant and friend,
Moses the Hebrew.