But a voice fell from heaven, “Moses, Moses, thine hour is come!”
“My Lord,” answered Moses, “give not my soul into the hands of the Angel of Death.”
Then the Bath-kol, the heavenly voice, fell again, “Be comforted. I myself will take thy soul, and I myself will bury thee.”[[577]]
Then Moses went home, and knocked at the door. His wife Zipporah opened; and when she saw him pale and trembling, she inquired the reason.
Moses answered, “Give God the praise. My hour of death is come.”
“What! must a man who has spoken with God die like ordinary mortals?”
“He must. Even the angels Gabriel, Michael, and Israfiel must die; God alone is eternal, and dies not.”
Zipporah wept, and swooned away.
When she recovered her senses, Moses asked, “Where are my children?”
“They are put to bed, and are asleep.”