Transcript
Moses (0:00)
This is an I Heart podcast. Guaranteed human.
Narrator (0:04)
Previously on the Chosen People. I will harden Pharaoh's heart. I will show him signs of my power through you. Wonders shall descend upon him like fiery arrows. The onlookers gasped as the clear blue green currents of the Nile began to darken. The colour shifted, deepened, turning from blue to a murky red.
Moses (0:34)
Relent, Ramses, relent.
Pharaoh (Ramses) (0:38)
Your people will feel my heel. Dig further into their throats. What my people lose in resources will be taken from Goshen.
Narrator (0:52)
Suddenly, the frogs came. Hundreds, then thousands, then tens of thousands. They surged from the water like a living tide, their croaks deafening, their bodies leaping and scrambling over each other in their mad rush to the shore.
Pharaoh (Ramses) (1:11)
Fine. I shall allow your people to go offer sacrifices in the wilderness. Just make this madness end.
Narrator (1:19)
He withdrew his promise, refusing to let the Hebrews go. Tell Aaron to stretch out his staff and strike the dust of the ground. Throughout the land of Egypt. The dust will become nurse. In one fell swoop, he struck the earth. The dust rose in great clouds, twisting and writhing in the air before transforming into into a swarm of gnats. They descended upon Egypt, covering man and beast alike. The buzzing was incessant, filling the air with an endless drone that drowned out all thought. The fields lay empty, the workers driven mad by the swarm. And even the mighty Pharaoh could find no refuge from the gnats that plagued his land.
Pharaoh (Ramses) (2:08)
I will crush him beneath the heel of Egypt. He is nothing but a dog, an insect, crawling at my feet.
Narrator (2:17)
The following day, the flies came. Dense swarms poured into Pharaoh's palace, darkening the air, their buzzing a near deafening roar.
Pharaoh (Ramses) (2:29)
Very well. I will let you go into the wilderness now. Pray for me at once. Pray for the flies to cease as.
Moses (2:42)
Soon as I leave. I shall. But how can I trust that you won't act deceitfully? How can we trust that you won't go back on your word?
Narrator (2:52)
The God of Israel would not relent. The plagues were far from over. Egypt was rotting from the inside out. The corpses of frogs, gnats and flies clogged the streets, decaying under the relentless sun. The once bountiful fields lay desolate, still reeling from the curse of blood that had turned the life giving Nile into a river of death. The stink of rot and disease hung heavy in the air like a fog that refused to lift. Pharaoh stood upon the balcony of his palace, his grip tight on the stone railing, knuckles white with rage. His eyes, sunken and bloodshot from sleepless nights, gazed out toward the land of Goshen, where the Hebrew slaves dwelt in peace, untouched by the plagues ravaging the rest of Egypt. His heart twisted with fury, for he knew this was no accident. The sound of footsteps echoed behind him, accompanied by the soft clatter of wooden staffs against the stone floor. He didn't need to turn to know who it was.