Original subtitles

(ORCHESTRAL MUSIC PLAYING)

NARRATOR: And God said, "Let there be light."

And there was light.

And from this light, God created life upon Earth.

And man was given dominion

over all things upon this earth

and the power to choose between good and evil.

But each sought to do his own will

because he knew not the light of God's law.

Man took dominion over man,

the conquered were made to serve the conqueror,

the weak were made to serve the strong,

and freedom was gone from the world.

So did the Egyptians cause the children of Israel

to serve with rigor,

and their lives were made bitter

with hard bondage.

And their cry came up unto God.

And God heard them

and cast into Egypt,

into the lowly hut of Amram and Yochabel,

the seed of a man

upon whose mind and heart would be written

God's law and God's commandments,

one man to stand alone against an empire.

Divine one,

last night, our astrologers

saw an evil star

enter into the house of Egypt.

Meaning war?

From the frontiers of Sinai and Libya

to the cataracts of the Nile,

what nation would dare draw the sword against us?

The enemy to fear is in the heart of Egypt.

What?

The Hebrew slaves in the land of Goshen.

I number my enemies by their swords,

not by their chains, high priest.

Chains have been forged into swords

before now, divine one.

Among these slaves,

there is a prophecy of a deliverer

who will lead them out of bondage.

The star proclaims his birth.

Then let the Hebrews die!

Slaves are wealth, commander.

The more slaves we have, the more bricks we make.

I would still see fewer bricks made

and fewer Hebrews in Goshen.

It is our eastern gate.

Since this deliverer is among their newborn,

only their newborn need die.

Every newborn Hebrew man-child shall die.

So let it be written.

So let it be done.

So speaks Rameses I.

WOMAN: No! No!

Oh, where can... Oh, no!

Please! Please!

No!

(WOMAN SOBBING)

(BABY CRYING)

God of Abraham,

take my child into thy hands

that he may live to thy service.

But, Mother, we have not even given him a name.

God will give him a name.

Follow it, Miriam.

Watch it from the reeds.

See where the Lord will lead him.

Yes, Mother.

(WOMEN LAUGHING)

Why didn't you say no?

She didn't think of it.

Here, throw.

WOMAN 1: You're getting fat.

WOMAN 2: Too many sesame cakes.

Catch a lotus, and you catch a wish!

What will you wish for, gold or a man?

Gold, of course. Then I can have any man.

Gold will never fill an empty heart.

MEMNET: Quiet, you chattering geese.

Oh, Memnet, you're only happy

when you're miserable.

You fools.

To talk of empty hearts

before the Pharaoh's daughter.

What is there in her heart

but the memory of a dead husband?

We meant no harm, Memnet.

Look! There's something here!

Be sure it's not a crocodile.

Bithiah can charm tears from a crocodile.

(SCREAMS)

(BABY COOING)

What is it, Bithiah? What did you find?

Only a drifting basket.

Shall we come and help you get it?

Memnet, send the girls away.

I'd rather be alone now.

Now see what you've done.

Back to the palace, all of you.

Come on. All of you. Musicians, too.

Memnet, we wouldn't hurt Bithiah.

Bithiah's tired of you, and so am I.

Off you go.

You're tired of everything.

Go on. Off you go.

Go on. Hurry up.

You've hurt her enough.

What have you found?

The answer to my prayers.

You prayed for a basket?

No.

I prayed for a son.

Your husband is in the house of the dead.

And he has asked the Nile God

to bring me this beautiful boy.

Do you know the pattern of this cloth?

If my son is covered in it,

it is a royal robe!

Royal?

It is the Levite cloth of a Hebrew slave!

This child was put upon the water

to save its life from your father's edict.

I am the Pharaoh's daughter,

and this is my son.

He shall be reared in my house

as the prince of the two lands.

My mother and her mother before her

were branded to the Pharaoh's service.

I will not see you make this son of slaves

a prince of Egypt.

You will see it, Memnet.

You will see him walk with his head among the eagles,

and you will serve him as you serve me.

Fill the ark with water.

Sink it into silence.

Oh...

Raise your hands, Memnet.

What you have buried in the Nile

shall remain buried in your heart.

Swear it.

I will be silent.

The day you break that oath

will be the last your eyes shall ever see.

You will be the glory of Egypt, my son,

mighty in words and deeds.

Kings shall bow before you.

Your name will live when the pyramids are dust.

And... because I drew you from the water,

you shall be called "Moses."

Moses!

Moses!

Moses.

CROWD: Moses! Moses!

Moses!

(PEOPLE CHEERING)

SETHI: He proclaims his coming from afar,

does he not, my son?

Such favor with the people can be dangerous, Great Sethi.

To whom, Rameses? To me or to you?

It would not be the first time

that fame has turned a prince

against his Pharaoh.

Or that envy has turned brother against brother.

Envy is for the weak.

And beauty is for the strong.

That is what you have in mind.

If you mean Nefretiri,

yes, my father.

Is it the princess' beauty that attracts you, Rameses,

or the fact that she must marry

the man I choose to follow me on the throne?

I am the son of your body.

Who else could be your heir?

The man best able to rule Egypt

will follow me.

I owe that to my fathers, not to my sons.

Then I shall follow you.

Shall you?

Do not let ambition

shave your prince's lock.

I sent Moses to destroy a city.

He returns in triumph.

I sent you to build a city.

Where is it?

It will rise when I have put fear

into the stiff-necked Hebrew slaves

who build it.

But this I know, my father...

No pretended brother

will ever have your crown...

or Nefretiri.

Indeed.

Whoever I choose shall have my crown...

and Nefretiri.

I think I see him, Memnet.

No.

Moses.

Yes! I can see him!

Moses! Moses!

(FANFARE PLAYING)

Listen, Memnet. Listen.

The trumpets tell all the world

he's come back to me.

Hear them,

and all their shouts

are drowned by the beating of my heart.

You hear, Memnet?

The whole city calls his name.

I hear them, Nefretiri.

The Lord Moses, prince of Egypt,

son of the Pharaoh's sister,

beloved of the Nile God,

commander of the southern host!

WOMAN 1: Welcome home!

MAN: Son of the Nile God!

WOMAN 2: Prince Moses!

The blessings of the god Amon-Ra be upon you, Great Prince.

He has brought down the pride of Ethiopia.

The old windbag.

I agree with him.

May your name be exalted

even as the sun is exalted in the heavens.

Welcome to my sister's son.

We have heard how you took Ibis from the Nile

to destroy the venomous serpents used against you

when you laid siege to the city of Saba.

May my arm stay strong in your service, great Sethi.

Who is this fair young god

come into the house of Pharaoh?

No need to tell you

how I share her joy at your return.

No need, my brother.

Great one, I bring you Ethiopia!

(FANFARE PLAYING)

Command them to kneel before Pharaoh.

Command what you have conquered, my brother.

I bring the Ethiopian king

and his sister in friendship,

as an ally to guard our southern gates.

My son has dealt wisely

with you, Ethiopia.

Welcome as a friend.

Great king,

I will ask but one favor of your friendship.

This green stone from our mountains...

That I may give it to your prince of Egypt,

for he is kind as well as wise.

It pleases the gods to see a man honored by his enemies.

And such a beautiful enemy.

See to their comfort.

Divine one,

here is the full count of Ethiopia's tribute.

Bearers!

(DRUMS BEATING)

I am sending down the Nile 20 full barges

of such wealth as you see here,

logs of ebony, trees of myrrh,

all for your new treasure city.

A handsome tribute indeed, Moses.

Unfortunately, I have no new treasure city.

And you will have none.

The stiff-necked slaves die more willingly

than bend their backs in your service.

Why?

They believe a deliverer has come

to lead them from their bondage.

Deliverer?

Deliverer!

He has been foretold by every falling star

since my father's time.

Now he's an excuse for your failure to build my city!

I am not one to make excuses.

If you doubt me,

let Moses build the city.

No. No.

He's just trying to keep Moses away from you, Sethi.

Or you, perhaps.

I think I'll lose the good crow more softly on another roof.

Stand before me, both of you.

Would you please your Pharaoh, Moses?

Your wish is my will.

Then you build my city.

Wise decision.

A noble task.

SETHI: Rameses.

Do you believe this slave deliverer is a myth?

What I believe is of no account.

What matters is the slaves believe in him.

Of course, of course.

Then you, too, shall go to Goshen.

Learn if this deliverer be a myth or man.

If a myth, bring him to me in a bottle.

If a man... Bring him to me in chains.

So let it be written.

So let it be done.

Your fragrance is like the wine of Babylon.

I could...

but you are the throne princess,

and by the Pharaoh's law,

you can marry only a Pharaoh.

I shall marry a Pharaoh.

You.

Rameses might not agree with that idea.

But Sethi might.

While you were gone, I kept your name on his lips,

your praises in his ears.

But now, unless you can succeed,

you'll be the prince of some desert province

I'll be Rameses' wife.

Oh, Moses,

build the city for him,

and Sethi will deny you nothing.

I will build the city for love of Sethi,

not for the throne of Egypt.

But I am Egypt.

Now the flame you lighted

burns close to the throne.

Your tongue will dig your grave, Memnet.

A conqueror already conquered?

The first face I looked for

and the last I find.

Mother.

I was thanking the gods for your safe return.

But I find you in grave danger here.

An intoxicating danger, Mother.

Marry her if you can, my son,

but never fall in love with her.

I'll be less trouble to him

than the Hebrew slaves of Goshen.

Goshen?

You've guzzled enough!

Bring those bricks up and get on!

You, there's other swine to water.

Get those bricks back on.

Here! Water lily!

My name is Lilia.

To me you are a Lily,

and I want water.

Joshua.

Joshua, I thought you'd never come down.

Water before love, my girl.

Does it take the whole Nile

to quench your thirst? (CHUCKLES)

No, just your lips.

Be careful, my love.

Dathan's eyes can see through stone.

Dathan is a vulture

feeding on the flesh of his own people.

When he looks at me, I'm afraid.

If he touches you, I'll strangle him with his own whip.

And bring death to a thousand of us?

Is life in bondage better than death?

Joshua.

We must have hope.

God will send us the deliverer.

Hope.

On the heels of every hope walks Dathan.

You are Dathan, the Hebrew overseer.

Chief Hebrew overseer, mighty one.

Baka, the master builder,

has told me that I can rely on you.

I am warmed by his favor.

Rely on you to sell your own mother for a price.

Well, who am I

to deny the word of the master builder?

Where is this would-be deliverer

who would set the Hebrews free?

Who can say, immortal prince?

They do not confide in me.

But it is possible to learn.

No doubt.

You have rats' ears and a ferret's nose.

To use in your service, son of Pharaoh.

Add to them the eyes of a weasel

and find me this deliverer.

MAN: Come on, push!

Come on, push!

Over this way a little.

Lean your backs into it!

Keep pushing!

Old woman! Old woman!

More grease under the center stone.

Pull! Pull!

You over there, pull!

Pull!

Yochabel!

Help me!

Stop the stone!

Man: Keep working!

Pull!

Keep pulling up there.

Yochabel is caught! Stop the stone!

You over there, pull!

Pull!

Bend your backs, you dogs. Pull!

Move it over there!

Pull! Pull!

Pull!

You'll kill her! Stop the stone!

We don't stop a moving block for an old woman!

Lay on the lash!

Keep it moving!

Yochabel! Stop the stone!

Stop the stone!

Keep moving there! Keep...

Hold! Hold all!

Hold on all ropes!

Hold the poles!

Hold the poles!

Down!

Water! Water!

Water! Water!

Let the old woman loose.

She'll stay there, and you'll die in the lion's pit!

Joshua!

Not to Joshua. Run to the prince and beg mercy.

Mercy from Rameses?

No, the prince Moses, there on the pavilion.

After her! After her!

Stop her!

Stop that girl!

Don't let her go! Stop her!

Stop that girl! Stop her!

LILIA: Mercy!

Prince Moses!

Mercy, Prince Moses!

Come here!

Mercy? What have you done?

Not for myself, Lord prince.

For a slave who saved Yochabel and me from death

between the granite blocks.

A delicate flower to be pressed between stone walls.

How were you saved?

A stonecutter struck the overseer.

There can be only one punishment for the stonecutter.

Blood makes poor mortar.

Come.

Prince Moses!

Get away, you.

Would you bury the old woman alive

in a tomb of rock?

My noble one, it caught.

I had not the strength to free myself.

Your shoulders should not bear a burden,

old woman.

The Lord has renewed my strength

and lightened my burdens.

He would have done better to remove them.

They use the old ones to grease the stones, Lord Prince.

If they are killed, it is no loss.

Are you a master builder or a master butcher?

If we stop for every grease woman who falls,

the city would never rise.

If the slaves are not driven, they will not work.

If their work lags,

it is because they're not fed.

You seem strong enough.

I am a stonecutter.

The pharaohs like their images cut deep.

Hold your whip!

You know it is death to strike an Egyptian?

I know it.

Yet you struck him. Why?

To save the old woman.

What is she to you?

An old woman.

Lord prince, send him to his death.

The man has courage.

You do not speak like a slave.

God made men.

Men made slaves.

Which god?

The God of Abraham. The almighty God.

If your God is almighty,

why does he leave you in bondage?

He will choose the hour of our freedom

and the man who will deliver us.

Lord prince, this man speaks treason.

It is not treason to want freedom.

Release him.

(MUTTERING)

Difficulty with the slaves, my brother?

None that could not be cured by grain

and a day of rest.

A day of rest?

When your horses tire, they're rested.

When they hunger, they're fed.

Slaves draw stone and brick.

My horses draw the next pharaoh.

Is there any grain stored here in Goshen?

None that you would dare take, my brother.

The temple granaries are full.

Bring the push-pole men

and some women with baskets.

I will... great prince.

I warn you Moses, the temple grain belongs to the gods.

What the gods can digest

will not sour in the belly of a slave.

Push-pole men!

Back where you belong!

I have the prince's orders.

One and two poles, up!

Bring a hundred women with baskets!

Elisheba, bring your basket women.

Push-poles, follow me.

Out of the way.

Break open the bins.

Out of the way.

Stand back.

Aha!

Well, well.

Divine one.

Hmm?

There!

My jackals have your hounds at bay.

Dogs at bay are dangerous.

When they walk upright

and feed on temple grain.

You've been bringing petitions

against Moses for months.

Well, the city's being built,

and I'm winning this game.

So don't interrupt us with trifles.

Before your city is finished,

these trifles will surprise you.

Life is full of surprises.

And today, I have one for you, my kitten.

Moses!

Mm-hmm.

And Rameses.

You crocodile.

There, triples! You've lost!

I'll never let you win again.

Aha. You thought that by losing to me

you would win for Moses.

Mm-hmm.

Well, you know, crowns are sometimes lost

by smiles and dimples.

And so is patience.

Yours?

Are the plans for my jubilee complete?

All but your proclamation

for the marriage of Prince Rameses to Nefretiri.

No.

Are you quite sure it will be Rameses?

Who else could be your successor?

Moses, of course.

Because of Moses, there is no wheat

in the temple granaries.

You don't look any leaner.

You're both generous with advice.

Will you take mine?

No. I will choose my own successor.

Did you lose your head, my sweet?

I sent you to Goshen

to bring me the head of the jackal

who would free the slaves.

Where is it?

The slaves do not need a deliverer now.

They have Moses.

Is that a riddle?

He gives them the priests' grain

and one day in seven to rest.

They call it "The day of Moses."

This man makes himself a god.

I prefer him as a man.

You would prefer him as Pharaoh.

Are you afraid of Moses?

Yes, because now he holds Ethiopia in his left hand,

Goshen in his right,

and you, my Pharaoh, are in-between them.

Do you imply he would raise the slaves against me?

I've been his father.

Ambition knows no father.

Moses could no more betray you

than I could, Sethi.

He can tell me that when he arrives.

He will not be here, my father.

What?

I sent for both of you.

His word is that he cannot attend you,

being pressed by other matters.

Did you hear that?

Other matters?

(GONG)

My escort.

I will ride with you, my son,

to see what rears itself in Goshen...

A city or treason.

You lying adder.

You'll destroy yourself with your own venom

if you turn Sethi against Moses.

You would turn Sethi against me.

Remember, my sweet,

you must be wife to the next pharaoh.

That you are going to be mine,

all mine, like my dog or my horse or my falcon.

Only I will love you more

and trust you less.

You will never do the things to me

you would have done to Moses.

I know you, my sweet.

You're a sharp-clawed,

treacherous little peacock.

But you're food for the gods,

and I'm going to have all of you.

None of me.

Did you think my kiss was a promise

of what you'll have?

No, my pompous one.

It was to let you know what you will not have.

I could never love you.

Does that matter?

You will be my wife.

You will come to me whenever I call you,

and I will enjoy that very much.

Whether you enjoy it or not is your own affair...

but I think you will.

That drop puts too much strain on the stone.

We need more sand.

I'm going to risk it, Baka.

There's little time till the day of jubilee.

If the stone cracks, you may crack with it.

Ready blue signal.

Blue pennant.

Blue pennant!

Snubbers, ready!

Snubbers ready.

Green pennant.

Mallet men, ready!

Mallet men, ready!

Green lines, stand by!

Mallet men ready.

You are not pleased to see me here.

I am, Great Pharaoh,

but now I have important things to do.

Red pennant, stand by.

So Rameses tells me.

Oh?

More important things than obeying my orders?

You ordered me to finish this city.

The strain on that stone is too great.

We cannot wait. Red pennant!

Red pennant!

Strike!

The stone will break.

There are 2,000 slaves on the ropes.

There is the obelisk of your jubilee.

Baka, put 1,000 slaves to removing the sand

until the stone settles to its base.

Pharaoh is pleased?

With the obelisk, yes.

But not with certain accusations made against you.

By whom?

You raided the temple granaries?

Yes.

You gave the grain to the slaves?

Yes.

You gave them one day in seven to rest.

Yes.

Did you do all this to gain their favor?

A city is built of brick, Pharaoh.

The strong make many, the starving make few.

The dead make none.

So much for accusations.

Now judge the results.

(FANFARE PLAYING)

Pylons commemorate your victory at Kadesh,

where you broke the Amorites.

Are there any higher in Egypt?

There are none higher in the world.

With so many slaves, you could build... An army.

But I have built a city.

16 of these lions of Pharaoh will guard its gates.

It shall be the city of Sethi's glory.

Hmm.

Are these slaves loyal to Sethi's glory

or to you, Moses?

The slaves worship their god,

and I serve only you.

Let your own image proclaim my loyalty for a thousand years.

Superb!

Rameses.

And this you call treason?

Who would take a throne by force

that he has earned by deeds?

For this and Ethiopia,

your name shall be carved beside mine on every pylon.

Yours, Rameses, will be nowhere,

for in my judgment book,

you have accused your brother falsely.

Come.

Great Pharaoh, he is the son of your body.

I need no help, Moses, to hold what is mine.

I decide what is yours.

Come with me, Moses.

Will you lose a throne

because Moses builds a city?

The city that he builds shall bear my name.

The woman that he loves shall bear my child.

So it shall be written.

So it shall be done.

NEFRETIRI: Yes.

This is for the temple ceremony.

This?

Oh, this...

is for my wedding night.

MEMNET: You will never wear it.

Why not?

I have brought you a cloth more revealing.

Send them away.

Go, then,

while I hear what this puckered old persimmon

has to say.

Well...

What croakings of doom have you today?

You prepare for a marriage that will never be.

You've been drinking honey wine.

I shall not let the pharaoh and Rameses be betrayed.

Why should a slave care which pharaoh rules?

For 30 years, I have been silent.

Now all the kings of Egypt

cry out to me from their tombs,

"Let no Hebrew sit upon our throne."

what are you saying?

Rameses has the blood of many kings.

And Moses?

He is lower than the dust.

Not one drop of royal blood

flows through his veins.

He is the son of Hebrew slaves.

I'll have you torn into so many pieces,

even the vultures won't find them.

Who hatched this lie, Rameses?

Rameses does not know... yet.

You will repeat this to Bithiah.

It was Bithiah who drew a slave child from the Nile,

called him son and Prince of Egypt,

blinding herself to the truth,

from the pain of an empty womb.

Were you alone with Bithiah?

A little girl led me to the Hebrew woman Yochabel,

that the child might be suckled by his true mother.

Take care, old frog.

You croak too much against Moses.

Would you mingle the blood of slaves with your own?

He will be my husband.

I shall have no other.

Then use this to wrap your firstborn.

Torn from a Levite's robe.

It was Moses' swaddling cloth.

And your shroud.

Do you think I care whose son he is?

Rameses cares.

You won't live to tell him.

Oh!

(GRUNTING)

Ohh...

(KNOCK ON DOOR)

MOSES: Nefretiri?

Nefretiri?

Have you closed your doors to make a beggar of a prince?

I'm the beggar, Moses,

begging you to hold me in your arms.

Kiss me. Just kiss me.

You're no beggar, my love.

You're a conqueror,

and I am your captive for life.

One lifetime will not be half enough.

You will be king of Egypt,

and I will be your footstool.

The man stupid enough to use you for a footstool

would not be wise enough to rule Egypt.

WOMAN: Princess!

Princess, the raven has dropped a black feather at your door!

Who...

No, Moses. Leave the world outside.

Pardon. Pardon, royal one.

The old nurse Memnet...

Go away. I don't want to hear anything.

What about Memnet?

She's dead. She must have fallen from the balcony.

I will not hear unhappy things tonight.

Go away!

Old Memnet must have walked that balcony

a thousand times.

What is the death of one slave to us?

She was a faithful servant to you.

Can one so rich in love be so poor in pity?

What kind of a woman holds me captive?

One who loves you and will not lose you.

One who will be your wife.

Nothing in the world can change that, nothing.

Neither Rameses' princely plots

nor Memnet's evil lies.

You've heard Memnet grumbling all your life.

Why should it upset you now?

Because she grumbled against you.

Oh, let her threats be buried with her.

Look. The night's a crown of stars,

and the darkness a robe of forgetfulness.

Come, love, let's share them.

We'll use the moon for a scepter.

Oh. A piece of Hebrew cloth.

Memnet may have dropped it.

Memnet was not a Hebrew.

Why would she bring this here?

I don't know.

Yes, you do. Tell me.

She was taking it to Rameses

to destroy you.

How could Rameses destroy me with a piece of cloth?

Oh, Moses, why do you question me?

Why do you care? Yes! I killed her.

What does it matter?

100 slaves die every day.

What's done is forgotten.

It is not forgotten.

What has this cloth to do with me? Tell me.

It will make no difference between us?

How could it make a difference?

A child was wrapped in it.

What child?

Bithiah took him from the river.

Memnet was with her.

Who was this child?

Memnet is dead.

No one need know who you are.

I love you. I killed for you.

I'll kill anyone that comes between us.

Why did you kill for me, Nefretiri?

If you love me, do not lie.

Who was the child?

Hold me in your arms.

Hold me close.

You were not born Prince of Egypt, Moses.

You're the son of Hebrew slaves.

You believe that?

I'll believe anything you want me to believe.

Say you are not, I believe you are not.

Love cannot drown truth, Nefretiri.

You do believe it,

or you would not have killed Memnet.

I love you.

That's the only truth I know.

Did this child of the Nile have a mother?

Memnet called her Yochabel.

I will ask Bithiah.

How could you doubt me?

You did not doubt me when I held you

as you took your first step.

It's a wicked lie spun by Rameses.

Mother, did Rameses spin this?

The word of your mother

against a piece of cloth found by Memnet?

How did you know it was Memnet?

Who else? Memnet nursed Rameses.

She shall pay for spreading his lies.

She has paid.

She's dead?

At the hand of Nefretiri.

Put away any fears or suspicions

that may remain with you, my son.

Why, your will will be law in Egypt

when you are crowned and sceptered as her king.

Memnet spoke of a Hebrew woman named Yochabel.

Did you ever know her?

No.

Yours was the face I saw above my cradle,

the only mother I've ever known.

Wherever I am led

or whatever I must do,

I will always love you.

(CLANGS)

My chariot! I will drive to Goshen!

(CHARIOT APPROACHES)

A chariot here in Goshen?

You know who I am?

It has been many years, great one.

Who are they?

All that remain of my children.

I will speak to you alone.

Why have you...

Why have you come here?

Because Moses will come here.

My son?

No! My son,

and that's all that he must know.

My lips might deny him, great one,

but my eyes never could.

You shall leave Goshen. You and your family tonight.

We are Levites, appointed shepherds of Israel.

We cannot leave our people.

Would you take from Moses

all that I have given him?

Would you undo all I have done for him?

I have put the throne of Egypt within his reach.

What can you give him in its place?

I gave him life.

I gave him love!

Did your hand dry his tears?

When he was troubled, did your heart ache for him?

Yes.

My heart ached for him,

and my arms ached to hold him,

but I dared not even touch the hem of his garment.

His heritage from me

could only have been misery, poverty,

and the lash.

No. I will not take from him

the glory and riches you have given him.

For this, you shall be well cared for.

You and your family shall leave Goshen tonight.

No matter where you send me...

if the God of Abraham has a purpose for my son,

he will come to know it and fulfill it.

Come! Gather your things!

Quickly! Quickly!

I shall see you want for nothing.

You shall be given freedom.

MOSES: Has my mother forgotten?

Only the Pharaoh can free a slave.

Moses, do not enter!

There is only sorrow here.

Are you comforting it, my mother?

I followed you here to find this woman Yochabe...

You were the woman who was caught between the stones.

Until you came.

My son, if you love me...

I love you, my mother,

but am I your son...

or yours?

No, you are not my son.

If you believe

that men and women are cattle

to be driven under the lash,

if you can bow before idols of stone

and golden images of beasts,

you are not my son.

My son would be a slave.

His hands would be gnarled

and broken from the brick pits,

his back scarred from the taskmaster's whip,

but in his heart would burn the spirit

of the living God.

Does this God demand a scarred back and broken hands

as the price of his favor?

This desert God is the hope of the hopeless.

Your place is in the palace halls.

You have mounted to the sun on golden wings.

You belong to me,

to Nefretiri, to Sethi,

to all those who love you.

Do they love less who have no hope?

Will you swear in the name of this God

that you are not my mother?

We do not even know his name.

Then look into my eyes

and tell me you are not my mother.

Oh, Moses, Moses,

I cannot. I cannot.

(SOBBING)

I am your brother Aaron.

I am Miriam, your sister.

I am your brother Moses.

No! Get ready to leave!

Hurry!

They're going away, Moses.

The secret's going with them.

No one need ever know the shame I brought upon you.

Shame?

What change is there in me?

Egyptian or Hebrew, I am still Moses.

These are the same hands, the same arms,

same face that were mine a moment ago.

A moment ago, you were her son,

the strength of Egypt.

Now you are mine, a slave of Egypt.

You find no shame in this?

If there is no shame in me,

how can I feel shame for the woman who bore me...

Or the race that bred me?

Oh, God of my fathers!

Moses, what will you do?

This is the binding tie...

and here I will stay.

Moses.

To find the meaning of what I am...

why a Hebrew...

or any man must be a slave.

Put back your things.

You are not leaving.

Moses...

has she done more for you than I?

Will the life she gave you

be more useful in the black pits of slavery?

Cannot justice and truth be served better

upon a throne,

where all men may benefit from your goodness...

and strength?

I do not know what power shapes my way,

but my feet are set upon a road

that I must follow.

Forgive me, Bithiah.

God of our fathers,

who has appointed an end to the bondage of Israel,

blessed am I among all mothers in the land,

for my eyes have beheld thy deliverer.

NARRATOR: Thou shalt not muzzle the ox

that treadeth out the corn,

making straw for the bricks of Egypt,

nor spare the arms

that endlessly winnow the grain in the wind

to separate the wheat from the chaff,

wheat borne stolidly

on the backs of countless slaves

from the heavy-laden Nile boats

to the teeming shore.

Endlessly they plod

beneath the sheaves of wheat

and endlessly return for more.

A golden harvest to the threshers,

the grain saved to feed the masters,

bitterness to feed the slaves.

And to feed the brick pits,

straw carried on the bowed backs of women.

Down into the never-ending valley

of toil and agony,

stretching mile after mile,

an inferno of mud-soaked bodies,

where the treaders' feet churn clay and straw

into the mixture for the Pharaoh's bricks,

and everywhere the lash of watchful taskmasters,

ready to sting the backs of the weary.

Blades chopping straw...

mattocks chopping clay,

a ceaseless cycle of unending drudgery.

From the mixing feet of treaders

to the pouring hands of brick molders

moves the constant stream of mud,

the lowly seed of tall cities.

Day after day, year after year,

century after century,

bondage without rest,

toil without reward.

These are the children of misery,

the afflicted,

the hopeless, the oppressed.

And he went out unto his brethren

and looked on their burdens.

Water girl.

Here. Here's water.

Keep in line!

That's a hard dance you do, old man.

We've been dancing it for 400 years...

(WHIP CRACKS) (MAN MOANS)

To grim music.

And the only deliverer that has come to us

is death.

(WHIP CRACKS)

Back to work, you gray mules.

You're strange to the pits.

Your back is unscarred.

You bring a warm smile with your cool water.

My smile is for a stonecutter.

The water is for you.

I thank you.

Your voice is not strange.

You are...

One of many who thirst.

BAKA: You there!

Come here!

That is Baka, the master builder.

Does he call me or you?

You, water girl! I'm thirsty.

He does not thirst for water.

Beauty is but a curse to our women.

Water, noble one?

No, wine.

The wine of beauty.

What beauty can my Lord find in these mud pits?

A lotus flower blooms in the Nile's gray mud.

Dathan, she will do well as a house slave.

Do not take me from my people.

There would be danger.

Danger from such lovely hands?

There are other hands

strong enough to kill.

Our mud flower has a thorn.

Oh, please, Lord Baka, I beg you.

Tears?

When you have been bathed in scented water,

when your limbs have been caressed by sweet oils

and your hair combed with sandalwood,

there will be no time for tears.

She's not worthy of your magnificence.

Let my eyes...

Your eyes had best find the deliverer, Dathan,

or you will have no eyes.

Bring the girl.

May the hand of God strike him.

Dance, you mud turtles.

Dance!

You rot our bodies, steal hope from our souls.

Must you also shame and defile our women?

Dance, you squealing goat!

We are not animals.

We are men, made in the image of God.

This will change your image.

Dance, you.

Get that straw cutter.

Leave him, or you'll be murdered with him.

I'll not leave a man to die in the mud.

Thank you, my son...

but death is better than bondage,

for my days are ended and my prayer unanswered.

What prayer, old man?

That before death closed my eyes,

I might behold the deliverer

who will lead all men to freedom.

What deliverer could break the power of Pharaoh?

You!

Clay carriers, throw this carrion to the vultures!

You! Take his place.

Now dance this straw into the mud, you dogs.

Clear a path there!

Clear a path!

Stand aside, you!

Make way!

Clear a path!

Come on, get back!

Out of the way!

Keep your eyes on the ground!

Now feel this, Hebrew.

(WHIP CRACKS)

(WOMAN LAUGHING)

I need another oarsman for my barge,

a strong slave.

Your word is our will.

The large one there.

You, come here!

No, not that one.

The very dirty one there.

Yes, that one.

He may serve my purpose.

You.

You! Out of the pit!

Out of the way!

Back to work!

Clear a path there!

Clear a path!

Stand aside, you!

Back to work!

Clear a path!

First friend of the Pharaoh,

keeper of the royal seal,

prince of on,

Prince of Memphis,

Prince of Thebes,

beloved of the Nile God,

conqueror of Ethiopia,

general of generals,

commander of the Egyptian host...

a man of mud!

Is that what you want,

to be a slave?

Then why aren't you kneeling at the feet of a princess?

I am afraid the mud pits

have stiffened my knees, royal one.

Shall I call back the guards?

Do you think they could bend them?

Oh, Moses, Moses,

you stubborn, splendid, adorable fool.

Ah!

I'm not kneeling to a princess.

No.

You're kneeling to a woman

who's been worried about you

day and night since you disappeared.

What is there in the mud of these slave pits

that could keep you from my arms?

My people.

They may be your people,

but do you have to wallow with them,

smell like them?

If they are stained, it's with the mud of slavery,

and if they reek, it's with the stench of injustice.

If you want to help your people,

come back to the palace.

And hide the truth from Sethi...

That I am Hebrew and a slave?

The truth would break his dear old heart

and send Bithiah into exile or death.

Think of us stop hearing the cries of your people.

Their god does not hear their cry.

Will Rameses hear it if he is Pharaoh?

No. He would grind them into the clay they mold,

double their labors.

What about me?

Think of me as his wife.

Do you want to see me in Rameses' arms?

No!

Then come back with me.

Oh, Moses,

the gods have fashioned you for greatness.

The splendor of your name will last beyond the pyramids.

When you are Pharaoh, you can free your people,

worship whatever gods you please...

so long as I can worship you.

I will come to you at the palace

on the day of Sethi's jubilee.

No. Come with me now.

No, my love.

First I have a call to make...

On the master builder.

No, no, no, no.

Not red with the Sammur gown.

My eyes can best be used elsewhere, Lord Baka.

Before you go,

let them look upon what you thought unworthy.

You would let beauty such as this go unseen.

You would let such a flower go ungathered.

Dathan, you can see only mud,

so pick up her muddy clothes and go.

Go, all of you!

Did you know, my dear,

that this golden web was spun from the beards of shellfish?

Please let me go to my home.

You are at home.

Here, taste this...

The blood of Thracian grapes, the wine of love.

No wine can change my love.

Then your love shall be my wine.

There's fire in the chariot house!

The chariot house!

Guards! Guards!

Take water to the roof!

Dathan, take charge!

Guards, after him.

Pull it out of the shed!

Take it clear of the house!

No. Your wings must not be singed, my dove,

at least not by that fire.

Joshua!

Run, Lilia, run! The way is clear.

The master builder will not follow.

Neither will you, stonecutter.

Bind him between the columns!

See that his arms are tightly stretched!

You'll die on your feet, stonecutter.

(WHIP CRACKS)

He'll cut him to pieces.

Now go after the girl.

Don't come back without her.

We'll find her.

You foolish, stupid man.

I would have kept her only a short while.

She would have returned to you, shall we say, more worthy.

Now to whom shall I return Lilia?

You will not be there, Joshua.

You've seen me drive my chariot.

I can flick a fly from my horse's ear

without breaking the rhythm of his stride.

You've seen me use my whip.

You make no outcry, Joshua,

but you will.

You will cry for the mercy of death.

One day you will listen to the cry of slaves.

This is not that day, Joshua.

You hold your tongue

almost as well as I hold my temper.

It's a pity to kill so strong a stonecutter.

Death will bring death, Baka.

Who are you?

One who asks what right you have to kill a slave.

The right of a master to kill any slave.

Then kill me, master butcher.

Moses!

(CRACK)

Why have you done this?

Where is the girl Lilia?

Gone.

Why are you dressed as a slave?

Why does a prince of Egypt

kill the Pharaoh's master builder

to save a Hebrew?

I am Hebrew.

God of Abraham, 400 years we have waited.

Pharaoh's soldiers won't wait so long.

The almighty has heard our cries from bondage.

You are the chosen one.

I know nothing of your God.

He knows you, Moses.

He has brought you to us.

You cannot turn your back upon us.

You will deliver us.

The finger of God points the way to you.

Where was his body found?

Buried in the sand, royal one.

This is Baka's knife.

But there was no wound on the body.

Baka was a powerful man.

It would take strong hands to break him.

The slave Joshua is a stonecutter.

Go find me this Joshua.

Joshua's strength didn't kill the master builder.

Now speaks the rat that would be my ears.

Too many ears tie a rat's tongue.

Go, all of you.

Well...

Who killed him?

I am a poor man, generous one.

What I bring is worth much.

I have paid you much,

and you have brought me nothing.

Now I bring you the world... true son of Pharaoh.

You offer me the world

when you cannot even bring me the deliverer.

Who killed Baka?

The deliverer.

Would you play at words with me?

No, Lord Prince.

And this murderer has now fled to some distant land?

No, Lord Prince.

Name him.

One who made himself a prince and judge over us.

If he knew I were here, he would kill me as he killed the Egyptian.

I will hang you myself if you tire me further.

There are those who would pay much

for what my eyes have seen.

Do you haggle like a seller of melons in the marketplace?

No, I will not haggle, great prince.

Here's your money.

But for 10 talons of fine gold,

I'll give you the wealth of Egypt.

Give me my freedom, and I'll give you the scepter.

Give me the water girl Lilia,

and I'll give you the princess of your heart's desire.

Give me this house of Baka,

and I'll give you the throne.

Give me all that I ask...

or give me leave to go.

I will give you more than leave to go.

I will send you where you belong.

I belong in your service, glorious one.

Very well.

I will bargain with you.

If what you say pleases me,

I will give you your price, all of it.

If not, I will give you

the point of this blade through your lying throat.

Agreed?

Agreed.

The deliverer...

is Moses.

Draw one more breath

to tell me why Moses or any other Egyptian

would deliver the Hebrews.

Moses is not Egyptian.

He's Hebrew, the son of slaves.

I will pay your price.

Imagine poor Nefretiri

not knowing in which bed she will sleep.

I'd be happy in either.

But where is Prince Moses?

No Moses, no jubilee.

I am told, my tiger lily,

they're wagering against me,

two golden Debens to one.

Yes. I wagered five myself.

You'll lose if Moses keeps me waiting longer.

I double the wager.

I'll watch for Moses.

You watch the dance.

While you wait to honor Moses,

I will honor Sethi's jubilee...

with a gift.

A strange gift.

You said if the deliverer were a myth,

to bring him in a bottle.

The bottle is empty.

Yes. It is empty because he is not a myth.

You have found such a man?

Yes, my Father. I found him in the midst of treachery and treason,

with the blood of your master builder on his hands.

Shall I summon him to Pharaoh's justice?

Summon him.

Bring the Hebrew in.

Bring the Hebrew in!

Why it's... Moses!

Great Pharaoh...

I stand in the shadow of your justice.

Whose work is this?

I warned you of his treason, my father.

MAN: Treason?

Judge now if I spoke truly.

The evil star foretold him as the destroyer of Egypt

and deliverer of slaves.

It is not possible.

A prince of Egypt?

He is not a prince of Egypt.

He is not the son of your sister.

He is the son of Hebrew slaves.

Hebrew slaves?

Incredible!

This can't be.

Speak...

my son.

I am the son of Amram and Yochabel,

Hebrew slaves.

(MURMURING)

My brother, it was I who deceived you,

not Moses.

He was only a child.

Leave me.

I shall not see your face again.

Moses...

Come to me.

I do not care who you are

or what you are or what they may say about you,

but I want to hear from your own lips

that you are not a traitor,

that you would not lead these people

in revolt against me.

Tell me, Moses. I will believe you.

I am not this deliverer you fear.

It would take more than a man

to lead the slaves from bondage.

It would take a god.

But if I could free them, I would.

What has turned you against me?

From the time my sister brought you to the court,

I loved you, reared you,

set you before my own son,

because I saw in you

a worth and a greatness

above other men.

No son could have more love for you than I.

Then why are you forcing me to destroy you?

What evil has done this to you?

The evil that men should turn their brothers

into beasts of burden,

to slave and suffer in dumb anguish,

to be stripped of spirit and hope and faith

only because they are of another race,

another creed.

If there is a God,

he did not mean this to be so.

What I have done, I was compelled to do.

So be it.

What I do now,

I am compelled to do.

No.

No.

Rameses...

Egypt shall be yours.

Hear what I say, Rameses.

When I cross the river of death,

you will be... Pharaoh in Egypt.

Harden yourself against subordinates.

Put no faith in a brother.

Have no friend.

Trust no woman.

I protected the helpless.

I nourished the orphan.

Great one!

But he who ate my bread and called me father

would make rebellion against me.

What manner of death

do you decree for him?

MAN: Death.

WOMAN: Death.

I cannot speak it.

Let it be as you will.

I will not live if you must die!

The feet of a Hebrew slave

is not the right place

for the next queen of Egypt.

Take him away.

Do not look upon him.

He is a traitor to the Pharaoh.

Let the name of Moses

be stricken from every book and tablet...

stricken from all pylons and obelisks,

stricken from every monument of Egypt.

Let the name of... Moses

be unheard and unspoken,

erased from the memory of men...

for all time.

No, Moses.

It is I who will possess all of her.

You think when you are in my arms,

it will be his face you see, not mine?

Yes.

Only his face.

I defeated you in life.

You shall not defeat me by your death.

The dead are not scorched

in the desert of desire.

They do not suffer from the thirst of passion

or stagger blindly

toward some mirage of lost love.

But you, Hebrew, will suffer all these things...

by living.

You will let him live.

I will not make him a martyr for you to cherish.

No phantom will come between you and me in the night.

Yes, my sweet, I will let him live.

Dead, you alone would possess him.

From where I send him there is no returning,

and you will never know

if he has found forgetfulness

within another woman's arms.

Now look upon each other for the last time.

Now look for the first time, Abiram,

upon the governor of Goshen.

Dathan, my brother,

you have the favor of the Lord.

I prefer the gratitude of the prince.

DATHAN: Nearer.

Yes, very lovely.

Not that purplish flower.

The purity of white

will cool the blush of your cheek.

(CHUCKLES)

Leave us, all of you.

Yes, you, too, my brother.

Continue your playing, but in the house.

Yes, that's better.

A flower behind a flower.

Dathan, if you fear God, let me go.

I am here, girl, because I put no trust

in a desert god and his mud-pit prophet.

I prospered because I bowed lower than my brothers

before the Egyptians.

Now the Egyptians bow low before me.

Joshua wanted you...

Baka wanted you...

But you belong to me...

A gift from Rameses to his excellency.

I will bow before you, Dathan.

I will work my hands raw for you,

but please, please, do not shame me before my Lord.

Your Lord is the governor of Goshen.

What difference to my shame?

No difference to you, my dove of Canaan,

but to a condemned slave like Joshua,

it could make the difference

between death on the spikes

and life...

in the copper mines of Sinai.

What would you do

to influence His Excellency's clemency?

Anything, Dathan.

Anything.

Joshua will always be grateful to you...

My little mud flower.

(SOBBING)

His fate is better

than the one that waits for Moses.

The slave who would be king.

Captain, the robe of state.

His Hebrew mother brought it to the prison

before she died.

I'd rather this be your armor.

You will have need of a scepter.

Give me this binding pole.

Here is your king's scepter,

and here is your kingdom,

with the scorpion, the cobra,

and the lizard for subjects.

Free them, if you will.

Leave the Hebrews to me.

Give this Prince of Israel

one day's ration of bread and water.

One day's ration?

It will take many days to cross this wilderness,

if he can cross at all.

I commend you to your Hebrew God

who has no name.

If you die, it will be by his hand,

not by mine.

Farewell, my one-time brother.

Hyah!

NARRATOR: Into the blistering wilderness of Shur,

the man who walked with kings

now walks alone.

Torn from the pinnacle of royal power,

stripped of all rank and earthly wealth,

a forsaken man without a country, without a hope,

his soul in turmoil

like the hot winds and raging sands

that lash him with the fury of a taskmaster's whip.

He is driven forward, always forward,

by a god unknown, toward a land unseen...

into the molten wilderness of sin,

where granite sentinels stand

as towers of living death to bar his way.

Each night brings the black embrace of loneliness.

In the mocking whisper of the wind,

he hears the echoing voices of the dark...

VOICES: Moses!

Moses!

Moses!

Moses!

Moses!

Moses!

His tortured mind wondering

if they call the memory of past triumphs

or wail foreboding of disasters yet to come

or whether the desert's hot breath

has melted his reason into madness.

He cannot cool the burning kiss of thirst upon his lips

nor shade the scorching fury of the sun.

All about is desolation.

He can neither bless nor curse

the power that moves him,

for he does not know from where it comes.

Learning that it can be more terrible

to live than to die,

he is driven onward

through the burning crucible of desert,

where holy men and prophets

are cleansed and purged for God's great purpose,

until at last,

at the end of human strength,

beaten into the dust from which he came,

the metal is ready for the maker's hand.

(BELL TINKLING)

And he found strength

from a fruit-laden palm tree...

and life-giving water

flowing from the well of Midian.

(SINGING)

If only sheep were men.

Unmarried men.

Can you think of nothing else?

I don't know. I've never tried.

I wish sheep could water themselves.

You needn't have painted your nails.

There isn't a man anywhere near here.

What do you see, Sephora?

What are you looking at?

A man.

A what?

A man!

A man!

Only one man?

Is he handsome?

Look at his sandals.

Egyptian.

His robe is not Egyptian.

Who cares? He's a man.

He's eaten a whole bunch of dates.

He could be dangerous.

Are you sure he's alive?

Oh, I hope so.

Do you think he's married?

Look! There's real trouble.

Amalekites!

I'll talk to them.

Talk to then? Get stones!

They'll scatter the flock!

We drew this water.

Out of the way, girl!

This is the well of Jethro, our father.

You have no right here.

Our goats don't know your father.

Jethro's mark is on the well.

They can't read, either.

Nor can we!

He is the Sheik of Midian.

Let him breed sons to guard it, not daughters.

Get your hands off her!

Drive them away!

Aah!

Let them be first

whose hands have drawn the water.

The stranger is wise

and strong.

Drive back your goats until the sheep are watered.

All right, all right.

We should draw water for you

and wash the desert dust from your feet.

Yes! Here's fresh water!

I have soapweed.

Let me first remove his sandals.

Never did a lost sheep have so many shepherds.

We have no towels.

My veil will serve.

Here. Let me pour the water.

Am I to be bathed or drowned?

I'll hold it for you.

Is it true that Egyptian girls paint their eyes?

Yes, but very few have eyes as beautiful as yours.

And who... Who is the brave one

who stood against the Amalekites?

Oh, that's Sephora. She's the oldest.

Since you have already divided

the stranger among you,

I will ask a welcome for him in our father's tent.

Our father is Jethro.

He's Sheik of Midian.

(GIGGLING)

Strength to you, stranger.

I am Moses, son of Amram and Yochabel.

Health, prosperity, life to you, Jethro of Midian.

Sephora has told me of your kindness.

Let us break bread while my daughter brings meat.

You have come far.

From Egypt.

Across the desert on foot?

He who has no name surely guided your steps.

MOSES: No name.

You Bedouins know the God of Abraham?

Abraham is the father of many nations.

We are the children of Ishmael,

his firstborn.

We are the obedient of God.

My people look to him for deliverance...

but they are still in bondage.

Tomorrow we leave for the high pastures

beneath God's Holy Mountain.

My tent would be favored if you joined us.

I am a stranger in a strange land.

I have no wealth, no skill as a shepherd,

and it is death to give sanctuary

to a runaway slave.

Slave? Death?

Not among our people.

You have wisdom.

You need nothing more.

There are seven here to teach you

the tasks of a shepherd.

Sephora is the eldest.

You can learn best from her.

Ohh.

I will dwell in this land.

Today he sleeps.

Who sleeps?

He who has no name.

Does your God live on this mountain?

Sinai is his high place, his temple.

If this god is God,

he would live on every mountain, in every valley.

He would not be

only the God of Israel or Ishmael alone,

but of all men.

It is said he created all men in his image.

Then he would dwell in every heart,

in every mind, in every soul.

I do not know about such things,

but I do know that the mountain rumbles

when God is there,

and the earth trembles,

and the cloud is red with fire.

At such a time,

has any man ever gone to see him face-to-face?

No man has ever set foot

on the forbidden slopes of Sinai.

Why do you want to see him, Moses?

To know that he is.

And if he is, to know why

he has not heard the cries of slaves in bondage.

Moses,

it would be death to look upon his face.

How many of my people have died

because he has turned away his face?

Can a man judge God?

No, Moses.

We cannot see his whole purpose.

Even Ishmael did not know

that God drove him into the desert

to be the father of a nation.

Is it not enough to know he saved you

from the Pharaoh's anger?

How do you know that?

You walk like a prince,

and you fight like a warrior.

There is word in the caravans of a great one

who was driven out of Egypt.

This is not the scepter of a prince,

but the staff of a wanderer.

Then rest from wandering.

My father has many flocks

and no son to tend them.

There would be peace of spirit for you, Moses,

in our tents beneath the Holy Mountain.

You have strong faith in this God, Sephora...

but for me, there is no peace of spirit

until I hear the word of God

from God himself.

Hurry. Hurry. We haven't much time.

How do I look?

I wish every day was a shearing festival.

I know. And men following you like sheep to be sheared.

One would be enough for me.

If he were Moses.

Never before has our wool brought so rich a payment.

Because Moses has sold all the tribes' shearing

of all the tribes in one piece at one price

to Lugal here.

His words are truth. His trading is just.

Peace be with you, sheiks of Sinai.

Why are you dressed like that?

Aren't you going to dance with us before the sheiks?

No. I'm not going to dance before the sheiks.

Here. And I'm not going to be displayed

like a caravan's wares

before Moses or any other man.

Tonight I tend the sheep.

You needn't laugh.

Moses may not choose you either.

Careful!

Moses shall no longer be a stranger.

We should give him of our flocks.

And let him choose.

I shall give him choice

of my seven daughters for wife.

Seven to choose from. Strong son!

The shadow of my wisdom has fled.

Can a man choose from among the stars of the sky?

Consider them as they dance.

Cohath, strike your bow.

A pleasant task.

Indeed.

A bride, a shawl... Choose one, not all!

One shawl, one wife, your choice for life.

Pearls of great price.

Which, Moses?

Yes, which will it be?

Make your choice, Moses.

It is a garden of many flowers, Moses.

I wish you had my years and I had your choice.

In the tent of Jethro,

there is dignity, honor,

freedom,

and beauty...

All that a man could ask of life,

but my heart is still a prisoner of the past.

I...I cannot choose now.

Strength to you, sheiks of Sinai.

May God guide your heart.

Oh, Moses!

(THUNDER)

MOSES: Tonight he is awake.

Which of my sisters did you choose?

I made no choice, Sephora.

She was very beautiful, wasn't she?

This woman of Egypt, who left her scar upon your heart.

Her skin was white as curd,

her eyes green as the cedars of Lebanon,

her lips, tamarisk honey.

Like the breast of a dove, her arms were soft

and the wine of desire was in her veins.

Yes.

She was beautiful...

As a jewel.

A jewel has brilliant fire,

but it gives no warmth.

Our hands are not so soft,

but they can serve.

Our bodies not so white,

but they are strong.

Our lips are not perfumed,

but they speak the truth.

Love is not an art to us.

It's life to us.

We are not dressed in gold and fine linen.

Strength and honor are our clothing.

Our tents are not the columned halls of Egypt,

but our children play happily before them.

We can offer you little...

but we offer all we have.

I have not little, Sephora.

I have nothing.

Nothing from some...

is more than gold from others.

You would fill the emptiness of my heart?

I could never fill all of it, Moses,

but I shall not be jealous of a memory.

(THUNDER)

May the gods bless you,

as you go to join them

in the land of the dead.

The old windbag.

What an infernal fuss.

After all, dying is only a part of living.

You won't die, old crocodile.

You'll cheat death

the way you cheat me at hounds and jackals.

I'm afraid he won't let me cheat the way you do.

You'll be Pharaoh by sunset, Rameses.

I hope you're content...

at last.

I am content to be your son.

You have restored Egypt to her greatness.

I shall make her greatness feared among nations.

No doubt, no doubt.

You can overcome anything

but your own arrogance.

Don't exhaust yourself, great one.

Dear great one.

Why not, kitten?

You are the only thing I regret leaving.

You have been my joy.

And you my only love.

Aha.

Now you're cheating.

There was another.

Yes.

I know.

I loved him, too.

With my last breath, I'll break my own law

and speak the name of...

Moses.

Moses.

The royal falcon...

has flown into the sun.

Did the little boy die in the desert, my father?

No. God brought Ishmael and Hagar into a good land.

The same god who lives on the mountain?

It may be, my son.

MIRIAM: Moses!

Moses!

Your mother's calling.

Here!

Moses, there is a man among the sheep.

You stay...

(BLOWING HORN)

You keep sounding the alarm, Gershom,

but stay here till your mother comes.

In the cleft. Behind the rock.

Your eyes are sharp as they are beautiful.

(BARKING)

Turfa!

Khataf, back!

Khataf, back!

Back, Khataf.

Come down.

Moses.

Down, Turfa.

Praise God, I have found you.

Joshua?

We thought you dead.

In the copper mines of Geber,

the living are dead.

Sephora!

Bring water!

How did you find me?

A merchant buying copper

saw you in the tent of Jethro.

Here you, too, will find peace.

Peace?

How can you find peace or want it

when Rameses builds cities

mortared with the blood of our people?

You must lead them out of Egypt!

God made a covenant with Abraham

that he would deliver the people.

Am I the hand of God?

Sephora, give him water.

Water. Bless you.

The desert sun has set fire to his mind.

His name is Joshua.

I once killed that he might live.

They told me you were condemned,

but I knew that you were chosen

to take the sword of God into your hand.

I am not the man.

I am a shepherd with flocks.

That light in the mountainside...

do you see that strange fire?

A bush that burns?

It is on fire, but the bush does not burn.

Sephora, take him.

Serve him food in our tent.

I will turn aside and see this great sight.

GOD: Moses.

Moses.

I am here.

Put off thy shoes from off thy feet,

for the place where art thou standest is holy ground.

I am the God of thy father,

the God of Abraham,

the God of Isaac,

and the God of Jacob.

Lord...

Lord, why do you not hear the cries

of their children in the bondage of Egypt?

I have surely seen the affliction of my people

which are in Egypt,

and I have heard their cry

by reason of their taskmasters,

for I know their sorrows.

Therefore, I will send thee, Moses, unto Pharaoh,

that thou mayest bring my people out of Egypt.

Who am I, Lord,

that you should send me?

How can I lead this people out of bondage?

What words can I speak that they will heed?

I will teach thee what thou wilt say.

When thou hast brought forth the people,

they shall serve me upon this mountain.

I will put my laws into their hearts,

and in their minds will I write them.

Now, therefore, go,

and I will be with thee.

But if I say to your children

that the God of their fathers has sent me,

they will ask, "What is his name?"

And how shall I answer them?

I am that I am.

Thou shalt say,

"I am" has sent me unto you.

Is the Holy Mountain forbidden to men?

Yes. And I am afraid for him.

Then he is more than man,

for look.

Look at his face.

He has seen God.

Moses...

your hair,

your sandals.

I stood upon holy ground.

Can you tell us, Moses?

My eyes could not look upon him.

Did he speak?

He revealed his word to my mind,

and the word was God.

Did he speak as a man?

He is not flesh, but spirit,

the light of eternal mind.

And I know that his light is in every man.

Did he ask something of you?

That I go to Egypt.

You are God's messenger.

He has set the day of deliverance.

I will get water and bread

that we may leave at once.

But Egypt holds death for you.

If it be his will.

Where he sends you, I shall go.

Your God is my God.

I will lead men against the armory at Migdol

and get swords for the people.

It is not by the sword that he will deliver his people,

but by the staff of a shepherd.

(ORCHESTRAL MUSIC PLAYING)

NARRATOR: And the Lord said unto Moses,

"Go. Return into Egypt."

And Moses took his wife and his son,

and he returned to the land of Egypt.

And Moses took the rod of God in his hand.

Let the ambassador from Priam,

King of Troy,

approach the Pharaoh.

Great Pharaoh,

the gift of Troy is a fabulous fabric

from the Land of the Five Rivers.

PEOPLE: Ohh.

Our thanks to Priam.

It is fabulous, indeed.

It shimmers like the Nile. What is it?

How is it made?

No one knows, Great Pharaoh.

It is spun on the looms of the gods.

They call it silk.

The ambassador from Jericho.

What kingdom has sent you?

The kingdom of the most high.

These must be ambassadors from Midian.

Ah, Bedouins?

What gifts do you bring?

We bring you the word of God.

What is this word?

Thus saith the Lord God of Israel,

"Let my people go!"

The slaves are mine.

Their lives are mine.

All that they own is mine.

I do not know your God,

nor will I let Israel go.

Who are you to make their lives bitter in hard bondage?

Man shall be ruled by law,

not by the will of other men.

What a fool.

Who is this God,

that I should let your people go?

Aaron...

cast down my staff before pharaoh

that he may see the power of God.

In this you shall know that the Lord is God.

(GASPS)

Mother! Mommy!

He turned his staff into a cobra!

Nothing of his will harm you, my son.

The power of your God

is a cheap magician's trick.

Jannes.

Mother, look!

Jannes, do you see?

Moses' serpent swallows up the others.

You gave me this staff

to rule over scorpions and serpents,

but God made it a rod to rule over kings.

Hear his word, Rameses, and obey.

Obey?

Moses, Moses.

Are there no magicians in Egypt

that you come back to make serpents out of sticks

or cause rabbits to appear?

I will give your staff

a greater wonder to perform.

Bear it before your idle people

and bid them make bricks without straw.

How can people make bricks without straw?

Let his staff provide them with it.

Or let them glean straw in the fields for themselves.

But their tally of bricks shall not diminish.

So let it be written.

So let it be done.

Moses!

We are free!

Our deliverer!

Bless you, Moses!

All of us are free!

Aaron!

Aaron, when do we leave Egypt?

We do not leave Egypt.

But Moses promised us!

Why? Why? How can this be?

You said we would be free.

I have brought more evil upon you.

God forgive my weak use of his strength.

Weak use?

Moses, what have you done to us?

It is pharaoh's order

that you be given no straw

to make your tally of bricks.

No straw? Impossible!

He doubles our burden!

How can we make bricks without straw?

You will glean the stubble of the fields by night.

And your women and children, too.

Is this the deliverer?

You've brought the wrath of Pharaoh upon us.

You gave them a sword to kill us!

Stone him!

Stone him!

Ready spears!

Stand aside.

File, march!

Come.

Follow.

Stand aside. Make way!

They're taking him.

There goes your deliverer.

Now, go find your straw.

Remember, the tally must be the same,

not one brick less.

I cursed you

each time Rameses took me in his arms.

I cursed you, not him,

because I love you.

The Moses who loved you was another man.

No, he was not.

You believe you've changed,

but you haven't.

You call yourself a prophet,

a man of God,

but I know better.

I don't believe

that only the thunder of a mountain

stirs your heart as you stir mine.

Nefretiri, I have stood

in the burning light of God's own presence.

It was not he who saved you just now.

I did that.

Oh, Moses, Moses.

Why, of all men, did I fall in love

with the prince of fools?

But I believe anything you tell me

when I'm in your arms.

Why must you deny me and yourself?

Because I am bound to a God

and to a people and to a shepherd girl.

A shepherd girl.

What can she be to you?

Unless the desert sun has dulled your senses.

Does she...

grate garlic on her skin?

Or is it soft...

as mine?

Are her lips chafed and dry as the desert sand,

or are they moist and red

like a pomegranate?

Is it the fragrance of myrrh

that scents her hair,

or is it the odor of sheep?

There is a beauty beyond the senses, Nefretiri,

beauty like the quiet

of green valleys and still waters,

beauty of the spirit

that you cannot understand.

Perhaps not.

But beauty of the spirit will not free your people.

You will come to me,

or they will never leave Egypt.

The fate of Israel

is not in your hands, Nefretiri.

Oh, isn't it?

Who else can soften Pharaoh's heart...

or harden it?

Yes.

You may be the lovely dust

through which God will work his purpose.

Fill every jar in your house with water.

Tell the others that for seven days,

there will be none to drink.

This well never runs dry.

The river's high. What does it mean?

Whose word is that?

One who knows.

So fill your jars or go thirsty.

Miriam is always right.

Yes. I'm going back for more jars.

No water for seven days!

Yes, Joshua,

she comes to the well every day.

Wait, and you will see her.

It is wise of Dathan

to send you to the well, Lilia,

or he might find his water poisoned.

They told me you were dead.

To all I loved, Joshua, I am dead.

Dathan?

Yes. Dathan.

Of your own free will?

Of my own free will.

You are no man's slave.

The hour of deliverance has come.

Not for me, Joshua.

Hail to thee, great God of the Nile!

Thy life-giving waters are the blood of Egypt.

Hail to thee, maker of barley,

breeder of cattle,

carrier of ships,

praised of all the gods!

Pharaoh of Egypt,

you have not yet obeyed the Lord.

Let my people go.

The point of a sword shall...

Let him rave on

that men shall know him mad.

Obey the Lord,

or he will raise his hand against the river's waters.

I have come to bless the waters.

You have come to curse them.

We will learn if a God of shepherds

is stronger than the gods of Pharaoh.

Water of life, give drink to the desert

and make green the meadow.

Aaron.

Stretch out my staff against the waters.

Look!

There, where he struck the river, it bleeds!

The water turns to blood!

(WOMAN SCREAMS)

Blood flows from the God!

See how it spreads.

It is blood!

That you may know the power of the Lord,

for seven days, Egypt will thirst.

Seven days without water.

Fill every jug and jar!

Pestilence will be everywhere!

Were it seven times seven days,

no magician's trick

will set your people free.

Sacred water, make pure the flood

from which you came.

NARRATOR: And God smote the land

with all manner of plagues,

but still Pharaoh's heart was hardened.

(CRIES AND SHOUTS)

Great one, you hear the cry of Egypt.

They would cry louder

if they had to make the bricks.

Send them away.

The people have been plagued by thirst,

by frogs, by lice, by flies, by sickness, by boils.

They can endure no more.

Why do you bring this worker of evil before me?

The people desert the temples.

They turn from the gods.

What gods?

You prophets and priests made the gods

that you may prey upon the fears of men.

When the Nile ran red, I, too, was afraid,

until word came of a mountain beyond the cataracts

which spewed red mud and poisoned the water.

Was it the staff I gave you that caused all this?

Did your God cause fish to die

and frogs to leave the waters?

What is it a miracle that flies and lice

should bloat upon their carrion

and spread disease in both man and beast?

These things were ordered by themselves,

not by any god.

Now, go.

That you may know these things are done of God...

you shall see hail fall from a clear sky

and burn as fire upon the ground,

you shall see darkness cover Egypt

when the sun climbs high to noon,

and you shall know that God is God

and bow down to his will.

Nothing of this earth

can make me bow to you, Moses.

Behold, the hail comes.

When darkness has covered Egypt for three days,

your ministers will send for me.

(THUNDER)

For the three days of darkness,

you have whined like frightened children

in the night.

Moses said the sun would shine in three days,

and it is true.

O great one, let his people go,

or all of Egypt will be barren...

From the cataracts to the sea.

Will my father free the slaves?

Can taxes be collected

from dead cattle and blighted harvests?

Does fear rule Egypt...

Or do I?

We fear no army of the earth,

but can we fight plagues with swords?

There is no shame in this.

Even the strongest tree bends.

It is not Pharaoh who yields to the slave,

but his counselors.

I have summoned Moses at your request.

People will bless you, great one.

No other choice.

Does the world bow to an empty throne?

Empty?

Does a Pharaoh harden his heart against his son?

If you let the Hebrews go,

who will build his cities?

You told Moses to make bricks without straw.

Now he tells you

to make cities without bricks.

Who is the slave, and who is the Pharaoh?

Do you hear laughter, Rameses?

Yes.

The laughter of kings.

In Babylon,

in Canaan,

in Troy...

as Egypt surrenders to the God of slaves.

Bring the Hebrew in.

Go into the garden.

It's not good for a son of Pharaoh

to see his father humbled

by a son of slaves.

My son,

stand beside me.

Have the days of darkness

made you see the light, Rameses?

Will you now free my people?

Great one, bid the scribe read the order.

Give me the writing.

Pharaoh, you cannot resist the power of his God.

I know not his God.

Neither will I let his people go.

Egypt will die.

How long will you refuse

to humble yourself before God?

If you bring another plague upon us,

it is not your god but I will turn the Nile red with blood.

As your father's father

turned the streets of Goshen red

with the blood of our male children.

If there is one more plague on Egypt,

it is by your word that God will bring it.

And there shall be so great a cry throughout the land

that you will surely let the people go.

Come to me no more, Moses,

for on the day you see my face again,

you will surely die.

So let it be written.

I will give this spawn of slaves and his God

an answer the world will not forget.

Commander of the host,

call in the chariots from Tanis.

There shall be one more plague,

only it will come upon the slaves of Goshen.

The firstborn of each house shall die,

beginning with the son of Moses.

(CHARIOT APPROACHES)

You're the shepherd girl that Moses married.

The queen of Egypt is beautiful,

as he told me.

My husband is not here.

Is this Moses' son?

Yes, this is our son.

What do you want of us?

You need have no fear of me.

I feared only his memory of you.

You have been able to erase it.

He has forgotten both of us.

You lost him

when he went to seek his God.

I lost him when he found his God.

At least he left you a son to cherish.

I am here to save his son.

From what?

From Pharaoh's decree

that the firstborn of Israel must die.

Die?

God of Abraham...

don't let him do this.

Not to the children.

A caravan for Midian is waiting for you and your son.

My chariot will bring you to it.

I'm surprised you noticed me.

You didn't at the palace this morning.

Why?

Were you afraid to look at me?

What do you want, Nefretiri?

You, Moses.

Everything about us is coming to an end.

You will destroy Egypt,

or Egypt will destroy you.

I belong to you, Moses.

She's gone with your son to Midian.

Why would she leave?

She knew you would try to save the other children

before your own son.

Save the other children? From what?

Rameses is massing the Libyan axmen,

the chariots, the Sardinian swordsmen.

Why? Tell me why!

To destroy the firstborn of Israel.

Oh, God!

My God!

Out of his own mouth comes thy judgment.

But I have saved your son.

It is not my son who will die.

It is the firstborn of Egypt.

It is your son, Nefretiri.

No. You would not dare strike Pharaoh's son!

In the hardness of his heart,

Pharaoh has mocked God

and brings death to his own son.

But it is my son, Moses.

You would not harm my son.

By myself, I am nothing.

The power of God uses me to work his will.

You would not let him do this to me.

I saved your son.

I cannot save yours.

Your God listens to you, Moses.

About midnight,

the destroyer will come into the midst of Egypt,

and all the firstborn shall die,

from the firstborn of Pharaoh

to the firstborn of his servants.

When you were prince of Egypt,

you held me in your arms.

When you were a condemned slave,

I threw myself at your feet

before the court of Pharaoh,

because I loved you, Moses.

It is the Lord who executes judgment, Nefretiri.

Go back to your son.

Your love for me is stronger

than the power of any God.

You will not kill my son.

Turn from thy fierce wrath, O Lord!

♪ Death cometh to me

♪ To set me free

♪ Death cometh to me ♪

No, Lilia. Death will not come to you.

Joshua.

Joshua, you risk your life in coming here.

You are firstborn.

So are you.

I bring lamb's blood

to mark the doorposts... And lintel...

that the angel of death may pass you by.

Joshua, it is enough

that you have come to me.

I am outcast among our people.

Don't save me from death, Joshua.

Save me from life.

Tomorrow will bring a new world for us.

There will be no new world

and no blood on this door.

Dathan, it will save her life.

Moses has God's promise.

Moses has words. Pharaoh has spears.

Remember, Joshua, of her own free will, she's mine.

♪ And under his wings Shalt thou trust ♪

(SCREAMS)

Though we stand in the shadow of death,

the Lord is our God. The Lord is one.

The Lord is our God. The Lord is one.

♪ His truth shall be Thy shield and buckler ♪

Shield us through this night of terror,

O king of the universe.

(SCREAMING)

Why is everyone afraid?

Why is this night different from all others?

Because this night the Lord our God

will deliver us from the bondage of Egypt.

♪ Thou shalt not be afraid For the terror by night ♪

(KNOCK ON DOOR)

Stand all!

Pharaoh's soldiers.

Or worse.

(KNOCK ON DOOR)

♪ Look for the arrow That flyeth by day ♪

Bithiah.

In fear of your God, they have set me free.

May a stranger enter?

There are no strangers

among those who seek God's mercy.

My bearers?

All who thirst for freedom may come with us.

The darkness of death

will pass over us tonight,

and tomorrow the light of freedom

will shine upon us

as we go forth from Egypt.

I shall go with you, Moses.

A princess of Egypt?

The house of Pharaoh.

She follows the gods of Egypt.

An idol worshiper!

This woman drew me from the Nile

and set my feet upon the path of knowledge.

Mered, bring a chair to our table

for the daughter of Pharaoh.

There is a great light that shines from your face, Moses.

Perhaps someday I shall come to understand it.

He is God's messenger, princess.

(SCREAMING)

Stay back.

Don't come out.

(CRYING)

If it is not forbidden

to look upon the breath of pestilence,

then see, for it is here.

Do not look, Eleazar.

Close the door, Joshua,

and let death pass.

♪ Nor for the pestilence That walketh in darkness ♪

Will it pass, Moses?

Will it pass?

That is God's promise, Elisheba.

(CRYING)

Blessed art thou, O Lord, our God,

who bringeth forth bread from the earth.

Oh, no! It's coming through the door!

Close up the cracks!

Keep it out!

Save yourselves! Run! Run!

There shall no evil befall you,

nor any plagues come near you.

♪ A thousand shall fall At thy side ♪

Why do we eat unleavened bread and bitter herbs?

The herbs...

Faster! Faster!

Take the other road!

No! No, turn back!

(CRASH)

Aah!

The herbs remind us of the bitterness

of our captivity, Eleazar.

♪ But it shall not Come nigh thee... ♪

This is the bread of haste,

that you will remember this night

from generation to generation forever.

Hold the baby high!

Keep him above it!

They are my people.

All are God's people.

Death is all around us!

But it passes those

who have believed the Lord.

Always remember, Eleazar,

he passed over your house.

(SCREAMING)

Are the captains of Egypt afraid of a night mist?

The death cry is everywhere.

Some devil's curse! Look!

(SCREAMS)

I've known battle for 30 years, Pharaoh,

but I've not known fear till tonight.

Aide.

Have the captains join their men.

At the coming of dawn, we will strike.

No firstborn Hebrew shall live.

(THUD)

Let the Hebrews go, great one,

or we are all dead men.

He was your son?

My firstborn.

There is no magic cure,

no spell to use.

He is the firstborn of Pharaoh.

We have no skill before this... pestilence.

My father.

My son.

Your own curse is on him.

Where did you hear this?

From Moses.

I would not let his people go

because your serpent's tongue hardened my heart.

You only thought to keep Moses here.

You cared nothing for my throne...

or my son.

I asked Moses for his life.

The shadow of death is on his face.

No.

He will not die.

Captain.

Take my fastest chariot.

Bring Moses to me.

I will bring him, mighty Pharaoh.

He is my only son.

You have conquered, Moses.

The foot of a slave is on the neck of Egypt.

You were saved from the Nile

to be a curse upon me.

Your shadow fell between me and my father,

between me and my fame...

between me and my queen.

Your shadow now fills all things with death.

Go out from among us,

you and your people.

I set you free.

It is not by your word nor by my hand

that we are free, Pharaoh.

The power of God has freed us.

Enough of your words.

Take your people, your cattle,

your God, and your pestilence.

Take what spoils from Egypt you will, but go!

O, Lord God...

with a strong hand,

thou dost bring us out of bitter bondage.

Tomorrow we go forth a free nation,

where every man shall reap what he has sown

and bow no knee except in prayer.

We will go with our young and with our old,

with our sons and with our daughters.

With our flocks and with our herds will we go,

for I know that the Lord is great

and that our Lord is above all gods.

He's dead.

Sokar...

great Lord of the lower world,

I who have denied the gods of Egypt...

bow before you now.

Show that you have power above the God of Moses.

Restore the life he has taken from my son.

Guide back his soul across the lake of death

into the place of living men,

and I will raise a temple to you

mightier than the pyramids.

Hear me, dread Lord of darkness.

(BLOWING HORN)

(BLOWING HORN)

Arise, O Israel!

Behold the dawn of freedom!

(BLOWING HORN)

(SHEEP BLEATING)

NARRATOR: And it came to pass...

After the stifling night of terror

came a day such as the world had never seen.

From east and west, from north and south,

they came with all they had,

driving their flocks and their herds

and their camels before them.

By tens, by hundreds, by thousands,

unending streams of man and beast and burden

and even very much cattle

poured into the avenue of sphinxes.

Beneath the stone feet

of the four colossal images of Rameses,

which their own sweat and blood and sinew

had hewn from solid rock,

a nation arose,

and freedom was born into the world.

BOY: Grandfather, have you got Rebecca?

No, I haven't got Rebecca.

MAN: Here's the kneading trough.

Sling it on your shoulders.

This is a blessed day.

Where's Rebecca?

Here is Rebecca.

Ben Caleb.

Yes?

Can we take the cattle?

Moving to the gates, horn and hoof.

Rachel, help me with this yoke.

Benjamin, don't forget the oil for the lamps.

You're carrying your own load now.

Where are we going, Naomi?

Some land flowing with milk and honey.

I never tasted honey. Anybody know the way?

It's away from the whip.

Freedom won't wet your throats in the desert.

Fill your water skins.

(KNOCKING AT DOOR)

This is the governor's house. You cannot enter.

Out! Out, all of you!

Why do soldiers come here?

I put no blood on my door.

Then stone bleeds.

Your stonecutter did this to me.

All your gold cannot wipe that mark

from your door, Dathan,

or from my heart.

Just for that, you'll walk all the way to...

Where are we going?

Do you know where we're going?

To hell, I hope!

NARRATOR: Like Dathan,

they did not know where they were going,

and they cared no more

than the flocks and herds they drove.

Now they used the brick yokes

to carry a very different burden.

And there went forth among them

planters of vineyards and sowers of seeds,

each hoping to sit under his own vine and fig tree.

Out of this glorious chaos,

it is Joshua who brings order and purpose.

Set the standard of each tribe

before all the people.

Levites in the center.

Judah to the right. Ephraim to the left. Go!

Look where you're going!

Watch out, you ribbon carrier!

Keep out of my geese!

♪ His son Joseph

♪ Many colors Was his coat

♪ Born... ♪

Aaron and the elders carry a shrouded body, Grandfather.

They bear Joseph's bones to rest in his own land.

Nubians, grandfather.

(DRUMS BEATING)

Here come treasure wagons!

The spoils of Egypt.

All who shared the toil will share this gold.

Here, boy...

For the blind one.

It's a little golden calf, grandfather...

With horns.

An idol... for idol worshipers.

Grandpa, fire bearers.

Plant your fires at night

beside the tribal standards,

where all may come to light their torches.

They'll be burning, Joshua!

Eleazar, hang this on the wagon.

Now the cradle.

Here, Miriam. Here, Miriam.

Joshua!

Joshua!

Where shall we place the wagons

for the midwives and physicians?

5,000 cubits, One...

Where's your whip, Dathan?

I'll pay you back every lash you gave me, Dathan!

Two for one!

Is this a day for us to have hard feelings?

I felt your whip!

Yes, every day!

Lilia is no slave, Dathan.

You can carry your own carcass.

Let her ride.

So now, my brother, we have new taskmasters.

We serve no masters now.

Yes, but not for long.

Here, old woman.

That's it.

Joshua!

Make way for the governor!

You know who I am.

I know who you were, Lord governor.

I go to serve the Pharaoh.

Tell Rameses I'm coming back to my house.

That rabble may follow Moses

into the desert today,

but when their eyes are seared red by the sun,

when their cracked lips bleed with thirst,

when their stomachs cramp with hunger,

they will curse the name of Moses and his God,

then I, Dathan, will lead them back to Pharaoh

and the brick pits.

There are so many.

So many.

How shall I find thy road

through the wilderness, Lord?

How shall I find water in the desert

for this multitude?

Moses, the people are assembled.

Then let us go forth to the mountain of God,

that he may write his commandments in our minds

and upon our hearts forever.

We march, praising his mighty name.

What is the word, Joshua?

The word is given.

Let the trumpets sound!

Hear, O Israel!

Remember this day

when the strong hand of the Lord

leads you out of bondage.

ALL: The Lord is our God!

The Lord is our God!

The Lord is one!

Push! Push!

Yes, you pull!

Joshua!

400 years in bondage, and today he won't move!

Come along.

♪ The Lord is one

♪ Praise to God

♪ Thank thee, O Lord ♪

My litter can carry him.

I am poured out like water,

my strength dried up into the dust of death.

We shall plant your fig tree in the new land.

Children shall eat of its fruit.

(BABY CRYING)

Do you hear that? Do you hear that?

You have a strong new son.

NARRATOR: And he brought forth the people

with joy and gladness.

He bore them out of Egypt

as an eagle bears its young upon its wings.

But again, Pharaoh's heart was hardened.

How many more days and nights will you pray?

Does he hear you?

Dread Lord of darkness,

are you not greater than the God of Moses?

I have raised my voice to you,

yet life has not come to the body of my son.

Hear me!

He cannot hear you.

He's nothing but a piece of stone

with the head of a bird.

He will hear me.

I am Egypt.

Egypt?

You are nothing.

You let Moses kill my son.

No God can bring him back.

What have you done to Moses?

How did he die?

Did he cry for mercy when you tortured him?

Bring me to his body.

I want to see it, Rameses.

I want to see it.

This is my son.

He would have been Pharaoh.

He would have ruled the world.

Who mourns him now?

Not even you.

All you can think of is Moses.

You will not see his body.

I drove him out of Egypt.

I cannot fight the power of his God.

His God?

The priests say that Pharaoh is a God,

but you are not a God.

You are even less than a man.

Listen to me, Rameses.

You thought I was evil when I went to Moses,

and you were right.

Shall I tell you what happened, Rameses?

He spurned me like a strumpet in the street.

I, Nefretiri, Queen of Egypt.

All that you wanted from me

he would not even take.

Do you hear laughter, Pharaoh?

Not the laughter of kings,

but the laughter of slaves on the desert.

Laughter?

Laughter?

(GONGS)

My son, I shall build your tomb

upon their crushed bodies.

If any escape me,

their seed shall be scattered and accursed forever.

My armor. The war crown.

Laughter.

I will turn the laughter of these slaves

into wails of torment.

They shall remember the name of Moses,

only that he died under my chariot wheels.

Kill him with your own hands.

Let the trumpet sound.

Alert the watchtowers.

Assemble all the chariots at the city gate.

I obey.

Nura and Thebes will draw my chariot.

I will bring you back your temple treasure.

Bring it back to me...

Stained with his blood.

I will...

To mingle with your own.

Whoa.

Pharaoh!

Nura! Thebes!

Guards, salute!

ALL: Hail, Pharaoh!

Hail, Pharaoh!

Remember your firstborn.

Death to the slaves!

ALL: Death to the slaves!

Death to their God!

Death to their God!

Hail, Pharaoh!

Forward!

(RUMBLING)

Do you hear thunder...

over the sea?

No. It comes from the desert.

That's the thunder of horses.

Look!

Pharaoh's chariots!

We're trapped against the sea!

Caleb, warn the north tents.

(BLOWING HORN)

Joshua.

That's Joshua's horn.

All men to the pass!

Get carts, wagons! Form a barrier!

What's the alarm, Joshua?

Pharaoh's chariots.

Block the pass with carts.

Women and children, to the sea.

Bring shovels, pounders, mattocks!

Hear me! Hear me!

Can mattocks stop arrows?

Will your little carts stop Pharaoh's chariots?

Women, do you want to see your men killed?

Moses! Pharaoh's chariots!

I've ordered men to block the pass.

How can we fight chariots?

Nothing can stop them.

Order the men to move back, Joshua.

Move back? Where, into the sea?

Into the hand of God.

Deliverer?

Yes, he has delivered you to death!

Run! Run!

Look!

Look!

Blame Moses for this!

Deliver him to peril!

Stone him! Yes! Stone him!

The god of Moses is a poor general

to leave him no retreat.

Ten times you have seen

the miracles of the Lord,

and still you have no faith.

He's a false prophet who delivers you to death!

Stone him! Stone him!

Listen to Moses! He speaks God's will!

They will stop for me.

A charging chariot knows no rank.

Was it because there were no graves in Egypt

that you took us to die in the wilderness?

Fear not!

Stand still

and see the salvation of the Lord.

A pillar of fire!

It is the breath of God!

(NEIGHING)

Through it!

No, great one.

You cannot breach the fire of God.

Gather your families and your flocks.

We must go with all speed.

Go where, to drown in the sea?

How long will the fire hold Pharaoh back?

After this day,

you shall see his chariots no more.

No! You'll be dead under them!

The Lord of hosts will do battle for us.

Behold his mighty hand.

The wind opens the sea!

God opens the sea with the blast of his nostrils.

Lead them through the midst of the waters.

His will be done.

He opens the waters before them.

He bars our way with fire.

Let us go from this place.

Men cannot fight against a God.

Better to die battling a God

than live in shame.

Praise God and down into it!

God has delivered us from the sword of Pharaoh.

♪ Jacob cherished His son Joseph

♪ Many colors Was his coat ♪

Etam, help us!

Never mind the wheel.

Pull!

Pull for your lives!

Is your life worth so much?

♪ Jacob cherished His son Joseph

♪ Many colors Was his coat

♪ God of Abraham

♪ Isaac, Jacob

♪ Ever bless us With thy hand ♪

Get tow lines on the midwife's cart!

Abandon it!

Save the bread if you can.

Ben Caleb, order all wagons to turn clear.

Moses, stand on the rock

where the people can see you and have hope...

Above us!

Help that wagon!

The fire dies.

Sound the pursuit.

Ho!

This is work for a butcher,

not a Pharaoh.

Destroy them all,

but bring Moses to me alive.

Level spears!

Forward!

Here, take him.

Wait for me! Wait for me!

Grandfather, look! The horses are coming!

The chariots!

Aah! Run! Run! Run for your lives!

Better to serve the Egyptians than to die here.

Who shall withstand the power of God?

Thou didst blow with thy winds,

and the sea covered them.

Who is like unto thee, O Lord?

From everlasting to everlasting,

thou art God.

ALL: The Lord is our God!

The Lord is one!

Before you strike,

show me his blood on your sword.

You couldn't even kill him.

His God...

is God.

NARRATOR: And Moses led Israel from the Red Sea

into the wilderness of Sinai,

and they camped before the Holy Mountain.

And when the people saw that Moses delayed

to come down out of the mountain,

they gathered themselves together.

Ask Aaron.

Could anyone live on that fiery summit

for 40 days and 40 nights?

Yes, by the will of God!

Who knows the will of God?

Do you? Do I?

Or you, Sephora,

his grieving wife?

She came back to find her husband,

but he's dead.

Even she cannot hope that he lives.

Moses went into the forbidden ground

to receive God's law.

Yes, but he's not returned.

We share your pain.

We sympathize.

But will sympathy lead us

to this land flowing with milk and honey?

Now we have no leader.

Don't be fooled! Moses will return!

Aah! Aah!

Would a God who has shown you such wonders

let Moses die before his work is done?

His mother.

So beautiful is the hope of a mother,

but there are other mothers among you!

What will become of your children?

Yes!

We must have faith.

Faith in what... You, Aaron?

Can you lead us to this land of promise?

Do you know where it is?

Across the wilderness.

Who is to lead us?

You, Dathan.

Where could I bring you except to Egypt?

Where there is death?

No, where there's food!

Pharaoh would kill us all.

Not if a God of Egypt went before us!

You could make one, Aaron.

Aaron knows the art of the temple.

I will not.

He will not.

He would rather see our flesh

rot in the wilderness.

You will make a God for us.

A God of gold.

A golden calf!

Korah shall be the high priest.

Bring baskets, buckets, shawls,

anything you have.

Break off your earrings,

your bracelets, your necklaces!

We will make of them a golden calf!

The golden spoils we took from Egypt!

There!

Spoils from Egypt.

From the burning bush, O Lord,

you charged me to bring the people

to this Holy Mountain

to behold your glory and receive your law.

What have I left undone?

GOD: I am...

I am...

I am the Lord thy God.

Thou shalt have no other gods before me.

Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image.

NARRATOR: And they overlaid the image with pure gold,

and Aaron fashioned it

and smoothed it with the hammer,

ready to be graven

by cunning art and man's device.

And he fastened it with nails,

that it should not move.

And he that smote the anvil

did beat the molten gold into thin plates,

for they had gathered their treasure

into the midst of the furnace

and did blow the fire upon it to melt it.

And they adorned themselves

in rich apparel and costly array,

with veils of blue and purple and scarlet

and fine-twined linen wrought in Egypt.

And the women tread grapes from Midian

into new wine.

GOD: 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.

Hallel!

Hallel!

Hallel!

NARRATOR: And the people sinned a great sin,

for they had made them a God of gold.

And they bore him upon their shoulders and rejoiced,

saying, "This be our God, O Israel."

Are you mourners of Moses

afraid to face the new God of gold?

They were as children who had lost their faith.

They were perverse and crooked

and rebellious against God.

They did eat the bread of wickedness

and drank the wine of violence,

and they did evil in the eyes of the Lord.

And the people cried,

"The graven image hath brought us joy."

And they worshiped the golden calf

and sacrificed unto it.

Here is your sacrifice!

Make way for Dathan!

Make way for Dathan!

Come!

Make way!

Make way for the sacrifice!

Make way! Out of the way!

Place the sacrifice upon the altar!

Have you no shame?

Thou shalt not commit adultery.

Thou shalt not steal.

Thou shalt not bear false witness

against thy neighbor.

Thou shalt not covet

anything that is thy neighbor's.

Written with the finger of God.

Go, get thee down,

for thy people have corrupted themselves.

NARRATOR: And the people rose up to play

and did eat and drink.

They were as the children of fools

and cast off their clothes.

The wicked were like a troubled sea

whose waters cast up mire and dirt.

They sank from evil to evil

and were viler than the earth.

And there was rioting and drunkenness,

for they had become servants of sin.

And there was manifest all manner of ungodliness

and works of the flesh,

even adultery and lasciviousness,

uncleanness,

idolatry and rioting,

vanity and wrath.

And they were filled with iniquity

and vile affections.

And Aaron knew that he had brought them to shame.

Abiram, Korah,

bind the sacrifice with cords,

even unto the horns of the altar!

The light of God shines from you, Moses.

Do not kneel to me, Joshua.

These tablets of stone...

the writing of God.

His Ten Commandments.

There is a noise of war in the camp.

It is not the noise of war.

It is the noise of song and revelry.

(BLOWS HORN)

Moses!

Look!

Joshua!

Woe unto thee, O Israel!

You have sinned a great sin

in the sight of God.

You are not worthy

to receive these Ten Commandments!

Aaron!

Moses!

We're gathered against you, Moses.

You take too much upon yourself.

We will not live by your commandments.

We're free!

There is no freedom without the law.

Whose law, Moses? Yours?

Did you carve those tablets

to become a prince over us?

Who is on the Lord's side?

Let him come to me.

I am!

Lead us, Moses!

We are lost!

Dathan! Follow Dathan!

Moses! Moses! Moses!

Aaron, you have cursed us.

Dathan and the people made me do it.

Aah!

Joshua!

Dathan brought us joy!

He showed you no land flowing with milk and honey.

I show you a God of gold!

Come with me! Follow me!

Blasphemers! Idolaters!

For this, you shall drink bitter waters.

God has set before you this day

his laws of life and good

and death and evil.

Those who will not live by the law

shall die by the law!

NARRATOR: And the Lord's anger was kindled against Israel.

And to prove

whether they would keep his commandments or no,

he made them wander in the wilderness 40 years,

until all the generation

that had done evil in the sight of the Lord

was consumed.

But Moses' eye was not dim,

nor his natural force abated.

And he went up from the plains of Moab

unto the mountain of Nebo.

And the Lord showed him all the land

that was beyond the River Jordan.

The Lord was angry with me

because I disobeyed him by the waters of strife.

And he said unto me,

"Behold the new land with thine eyes,

"for thou shalt not cross over this river Jordan."

Then I shall stay.

I am called by the Lord, Sephora.

I go alone.

Look, Moses.

The people have come to the River Jordan.

In the ark, they carry the law you brought them.

You taught them not to live by bread alone.

You are God's torch

that lights the way to freedom.

I love you.

Joshua.

Joshua, I charge you and strengthen you,

for you shall go over Jordan to lead the people.

As for me and my house,

we shall serve the Lord.

Mered, give me the books.

Eleazar,

set these five books

in the Ark of the Covenant

by the tablets of the Ten Commandments,

which the Lord restored unto us.

Go,

proclaim liberty throughout all the lands,

unto all the inhabitants thereof!