Selected Poems (Engelse vertaling)

33 JEHUDAH HALEVI

18

REFUSAL TO TARRY IN EGYPT

Praise, above all cities, be unto Egypt
Whither came first the word of God.
Ps. 80,9. There a chosen vine was planted,

Whose clusters became a peculiar treasure;
There the envoys of God were born,
Envoys of God, as from bridegroom to bride;
And there God ^,s glory came down and walked
job 38,9. In a pillar of fire and cloud, swathed in thick
darkness;

And there the offering of the Lord was made,
And the blood of the covenant given, and
redemption found.

There stood Moses to supplicate—
And verily no assembly is like unto this for
prayer.—

And Israel is to be, unto Egypt and Assyria,
isa. 19,23-24. A third, and a highway between them,
isa. 19,19. Yea, an altar of the Lord hath been in the

midst of Egypt,
Neh. 9,5. To exalt His name above all praise,

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