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Twas the Night Before Passover

When I was a student at Multnomah we had to do a final project for our Pentateuch class. I wrote this. I found it the other day as I was going through our filing cabinet and pulled it out to read to the kids for Passover. Enjoy!

Twas the night before Passover, when all throughout Israel’s foe
Not a creature was stirring, not even Pharaoh.
The Hebrews painted blood on their doorframes with care,
In hopes that the Spirit wouldn’t stop there.
The Egyptians were nestled all snug in their beds,
While visions of pyramids danced in their heads.
And Moses was sitting and talking with God,
About all the things he done with his rod.
Nine plagues he had brought on the land with a clatter,
But Pharaoh still didn’t know what was the matter.
Away he sent Moses each time with a flash,
Oblivious that again with God he would clash.
More rapid than eagles his curses they came,
And he whistled and shouted and called them by name.
Now, blood! Now, frogs! Now, gnats! And, flies!
Dead livestock! Boils! Hail! Some locusts! Dark Skies!
The tenth one reserved for the firstborn to fall,
God dashed away, dashed away, dashed away them all.
As dry leaves that before the wild hurricane fly,
All the nation of Egypt started to cry.
So, up from the houses the curses they flew,
At all of the Hebrews who’d known what to do.
In the twinkling of twilight they slaughtered a lamb,
Then cooked as commanded from the the Great I AM.
They ate with their cloaks tucked in at their waist,
And as God had commanded they did this with haste.
The bread that they ate couldn’t have any yeast,
If it did, it would certainly spoil the feast.
And bundles of gold and silver they pillaged,
Cause God made them favorable to all in the village.
Now Pharaoh was pondering “What should I do?”
“Cause if they don’t leave, I could die too.”
So he bid all the Hebrews and Moses to part,
But wouldn’t you know it God hardened his heart (again).
He sprang to his chariot, to his team gave a whistle,
Then his army flew like the down of a thistle.
They chased them until the Red Sea they arrived,
But Moses had parted the sea on both sides.
The Hebrews, they crossed the Red Sea without trouble,
So Pharaoh decided to try on the double.
He started to cross the Red Sea with his troops,
But then toward the middle looked up and said “Oops!”
The waters they started to tumble and fall,
Not one man survived, not one man at all.
Then Moses exclaimed, ere they walked toward the land,
“To God be the glory, we were saved by His hand.”

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