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296 Moses said, "Lie down, my brother; and may thy rest be sweet."

Aaron lay down, and Moses sat beside him till he died.

Then suddenly the tree, the shadow, and Aaron vanished; and Moses returned alone to the Israelites. They were angry with him, that he had not brought back Aaron, and they took up stones against him. But Moses cried to the Lord, and the Lord showed them Aaron on a bed, and he was dead; and the people looked, and wondered, and wept: then said a voice from heaven, "God hath taken him." The people bewailed him many days.

14. THE DEATH OF MOSES. When the time came for Moses to die, the Lord called Gabriel to Him, and said, "Go and bring the soul of My servant Moses to Paradise."

The angel Gabriel answered in astonishment, "Lord, Lord, how can I venture to give death to that man, the like of whom all generations of men have not seen?"

Then the Most High called to Him Michael, and said, "Go and bring the soul of My servant Moses to Paradise."

The angel Michael answered in fear, "Lord, Lord, I was his instructor in heavenly lore! How can I bear death to my pupil?"

Then the Most High called to Him Sammael, and said, "Go and bring the soul of My servant Moses to Paradise."

The angel Sammael flushed red with joy. He clothed himself in anger, and grasped his sword, and rushed down upon the holy one. But he found him writing the incommunicable name of God, and he saw his face shine with divine light. Then he stood irresolute, and his sword sank with the point to earth.

"What seekest thou?" asked Moses.

"I am sent to give thee death," answered the trembling angel. "All mortals must submit to that."

"But not I," said Moses, "at least from thee; I, consecrated from my mother's womb, the discloser of divine mysteries, the mouthpiece of God, I will not surrender my soul into thy hand."

Then Sammael flew away.