Menasseh ben Israel — Even yeqarah / Piedra gloriosa o de la estatua de Nebuchadnesar (1655)

into blood, but He did not do so; rather, He ordered Aaron to do this, because it would appear a type of ingratitude for Moses to strike the waters where he had saved his life. The Egyptians were, in the end, tyrannical and cruel toward the Israelites, yet God commands them not to despise the Egyptian, because they hosted them in their lands. It is the mark of a generous and magnanimous heart not to fail in the rendering of thanks, nor to forget a benefit, even if the benefactor later repents and does not repeat the same reciprocation. I have made use of this, Lord, for my in-

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