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The Beginning · The Chosen People

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  Speaker 1: This is an iHeart Podcast. Guaranteed human.
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  Speaker 2: Faster! 600 chariots churned up dust and stone behind Pharaoh
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  Speaker 2: and his armies.
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  Speaker 1: They rode with.
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  Speaker 2: Hardened rage deep in their stomachs. The air was thick
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  Speaker 2: with the scent of iron and hatred. Pharaoh's scepter rose
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  Speaker 2: above his head, poised to strike the first Hebrew he saw.
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  Speaker 2: I am a god! I am lord of the Nile!
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  Speaker 2: The image of Ra!
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  Speaker 1: I am.
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  Speaker 2: Suddenly, the heavens responded. The chariots were halted by a
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  Speaker 2: pillar of fire falling from the sky. The heavenly inferno
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  Speaker 2: raged before them with white-hot intensity. The horses reared in
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  Speaker 2: a panicked frenzy and the soldiers cowered, shielding their faces.
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  Speaker 2: The heat singed their brows, but Pharaoh wouldn't relent. His
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  Speaker 2: fury burned just as fierce as the heavenly flames. Violent
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  Speaker 2: rage dripped out of him like sweat. He knew the
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  Speaker 2: Lord had challenged him. But even after all the plagues
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  Speaker 2: and destruction, Pharaoh refused to bend a knee. You will
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  Speaker 2: not rule over me if I can't hit them big.
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  Speaker 2: Kill them.
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  Speaker 1: Their blood shall consecrate my reign. They will know that
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  Speaker 1: I am Pharaoh.
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  Speaker 2: The children of Israel stood in front of the sea.
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  Speaker 2: The waters churned violently, a dark and chaotic symbol of death.
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  Speaker 2: Terror carved deep lines into their weary faces as they
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  Speaker 2: stood paralyzed, The sounds of pharaohs approaching fury growing louder
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  Speaker 2: behind them. They were trapped between their oppressors and the abyss.
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  Speaker 2: They had no way out and no way forward.
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  Speaker 1: We're doomed! There's no way out! What are we going
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  Speaker 1: to do? Is this what you wanted, Moses? We have
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  Speaker 1: no graves in Egypt, so you've decided to bury us
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  Speaker 1: out here? You should have left us alone. Better to
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  Speaker 1: live as slaves than die out here.
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  Speaker 2: Moses' eyes widened with similar panic, but he had to
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  Speaker 2: remain calm. His gaze shifted from the menacing chariots to
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  Speaker 2: the swirling chaos of the sea. He didn't know how
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  Speaker 2: long the chariots would be kept at bay. They had
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  Speaker 2: to act quickly.
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  Speaker 1: Moses, we can't remain here. We either surrender to Pharaoh
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  Speaker 1: or start running around the shoreline.
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  Speaker 2: He's gotten us this far.
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  Speaker 1: Why doubt now?
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  Speaker 2: Are you listening to me?
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  Speaker 1: Surrender around the coast. We can't remain here. We're running
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  Speaker 1: out of time.
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  Speaker 2: Have you learned nothing here?
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  Speaker 1: Remember how we got here.
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  Speaker 2: Moses left his brother's side and ascended a jagged outcrop.
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  Speaker 2: He looked over the flock of Israel. He saw their fear.
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  Speaker 2: He felt it. He wasn't immune to terror, yet he
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  Speaker 2: knew deliverance was at hand. Someway, somehow, Moses knew the
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  Speaker 2: Lord would respond. He wouldn't have freed them from slavery
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  Speaker 2: to abandon them now. The same God who rained fire
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  Speaker 2: from the sky and turned the Nile to blood would
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  Speaker 2: not forsake them. Moses wasn't an eloquent man, a motivator,
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  Speaker 2: or an orator like his brother, but he trusted God.
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  Speaker 2: He wanted the children of Israel to move with the
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  Speaker 2: same faith. His faith burned like a furnace. Moses pointed
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  Speaker 2: toward the chariots illuminated by flames. Pharaoh's bloodthirsty screams resounded
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  Speaker 2: over the sound of the waves and inferno, but Moses
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  Speaker 2: saw him for who he truly was, a false god
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  Speaker 2: and a defeated man.
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  Speaker 1: Look at them!
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  Speaker 2: Look at the Egyptians!
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  Speaker 1: Hungry for your flesh!
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  Speaker 2: After this day, you.
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  Speaker 1: Will never see them again!
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  Speaker 2: Stand firm! Reject the fear gripping your hearts. Stand firm
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  Speaker 2: and behold the salvation of the Lord. He will fight
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  Speaker 2: for you. A mighty eastern wind blew through the canyons,
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  Speaker 2: churning the water's edge. The breath of God was near.
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  Speaker 2: Moses looked back at the raging sea. The waters were
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  Speaker 2: dark and untamed, just as they were in the very beginning.
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  Speaker 2: But the wind of God was present, the Ruach, the Spirit.
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  Speaker 2: Everything went silent for Moses, as if he were suspended
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  Speaker 2: from space and time. The clamor of the crowd faded
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  Speaker 2: into a distant echo. He gripped his staff tightly, brow
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  Speaker 2: furrowed with righteous resolve. He closed his eyes, hearing the
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  Speaker 2: voice of the Almighty resounding in his mind.
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  Speaker 1: Why do you cry to me? Tell the children of
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  Speaker 1: Israel to advance. Stretch forth your hand over the sea,
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  Speaker 1: and behold my wonders. I will triumph over Pharaoh and
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  Speaker 1: his armies. My glory will be revealed and my name
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  Speaker 1: will be exalted among the nations. They will know that
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  Speaker 1: I am the Lord.
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  Speaker 2: Moses opened his eyes, planted his foot firmly on the
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  Speaker 2: rock below, and raised his staff. The breath of God
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  Speaker 2: blew from behind his chosen people. The wind cut through
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  Speaker 2: the sea like a razor, dividing the waters into two
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  Speaker 2: great walls with dry land between them. The people fell
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  Speaker 2: back and beheld the Red Sea yielding to the will
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  Speaker 2: of God. The voice of the Creator tamed the dark
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  Speaker 2: and chaotic abyss. Moses turned, his voice thundering over the
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  Speaker 2: stunned crowd. Run! Step into your freedom! Aaron and Miriam
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  Speaker 2: rallied the people. Women with children ran in first, with
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  Speaker 2: the men in the back. The waters were held at
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  Speaker 2: bay by the breath of the Creator, and the chosen
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  Speaker 2: people ran through unharmed. They leaped over stones and helped
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  Speaker 2: each other up jagged slopes. Moses remained there with his
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  Speaker 2: staff held high. He looked back. The pillar of fire
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  Speaker 2: rose into a dark plume of smoke, enveloping Pharaoh's army
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  Speaker 2: in darkness. The 600 chariots burst through with rage. Soot
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  Speaker 2: covered their faces, mirroring the darkness.
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  Speaker 1: In their hearts. After them!
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  Speaker 2: Don't stop until the sea runs red with their blood!
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  Speaker 2: They were the cries of a man watching his godhood
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  Speaker 2: melt away under the intensity of a more extraordinary being.
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  Speaker 2: Moses turned to Pharaoh, seeing the man he once knew
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  Speaker 2: as a kinsman and friend. Images of their childhood flashed
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  Speaker 2: in his mind. He didn't see a bloodthirsty tyrant. He
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  Speaker 2: saw Ramses, the boy, the brother. Before the throne and
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  Speaker 2: delusions of divinity, he was a boy playing by the stream,
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  Speaker 2: pretending to be a sea monster. He had become a
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  Speaker 2: monster indeed, and it broke Moses' heart.
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  Speaker 1: Rouseys!
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  Speaker 2: Relent, you fool! Come back and fight me, coward! Moses
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  Speaker 2: was frozen. staring into Pharaoh's darkened eyes. Just then, an
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  Speaker 2: arm grabbed him from behind.
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  Speaker 1: Moses, snap out of it! You have to run!
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  Speaker 2: Aaron took Moses by the arm and dragged him back.
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  Speaker 2: The brothers ran down the path cut through the sea.
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  Speaker 2: The mud slowed their pace, and the sounds of horse
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  Speaker 2: hooves and bronze wheels weren't far behind. Moses didn't look
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  Speaker 2: back until he reached the other side. The chariots were
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  Speaker 2: stalled from the muck of the sea's floor. Frustrated, Pharaoh
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  Speaker 2: sent spears and arrows. They broke against the rocks right
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  Speaker 2: past Moses. Aaron launched himself up a stone and crawled up.
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  Speaker 2: He extended his hand to Moses.
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  Speaker 1: Everyone is on the other side. We have to move
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  Speaker 1: before they catch up. Miriam is already taking them to
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  Speaker 1: the hills. No.
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  Speaker 2: Command them to stay.
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  Speaker 1: Don't be foolish, Moses. Let's flee now before it's too late.
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  Speaker 1: We finally have a chance to be free. I don't understand, Aaron.
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  Speaker 2: The Lord doesn't want us to run for the rest
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  Speaker 2: of our lives.
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  Speaker 1: As long as Pharaoh lives, we'll never be free.
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  Speaker 2: The Lord promised that we'd never see them again. Moses
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  Speaker 2: turned back to the chariots. Another arrow flew past him,
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  Speaker 2: barely grazing his cheek. The renowned chariots of Egypt were
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  Speaker 2: rendered useless in the mud. They dismounted, trudging through the
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  Speaker 2: muck with spears in hand. Moses' jaw quivered. The mighty
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  Speaker 2: armies of Egypt were about to crumble.
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  Speaker 1: Stretch out your hand again, Moses. Stretch out your hand,
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  Speaker 1: and behold, Pharaoh will know that I am the Lord.
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  Speaker 2: With an onslaught of arrows and spears flying toward him,
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  Speaker 2: Moses raised his staff in the air. You will feel
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  Speaker 2: the tip of my spear, Moses.
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  Speaker 1: You and your unnamed God will bow.
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  Speaker 2: At my feet and beg for mercy. He has a name.
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  Speaker 1: And now all of Egypt will remember him.
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  Speaker 2: Moses lowered his staff, and the waters fell like mountains.
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  Speaker 2: Pharaoh was crushed under the weight of the sea. The
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  Speaker 2: chariots splintered, the swords disappeared, and the rushing waters drowned
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  Speaker 2: out their screams. The oppressors of God's chosen people were
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  Speaker 2: buried in darkness. Before time, before light, before man, Before
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  Speaker 2: all things that were, there was the I Am. He
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  Speaker 2: came from nothing, nor did anything exist before him. Before
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  Speaker 2: the cosmos draped itself in the glistening array of celestial lights,
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  Speaker 2: before the verdant valleys cradled the mountains' tears, there stood
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  Speaker 2: the I Am, the Elohim, the Uncreated One. With a
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  Speaker 2: whisper that fractured the infinite dark, he commanded the heavens
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  Speaker 2: into being. Galaxies were forged, and stars and planets appeared.
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  Speaker 2: Tucked within one of these galaxies was the Earth. Tiny
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  Speaker 2: compared to the boundless reach of space, yet precious in
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  Speaker 2: the Creator's sight. It was formless and void, but not
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  Speaker 2: for long. Darkness was over the deep and chaotic waters.
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  Speaker 1: Then, in the.
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  Speaker 2: Dark and quiet mystery of an untamed world, the voice
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  Speaker 2: of God spoke.
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  Speaker 1: Let there be light.
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  Speaker 2: It was like a song, an anthem. From his voice,
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  Speaker 2: light broke through the noiseless void. The darkness was held back,
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  Speaker 2: and the chaotic waters were tamed. God saw the light.
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  Speaker 2: It brought the potential for life. God called the light
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  Speaker 2: day and the darkness night. This was the beginning of creation,
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  Speaker 2: the first day. Light would be the brush by which
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  Speaker 2: God painted his masterpiece. Each moment, each day, was a
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  Speaker 2: verse in the poem of creation, and it was good.
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  Speaker 1: May the waters below and the waters above be separated,
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  Speaker 1: and may the heavens reign above.
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  Speaker 2: The Creator sang to the sky, the earth's atmosphere formed,
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  Speaker 2: and the potential for life increased. God was crafting the
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  Speaker 2: expanse of the heavens and earth with a plan in mind.
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  Speaker 2: This was the second day of God's masterpiece, and it
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  Speaker 2: was good. Then, God's voice beckoned the earth to rise
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  Speaker 2: out of the waters.
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  Speaker 1: Come forth, O land. May the waters gather, and may
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  Speaker 1: the earth rise.
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  Speaker 2: Fire from the belly of the earth burst forth, and
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  Speaker 2: the waters cooled the molten ground. Slowly and violently the
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  Speaker 2: earth rose. It emerged from the waters, sturdy and immovable.
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  Speaker 2: God called the dry land earth and the waters seas.
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  Speaker 2: God looked upon them and declared that they were good.
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  Speaker 2: The earth stretched for miles, barren, empty. Now that the
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  Speaker 2: earth was set in strength, it awaited its verdant crown.
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  Speaker 2: God called forth life with a gentle decree like rain
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  Speaker 2: nourishing the parched soil. Like a womb prepared for seed,
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  Speaker 2: the earth received God's word.
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  Speaker 1: Let the earth have life, vegetation, plants, fruits, and seeds,
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  Speaker 1: each according to its kind.
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  Speaker 2: And it was so. Plants sprang forth from the ground.
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  Speaker 2: Trees stretched to the heavens, soaking in the sun's nourishing rays.
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  Speaker 2: Wildflowers arrayed the mountain range, spreading their seeds with each
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  Speaker 2: wisp of the wind. God looked upon the vibrant land
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  Speaker 2: and saw that it was good. It was adorned with
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  Speaker 2: color and prepared to nourish itself. This was the third day.
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  Speaker 2: God whispered to the wind, blowing away the clouds and
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  Speaker 2: revealing the expanse of heaven above. The earth was nudged
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  Speaker 2: into motion and the stars shifted in the night sky.
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  Speaker 1: Day from night, days from years, seasons from season, let
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  Speaker 1: light shine. and give order to the earth.
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  Speaker 2: God delicately set the earth and every planet on its axis.
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  Speaker 2: As creation's architect, he set it all in motion, crafting
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  Speaker 2: time from the endless weave of light and darkness. The
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  Speaker 2: sun was set to govern the day, and the moon
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  Speaker 2: watched over the night, each a faithful witness, marking seasons
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  Speaker 2: and years, days and nights. The cosmic clockwork was a
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  Speaker 2: masterpiece of divine precision. God beheld all of it and
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  Speaker 2: declared it to be good. This was the fourth day.
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  Speaker 2: No longer brewing in chaotic rage, the waters were ready
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  Speaker 2: for life.
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  Speaker 1: Let living creatures spring forth from the waters. and may
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  Speaker 1: the skies be adorned with birds.
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  Speaker 2: The oceans teemed with life, from the tiniest plankton to
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  Speaker 2: the great leviathans that guarded the deep. The skies filled
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  Speaker 2: with the chorus of birds, each song a melody of
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  Speaker 2: creation's joy. They were given breath, life, and blessing. The
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  Speaker 2: Creator sang over.
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  Speaker 1: Them, Multiply, fill the seas and skies.
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  Speaker 2: This was the fifth day. God saw what he had
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  Speaker 2: made and knew that it was good. The earth had
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  Speaker 2: yet to welcome creatures, beings walking with the breath of life.
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  Speaker 1: Come forth, beasts, livestock, and crawling things, each according to
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  Speaker 1: its kind. Go forth and multiply.
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  Speaker 2: God made the beasts of the earth. They stomped and crawled.
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  Speaker 2: They howled and groaned. The earth was filled with creatures
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  Speaker 2: abiding by God's will and word to fill and multiply
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  Speaker 2: the earth. The world was a tapestry of life, vibrant
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  Speaker 2: and brimming with potential. This was the fifth day. God
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  Speaker 2: looked upon all he had done and declared it good.
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  Speaker 2: At last, It was time. One thing remained for the creator.
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  Speaker 2: It was time to stamp creation with his image. Bearers
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  Speaker 2: of his likeness to steward the world. God, the Elohim,
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  Speaker 2: consulted with himself about the nature of his next masterpiece.
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  Speaker 1: Let us craft creatures in our image, imbued with our essence.
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  Speaker 1: Let us make man as an image of God. to
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  Speaker 1: steward the fish of the sea, birds of the air,
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  Speaker 1: and creatures of the earth.
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  Speaker 2: Then, out of dust, God fashioned creatures unlike any other.
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  Speaker 2: They weren't temporal animals or heavenly beings. They were something special, other,
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  Speaker 2: set apart. God crafted humanity in his image. He created
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  Speaker 2: male and female expressions of his divine nature and will
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  Speaker 2: on the earth. In them was life, the breath of God,
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  Speaker 2: the spirit of wisdom and love, and the potential for music, art, industry,
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  Speaker 2: and family. The wind rolled over the mountains, the seas
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  Speaker 2: thrashed against the shores, forests hummed with animated energy, It
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  Speaker 2: was all theirs to enjoy.
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  Speaker 1: Be fruitful and multiply. Fill the earth and subdue it.
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  Speaker 1: You will be my co-rulers of this creation. Behold, I
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  Speaker 1: have given you everything necessary for life, every plant and
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  Speaker 1: fruit of the vine. Everything with the breath of life
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  Speaker 1: is yours.
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  Speaker 2: God's design for humanity was to bear his image, fill
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  Speaker 2: the earth, and share in the joy of creation. Then
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  Speaker 2: God rested on the seventh day, surveying his creation. He
• 19:42
  Speaker 2: scanned everything from the heavens above to the depths of
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  Speaker 2: the sea. He listened to the songs of birds in
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  Speaker 2: the morning and the howling of wolves at night. He
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  Speaker 2: surveyed man's character and potential for life, love, and laughter.
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  Speaker 2: It wasn't good. It was perfect. Thus, creation was hewn
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  Speaker 2: from the chaotic void. to darkness, order into chaos, and
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  Speaker 2: potential into the void. Amid this creation he set a
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  Speaker 2: garden on a high place where heaven and earth harmonized.
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  Speaker 2: On that mountain the history of humanity would unfold. What
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  Speaker 2: God called good would be introduced to evil, and the
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  Speaker 2: story of redemptive love would be set in motion. This
• 20:48
  Speaker 2: Pray.com production is only made possible by our dedicated team
• 20:52
  Speaker 2: of creative talents. Steve Katina, Max Bard, Zach Schellebarger and
• 20:57
  Speaker 2: Ben Gammon are the executive producers of The Chosen People,
• 21:00
  Speaker 2: narrated by Paul Coltofianu. Characters are voiced by Jonathan Cotton,
• 21:05
  Speaker 2: Aaron Salvato, Sarah Seltz, Mike Reagan, Stephen Ringwald, Sylvia Zaradok,
• 21:11
  Speaker 2: Thomas Copeland Jr., Rosanna Pilcher, and Mitch Lashinsky. Music by
• 21:17
  Speaker 2: Andrew Morgan Smith. Written by Aaron Salvato, Brie Rosely, and
• 21:21
  Speaker 2: Chris Baig. You can hear more Prey.com productions on the
• 21:25
  Speaker 2: Prey.com app, available on the Apple App Store and Google
• 21:29
  Speaker 2: Play Store. If you enjoyed The Chosen People, please rate
• 21:32
  Speaker 2: and leave a review.
• 21:33
  Speaker 1: This is an iHeart Podcast. Guaranteed human.