Moses Quotes in Free State of Jones (2016)

Newton Knight: [eulogizing] These boys... These young men... They was your friends, your cousins, your brothers and your kin. But to those soldiers who didn't know 'em, they was just niggers. They was just somebody else's nigger. So somehow, some way or sometime, everybody is just somebody else's nigger. Mr. Moses, are you a nigger?

Moses: No, I'm not.

Newton Knight: What are you?

Moses: A free man, captain.

Newton Knight: Well, why's that?

Moses: 'Cause you cannot own a child of God.

Newton Knight: No, you cannot, can you? You can own a horse, you can own a mule or cow or an ox, but you... You cannot own a child of God.

Newton Knight: I'm gonna die so they can get rich.

Moses: That's why we left too.

Ward: What are you doin', nigger? That ain't for you. Put it back. Put it back, nigger.

Moses: How you ain't?

Ward, Moses: What?

Moses: I said, how you ain't?

Ward: How I ain't what?

Newton Knight: What he says, Ward, is how you ain't a nigger. I mean, they just pick cotton for 'em. You-You was willin' to get killed for 'em

Moses: [looking at his dog bite] Let me see that there.

Newton Knight: Aw, it ain't that bad.

Moses: You must be pretty brave then. Y'all must taste like we do, the way he latched onto you.

Moses: Deserted. How come?

Newton Knight: It ain't my fight, you know? Don't own no slaves. Ain't gonna die so they can get rich selling cotton.

Moses: That's why we left, too.

Newton Knight: Mr. Moses, what are you?

Moses: A free man, captain.

Newton Knight: Sure is.

Zipporah: [wedding night] Who makes you happy?

Moses: You do.

Zipporah: What's the most important thing in your life?

Moses: You are.

Zipporah: Where would you rather to be?

Moses: Nowhere.

Zipporah: And when will you leave me?

Moses: Never.

Zipporah: Proceed.

Moses: I love everything what I know about you. And I trust in what I don't.

Moses: Who are you?

Malak: Who are YOU?

Moses: I'm a shepherd.

Malak: I thought you were a general. I need a general.

Moses: Why?

Malak: To fight. Why else?

Moses: Fight who? For what?

Malak: I think you know. I think you should go and see what's happening to your people now. You won't be at peace until you do. Are they not people in your opinion?

Moses: Who are you?

Malak: I am.

Rhamses: Who has been telling you this?

Moses: God.

Hegep: Is there anything I can do to please you?

Moses: You can stop living like a king. You're not one.

Moses: Remember this. I am prepared to fight. For eternity.

Moses: Where have you been?

Malak: Watching you fail.

Moses: Wars of attrition take time.

Malak: At this rate, it will take years. A generation.

Moses: I am prepared to fight for that long.

Malak: I'm not.

Moses: I thought we were making progress. Now you're impatient after 400 years of slavery.

Malak: Am I the only one sitting here who's done nothing about it until now?

Moses: I do know a few things about military action. Still, if you are not going to listen to me, then why did you take me away from my family?

Malak: I didn't. You did.

Moses: You don't need me.

Malak: Maybe not.

Moses: So what do I do? Nothing?

Malak: For now, you can watch.

Moses: God is with US!

Joshua: [cornered at the Red Sea] Do you even know where we are?

Moses: Yes! We are at a point on the Earth where there is a sea ahead, and an army behind!

Moses: [having returned to her] Who makes you happy?

Zipporah: You do.

Moses: What is the most important thing in your life?

Zipporah: You are.

Moses: You are. When will I leave you? Never. May I proceed?

Zipporah: Proceed.

Hegep: Let me tell you something about about Hebrews. They are a conniving, combative people. Do you know what 'Israelite' means in their own language? 'He who fights with God.'

Moses: 'He who wrestles with God.' There is a difference.

[last lines]

Malak: What do you think of this?

Moses: [carving the stone tablets] I wouldn't do it if I didn't agree.

Malak: That's true. I've noticed that about you. You don't always agree with me.

Moses: Nor you me, I've noticed.

Malak: Yet here we are, still speaking. But not for much longer. A leader can falter, but stone will endure. These laws will guide them in your stead. If you disagree, you should put down the hammer.

[Moses continues carving]

Moses: Ramses, do not turn your back on me!

Moses: Follow me and you will be free. Stay and you will perish.

Moses: Did you do what you said?

Zipporah: What did I say?

Moses: That you would trade your faith to keep me.

Zipporah: No.

Moses: Good. You may need it more than ever.

[whole of Israel gathered behind him]

Rhamses: You're listening to Hebrews.

Moses: I'm not listening to Hebrews.

Rhamses: Who are you talking to?

Moses: God.

Malak: He's given you what you've asked?

Moses: Not yet, but his own people are turning against him.

Malak: And his army?

Moses: It will.

Malak: I disagree. Something worse has to happen.

Moses: I disagree. Anything more would be...

Malak: Would be what? What were you about to say? Cruel? Inhumane?

Moses: It's not easy to see the people who I grew up with suffering this much.

Malak: What about the people you didn't grow up with? What thought did you give to them? You still don't think of them as yours, do you? As long as Rhamses has an army behind him, nothing will change.

Moses: Anything more is just revenge!

Malak: Revenge? After 400 years of brutal subjugation! These pharoahs, who imagine they're living gods, they are nothing more than flesh and blood! I want to see them on their knees begging for it to stop!

Moses: I'm tired of talking with a messenger!

Malak: General! I have heard Rhamses' final threat. So let me tell you what's going to happen next.

Moses: [after being told of God's plan to kill the firstborn of Egypt] No, no! You cannot do this! I want no part of this!

Moses: Did you do what you said?

Zipporah: What did I say?

Moses: That you would trade your faith... to keep me.

Zipporah: No.

Moses: Good. You may need it now more than ever now.

Moses: May I proceed?

High Priestess: [reading fowl entrails] In the battle a leader will be saved, and his savior will someday lead.

Moses: [laughs] Then the entrails should also say that we will abandon reason and be guided by omens.

Hegep: Do you know what the problem is? People live too long these days. Every year the death rate lags further behind the birth rate. And these people, they reproduce like it's a sport.

Moses: This is the problem? A growing work force?

Hegep: Oh, no. No, of course not, it's good for production, of course it is. But only to a point. When that population wants you dead, yes, it's a problem. So either I'm given more troops to maintain order, or I start thinning out the herd.

Moses: [In unison] I, Moses, accept you Zipporah,

Zipporah: [In unison] I, Zipporah, accept you Moses,

Moses, Zipporah: [In unison] ... to be no other than yourself. Loving what I know of you, trusting what I do not yet know, with respect for your integrity and faith in your abiding love for me. In all that life may bring us, I pledge my love.

Zipporah: Is it so wrong for him to grow up believing in God?

Moses: Is it so wrong for him to grow up believing in himself?

Pest: They arrest us for nothing anyway.

Moses: No, I reckon yeah, I reckon, the Feds sent them anyway. Government probably bred those things to kill black boys. First they sent in drugs, then they sent guns and now they're sending monsters in to kill us. They don't care man. We ain't killing each other fast enough. So they decided to speed up the process.

Pest: Believe!

Pest: I'm shitting myself innit', but at the same time...

Moses: What?

Pest: This is sick.

[the boys, running from an alien, have followed Sam into her apartment. She runs into her bedroom, shuts the door, looks for the phone - it isn't there in its cradle - so she lifts a guitar and charges back out]

Sam: Get out of my fucking flat!

[a couple of them glance at her, make derogatory noises because they're too busy worrying about the situation, and turn away]

Sam: I said, get out!

Moses: Yo, snitch. Calm yourself. This ain't about you no more.

Sam: Come anywhere near me, and I swear I will scream this fucking block down!

Jerome: There's worse things out there to be scared of than us, tonight! Trust it!

Dennis: Hey, bruv. I saw her ID card thing. She's a nurse, innit?

Pest: Help me, then! I need this leg. I need it to be able to run away from them things!

Sam: You think I'm going to help you? After you attacked me and robbed me, and then set those dogs on the police?

Dennis: Yes to the first two, no to the last one.

Pest: Dogs? What kind of dogs those? Dogs with no eyes? Dogs the size of gorillas? You think them things are dogs? Go out there and try feeding them some Pedigree Chum! They're ALIENS, luv!

Sam: Whatever the fuck they are, they're not fucking aliens!

Dennis: You swear too much, man.

Pest: Yeah, you got a potty mouth, man.

Jerome: Look, whatever they are, they're inside the Block now. They're after everyone.

Dennis: Yeah. We're on the same side, man. Get it?

Moses: Allow it.

Moses: Fine cigar. Haven't smoked one this good in almost a year. We found these actually, the same time we found you. I don't know if that's a good omen or a bad one.

Moses: Yes, Aaron, it's true. Pharaoh has the power. He can take away your food, your home, your freedom. He can take away your sons and daughters. With one word, Pharaoh can take away your very lives. But there is one thing he cannot take away from you: your faith. Believe, for we will see God's wonders.

Moses: I figured it out. You know what your problem is, Rameses? You care too much.

Rameses: And your problem is that you don't care at all.

God: [whispering] Moses...

Moses: Here I am.

God: Take the sandals from your feet, for the place on which you stand is holy ground.

Moses: Who are you?

God: I am that I am.

Moses: I don't understand.

God: I am the God of your ancestors, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.

Miriam: [disembodied] You were born of my mother, Yocheved! You are our brother!

[Moses quickly removes his sandals and throws them behind him]

Moses: What do you want with me?

God: I have seen the oppression of my people in Egypt, and have heard their cry.

[sound of screams and cracking whips]

God: So I shall stretch forth my hand, and lead them out of Egypt, into a good land. A land flowing with milk and honey. And so, unto Pharaoh, I shall send... you.

Moses: Me? W-who am I to lead these people? They won't follow me, they won't even listen!

God: I shall teach you what to say.

Moses: [disembodied] Let my people go!

Moses: But I was their enemy. I was the prince of Egypt, the son of the man who slaughtered... their *children*! You've chosen the wrong messenger! H-how can I even speak to these people?

God: WHO MADE MAN'S MOUTH? WHO MADE THE DEAF, THE MUTE, THE SEEING OR THE BLIND? DID NOT I? NOW GO!

[Moses falls to the ground, cowering]

God: [soothing, lifting Moses up] Oh, Moses, I shall be with you when you go to the king of Egypt. But Pharaoh will not listen. So I will stretch forth my hand and smite Egypt with all my wonders! Take the staff in your hand, Moses. With it, *you* shall do *my* wonders.

[whispers]

God: I will be with you, Moses.

[Moses discovers the slaughter of the Hebrew babies]

Seti: The Hebrews grew too numerous. They might have risen against us.

Moses: Father, tell me you didn't do this.

Seti: Moses... sometimes, for the greater good, sacrifices must be made.

Moses: Sacrifices?

Seti: [hugging him] Oh, my son... they were only slaves.

Rameses: [They are both late for the banquet] I'm done for, Father will kill me!

Moses: Don't worry, nobody will even notice us coming in.

[they enter, the crowd cheers loudly]

Rameses: [sarcastic] Nobody will even notice.

Moses: Is this where you found me?

Queen: Moses, please try to understand.

Moses: So everything I thought, everything I am, is a lie.

Queen: No! You are our son and we love you.

Moses: Why did you choose me?

Queen: We didn't, Moses. The gods did.

[sings]

Queen: This is your home, my son. Here the river brought you, and it's here the river meant to be your home. Now you know the truth, love; now forget, and be content. When the gods send you a blessing, you don't ask why it was sent.

Rameses: Come on, Moses, admit it. You've always looked up to me.

Moses: Yes, but it's not much of a view!

Moses: [Sarcastic] Well, that went well.

Rameses: Just go away.

Moses: It could have been worse!

Rameses: The "weak link in the chain." That's what he called me.

Moses: Well, you are rather pathetic.

Rameses: "Irresponsible... Ignorant of the traditions." He practically accused me of bringing down the dynasty!

Moses: Yeah, I can see it now. "There go the pyramids!"

[laughs]

Aaron: So, Moses, how does it feel when *you* get struck to the ground?

Moses: I... didn't mean to cause you more pain. I'm just trying to do what God told me.

Aaron: God? When did God start caring about any of us?

[shouts]

Aaron: In fact, Moses, when did *you* start caring about slaves? Was it when you found out that you were one of us?

Tzipporah: Don't listen to him.

Moses: No, he's right. I did not see because I did not *wish* to see.

Aaron: Oh, you didn't see because you didn't...

[shouts]

Aaron: wish to see! Ah! Well that makes everything fine then, doesn't it?

Moses: [after Rameses refuses to relent] Rameses, you bring this on yourself...

Tzipporah: I won't be given to anyone, especially an arrogant, pampered, palace *brat*!

Rameses: [laughs, to Moses] Are you going to let her talk to you like that?

Moses: [Scoffs] You will show the proper respect for a prince of Egypt.

Tzipporah: But I *am* showing you all the respect you deserve: None!

[Pulls rope free]

Moses: [to approaching guards] No, wait!

[Dives and grabs rope]

Moses: Be still!

Tzipporah: [Starts pulling rope] Untie this rope! I demand you set me free!

Moses: Be still!

Tzipporah: Let go!

Moses: [Notices pond behind Tzipporah, smiles] As you wish.

[Abruptly lets go]

Rameses: Ok Moses, I know you. What's this really about?

Moses: [looks at the slaves building the empire] What do you see?

Rameses: A greater Egypt than that of my father.

Moses: That is not what I see.

Rameses: Moses, I cannot change what you see. I have to maintain the ancient traditions. I bear the weight of my father's crown.

Moses: Do you still not understand what Seti was?

Rameses: He was a great leader.

Moses: His hands bore the blood of thousands of children.

Rameses: [dismissively] Slaves.

Moses: My people. And I can no longer hide in the desert while they suffer! At your hands.

Rameses: [his face falls, disappointed] So, you have returned, only to free them.

[Moses gives Rameses the ring back]

Moses: I'm sorry.

Rameses: Yes, I had hoped, that...

[He closes his eyes for a moment and then opens them angrily]

Rameses: I do not know this God. Neither will I let your people go.

Moses: Rameses, please listen...

Rameses: I will not be the weak link!

Rameses: [walking away] Tell your people as of today, their workload has been doubled, thanks to your God. Or is it thanks to you?

[He coldly shuts the door]

Moses: [singing] You who I called brother, why must you call down another blow?

Chorus: I send my scourge, I sent my sword!

Moses: Let my people go!

Chorus: Thus saith the Lord!

Moses, Chorus: Thus saith the Lord!

Nefretiri: You will be king of Egypt, and I will be your footstool!

Moses: The man stupid enough to use you as a footstool would not be wise enough to rule Egypt.

Moses: [to Sethi, after Sethi came to see Moses, as he was completing the city to be built] Pharoah is pleased?

Sethi: With the obelisk, yes. But not with certain accusations made against you.

Moses: By whom?

Sethi: You raided the temple granaries?

Moses: Yes.

[Rameses puts first weight on weight scale, while weight scale on opposite side, stays up]

Sethi: You gave the grain to the slaves?

Moses: Yes.

[Rameses puts second weight on weight scale, while weight scale on opposite side, still stays up]

Rameses: You gave them one day in seven to rest.

Moses: Yes.

[Rameses puts third weight on weight scale, and scale lowered, with three weights, added together, to empty weight scale, on opposite side]

Sethi: Did you do all this to gain their favor?

Moses: [Moses then put a brick on empty weight scale, on opposite side of Rameses' weight scale, of accusations, and then said] A city is built of brick, Pharoah. The strong make many, the starving make few. The dead make none. So much for accusations.

Joshua: Praise God, I have found you.

Moses: Joshua? We thought you dead.

Joshua: In the copper mines of Geber, the living are dead.

Moses: Sephora! Bring water! How did you find me?

Joshua: A merchant buying copper saw you in the tent of Jethro.

Moses: [Moses softly tapped Josha's back] Here you, too, will find peace.

Joshua: [a stunned look came over Joshua's face, as he almost crossed his eyes] Peace? How can you find peace or want it when Rameses builds cities mortared with the blood of our people?

Bithiah: They're going away, Moses, and the secret's going with them. No one need ever know the shame I brought upon you.

Moses: Shame? What change is there in me? Egyptian or Hebrew, I am still Moses. These are the same hands, the same arms, the same face that was mine a moment ago.

Yochabel: A moment ago you were her son, the strength of Egypt. Now you are my son, a slave of Egypt. You find no shame in this?

Moses: If there is no shame in me, how can I feel shame for the woman who bore me, or the race that bred me?

Lilia: You are strange to the pits. Your back is unscarred.

Moses: You bring a warm smile with your cool water.

Lilia: My smile is for a stonecutter. The water is for you.

Moses: I thank you.

Lilia: Your voice is not strange. You are...

Moses: [Moses spoke very quickly, preventing Lilia from recognizing his voice] One of many who thirst.

Baka: You there! Come here!

Lilia: That is Baka, the master builder.

Moses: Does he call me or you?

Baka: You, water girl! I'm thirsty.

Lilia: He does not thirst for water.

Slave: Beauty is but a curse to our women.

Bithiah: A conquerer, already conquered?

Moses: The first face I look for and the last I find.

[as Moses saw Bithiah, he knelt to her, to honor her]

Moses: Mother!

Bithiah: I was thanking the gods for your safe return. But I find you in grave danger here.

Moses: An intoxicating danger, mother.

Bithiah: Marry her if you can, my son, but never fall in love with her.

Nefretiri: Oh, I'll be less trouble to him than the Hebrew slaves of Goshen.

Bithiah: Goshen?

Moses: Does your god live on this mountain?

Sephora: Sinai is His high place, His temple.

Moses: If this god is God, he would live on every mountain, in every valley. He would not be the god of Ishmael or Israel alone, but of all men. It is said he created all men in his image. He would dwell in every heart, every mind, every soul.

Moses: Would you bury the old woman alive in a tomb of rock?

Yochabel: Wise and noble One, It caught. I have not the strength to free myself.

Moses: Your shoulders should not bear a burden, old woman.

Yochabel: The Lord has renewed my strength and lightened my burdens.

Moses: He would have done better to remove them.

Joshua: God of Abraham, four hundred years we have waited.

Moses: Pharaoh's soldiers won't wait so long.

Joshua: The Almighty has heard our cries from bondage. You are the Chosen One!

Moses: I know nothing of your god.

Joshua: He knows you, Moses. He has brought you to us. You cannot turn your back upon us. You will deliver us!

Moses: Great one, I bring you Ethiopia.

[Trumpets play, the two Ethiopians stepped forward]

Rameses: Command them to kneel before Pharaoh.

Moses: Command what you have conquered, my brother.

Nefretiri: But I have saved your son, Moses.

Moses: It is not my son who will die. It is... it is the firstborn of Egypt. It is your son, Nefretiri!

Nefretiri: No. You would not dare strike Pharaoh's son!

Moses: In the hardness of his heart, Pharaoh has mocked God and brings death to his own son!

Nefretiri: But he is my son, Moses. You would not harm my son.

Moses: By myself, I am nothing. It is the power of God which uses me to work His will.

Nefretiri: You would not let Him do this to me. I saved your son!

Moses: I cannot save yours.

Moses: Will you swear in the name of this God that you are not my mother?

Yochabel: We do not even know His name.

Moses: Then look into my eyes and tell me you are not my mother.

Yochabel: [shaking her head] Oh, Moses, Moses, I cannot. I cannot.

[Yochabel, then heavily wept, on Moses' arms]

Gershom: [Moses and Sephora are now parents] Did the little boy die in the desert, my father?

Moses: No. God brought Ishmael and his mother Hagar into a good land.

Gershom: The same God who lives on the mountain?

Moses: It may be, my son.

Sephora: Moses! Moses!

Moses: Here!

[Gershom starts to try blow shofar and Moses chuckles]

Moses: [to Gershom] Your mother's calling.

Sephora: Moses, there is a man among the sheep.

[Sephora saw Joshua]

Moses: Keep sounding the alarm, Gershom, but stay here till your mother comes.

Sephora: [to Moses] In the cleft. Behind the rock.

Moses: Your eyes are as sharp as they are beautiful.

[scene of the Burning Bush]

Moses: Moses. Moses.

Moses: I am here, Lord.

Moses: Put off thy shoes from off thy feet, for the place thou standest is holy ground. I am the god of your fathers, the god of Abraham, the god of Isaac and the god of Jacob.

Moses: Lord... Lord, why do you not hear the cries of their children in the bondage of Egypt?

Moses: I have surely seen the affliction of my people which are in Egypt and I have heard their cry by reason of their taskmasters, for I know their sorrows. Therefore, I will send thee, Moses, unto Pharoah, that thou mayest bring my people out of Egypt.

Moses: Who am I, Lord, that you should send me? How can I lead this people out of bondage? What words can I speak that they will heed?

Moses: I will teach thee what thou wilt say. When thou hast brought forth the people. They shall serve me upon this mountain. I will put my laws into their hearts, and into their minds will I write them. Now, therefore, go and I will be with thee.

Moses: But if I say to your children that the god of their fathers has sent me, they will ask "What is his name?" How shall I answer them?

Moses: I am, that I am. Thou shalt say "I am" hath sent me unto you.

Moses: [Moses opened the door, after Bithiah knocked] Bithiah.

Bithiah: In fear of your God, they have set me free. May a stranger enter?

Moses: There are no strangers among those who seek God's mercy.

Bithiah: My bearers?

Moses: All who thirst for freedom may come with us. The darkness of death will pass over us tonight, and tomorrow the light of freedom will shine upon us as we go forth from Egypt.

Bithiah: I shall go with you, Moses.

Miriam: A princess of Egypt?

Aaron: An Egyptian?

Miriam: An idol worshipper!

Moses: This woman drew me from the Nile and set my feet upon the path of knowledge. Mered, bring a chair to our table for the daughter of Pharaoh.

Bithiah: There is a great light that shines from your face, Moses. Perhaps someday I shall come to understand it.

Lilia: Joshua!

Joshua: Run, Lilia, run! The way is clear. The master builder will not follow.

Baka: Neither will you, stonecutter.

[Joshua tried to escape, running backwards, but was captured by Baka's guards]

Baka: Bind him between the columns! See that his arms are tightly stretched!

Egyptian guard: He'll cut him to pieces.

Baka: Now go after the girl. Don't come back without her.

Egyptian guard: We'll find her.

Baka: You foolish, stupid man. I would have kept her only a short while. She would have returned to you, shall we say, more worthy. Now to whom shall I return Lilia? You will not be there, Joshua.

[saying this, Baka starts to lash Joshua]

Baka: You've seen me drive my chariot. I can flick a fly from my horse's ear without breaking the rhythm of his stride. You've seen me use my whip.

[Baka lashed Joshua again]

Baka: You make no outcry, Joshua, but you will. You will cry for the mercy of death.

Joshua: One day you will listen to the cry of slaves.

Baka: This is not that day, Joshua.

[Baka lashed another stripe on Joshua]

Baka: You hold your tongue almost as well as I hold my temper. It's a pity to kill so strong a stonecutter.

Moses: [Moses caught Baka's whip, pulled it, and turned Baka around] Death will bring death, Baka!

Baka: Who are you?

Moses: One who asks what right you have to kill a slave.

Baka: The right of a master to kill you or any slave.

Moses: Then kill me, master butcher!

[Moses then caught and used Baka's whip, choking Baka to death]

Baka: Moses!

[Baka's last line]

Moses: I'll not leave a man to die in the mud.

Simon: Thank you, my son... but death is better than bondage, for my days are ended and my prayer unanswered.

Moses: What prayer, old man?

Simon: That before death closed my eyes, I might behold the deliverer who will lead all men to freedom.

Moses: What deliverer could break the power of Pharaoh?

Egyptian guard: You!

Jethro's daughter: Is it true that Egyptian girls paint their eyes?

Moses: Yes, but very few have eyes as beautiful as yours.

Sephora: Which of my sisters did you choose?

Moses: I made no choice, Sephora.

Sephora: She was very beautiful, wasn't she? This woman of Egypt, who left her scar upon your heart. Her skin was white as curd, her eyes green as the cedars of Lebanon, her lips, tamarisk honey. Like the breast of a dove, her arms were soft... and the wine of desire was in her veins.

Moses: Yes. She was beautiful... as a jewel.

Sephora: A jewel has brilliant fire, but it gives no warmth. Our hands are not so soft, but they can serve. Our bodies not so white, but they are strong. Our lips are not perfumed, but they speak the truth. Love is not an art to us. It's life to us. We are not dressed in gold and fine linen. Strength and honor are our clothing. Our tents are not the columned halls of Egypt, but our children play happily before them. We can offer you little... but we offer all we have.

Moses: I have not little, Sephora. I have nothing.

Sephora: Nothing from some... is more than gold from others.

Moses: You would fill the emptiness of my heart?

Sephora: I could never fill all of it, Moses, but I shall not be jealous of a memory.

Moses: You know it is death to strike an Egyptian?

Joshua: I know it.

Moses: Yet you struck him. Why?

Joshua: To save the old woman.

Moses: What is she to you?

Joshua: An old woman.

[Joshua was defending his Hebrew race]

Egyptian guard: Lord Prince, send him to his death!

Moses: The man has courage. You do not speak like a slave.

Joshua: God made men. Men made slaves.

Moses: Which god?

Joshua: The God of Abraham. The Almighty God!

Moses: If your God is Almighty, why does He leave you in bondage?

Joshua: He will choose the hour of our freedom and the man who will deliver us!

Moses: No son could have more love for you than I.

Sethi: Then why are you forcing me to destroy you? What evil has done this to you?

Moses: The evil that men should turn their brothers into beasts of burden, to be stripped of spirit, and hope, and strength - only because they are of another race, another creed. If there is a god, he did not mean this to be so.

Sethi: With so many slaves, you could build an army.

Moses: But I have built a city. These lions of Pharaoh will guard its gates, and it shall be the city of Sethi's glory.

Sethi: Are the slaves loyal to Sethi's glory or to you, Moses?

Moses: The slaves worship their God. And I serve only you.

Jethro: You have come far.

Moses: From Egypt.

Jethro: Across the desert on foot? He who has no name surely guided your steps.

Moses: No name? You Bedouins know the god of Abraham?

Jethro: Abraham is the father of many nations. We are the children of Ishmael, his firstborn. We are the obedient of God.

Moses: My people look to him for deliverance... but they are still in bondage.

Sephora: I do not know about such things, but I do know that the mountain rumbles when God is there, and the earth trembles, and the cloud is red with fire.

Moses: At such a time, has any man ever gone to see Him, face-to-face?

Sephora: No man has ever set foot on the forbidden slopes of Sinai. Why do you want to see Him, Moses?

Moses: To know that He is. And if He is, to know why He has not heard the cries of slaves in bondage.

Moses: Let my people go!

Baka: They use the old ones to do the work of greasing the stones, Lord Prince. If they are killed, it is no loss.

Moses: Are you a master builder or a master butcher?

Baka: If we stop moving stones for every grease woman who falls, the city would never rise.

Overseer: If the slaves are not driven, they will not work.

Joshua: If their work lags, it is because they are not fed.

Moses: You look strong enough.

Joshua: I am a stonecutter. The Pharaohs likes their images cut deep.

Moses: It would take more than a man to lead the slaves from bondage. It would take a god.

Moses: There is a beauty beyond the senses, Nefretiri, beauty like the quiet of green valleys and still waters, beauty of the spirit that you cannot understand.

Moses: [to Jethro's daughters, as they were washing his feet] Never did a lost sheep have so many shepherds.

Jethro's daughter: [Sephora saw Moses, asleep and drew her six sisters, to see him as he slept. Jethro's seven daughters looked at Moses asleep and admired him] He's eaten a whole bunch of dates.

[then, they all quietly chuckled, in humor]

Sephora: We drew this water.

Amalekite herder: Out of the way, girl.

Sephora: This is the well of Jethro, our father. You have no right here.

Amalekite herder: Our goats don't know your father.

Sephora: Jethro's mark is on the well.

Amalekite: They can't read, either.

[while speaking, he also chuckles, at the same time]

Amalekite: Nor can we!

[while was speaking, he also chuckles, at the same time]

Amalekite herder: Then let him breed sons to guard it, not daughters.

[an Amalekite herdsman pushed Sephora down, to the ground and Moses quickly defended Jethro's seven daughters and defeated the Amalekites, catching them off guard, combatting with them, using only his staff]

Jethro's daughter: Drive them away!

Moses: Let them be first whose hands have drawn the water.

Sephora: The stranger is wise... and strong.

Moses: Drive back your goats until the sheep are watered.

Amalekite herder: All right, all right.

Moses: [just after Moses defended himself, against Rameses' accusations, he opens a curtain, to Sethi] Let your own image proclaim my loyalty for a thousand years.

Sethi: Superb!

Nefretiri: If you want to help your people, come back to the palace.

Moses: And hide the truth from Sethi... that I am Hebrew and a slave?

Nefretiri: The truth would break his dear old heart and send Bithiah into exile or death. Think of us and stop hearing the cries of your people.

Moses: Their God does not hear their cry.

Nefretiri: Will Rameses hear it if he is Pharaoh? No. He would grind them into the clay they mold, double their labors. What about me? Think of me as his wife. Do you want to see me in Rameses' arms?

Moses: No!

Nefretiri: Then come back with me.

[the 'stick to cobra' combat had just occurred]

Moses: You gave me this staff to rule over scorpions and serpents, but God made it a rod to rule over kings. Hear His word, Rameses, and obey.

Rameses: Obey? Moses, Moses. Are there no magicians in Egypt, that you have come back to make serpents out of sticks or cause rabbits to appear?

Moses: What has this child to do with me? Tell me.

Nefretiri: A child was wrapped in it.

Moses: Who was this child?

Nefretiri: Bithiah drew him from the river. Memnet was with her.

Moses: Who was this child?

Nefretiri: Memnet is dead. No one needs know who you are. I love you. I killed for you. I'll kill anyone who comes between us.

Moses: Why did you kill for me, Nefretiri? If you love me, do not lie.

Nefretiri: Hold me in your arms. Hold me close. You were not born prince of Egypt, Moses. You are the son of Hebrew slaves.

Moses: Love can not drown truth, Nefretiri. You do believe it, or you would not have killed Memnet.

Nefretiri: I love you. That's the only truth, I know.

Moses: Did this child, of the Nile, have a mother?

Nefretiri: Memnet called her Yochabel.

Moses: I will ask Bithiah.

[Moses then left Nefretiri, to speak with Bithiah]

Bithiah: How could you doubt me? You did not doubt me, as you took your first step. It's a wicked lie, spun by Rameses.

Moses: Did Rameses spin this?

[while he was asking Bithiah, Moses shows her the Hebrew cloth, that Memnet had kept hidden, as a secret and quiet for 30 years. In reality, it was infant Moses' swaddling cloth, 30 years earlier]

Bithiah: The word of your mother, against a piece of cloth found by Memnet?

Moses: How did you know it was Memnet?

Bithiah: Who else? Memnet nursed Rameses. She will pay, for spreading his lies.

Moses: She has paid.

Bithiah: She is dead?

Moses: At the hand of Nefretiri.

Moses: Memnet spoke of a woman named Yochabel. Did you ever know her?

Bithiah: [Trying to hide the truth] No.

Moses: Yours, was the face I saw, above my cradle. The only mother, I've ever known. Wherever I am led and whatever, I must do, I will always love you.

[Moses then left Bithiah, to visit Hebrew slave woman, Yochabel, and learn the complete truth, of the cloth]

Moses: The Lord of Hosts will do battle for us. Behold His mighty hand!

Moses: Go, proclaim liberty throughout all the lands, unto all the inhabitants thereof.

Moses: [to Nefretiri] Yes. You may be the lovely dust through which God will work His purpose.

Moses: [to Sethi] Your wish is my will.

Moses: Do they love less who have no hope?

Nefretiri: [Moses was just called back, from Hebrew mudpits, by Nefreteri] Then why aren't you kneeling at the feet of a princess?

Moses: I am afraid the mud pits have stiffened my knees, Royal One.

Nefretiri: Shall I call back the guards?

Moses: Do you think they can bend them?

Bithiah: Moses, do not enter! There is only sorrow here.

Moses: Are you comforting it, my mother? I followed you here to find this woman Yochabe...

[to Yochabel]

Moses: You were the woman who was caught between the stones.

Yochabel: Until you came.

Bithiah: My son, if you love me, you will...

Moses: I love you, my mother, but am I your son...

[to Yochabel]

Moses: or yours?

Yochabel: No, you are not my son. If you believe that men and women are cattle to be driven under the lash, if you can bow before idols of stone and golden images of beasts, you are not my son.

Moses: [in a loud, commanding voice] After this day you shall see his chariots no more!

Moses: Let my people go.

S.S. Guard: Occupation?

Moses: I am a writer, I play the flute.

Itzhak Stern: But Moses is also a skilled metal worker, he can make pots, he can make tanks, he can make whatever Mr Schindler asks.

Moses: The Lord, the Lord Jehovah has given unto you these fifteen...

[drops one of the tablets]

Moses: Oy! Ten! Ten commandments for all to obey!

O'Brien: Damn it, man, what are you so hot and bothered about? Afraid she'll open her jacket and flash her titties at you? You couldn't handle that, could you?

Jenkins: I've seen enough titties in my time.

Moses: I haven't.

Fourth Chauffeur: Been a hundred years since I seen a good titty.

Moses: No such thing as a bad titty.

Jenkins: Goddamn it. There now. That's my point. The little bimbo hasn't been here an hour and all you hormone graveyards can talk about is nipples.

Moses: Didn't mention nipples.

Fourth Chauffeur: We was speaking of the titty as a whole.

Moses: Something about you makes me wanna... sit down.

Augusta: Then why you come like you want a war?

Moses: I don't know how to stop.

Augusta: You followed me?

Moses: Yeah, I did.

Augusta: Why didn't you kill me with Caleb and that woman?

Moses: I wanted to keep you for a while.

Moses: [agonizing with his wound] You know how many battles I fought in?

Augusta: [holding her gun on him] Don't seem like many, easy as you went down.

Angelina: [looking at a flaming dish in the kitchen] Ain't that purdy. I never get tired lookin' at them blue flames.

Moses: You best not get tired lookin' at them, sister. You gonna be seeing a lot more of them when you passes on!