When Pharaoh dared to vex the saints, And thus provoked their God, Moses was sent at their complaints, Armed with his dreadful rod. He called for darkness; darkness came Like an o’erwhelming flood; He turned each lake and every stream To lakes and streams of blood. He gave the sign, and noisome flies Through the whole country spread; And frogs in croaking armies rise About the monarch’s bed. Through fields, and towns, and palaces, The tenfold vengeance flew; Locusts in swarms devoured their trees, And hail their cattle slew. Then by an angel’s midnight stroke The flower of Egypt died; The strength of every house was broke, Their glory and their pride. Now let the world forbear its rage, Nor put the church in fear; Israel must live through every age, And be th’Almighty’s care.