Ask the River, Ask the Sea

Bricks in the sun, straw in the wind, A count to be met before the dark. Two brothers walk in, before the king With one name on their lips. "Send my people away," they said, "So says Jehovah, Israel's God." The king on his throne looked up and said: "Who is Jehovah, that I should listen? I do not know that name at all, And I will not let them go." He sent them out, he piled the work higher: No straw now, and the same count of bricks. Who is Jehovah? Ask the river. Who is Jehovah? Ask the sea. He told the king, he told the land: You will know my name. You will know my name. A staff went out, the river ran red, The fish rolled over, the whole land dug for a drink. Frogs in the beds, frogs in the bread bowls, Dust into gnats, then flies thick as smoke. The herds went down, the skin broke open, And Jehovah said to him: "By now I could have struck you from the earth. For this I have let you stand: To show you what my hand can do And have my name told in every land." Then fire inside the hail, locusts on the green, Then a dark so thick, you could feel it. And the king still said no. Who is Jehovah? Ask the river. Who is Jehovah? Ask the sea. He told the king, he told the land: You will know my name. You will know my name. At midnight a cry went up, from every house. Every god of Egypt was judged that night. Then the king turned his chariots, to the shore, And the water stood up, a wall on either hand. Israel walked through on dry ground, Egypt drove in after, and the wheels came off, And the sea came home. On the far side a woman took up a tambourine And a whole nation sang: "Who among the gods is like you, Jehovah?" The king had asked who he was. The water answered. Who is Jehovah? Ask the river. Who is Jehovah? Ask the sea. He told the king, he told the land: You will know my name. You will know my name. Maybe you have said it too, Not from a throne, just in your own quiet: "Who is Jehovah? Why should I listen?" Moses asked it once, in other words, At a bush that burned and did not burn down: "What is your name?" And he was told. Later, on the mountain, he heard it spoken whole: Merciful. Compassionate. Slow to anger. Full of loyal love, and true. Egypt learned the name by the water. You can learn it by asking. And to know him is to live. Who is Jehovah? Ask the river. Who is Jehovah? Ask the sea. Then ask him the way, that Moses asked, And you will know his name. You will know his name. Ask him. Ask him. Jehovah. That is his name. Jehovah. Forever, his name.