Just as you say, Moses replied, I will never appear before you again. Moses accepts the expulsion with a simplicity that is itself a form of confidence. He does not argue, does not appeal, does not beg for another audience. He says: as you say. The final confrontation will be on God's terms, not Pharaoh's, and Moses knows it. The announcement that he will never appear before Pharaoh again is also an announcement that the confrontation is nearly over. One more plague — announced immediately in Exodus 11 — and Pharaoh will not need to be visited; he will summon Moses himself in the middle of the night (Exodus 12:31). The man who threatened death will beg Moses to leave. The reversal is complete before it happens, because Moses knows who sent him and who he serves. The just as you say is the confidence of a man whose authority rests somewhere other than Pharaoh's court.

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