The elders of Pharaoh's people said: 'Will you leave alone Moses and his people to spread mischief in the land, and forsake you and your gods?' Pharaoh replied: 'We will kill their male children and spare their female ones. For indeed we hold irresistible sway over them.' 127 Said Moses to his people: "Invoke the help of God and be firm. The earth belongs to God: He can make whom He wills among His creatures inherit it. The future is theirs who take heed for themselves." 128 They replied, "We were being persecuted before you came to us, and we are still being persecuted." He said, "Your Lord may well destroy your enemy and make you successors to the land. Then He will see how you conduct yourselves." 129