Exodus 8:8–19

⁸Pharaoh summoned Moses and Aaron and said, “Appeal^o to the Lord to remove the frogs from me and my people. Then I will let the people go and they can sacrifice to the Lord.”

⁹Moses said to Pharaoh, “You may have the honor of choosing. When should I appeal on behalf of you, your officials, and your people, that the frogs be taken away from you and your houses, and remain only in the Nile?”

¹⁰“Tomorrow,” he answered.

Moses replied, “As you have said, so that you may know there is no one like the Lord our God,^{a 11}the frogs will go away from you, your houses, your officials, and your people. The frogs will remain only in the Nile.” ¹²After Moses and Aaron went out from Pharaoh, Moses cried out to the Lord for help concerning the frogs that he had brought against Pharaoh. ¹³The Lord did as Moses had said: the frogs in the houses, courtyards, and fields died. ¹⁴They piled them in countless heaps, and there was a terrible odor in the land. ¹⁵But when Pharaoh saw there was relief, he hardened his heart^b and would not listen to them, as the Lord had said.

THE THIRD PLAGUE: GNATS

¹⁶Then the Lord said to Moses, “Tell Aaron: Stretch out your staff and strike the dust of the land, and it will become gnats^A throughout the land of Egypt.” ¹⁷And they did this. Aaron stretched out his hand with his staff, and when he struck the dust of the land, gnats were on people and animals. All the dust of the land became gnats throughout the land of Egypt. ¹⁸The magicians tried to produce gnats using their occult practices, but they could not. The gnats remained on people and animals.^c

¹⁹“This is the finger of God,”^d the magicians said to Pharaoh. But Pharaoh’s heart was hard, and he would not listen to them, as the Lord had said.