Exodus 8:20–9:12

The Fourth Plague: Flies

²⁰Then the Lord said to Moses, ^e“Rise up early in the morning and present yourself to Pharaoh, as he goes out to the water, and say to him, ‘Thus says the Lord, ^f“Let my people go, that they may serve me. ²¹Or else, if you will not let my people go, behold, I will send swarms of flies on you and your servants and your people, and into your houses. And the houses of the Egyptians shall be filled with swarms of flies, and also the ground on which they stand. ²²But on that day ^gI will set apart the land of Goshen, where my people dwell, so that no swarms of flies shall be there, ^hthat you may know that I am the Lord in the midst of the earth.^{5 23}Thus I will put a division⁶ between my people and your people. Tomorrow this sign shall happen.” ’ ” ²⁴And the Lord did so. ⁱThere came great swarms of flies into the house of Pharaoh and into his servants’ houses. Throughout all the land of Egypt the land was ruined by the swarms of flies.

²⁵Then Pharaoh called Moses and Aaron and said, “Go, sacrifice to your God within the land.” ²⁶But Moses said, “It would not be right to do so, for the offerings we shall sacrifice to the Lord our God are an ^jabomination to the Egyptians. If we sacrifice offerings ^jabominable to the Egyptians before their eyes, will they not stone us? ²⁷We must go ^kthree days’ journey into the wilderness and sacrifice to the Lord our God ^las he tells us.” ²⁸So Pharaoh said, “I will let you go to sacrifice to the Lord your God in the wilderness; only you must not go very far away. ^mPlead for me.” ²⁹Then Moses said, “Behold, I am going out from you and I will plead with the Lord that the swarms of flies may depart from Pharaoh, from his servants, and from his people, tomorrow. Only let not Pharaoh ⁿcheat again by not letting the people go to sacrifice to the Lord.” ³⁰So Moses went out from Pharaoh and prayed to the Lord. ³¹And the Lord did as Moses asked, and removed the swarms of flies from Pharaoh, from his servants, and from his people; not one remained. ³²But Pharaoh ^ohardened his heart this time also, and did not let the people go.

The Fifth Plague: Egyptian Livestock Die

9Then the Lord said to Moses, ^p“Go in to Pharaoh and say to him, ‘Thus says ^qthe Lord, the God of the Hebrews, “Let my people go, that they may serve me. ²For if you refuse to let them go and still hold them, ³behold, ^rthe hand of the Lord will fall with a very severe plague upon your livestock that are in the field, the horses, the donkeys, the camels, the herds, and the flocks. ^4sBut the Lord will make a distinction between the livestock of Israel and the livestock of Egypt, so that nothing of all that belongs to the people of Israel shall die.” ’ ” ⁵And the Lord set a time, saying, “Tomorrow the Lord will do this thing in the land.” ⁶And the next day the Lord did this thing. ^tAll the livestock of the Egyptians died, but not one of the livestock of the people of Israel died. ⁷And Pharaoh sent, and behold, not one of the livestock of Israel was dead. But ^uthe heart of Pharaoh was hardened, and he did not let the people go.

The Sixth Plague: Boils

⁸And the Lord said to Moses and Aaron, “Take handfuls of soot from the kiln, and let Moses throw them in the air in the sight of Pharaoh. ⁹It shall become fine dust over all the land of Egypt, and become ^vboils breaking out in sores on man and beast throughout all the land of Egypt.” ¹⁰So they took soot from the kiln and stood before Pharaoh. And Moses threw it in the air, and it became boils breaking out in sores on man and beast. ¹¹And ^wthe magicians could not stand before Moses because of the boils, for the boils came upon the magicians and upon all the Egyptians. ^12xBut the Lord hardened the heart of Pharaoh, and he did not listen to them, as ^ythe Lord had spoken to Moses.