Exodus 6–8

6¹But the Lord replied to Moses, “Now you are going to see what I will do to Pharaoh: he will let them go because of My strong hand; he will drive them out of his land because of My strong hand.” ^a

God Promises Freedom

²Then God spoke to Moses, telling him, “I am Yahweh. ³I appeared to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob as God Almighty, but I did not reveal My name Yahweh to them. ^b4I also established My covenant with them to give them the land of Canaan, the land they lived in as foreigners. ^c5Furthermore, I have heard the groaning of the Israelites, whom the Egyptians are forcing to work as slaves, and I have remembered ^dMy covenant.

⁶“Therefore tell the Israelites: I am Yahweh, and I will deliver you from the forced labor of the Egyptians and free you from slavery to them. I will redeem you with an outstretched arm ^eand great acts of judgment. ⁷I will take you as My people, ^fand I will be your God. You will know ^gthat I am Yahweh your God, who delivered you from the forced labor of the Egyptians. ⁸I will bring you to the land that I swore ^hito give to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and I will give it to you as a possession. I am Yahweh.” ⁹Moses told this to the Israelites, but they did not listen ^jto him because of their broken spirit and hard labor.

¹⁰Then the Lord spoke to Moses, ¹¹“Go and tell Pharaoh king of Egypt to let the Israelites go from his land.”

¹²But Moses said in the Lord’s presence: “If the Israelites will not listen to me, then how will Pharaoh listen to me, since I am such a poor speaker?” ^kl13Then the Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron and gave them commands concerning both the Israelites and Pharaoh king of Egypt to bring the Israelites out of the land of Egypt.

Genealogy of Moses and Aaron

¹⁴These are the heads of their fathers’ families:

The sons of Reuben, ^mthe firstborn of Israel:

Hanoch and Pallu, Hezron and Carmi.

These are the clans of Reuben.

¹⁵The sons of Simeon: ⁿ

Jemuel, Jamin, Ohad, Jachin,

Zohar, and Shaul, the son of a Canaanite woman.

These are the clans of Simeon.

¹⁶These are the names of the sons of Levi

according to their genealogy:

Gershon, Kohath, and Merari. ^o

Levi lived 137 years.

¹⁷The sons of Gershon:

Libni and Shimei, by their clans.

¹⁸The sons of Kohath:

Amram, Izhar, Hebron, and Uzziel.

Kohath lived 133 years.

¹⁹The sons of Merari:

Mahli and Mushi.

These are the clans of the Levites ^p

according to their genealogy.

²⁰Amram married his father’s sister Jochebed,

and she bore him Aaron and Moses. ^q

Amram lived 137 years.

²¹The sons of Izhar: ^r

Korah, Nepheg, and Zichri.

²²The sons of Uzziel:

Mishael, Elzaphan, ^sand Sithri.

²³Aaron married Elisheba,

daughter of Amminadab ^tand sister of Nahshon.

She bore him Nadab and Abihu, Eleazar and Ithamar. ^u

²⁴The sons of Korah: ^v

Assir, Elkanah, and Abiasaph.

These are the clans of the Korahites.

²⁵Aaron’s son Eleazar married

one of the daughters of Putiel

and she bore him Phinehas. ^w

These are the heads of the Levite families by their clans.

²⁶It was this Aaron and Moses whom the Lord told, “Bring the Israelites out of the land of Egypt according to their divisions.” ^x27Moses and Aaron were the ones who spoke to Pharaoh king of Egypt in order to bring the Israelites out of Egypt.

Moses and Aaron before Pharaoh

²⁸On the day the Lord spoke to Moses in the land of Egypt, ²⁹He said to him, “I am Yahweh; ^ytell Pharaoh king of Egypt everything I am telling you.”

³⁰But Moses replied in the Lord’s presence, “Since I am such a poor speaker, ^zahow will Pharaoh listen to me?”

7The Lord answered Moses, “See, I have made you like God to Pharaoh, and Aaron your brother will be your prophet. ²You must say whatever I command you; then Aaron your brother must declare it to Pharaoh so that he will let the Israelites go from his land. ³But I will harden Pharaoh’s heart ^band multiply My signs and wonders in the land of Egypt. ⁴Pharaoh will not listen to you, but I will put My hand on Egypt and bring the divisions of My people the Israelites out of the land of Egypt by great acts of judgment. ⁵The Egyptians will know that I am Yahweh ^cwhen I stretch out My hand ^dagainst Egypt, and bring out the Israelites from among them.”

⁶So Moses and Aaron did this; they did just as the Lord commanded them. ⁷Moses was 80 years old ^eand Aaron 83 when they spoke to Pharaoh.

⁸The Lord said to Moses and Aaron, ⁹“When Pharaoh tells you, ‘Perform a miracle,’ tell Aaron, ‘Take your staff and throw it down before Pharaoh. It will become a serpent.’ ” ^f10So Moses and Aaron went in to Pharaoh and did just as the Lord had commanded. Aaron threw down his staff before Pharaoh and his officials, and it became a serpent. ¹¹But then Pharaoh called the wise men and sorcerers—the magicians ^gof Egypt, and they also did the same thing by their occult practices. ^h12Each one threw down his staff, and it became a serpent. But Aaron’s staff swallowed their staffs. ¹³However, Pharaoh’s heart hardened, ⁱand he did not listen to them, as the Lord had said.

The First Plague: Water Turned to Blood

¹⁴Then the Lord said to Moses, “Pharaoh’s heart is hard: he refuses to let the people go. ¹⁵Go to Pharaoh in the morning. When you see him walking out to the water, stand ready to meet him by the bank of the Nile. Take in your hand the staff that turned into a snake. ^j16Tell him: Yahweh, the God of the Hebrews, has sent me to tell you: Let My people go, so that they may worship ^kMe in the wilderness, but so far you have not listened. ¹⁷This is what Yahweh says: Here is how you will know that I am Yahweh. Watch. I will strike the water in the Nile with the staff in my hand, and it will turn to blood. ¹⁸The fish in the Nile will die, the river will stink, and the Egyptians will be unable to drink water from it.”

¹⁹So the Lord said to Moses, “Tell Aaron: Take your staff and stretch out your hand ^lover the waters of Egypt—over their rivers, canals, ^mponds, and all their water reservoirs—and they will become blood. There will be blood throughout the land of Egypt, even in wooden and stone containers.”

²⁰Moses and Aaron did just as the Lord had commanded; in the sight of Pharaoh and his officials, he raised the staff and struck the water in the Nile, and all the water in the Nile was turned to blood. ⁿ²¹The fish in the Nile died, and the river smelled so bad the Egyptians could not drink water from it. There was blood throughout the land of Egypt.

²²But the magicians of Egypt did the same thing by their occult practices. So Pharaoh’s heart hardened, and he would not listen to them, as the Lord had said. ²³Pharaoh turned around, went into his palace, and didn’t even take this to heart. ²⁴All the Egyptians dug around the Nile for water to drink because they could not drink the water from the river. ²⁵Seven days passed after the Lord struck the Nile.

The Second Plague: Frogs

8^oThen the Lord said to Moses, “Go in to Pharaoh and tell him: This is what Yahweh says: Let My people go, so that they may worship Me. ^p2But if you refuse to let them go, then I will plague all your territory with frogs. ^q3The Nile will swarm with frogs; they will come up and go into your palace, into your bedroom and on your bed, into the houses of your officials and your people, and into your ovens and kneading bowls. ⁴The frogs will come up on you, your people, and all your officials.”

^5rThe Lord then said to Moses, “Tell Aaron: Stretch out your hand with your staff over the rivers, canals, and ponds, and cause the frogs to come up onto the land of Egypt.” ^s6When Aaron stretched out his hand over the waters of Egypt, the frogs ^tcame up and covered the land of Egypt. ⁷But the magicians did the same thing by their occult practices and brought frogs up onto the land of Egypt.

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

⁹Moses said to Pharaoh, “You make the choice rather than me. When should I ask 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 you may know there is no one like Yahweh our God, ^v11the 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 ^wPharaoh. 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 ^xand 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 earth, and it will become gnats ^ythroughout the land of Egypt.” ¹⁷And they did this. Aaron stretched out his hand with his staff, and when he struck the dust of the earth, gnats were on man and beast. All the dust of the earth 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 man and beast. ^z

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

The Fourth Plague: Swarms of Flies

²⁰The Lord said to Moses, “Get up early in the morning and present yourself to Pharaoh when you see him going out to the water. Tell him: This is what Yahweh says: Let My people go, so that they may worship ^bMe. ^c21But if you will not let My people go, then I will send swarms of flies ^dagainst you, your officials, your people, and your houses. The Egyptians’ houses will swarm with flies, and so will the land where they live. ^e22But on that day I will give special treatment to the land of Goshen, where My…