Exodus 8:9–32:1

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 people are living; ^fno flies will be there. This way you will know that I, Yahweh, am in the land. ²³I will make a distinction ^gbetween My people and your people. This sign will take place tomorrow.”

²⁴And the Lord did this. Thick swarms of flies went into Pharaoh’s palace and his officials’ houses. Throughout Egypt the land was ruined because of the swarms of flies. ^h25Then Pharaoh summoned Moses and Aaron and said, “Go sacrifice to your God within the country.”

²⁶But Moses said, “It would not be right ⁱto do that, because what we will sacrifice to the Lord our God is detestable to the Egyptians. ^jIf we sacrifice what the Egyptians detest in front of them, won’t they stone us? ²⁷We must go a distance of three days into the wilderness and sacrifice to the Lord our God as He instructs us.”

²⁸Pharaoh responded, “I will let you go and sacrifice to the Lord your God in the wilderness, but don’t go very far. Make an appeal ^kfor me.”

²⁹“As soon as I leave you,” Moses said, “I will appeal to the Lord, and tomorrow the swarms of flies will depart from Pharaoh, his officials, and his people. But Pharaoh must not act deceptively again by refusing to let the people go and sacrifice to the Lord.” ³⁰Then Moses left Pharaoh’s presence and appealed to the Lord. ³¹The Lord did as Moses had said: He removed the swarms of flies from Pharaoh, his officials, and his people; not one was left. ³²But Pharaoh hardened his heart this time also and did not let the people go.

The Fifth Plague: Death of Livestock

9Then the Lord said to Moses, “Go in to Pharaoh and say to him: This is what Yahweh, the God of the Hebrews, says: Let My people go, so that they may worship Me. ²But if you refuse to let them go and keep holding them, ³then the Lord’s hand will bring a severe plague against your livestock in the field—the horses, donkeys, camels, herds, and flocks. ⁴But the Lord will make a distinction between the livestock of Israel and the livestock of Egypt, so that nothing of all that the Israelites own will die.” ⁵And the Lord set a time, saying, “Tomorrow the Lord will do this thing in the land.” ^l6The Lord did this the next day. All the Egyptian livestock died, ^mbut none among the Israelite livestock died. ⁷Pharaoh sent messengers who saw that not a single one of the Israelite livestock was dead. But Pharaoh’s heart was hardened, ⁿand he did not let the people go.

The Sixth Plague: Boils

⁸Then the Lord said to Moses and Aaron, “Take handfuls of furnace soot, and Moses is to throw it toward heaven in the sight of Pharaoh. ⁹It will become fine dust over the entire land of Egypt. It will become festering boils ^oon man and beast throughout the land of Egypt.” ¹⁰So they took furnace soot and stood before Pharaoh. Moses threw it toward heaven, and it became festering boils on man and beast. ¹¹The magicians could not stand before Moses because of the boils, for the boils were on the magicians as well as on all the Egyptians. ^p12But the Lord hardened Pharaoh’s heart ^qand he did not listen to them, as the Lord had told Moses.

The Seventh Plague: Hail

¹³Then the Lord said to Moses, “Get up early in the morning and present yourself to Pharaoh. Tell him: This is what Yahweh, the God of the Hebrews says: Let My people go, so that they may worship Me. ¹⁴Otherwise, I am going to send all My plagues against you, ^ryour officials, and your people. Then you will know there is no one like Me in all the earth. ¹⁵By now I could have stretched out My hand and struck you and your people with a plague, and you would have been obliterated from the earth. ^s16However, I have let you live for this purpose: to show you My power ^tand to make My name known in all the earth. ¹⁷You are still acting arrogantly against ^uMy people by not letting them go. ¹⁸Tomorrow at this time I will rain down the worst hail ^vthat has ever occurred in Egypt from the day it was founded until now. ¹⁹Therefore give orders to bring your livestock and all that you have in the field into shelters. Every person and animal that is in the field and not brought inside will die when the hail falls on them.” ²⁰Those among Pharaoh’s officials who feared the word of the Lord made their servants and livestock flee to shelters, ²¹but those who didn’t take the Lord’s word seriously left their servants and livestock in the field.

²²Then the Lord said to Moses, “Stretch out your hand toward heaven and let there be hail throughout the land of Egypt—on man and beast and every plant of the field in the land of Egypt.” ²³So Moses stretched out his staff toward heaven, and the Lord sent thunder and hail. ^wLightning struck the earth, and the Lord rained hail on the land of Egypt. ²⁴The hail, with lightning flashing through it, was so severe that nothing like it had occurred in the land of Egypt since it had become a nation. ²⁵Throughout the land of Egypt, the hail struck down everything in the field, both man and beast. The hail beat down every plant of the field and shattered every tree in the field. ²⁶The only place it didn’t hail was in the land of Goshen where the Israelites were. ^x

²⁷Pharaoh sent for Moses and Aaron. “I have sinned this time,” he said to them. “Yahweh is the Righteous ^yOne, and I and my people are the guilty ones. ²⁸Make an appeal to Yahweh. There has been enough of God’s thunder and hail. I will let you go; ^zyou don’t need to stay any longer.”

²⁹Moses said to him, “When I have left the city, I will extend my hands ^ato Yahweh. The thunder will cease, and there will be no more hail, so that you may know the earth ^bbelongs to Yahweh. ³⁰But as for you and your officials, I know that you still do not fear Yahweh our God.”

³¹The flax and the barley were destroyed because the barley was ripe ^cand the flax was budding, ^d32but the wheat and the spelt were not destroyed since they are later crops. ^e

³³Moses went out from Pharaoh and the city, and extended his hands to the Lord. Then the thunder and hail ceased, and rain no longer poured down on the land. ³⁴When Pharaoh saw that the rain, hail, and thunder had ceased, he sinned again and hardened his heart, he and his officials. ³⁵So Pharaoh’s heart hardened, and he did not let the Israelites go, as the Lord had said through Moses.

The Eighth Plague: Locusts

10Then the Lord said to Moses, “Go to Pharaoh, for I have hardened his heart and the hearts of his officials so that I may do these miraculous signs of Mine among them, ^fg2and so that you may tell ^hyour son and grandson ⁱhow severely I dealt with the Egyptians and performed miraculous signs among them, and you will know that I am Yahweh.”

³So Moses and Aaron went in to Pharaoh and told him, “This is what Yahweh, the God of the Hebrews, says: How long will you refuse to humble yourself before Me? Let My people go, that they may worship Me. ^j4But if you refuse to let My people go, then tomorrow I will bring locusts ^kinto your territory. ⁵They will cover the surface of the land so that no one will be able to see the land. They will eat the remainder left ^lto you that escaped the hail; they will eat every tree you have growing in the fields. ⁶They will fill your houses, all your officials’ houses, and the houses of all the Egyptians—something your fathers and ancestors never saw since the time they occupied the land until today.” Then he turned and left Pharaoh’s presence.

⁷Pharaoh’s officials asked him, “How long must this man be a snare ^mto us? Let the men go, so that they may worship Yahweh their God. Don’t you realize yet that Egypt is devastated?”

⁸So Moses and Aaron were brought back to Pharaoh. “Go, worship Yahweh your God,” Pharaoh said. “But exactly who will be going?”

⁹Moses replied, “We will go with our young and our old; we will go with our sons and daughters and with our flocks and herds because we must hold Yahweh’s festival.” ⁿ

¹⁰He said to them, “May Yahweh be with you if I ever…