Exodus 7:8–12:13

Aaron’s Staff Becomes a Serpent

⁸And Yahweh spoke to Moses and Aaron, saying,

⁹“When Pharaoh speaks to you, saying, ‘^1aWork a miraculous wonder,’ then you shall say to Aaron, ‘^bTake your staff and throw it down before Pharaoh, that it may become a ²serpent.’”

¹⁰So Moses and Aaron came to Pharaoh, and thus they did just as Yahweh had commanded; and Aaron threw his staff down before Pharaoh and ¹his ²servants, and it ^abecame a ³serpent.

¹¹Then Pharaoh also ^acalled for the wise men and the sorcerers, and they also, the ^1bmagicians of Egypt, did ²the same with ^ctheir secret arts.

¹²And each one threw down his staff, and they became ¹serpents. But Aaron’s staff swallowed up their staffs.

¹³Yet ^aPharaoh’s heart was ¹hardened with strength, and he did not listen to them, as Yahweh had spoken.

The Plague of Water Turning to Blood

¹⁴Then Yahweh said to Moses, “Pharaoh’s heart is ¹hard with firmness; he refuses to let the people go.

¹⁵“Go to Pharaoh in the morning ¹as ^ahe is going out to the water, and station yourself to meet him on the bank of the Nile; and you shall take in your hand ^bthe staff that was turned into a serpent.

¹⁶“^aAnd you shall say to him, ‘Yahweh, the God of the Hebrews, sent me to you, saying, “^bLet My people go, that they may serve Me in the wilderness. But behold, you have not listened until now.”

¹⁷‘Thus says Yahweh, “^aBy this you shall know that I am Yahweh: behold, I am about to strike ¹the water that is in the Nile with the staff that is in my hand, and ^bit will be turned to blood.

¹⁸“^aAnd the fish that are in the Nile will die, and the Nile will ¹become foul, and the Egyptians will ^bbe weary of drinking water from the Nile.” ’ ”

¹⁹Then Yahweh said to Moses, “Say to Aaron, ‘Take your staff and ^astretch out your hand over the waters of Egypt, over their rivers, over their ¹streams, and over their pools and over all their reservoirs of water, that they may become blood; and there will be blood throughout all the land of Egypt, both in vessels of wood and in vessels of stone.’”

²⁰So Moses and Aaron did thus, as Yahweh had commanded. And he raised up ^1athe staff and struck the water that was in the Nile, in the sight of Pharaoh and in the sight of his servants, and ^ball the water that was in the Nile was turned to blood.

²¹And the fish that were in the Nile died, and the Nile ¹became foul, so that the Egyptians could not drink water from the Nile. And the blood was through all the land of Egypt.

^22aYet the ¹magicians of Egypt did ²the same with their secret arts; and Pharaoh’s heart was ³hardened with strength, and he did not listen to them, as Yahweh had spoken.

²³Then Pharaoh turned and went into his house, and he did not set his heart even on this.

²⁴So all the Egyptians dug around the Nile for water to drink, for they could not drink of the water of the Nile.

²⁵And seven full days ¹passed after Yahweh had struck the Nile.

CHAPTER 8

The Plague of Frogs

¹¹Then Yahweh said to Moses, “Come to Pharaoh and say to him, ‘Thus says Yahweh, “^aLet My people go, that they may serve Me.

²“But if you refuse to let them go, behold, I ¹will smite your whole territory with frogs.

³“And the Nile will ^aswarm with frogs, and they will go up and come into your house and into your bedroom and on your bed and into the houses of your servants and on your people and into your ovens and into your kneading bowls.

⁴“So the frogs will come up on you and on your people and on all your servants.” ’ ”

⁵¹Then Yahweh said to Moses, “Say to Aaron, ‘^aStretch out your hand with your staff over the rivers, over the ²streams and over the pools, and cause the frogs to come up on the land of Egypt.’”

⁶So Aaron stretched out his hand over the waters of Egypt, and the ^1afrogs came up and covered the land of Egypt.

^7aAnd the ¹magicians did ²the same with their secret arts; they caused the frogs to come up on the land of Egypt.

⁸Then Pharaoh ^acalled for Moses and Aaron and said, “^bEntreat Yahweh that He may cause the frogs to depart from me and from my people; and ^cI will let the people go, that they may sacrifice to Yahweh.”

⁹And Moses said to Pharaoh, “¹May the honor be yours to tell me: when shall I entreat for you and for your servants and for your people, that the frogs be cut off from you and your houses, that they may remain only in the Nile?”

¹⁰Then he said, “Tomorrow.” So he said, “May it be according to your word, that you may know that there is ^ano one like Yahweh our God.

¹¹“And the ^afrogs will depart from you and your houses and your servants and your people; they will remain only in the Nile.”

¹²Then Moses and Aaron went out from Pharaoh, and ^aMoses cried out to Yahweh concerning the frogs which He had set upon Pharaoh.

¹³So Yahweh did according to the word of Moses, and the frogs died out of the houses, the courts, and the fields.

¹⁴So they piled them in heaps, and the land ¹became foul.

¹⁵Then Pharaoh saw that there was relief, and he ¹hardened his heart with firmness and ^adid not listen to them, as Yahweh had spoken.

The Plague of Gnats

¹⁶Then Yahweh said to Moses, “Say to Aaron, ‘Stretch out your staff and strike the dust of the earth, that it may become ¹gnats through all the land of Egypt.’”

¹⁷And they did so; and Aaron stretched out his hand with his staff and struck the dust of the earth, and there were ¹gnats on man and beast. All the dust of the earth became ^2agnats through all the land of Egypt.

¹⁸Then ¹the magicians did the same with their secret arts in order to bring forth ²gnats, but ^athey could not; so there were ³gnats on man and beast.

¹⁹And the ¹magicians said to Pharaoh, “^aThis is the finger of God.” But Pharaoh’s heart was ²hardened with strength, and he did not listen to them, as Yahweh had spoken.

The Plague of Flies

²⁰And Yahweh said to Moses, “^aRise early in the morning and stand before Pharaoh ¹as ^bhe comes out to the water, and you shall say to him, ‘Thus says Yahweh, “^cLet My people go, that they may serve Me.

²¹“For if you do not let My people go, behold, I will send swarms of flies on you and on your servants and on your people and into your houses; and the houses of the Egyptians will be full of swarms of flies, and also the ground on which they stand.

²²“^aBut on that day I will make a distinction for the land of Goshen, where My people are ¹living, so that no swarms of flies will be there, that you may know that ^2bI, Yahweh, am in the midst of the land.

²³“And I will ¹put a division between My people and your people. Tomorrow this sign will happen.” ’ ”

²⁴Then Yahweh did so. And there came heavy swarms of flies into the house of Pharaoh and the houses of his servants, and the land was ^alaid waste because of the swarms of flies in all the land of Egypt.

²⁵And Pharaoh ^acalled for Moses and Aaron and said, “^bGo, sacrifice to your God within the land.”

²⁶But Moses said, “It is not right to do so, for we will sacrifice to Yahweh our God ¹what is ^aan abomination to the Egyptians. If we sacrifice ²what is an abomination to the Egyptians before their eyes, will they not then stone us?

²⁷“We must go a ^athree days’ journey into the wilderness and sacrifice to Yahweh our God as He says to us.”

²⁸And Pharaoh said, “^aI will let you go, that you may sacrifice to Yahweh your God in the wilderness; only you shall not go very far away. ^bEntreat for me.”

²⁹Then Moses said, “Behold, I am going out from you, and I shall entreat Yahweh that the swarms of flies may depart from Pharaoh, from his servants, and from his people tomorrow; only may Pharaoh not ^adeal deceitfully again in not letting the people go to sacrifice to Yahweh.”

³⁰So ^aMoses went out from Pharaoh and entreated Yahweh.

³¹And Yahweh did according to the word of Moses and caused the swarms of flies to depart from Pharaoh, from his servants, and from his people; not one remained.

³²Then Pharaoh ¹hardened his heart with firmness this time also, and ^ahe did not let the people go.

CHAPTER 9

The Plague of Dying Egyptian Livestock

¹Then Yahweh said to Moses, “Come to Pharaoh and speak to him, ‘Thus says Yahweh, the God of the Hebrews, “^aLet My people go, that they may serve Me.

²“For ^aif you refuse to let them go and ¹continue to hold them,

³behold, ^athe hand of Yahweh ¹will come with a very heavy pestilence on your livestock which are in the field, on the horses, on the donkeys, on the camels, on the herds, and on the flocks.

⁴“^aBut Yahweh will make a distinction between the livestock of Israel and the livestock of Egypt, so that ^bnothing will die of all that belongs to the sons of Israel.” ’ ”

⁵Yahweh also set a definite time, saying, “Tomorrow Yahweh will do this thing in the land.”

⁶So Yahweh did this thing on the next day, and ^aall the livestock of Egypt died; ^bbut of the livestock of the sons of Israel, not one died.

⁷And Pharaoh sent, and behold, there was not even one of the livestock of Israel dead. But ^athe heart of Pharaoh was ¹hardened with firmness, and he did not let the people go.

The Plague of Boils

⁸Then Yahweh said to Moses and Aaron, “Take for yourselves handfuls of soot from a kiln, and let Moses toss it toward the sky in the sight of Pharaoh.

⁹“And it will become fine dust over all the land of Egypt, and it will become ^aboils breaking out with sores on man and beast through all the land of Egypt.”

¹⁰So they took the soot from the kiln and stood before Pharaoh; and Moses tossed it toward the sky, and it became boils breaking out with sores on man and beast.

^11aAnd the ¹magicians could not stand before Moses because of the boils, for the boils were on the magicians ²as well as on all the Egyptians.

¹²And ^aYahweh ¹hardened Pharaoh’s heart with strength, and he did not listen to them, just as Yahweh had spoken to Moses.

The Plague of Hail

¹³And Yahweh said to Moses, “^aRise up early in the morning and stand before Pharaoh, and you shall say to him, ‘Thus says Yahweh, the God of the Hebrews, “^bLet My people go, that they may serve Me.

¹⁴“For this time I will send all My plagues against your heart and amongst your servants and your people, so that ^a…