Exodus 8:9–32:1

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 ^ayou may know that there is no one like Me in all the earth.

¹⁵“For if by now I had sent forth My hand and struck you and your people with pestilence, you would then have been wiped out from the earth.

¹⁶“But, indeed, ^afor this reason I have caused you to stand, in order to show you My power and in order to recount My name through all the earth.

¹⁷“Still you ¹exalt yourself against My people ²by not letting them go.

¹⁸“Behold, about this time tomorrow, ^aI will rain down very heavy hail, such as has not been seen in Egypt from the day it was founded ¹until now.

¹⁹“So now, send, bring ^ayour livestock and whatever you have in the field to safety. ^bEvery man and beast that is found in the field and is not brought home, the hail will come down on them, and they will die.” ’ ”

^20aThe one among the servants of Pharaoh who ¹feared the word of Yahweh made his servants and his livestock flee into the houses;

²¹but he who did not ¹consider in his heart the word of Yahweh ²left his servants and his livestock in the field.

²²Now Yahweh said to Moses, “Stretch out your hand toward the sky, that ^athere may be hail on all the land of Egypt, on man and on beast and on every plant of the field, throughout the land of Egypt.”

²³So Moses stretched out his staff toward the sky, and Yahweh gave forth ¹thunder and ^ahail, and fire went down to the earth. And Yahweh rained down hail on the land of Egypt.

²⁴So there was hail, and fire ¹flashing continually in the midst of the hail, very heavy, such as had not been in all the land of Egypt since it became a nation.

^25aAnd the hail struck all that was in the field through all the land of Egypt, from man to beast; the hail also struck every plant of the field and shattered every tree of the field.

^26aOnly in the land of Goshen, where the sons of Israel were, there was no hail.

²⁷Then Pharaoh ^asent and called for Moses and Aaron and said to them, “^bI have sinned this time; Yahweh is the righteous one, and I and my people are the wicked ones.

²⁸“^aEntreat Yahweh, for God’s ¹thunder and hail are too much; and ^bI will let you go, and you shall stay no longer.”

²⁹And Moses said to him, “As soon as I go out of the city, I will ^aspread out my ¹hands to Yahweh; the ²thunder will cease, and there will be hail no longer, that you may know that ^bthe earth is Yahweh’s.

³⁰“^aBut as for you and your servants, I know that ^byou do not yet ¹fear ²Yahweh God.”

³¹(Now the flax and the ^abarley were struck down, for the barley was in the ear and the flax was in bud.

³²But the wheat and the spelt were not struck down, for they are late-ripening.)

^33aAnd Moses went out of the city from Pharaoh and spread out his ¹hands to Yahweh; and the ²thunder and the hail ceased, and rain ³no longer poured on the earth.

³⁴But Pharaoh saw that the rain and the hail and the ¹thunder had ceased. So he sinned again and ²hardened his heart with firmness, he and his servants.

³⁵And Pharaoh’s heart was ¹hardened with strength, and he did not let the sons of Israel go, just as ^aYahweh had spoken by the hand of Moses.

CHAPTER 10

The Plague of Locusts

¹Then Yahweh said to Moses, “Come to Pharaoh, for ^aI have ¹hardened his heart and the heart of his servants with firmness, that I may ²set these signs of Mine ³among them,

²and ^athat you may recount in the ¹hearing of your son and of your grandson, how I dealt severely with the Egyptians, and how I ²put My signs among them, ^bthat you may know that I am Yahweh.”

³Then Moses and Aaron came to Pharaoh and said to him, “Thus says Yahweh, the God of the Hebrews, ‘How long will you refuse to ^ahumble yourself before Me? ^bLet My people go, that they may serve Me.

⁴‘For if you refuse to let My people go, behold, tomorrow I will bring locusts into your territory.

⁵‘And they shall cover the ¹surface of the land, so that no one will be able to see the land. ^aThey will also eat the rest of what has escaped—what remains for you from the hail—and they will eat every tree which sprouts for you out of the field.

⁶‘Then ^ayour houses and the houses of all your servants and the houses of all the…