Exodus 9:13–35

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.