Exodus 7:8–12:32

Aaron’s Rod Becomes a Serpent

⁸Now the Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron, saying,

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

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

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.

¹²For each one threw down his staff and they turned into serpents. But Aaron’s staff swallowed up their staffs.

¹³Yet ^aPharaoh’s heart was ¹hardened, and he did not listen to them, as the Lord had said.

Water Is Turned to Blood

¹⁴Then the Lord said to Moses, “Pharaoh’s heart is ¹stubborn; 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“^aYou shall say to him, ‘The Lord, 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 the Lord, “^aBy this you shall know that I am the Lord: behold, I will strike ¹the water that is in the Nile with the staff that is in my hand, and ^bit will be turned to blood.

¹⁸“^aThe fish that are in the Nile will die, and the Nile will ¹become foul, and the Egyptians will ^2bfind difficulty in drinking water from the Nile.” ’ ”

¹⁹Then the Lord 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 even as the Lord had commanded. And he lifted 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.

²¹The 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.

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

²³Then Pharaoh turned and went into his house ¹with no concern even for this.

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

²⁵Seven days ¹passed after the Lord had struck the Nile.

Chapter 8

Frogs over the Land

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

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

³“The Nile will ^aswarm with frogs, which will come up and go 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 your people and all your servants.” ’ ”

⁵¹Then the Lord said to Moses, “Say to Aaron, ‘^aStretch out your hand with your staff over the rivers, over the ²streams and over the pools, and make frogs 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.

^7aThe ¹magicians did ²the same with their secret arts, ³making frogs come up on the land of Egypt.

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

⁹Moses said to Pharaoh, “¹The honor is yours to tell me: when shall I entreat for you and your servants and your people, that the frogs be ²destroyed from you and your houses, that they may be left 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 the Lord our God.

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

¹²Then Moses and Aaron went out from Pharaoh, and ^aMoses cried to the Lord concerning the frogs which He had ¹inflicted upon Pharaoh.

¹³The Lord 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.

¹⁵But when Pharaoh saw that there was relief, he ¹hardened his heart and ^adid not listen to them, as the Lord had said.

The Plague of Flies

¹⁶Then the Lord 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.’ ”

¹⁷They 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 ^agnats through all the land of Egypt.

¹⁸The ¹magicians tried with their secret arts to bring forth ²gnats, but ^athey could not; so there were gnats on man and beast.

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

²⁰Now the Lord said to Moses, “^aRise early in the morning and present yourself before Pharaoh, ¹as ^bhe comes out to the water, and say to him, ‘Thus says the Lord, “^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 dwell.

²²“^aBut on that day I will set apart the land of Goshen, where My people are ¹living, so that no swarms of flies will be there, in order that you may know that ^2bI, the Lord, am in the midst of the land.

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

²⁴Then the Lord did so. And there came ¹great 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.

²⁵Pharaoh ^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 the Lord our God ¹what is ^aan abomination to the Egyptians. If we sacrifice what 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 the Lord our God as He ¹commands us.”

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

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

³⁰So ^aMoses went out from Pharaoh and made supplication to the Lord.

³¹The Lord did ¹as Moses asked, and removed the swarms of flies from Pharaoh, from his servants and from his people; not one remained.

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

Chapter 9

Egyptian Cattle Die

¹Then the Lord said to Moses, “Go to Pharaoh and speak to him, ‘Thus says the Lord, 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 the Lord ¹will come with a very severe 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 the Lord 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.” ’ ”

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

⁶So the Lord 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.

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

The Plague of Boils

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

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

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

^11aThe 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 ^athe Lord ¹hardened Pharaoh’s heart, and he did not listen to them, just as the Lord had spoken to Moses.

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

¹⁴“For this time I will send all My plagues ¹on you and 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 put forth My hand and struck you and your people with pestilence, you would then have been cut off from the earth.

¹⁶“But, indeed, ^afor this reason I have allowed you to ¹remain, in order to show you My…