Exodus 8:20–9:12

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.