Exodus 9

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 power and in order to proclaim My name through all the earth.

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

The Plague of Hail

¹⁸“Behold, about this time tomorrow, ^aI will ¹send a very heavy hail, such as has not been seen in Egypt from the day it was founded ²until now.

¹⁹“Now therefore 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, when the hail comes down on them, will die.” ’ ”

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

²¹but he who ¹paid no regard to the word of the Lord ²left his servants and his livestock in the field.

²²Now the Lord said to Moses, “Stretch out your hand toward the sky, that ^1ahail may fall on all the land of Egypt, on man and on beast and on every plant of the field, throughout the land of Egypt.”

²³Moses stretched out his staff toward the sky, and the Lord ¹sent ²thunder and ^ahail, and fire ran down to the earth. And the Lord rained hail on the land of Egypt.

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

^25aThe hail struck all that was in the field through all the land of Egypt, both man and 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 ^1asent for Moses and Aaron, and said to them, “^bI have sinned this time; the Lord is the righteous one, and I and my people are the wicked ones.

²⁸“^aMake supplication to the Lord, for there has been enough of God’s ¹thunder and hail; and ^bI will let you go, and you shall stay no longer.”

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

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

³¹(Now the flax and the ^abarley were ¹ruined, for the barley was in the ear and the flax was in bud.

³²But the wheat and the spelt were not ¹ruined, for they ripen late.)

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

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

³⁵Pharaoh’s heart was ¹hardened, and he did not let the sons of Israel go, just as the ^aLord had spoken through Moses.