Exodus 8:20–9:7
20 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Get up early in the morningr and confront Pharaoh as he goes to the river and say to him, ‘This is what the Lord says: Let my people go, so that they may worships me. 21 If you do not let my people go, I will send swarms of flies on you and your officials, on your people and into your houses. The houses of the Egyptians will be full of flies; even the ground will be covered with them.
22 “ ‘But on that day I will deal differently with the land of Goshen,t where my people live;u no swarms of flies will be there, so that you will knowv that I, the Lord, am in this land. 23 I will make a distinctionb between my people and your people.w This sign will occur tomorrow.’ ”
24 And the Lord did this. Dense swarms of flies poured into Pharaoh’s palace and into the houses of his officials; throughout Egypt the land was ruined by the flies.x
25 Then Pharaoh summonedy Moses and Aaron and said, “Go, sacrifice to your God here in the land.”
26 But Moses said, “That would not be right. The sacrifices we offer the Lord our God would be detestable to the Egyptians.z And if we offer sacrifices that are detestable in their eyes, will they not stone us? 27 We must take a three-day journeya into the wilderness to offer sacrificesb to the Lord our God, as he commands us.”
28 Pharaoh said, “I will let you go to offer sacrifices to the Lord your God in the wilderness, but you must not go very far. Now prayc for me.”
29 Moses answered, “As soon as I leave you, I will pray to the Lord, and tomorrow the flies will leave Pharaoh and his officials and his people. Only let Pharaoh be sure that he does not act deceitfullyd again by not letting the people go to offer sacrifices to the Lord.”
30 Then Moses left Pharaoh and prayed to the Lord,e 31 and the Lord did what Moses asked. The flies left Pharaoh and his officials and his people; not a fly remained. 32 But this time also Pharaoh hardened his heartf and would not let the people go.
9 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Go to Pharaoh and say to him, ‘This is what the Lord, the God of the Hebrews, says: “Let my people go, so that they may worshipg me.” 2 If you refuse to let them go and continue to hold them back, 3 the handh of the Lord will bring a terrible plaguei on your livestock in the field—on your horses, donkeys and camels and on your cattle, sheep and goats. 4 But the Lord will make a distinction between the livestock of Israel and that of Egypt,j so that no animal belonging to the Israelites will die.’ ”
5 The Lord set a time and said, “Tomorrow the Lord will do this in the land.” 6 And the next day the Lord did it: All the livestockk of the Egyptians died,l but not one animal belonging to the Israelites died. 7 Pharaoh investigated and found that not even one of the animals of the Israelites had died. Yet his heartm was unyielding and he would not let the people go.n