Exodus 8:20–9:12

The Plague of Flies

²⁰Then the Lord said to Moses, “Get up early in the morning^r 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 worship^s me. ²¹If 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 know^v that I, the Lord, am in this land. ²³I will make a distinction^b between my people and your people.^w This sign will occur tomorrow.’ ”

²⁴And 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

²⁵Then Pharaoh summoned^y Moses and Aaron and said, “Go, sacrifice to your God here in the land.”

²⁶But 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? ²⁷We must take a three-day journey^a into the wilderness to offer sacrifices^b to the Lord our God, as he commands us.”

²⁸Pharaoh 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 pray^c for me.”

²⁹Moses 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 deceitfully^d again by not letting the people go to offer sacrifices to the Lord.”

³⁰Then 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. ³²But this time also Pharaoh hardened his heart^f and would not let the people go.

The Plague on Livestock

9Then 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 worship^g me.” ²If you refuse to let them go and continue to hold them back, ³the hand^h 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. ⁴But 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.’ ”

⁵The Lord set a time and said, “Tomorrow the Lord will do this in the land.” ⁶And the next day the Lord did it: All the livestock^k of the Egyptians died,^l but not one animal belonging to the Israelites died. ⁷Pharaoh investigated and found that not even one of the animals of the Israelites had died. Yet his heart^m was unyielding and he would not let the people go.ⁿ

The Plague of Boils

⁸Then the Lord said to Moses and Aaron, “Take handfuls of soot from a furnace and have Moses toss it into the air in the presence of Pharaoh. ⁹It will become fine dust over the whole land of Egypt, and festering boils^o will break out on people and animals throughout the land.”

¹⁰So they took soot from a furnace and stood before Pharaoh. Moses tossed it into the air, and festering boils broke out on people and animals. ¹¹The magicians^p could not stand before Moses because of the boils that were on them and on all the Egyptians. ¹²But the Lord hardened Pharaoh’s heart^q and he would not listen^r to Moses and Aaron, just as the Lord had said to Moses.