Exodus 9:13–21

The Plague of Hail

¹³Then the Lord said to Moses, “Get up early in the morning, confront 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^s me, ¹⁴or this time I will send the full force of my plagues against you and against your officials and your people, so you may know^t that there is no one like^u me in all the earth. ¹⁵For by now I could have stretched out my hand and struck you and your people^v with a plague that would have wiped you off the earth. ¹⁶But I have raised you up^a for this very purpose,^w that I might show you my power^x and that my name might be proclaimed in all the earth. ¹⁷You still set yourself against my people and will not let them go. ¹⁸Therefore, at this time tomorrow I will send the worst hailstorm^y that has ever fallen on Egypt, from the day it was founded till now.^{z 19}Give an order now to bring your livestock and everything you have in the field to a place of shelter, because the hail will fall on every person and animal that has not been brought in and is still out in the field, and they will die.’ ”

²⁰Those officials of Pharaoh who feared^a the word of the Lord hurried to bring their slaves and their livestock inside. ²¹But those who ignored^b the word of the Lord left their slaves and livestock in the field.