Exodus 9:13–35

The Seventh Plague: Hail

¹³Then the Lord said to Moses, ⁿ“Rise early in the morning and stand before Pharaoh, and say to him, ‘Thus says the Lord God of the Hebrews: “Let My people go, that they may ^oserve Me, ¹⁴for at this time I will send all My plagues to your very heart, and on your servants and on your people, ^pthat you may know that there is none like Me in all the earth. ¹⁵Now if I had ^qstretched out My hand and struck you and your people with ^rpestilence, then you would have been cut off from the earth. ¹⁶But indeed for ^sthis purpose I have raised you up, that I may ^tshow My power in you, and that My ^uname may be declared in all the earth. ¹⁷As yet you exalt yourself against My people in that you will not let them go. ¹⁸Behold, tomorrow about this time I will cause very heavy hail to rain down, such as has not been in Egypt since its founding until now. ¹⁹Therefore send now and gather your livestock and all that you have in the field, for the hail shall come down on every man and every animal which is found in the field and is not brought home; and they shall die.” ’ ”

²⁰He who ^vfeared the word of the Lord among the ^wservants of Pharaoh made his servants and his livestock flee to the houses. ²¹But he who did not regard the word of the Lord left his servants and his livestock in the field.

²²Then the Lord said to Moses, “Stretch out your hand toward heaven, that there may be ^xhail in all the land of Egypt—on man, on beast, and on every herb of the field, throughout the land of Egypt.” ²³And Moses stretched out his rod toward heaven; and ^ythe Lord sent thunder and hail, and fire darted to the ground. And the Lord rained hail on the land of Egypt. ²⁴So there was hail, and fire mingled with the hail, so very heavy that there was none like it in all the land of Egypt since it became a nation. ²⁵And the ^zhail struck throughout the whole land of Egypt, all that was in the field, both man and beast; and the hail struck every herb of the field and broke every tree of the field. ^26aOnly in the land of Goshen, where the children of Israel were, there was no hail.

²⁷And Pharaoh sent and ^bcalled for Moses and Aaron, and said to them, ^c“I have sinned this time. ^dThe Lord is righteous, and my people and I are wicked. ^28eEntreat ¹the Lord, that there may be no more ²mighty thundering and hail, for it is enough. I will let you ^fgo, and you shall stay no longer.”

²⁹So Moses said to him, “As soon as I have gone out of the city, I will ^gspread out my hands to the Lord; the thunder will cease, and there will be no more hail, that you may know that the ^hearth is the Lord’s. ³⁰But as for you and your servants, ⁱI know that you will not yet fear the Lord God.”

³¹Now the flax and the barley were struck, ^jfor the barley was in the head and the flax was in bud. ³²But the wheat and the spelt were not struck, for they are ³late crops.

³³So Moses went out of the city from Pharaoh and ^kspread out his hands to the Lord; then the thunder and the hail ceased, and the rain was not poured on the earth. ³⁴And when Pharaoh saw that the rain, the hail, and the thunder had ceased, he sinned yet more; and he hardened his heart, he and his servants. ³⁵So ^lthe heart of Pharaoh was hard; neither would he let the children of Israel go, as the Lord had spoken by Moses.