Exodus 7; Exodus 8; Exodus 9

Exodus 7

1 The Lord said, "I am going to make you like God to the king, and your brother Aaron will speak to him as your prophet.

2 Tell Aaron everything I command you, and he will tell the king to let the Israelites leave his country.

3 But I will make the king stubborn, and he will not listen to you, no matter how many terrifying things I do in Egypt. Then I will bring severe punishment on Egypt and lead the tribes of my people out of the land.

5 The Egyptians will then know that I am the Lord, when I raise my hand against them and bring the Israelites out of their country."

6 Moses and Aaron did what the Lord commanded.

7 At the time when they spoke to the king, Moses was eighty years old, and Aaron was eighty-three.

8 The Lord said to Moses and Aaron,

9 "If the king demands that you prove yourselves by performing a miracle, tell Aaron to take his walking stick and throw it down in front of the king, and it will turn into a snake."

10 So Moses and Aaron went to the king and did as the Lord had commanded. Aaron threw his walking stick down in front of the king and his officers, and it turned into a snake.

11 Then the king called for his wise men and magicians, and by their magic they did the same thing.

12 They threw down their walking sticks, and the sticks turned into snakes. But Aaron's stick swallowed theirs.

13 The king, however, remained stubborn and, just as the Lord had said, the king would not listen to Moses and Aaron.

14 Then the Lord said to Moses, "The king is very stubborn and refuses to let the people go.

15 So go and meet him in the morning when he goes down to the Nile. Take with you the walking stick that was turned into a snake, and wait for him on the riverbank.

16 Then say to the king, "The Lord, the God of the Hebrews, sent me to tell you to let his people go, so that they can worship him in the desert. But until now you have not listened.

17 Now, Your Majesty, the Lord says that you will find out who he is by what he is going to do. Look, I am going to strike the surface of the river with this stick, and the water will be turned into blood.

18 The fish will die, and the river will stink so much that the Egyptians will not be able to drink from it.' "

19 The Lord said to Moses, "Tell Aaron to take his stick and hold it out over all the rivers, canals, and pools in Egypt. The water will become blood, and all over the land there will be blood, even in the wooden tubs and stone jars."

20 Then Moses and Aaron did as the Lord commanded. In the presence of the king and his officers, Aaron raised his stick and struck the surface of the river, and all the water in it was turned into blood.

21 The fish in the river died, and it smelled so bad that the Egyptians could not drink from it. There was blood everywhere in Egypt.

22 Then the king's magicians did the same thing by means of their magic, and the king was as stubborn as ever. Just as the Lord had said, the king refused to listen to Moses and Aaron.

23 Instead, he turned and went back to his palace without paying any attention even to this.

24 All the Egyptians dug along the bank of the river for drinking water, because they were not able to drink water from the river.

25 Seven days passed after the Lord struck the river.

Exodus 8

1 Then the Lord said to Moses, "Go to the king and tell him that the Lord says, "Let my people go, so that they can worship me.

2 If you refuse, I will punish your country by covering it with frogs.

3 The Nile will be so full of frogs that they will leave it and go into your palace, your bedroom, your bed, the houses of your officials and your people, and even into your ovens and baking pans.

4 They will jump up on you, your people, and all your officials.' "

5 The Lord said to Moses, "Tell Aaron to hold out his walking stick over the rivers, the canals, and the pools, and make frogs come up and cover the land of Egypt."

6 So Aaron held it out over all the water, and the frogs came out and covered the land.

7 But the magicians used magic, and they also made frogs come up on the land.

8 The king called for Moses and Aaron and said, "Pray to the Lord to take away these frogs, and I will let your people go, so that they can offer sacrifices to the Lord."

9 Moses replied, "I will be glad to pray for you. Just set the time when I am to pray for you, your officers, and your people. Then you will be rid of the frogs, and there will be none left except in the Nile."

10 The king answered, "Pray for me tomorrow." Moses said, "I will do as you ask, and then you will know that there is no other god like the Lord, our God.

11 You, your officials, and your people will be rid of the frogs, and there will be none left except in the Nile."

12 Then Moses and Aaron left the king, and Moses prayed to the Lord to take away the frogs which he had brought on the king.

13 The Lord did as Moses asked, and the frogs in the houses, the courtyards, and the fields died.

14 The Egyptians piled them up in great heaps, until the land stank with them.

15 When the king saw that the frogs were dead, he became stubborn again and, just as the Lord had said, the king would not listen to Moses and Aaron.

16 The Lord said to Moses, "Tell Aaron to strike the ground with his stick, and all over the land of Egypt the dust will change into gnats."

17 So Aaron struck the ground with his stick, and all the dust in Egypt was turned into gnats, which covered the people and the animals.

18 The magicians tried to use their magic to make gnats appear, but they failed. There were gnats everywhere,

19 and the magicians said to the king, "God has done this!" But the king was stubborn and, just as the Lord had said, the king would not listen to Moses and Aaron.

20 The Lord said to Moses, "Early tomorrow morning go and meet the king as he goes to the river, and tell him that the Lord says, "Let my people go, so that they can worship me.

21 I warn you that if you refuse, I will punish you by sending flies on you, your officials, and your people. The houses of the Egyptians will be full of flies, and the ground will be covered with them.

22 But I will spare the region of Goshen, where my people live, so that there will be no flies there. I will do this so that you will know that I, the Lord, am at work in this land.

23 I will make a distinction between my people and your people. This miracle will take place tomorrow.' "

24 The Lord sent great swarms of flies into the king's palace and the houses of his officials. The whole land of Egypt was brought to ruin by the flies.

25 Then the king called for Moses and Aaron and said, "Go and offer sacrifices to your God here in this country."

26 "It would not be right to do that," Moses answered, "because the Egyptians would be offended by our sacrificing the animals that we offer to the Lord our God. If we use these animals and offend the Egyptians by sacrificing them where they can see us, they will stone us to death.

27 We must travel three days into the desert to offer sacrifices to the Lord our God, just as he commanded us."

28 The king said, "I will let you go to sacrifice to the Lord, your God, in the desert, if you do not go very far. Pray for me."

29 Moses answered, "As soon as I leave, I will pray to the Lord that tomorrow the flies will leave you, your officials, and your people. But you must not deceive us again and prevent the people from going to sacrifice to the Lord."

30 Moses left the king and prayed to the Lord,

31 and the Lord did as Moses asked. The flies left the king, his officials, and his people; not one fly remained.

32 But even this time the king became stubborn, and again he would not let the people go.

Exodus 9

1 The Lord said to Moses, "Go to the king and tell him that the Lord, the God of the Hebrews, says, "Let my people go, so that they may worship me.

2 If you again refuse to let them go,

3 I will punish you by sending a terrible disease on all your animals - your horses, donkeys, camels, cattle, sheep, and goats.

4 I will make a distinction between the animals of the Israelites and those of the Egyptians, and no animal that belongs to the Israelites will die.

5 I, the Lord, have set tomorrow as the time when I will do this.' "

6 The next day the Lord did as he had said, and all the animals of the Egyptians died, but not one of the animals of the Israelites died.

7 The king asked what had happened and was told that none of the animals of the Israelites had died. But he was stubborn and would not let the people go.

8 Then the Lord said to Moses and Aaron, "Take a few handfuls of ashes from a furnace; Moses is to throw them into the air in front of the king.

9 They will spread out like fine dust over all the land of Egypt, and everywhere they will produce boils that become open sores on the people and the animals."

10 So they got some ashes and stood before the king; Moses threw them into the air, and they produced boils that became open sores on the people and the animals.

11 The magicians were not able to appear before Moses, because they were covered with boils, like all the other Egyptians.

12 But the Lord made the king stubborn and, just as the Lord had said, the king would not listen to Moses and Aaron.

13 The Lord then said to Moses, "Early tomorrow morning meet with the king and tell him that the Lord, the God of the Hebrews, says, "Let my people go, so that they may worship me.

14 This time I will punish not only your officials and your people, but I will punish you as well, so that you may know that there is no one like me in all the world.

15 If I had raised my hand to strike you and your people with disease, you would have been completely destroyed.

16 But to show you my power I have let you live so that my fame might spread over the whole world.

17 Yet you are still arrogant and refuse to let my people go.

18 This time tomorrow I will cause a heavy hailstorm, such as Egypt has never known in all its history.

19 Now give orders for your livestock and everything else you have in the open to be put under shelter. Hail will fall on the people and animals left outside unprotected, and they will all die.' "

20 Some of the king's officials were afraid because of what the Lord had said, and they brought their slaves and animals indoors for shelter.

21 Others, however, paid no attention to the Lord's warning and left their slaves and animals out in the open.

22 Then the Lord said to Moses, "Raise your hand toward the sky, and hail will fall over the whole land of Egypt - on the people, the animals, and all the plants in the fields."

23 So Moses raised his stick toward the sky, and the Lord sent thunder and hail, and lightning struck the ground. The Lord sent

24 a heavy hailstorm, with lightning flashing back and forth. It was the worst storm that Egypt had ever known in all its history.

25 All over Egypt the hail struck down everything in the open, including all the people and all the animals. It beat down all the plants in the fields and broke all the trees.

26 The region of Goshen, where the Israelites lived, was the only place where there was no hail.

27 The king sent for Moses and Aaron and said, "This time I have sinned; the Lord is in the right, and my people and I are in the wrong.

28 Pray to the Lord! We have had enough of this thunder and hail! I promise to let you go; you don't have to stay here any longer."

29 Moses said to him, "As soon as I go out of the city, I will lift up my hands in prayer to the Lord. The thunder will stop, and there will be no more hail, so that you may know that the earth belongs to the Lord.

30 But I know that you and your officials do not yet fear the Lord God."

31 The flax and the barley were ruined, because the barley was ripe, and the flax was budding.

32 But none of the wheat was ruined, because it ripens later.

33 Moses left the king, went out of the city, and lifted up his hands in prayer to the Lord. The thunder, the hail, and the rain all stopped.

34 When the king saw what had happened, he sinned again. He and his officials remained as stubborn as ever

35 and, just as the Lord had foretold through Moses, the king would not let the Israelites go.