Then God said to Moses, "Pharaoh
is stubborn; he will not let the people go. Go to Pharaoh early in
the morning, as he is going out on the water, and stand by the bank
of the Nile to meet him. Say to him, 'God, the God of the Hebrews,
has sent me to you with this command: Let my people go that they may
worship me in the wilderness, but so far you have not listened. God
declares, By this you shall know that I am God: See, I will strike
the waters which are in the river with the rod that is in my hand
and they shall be changed into blood. The fish, too, that are in the
Nile shall die, and the Nile shall become foul, so that the
Egyptians will hate to drink its water.'"
Then Moses lifted up the staff and in the presence of Pharaoh and
his servants struck the waters that were in the river Nile; and all
its waters were changed into blood. The fish, too, that were in the
Nile died, and the river became so foul that the Egyptians could not
drink its water, but dug round about the Nile for water to drink.
Seven days later God gave this command to Moses, "Go in to Pharaoh
and say to him, 'God commands: Let my people go that they may
worship me. If you refuse to let them go, then I will afflict all
your land with frogs; and the Nile shall swarm with frogs which
shall go up and come into your house, into your sleeping chamber,
upon your bed, into the houses of your servants, upon your people,
and into your ovens and kneading-troughs; and the frogs shall come
up even upon you and your people and all your servants.'"
Then God said to Moses, "Say to Aaron: 'Stretch out your hand with
your staff over the rivers, over the canals, and over the pools, and
cause frogs to come up over the land of Egypt.'" So Aaron stretched
out his hand over the waters of Egypt; and the frogs came up and
covered the land of Egypt.
Then Pharaoh called for Moses and Aaron and said, "Pray to God to
take away the frogs from me and my people; then I will let the
people go, that they may offer a sacrifice to God." Moses said to
Pharaoh, "Will you do yourself the honor of telling me at what time
I shall pray to God in your behalf and in behalf of your servants
and people, that the frogs be destroyed from your palaces and be
left only in the Nile?" Pharaoh answered, "To-morrow." Then Moses
said, "Let it be as you say; that you may know that there is none
like God our God, the frogs shall depart from you, from your
palaces, and from your servants and people; they shall be left only
in the Nile."
When Moses and Aaron had gone out from Pharaoh, Moses prayed to God
to remove the frogs which he had brought upon Pharaoh; and God did
as Moses asked. The frogs died in the houses, in the courts, and in
the fields, and the people gathered them together in many heaps; and
the land was filled with a vile odor. But when Pharaoh saw that
relief had come, he was stubborn and, as God had said, did not
listen to Moses and Aaron.
Then God said to Moses, "Get up early in the morning and stand
before Pharaoh, just as he goes out to the water, and say to him,
'God commands: Let my people go that they may worship me. If you
will not let my people go, I will send swarms of flies upon you,
upon your servants, and upon your people and into your palaces, so
that the houses of the Egyptians shall be full of swarms of flies,
as well as the ground upon which they stand. But at that time I will
set apart the land of Goshen in which my people live, and no swarms
of flies shall be there, so that you may know that I, God, am in the
midst of the earth.'"
And God did so: a vast swarm of flies came upon Pharaoh's palace and
into the homes of his servants; and all the land of Egypt was ruined
by the swarms of flies.
Then Pharaoh called for Moses and Aaron and said, "I will let you go
that you may offer a sacrifice to God your God in the wilderness;
only you must not go far away. Pray for me." Moses replied, "I will
go out and will pray to God that the swarms of flies may depart from
Pharaoh, from his servants and from his people to-morrow; only let
not Pharaoh again act deceitfully by refusing to let the people go
to offer a sacrifice to God."
So Moses went out from Pharaoh and prayed to God. And God did as
Moses asked; but this time also Pharaoh was stubborn and would not
let the people go.
Then God said to Moses, "Go to Pharaoh and tell him, 'God the God of
the Hebrews commands: Let my people go that they may worship me. For
if you refuse to let them go and still hold them, then the power of
God will bring a very severe pest upon your cattle which are in the
field, upon the horses, the asses, the camels, the herds, and the
flocks. But God will make a difference between the cattle of Israel
and the cattle of Egypt, and not one that belongs to the Israelites
shall die.'"
So God set a fixed time, saying, "To-morrow God will do this in the
land." God did this on the next day, and all the cattle of the
Egyptians died; but none of the cattle of the Israelites. Then
Pharaoh sent and found that not even one of the cattle of the
Israelites was dead; but Pharaoh was stubborn and would not let the
people go.
Then God said to Moses, "Get up early in the morning and stand
before Pharaoh, and say to him,'God, the God of the Hebrews,
commands: Let my people go, that they may worship me. Do you still
set yourself against my people, so that you will not let them go?
To-morrow about this time I will send down a very heavy fall of
hail, such as has not been in Egypt from the day that it became a
nation until now.'"
So God sent down hail upon the land of Egypt, and the lightning
flashing in the midst of the hail was very severe, such as had not
been before in all Egypt since it became a nation. Through the whole
land of Egypt the hail struck down everything that was in the field,
both man and beast. The hail also struck down all the growing plants
and broke all the trees in the fields. Only in the land of Goshen,
where the Israelites were, there was no hail.
Again Pharaoh sent and called for Moses and Aaron and said to them,
"I have sinned this time; God is right and I and my people are
wrong. Pray to God, for there has been enough of these mighty
thunderings and hail, and I will let you go, and you shall stay no
longer." Moses said to him, "As soon as I have gone out of the city,
I will spread out my hands in prayer to God; the thunders shall
stop, and there shall be no more hail, that you may know that the
earth is God's. But as for you and your servants, I know that even
then you will not fear God."
So Moses went out of the city from Pharaoh and spread out his hands
to God; and the thunders and hail stopped, and the rain was no
longer poured upon the earth. But when Pharaoh saw that the rain and
the hail and the thunders had stopped, he sinned again, and he and
his servants became stubborn, and he would not let the Israelites
go.
So Moses and Aaron went to Pharaoh, and said to him, "God, the God
of the Hebrews, commands: 'How long will you refuse to obey me? Let
my people go that they may worship me. For if you refuse to let my
people go, then to-morrow I will bring locusts into your land, and
they will cover the surface of the earth, so that no one will be
able to see the ground, and they shall eat the rest of that which is
left to you from the hail, and they shall eat all your trees which
grow in the field.'"
Then Moses and Aaron were driven out from Pharaoh's presence, but
Moses stretched out his staff over the land of Egypt, and God caused
an east wind to blow over the land all that day and night. In the
morning the east wind brought the locusts, and they went over all
the land of Egypt and settled down in all the land of Egypt, a very
large swarm, more locusts than there ever were before or ever will
be again. For they covered the surface of the whole land, so that
the land was darkened and nothing green was left, neither tree nor
growing plants, anywhere in all the land of Egypt.
Then Pharaoh called for Moses in haste and said, "I have sinned
against God your God and against you. Now therefore forgive my sin
only this once, and pray to God your God to take away from me this
deadly plague." So Moses went out from Pharaoh and prayed to God,
and God made a very strong west wind to blow which took up the
locusts and drove them into the Red Sea; not a single locust was
left in all the land of Egypt. But God let Pharaoh's heart remain
stubborn, so that he would not let the Israelites go.
Then God said to Moses, "Stretch out your hand toward heaven, that
there may be darkness over the land of Egypt, so dark that it may be
felt." So Moses stretched out his hand toward heaven; and there was
complete darkness in all the land of Egypt for three days; no one
could see another, nor did any one move about for three days. But
the Israelites had light in their homes.
Then Pharaoh called Moses and said, "Go, worship God; only let your
flocks and your herds stay behind; let your little ones go with
you." But Moses said, "You must also give us animals for sacrifices
and burnt-offerings, that we may offer a sacrifice to God our God.
Our cattle too must go with us; not a hoof shall be left behind, for
we must take these to offer to God our God, and we do not know what
we must offer to God until we arrive there."
But God let Pharaoh's heart remain stubborn, and he would not let
them go. And Pharaoh said to him, "Go away from me; take care that
you never come to me again; for on the day that you come to me you
shall die." Moses replied, "You have spoken truly, I shall never see
you again."
Moses said to Pharaoh, "God declares: 'About midnight I will go
through all of Egypt. All the eldest sons in the land of Egypt shall
die, from the eldest son of Pharaoh who sits upon his throne, even
to the eldest son of the slave girl who is behind the mill, and all
the first-born of the cattle. There shall be a great cry of sorrow
all over the land of Egypt, such as has never been before and never
shall be again.' But not a single dog shall bark at any of the
Israelites nor their animals, that you may know that God does make a
difference between the Egyptians and Israelites. All these your
servants shall come to me and bow down before me, saying, 'Go away,
together with all the people that follow you.' After that I will go
away." And Moses went from Pharaoh in great anger.