Exodus 8

1 Then the LORD said to Moses, “Go to Pharaoh and tell him that this is what the LORD says: ‘Let My people go, so that they may worship Me.

And the Lord said to Moses, Go in to Pharao, and thou shalt say to him, These things says the Lord: send forth my people, that they may serve me.

2 But if you refuse to let them go, I will plague your whole country with frogs.

And if thou wilt not send them forth, behold, I afflict all thy borders with frogs:

3 The Nile will teem with frogs, and they will come into your palace and up to your bedroom and onto your bed, into the houses of your officials and your people, and into your ovens and kneading bowls.

and the river shall teem with frogs, and they shall go up and enter into thy houses, and into thy bed-chambers, and upon thy beds, and upon the houses of thy servants, and of thy people and on thy dough, and on thine ovens.

4 The frogs will come up on you and your people and all your officials.’”

And upon thee, and upon thy servants, and upon thy people, shall the frogs come up.

5 And the LORD said to Moses, “Tell Aaron, ‘Stretch out your hand with your staff over the rivers and canals and ponds, and cause the frogs to come up onto the land of Egypt.’”

And the Lord said to Moses, Say to Aaron thy brother, Stretch forth with the hand thy rod over the rivers, and over the canals, and over the pools, and bring up the frogs.

6 So Aaron stretched out his hand over the waters of Egypt, and the frogs came up and covered the land of Egypt.

And Aaron stretched forth his hand over the waters of Egypt, and brought up the frogs: and the frog was brought up, and covered the land of Egypt.

7 But the magicians did the same thing by their magic arts, and they also brought frogs up onto the land of Egypt.

And the charmers of the Egyptians also did likewise with their sorceries, and brought up the frogs on the land of Egypt.

8 Pharaoh summoned Moses and Aaron and said, “Pray to the LORD to take the frogs away from me and my people. Then I will let your people go, that they may sacrifice to the LORD.”

And Pharao called Moses and Aaron, and said, Pray for me to the Lord, and let him take away the frogs from me and from my people; and I will send them away, and they shall sacrifice to the Lord.

9 Moses said to Pharaoh, “You may have the honor over me. When shall I pray for you and your officials and your people that the frogs (except for those in the Nile) may be taken away from you and your houses?”

And Moses said to Pharao, Appoint me [a time] when I shall pray for thee, and for thy servants, and for thy people, to cause the frogs to disappear from thee, and from thy people, and from your houses, only in the river shall they be left behind.

10 “Tomorrow,” Pharaoh answered. “May it be as you say,” Moses replied, “so that you may know that there is no one like the LORD our God.

And he said, On the morrow: he said therefore, As thou has said; that thou mayest know, that there is no other [God] but the Lord.

11 The frogs will depart from you and your houses and your officials and your people; they will remain only in the Nile.”

And the frogs shall be removed away from thee, and from your houses and from the villages, and from thy servants, and from thy people, only in the river they shall be left.

12 After Moses and Aaron had left Pharaoh, Moses cried out to the LORD for help with the frogs that He had brought against Pharaoh.

And Moses and Aaron went forth from Pharao, and Moses cried to the Lord concerning the restriction of the frogs, as Pharao appointed him.

13 And the LORD did as Moses requested, and the frogs in the houses, the courtyards, and the fields died.

And the Lord did as Moses said, and the frogs died out of the houses, and out of the villages, and out of the fields.

14 They were piled into countless heaps, and there was a terrible stench in the land.

And they gathered them together in heaps, and the land stank.

15 When Pharaoh saw that there was relief, however, he hardened his heart and would not listen to Moses and Aaron, just as the LORD had said.

And when Pharao saw that there was relief, his heart was hardened, and he did not hearken to them, as the Lord spoke.

16 Then the LORD said to Moses, “Tell Aaron, ‘Stretch out your staff and strike the dust of the earth, that it may turn into swarms of gnats throughout the land of Egypt.’”

And the Lord said to Moses, Say to Aaron, Stretch forth thy rod with thy hand and smite the dust of the earth; and there shall be lice both upon man, and upon quadrupeds, and in all the land of Egypt.

17 This they did, and when Aaron stretched out his hand with his staff and struck the dust of the earth, gnats came upon man and beast. All the dust of the earth turned into gnats throughout the land of Egypt.

So Aaron stretched out his rod with his hand, and smote the dust of the earth; and the lice were on men and on quadrupeds, and in all the dust of the earth there were lice.

18 The magicians tried to produce gnats using their magic arts, but they could not. And the gnats remained on man and beast.

And the charmers also did so with their sorceries, to bring forth the louse, and they could not. And the lice were both on the men and on the quadrupeds.

19 “This is the finger of God,” the magicians said to Pharaoh. But Pharaoh’s heart was hardened, and he would not listen to them, just as the LORD had said.

So the charmers said to Pharao, This is the finger of God. But the heart of Pharao was hardened, and he hearkened not to them, as the Lord said.

20 Then the LORD said to Moses, “Get up early in the morning, and when Pharaoh goes out to the water, stand before him and tell him that this is what the LORD says: ‘Let My people go, so that they may worship Me.

And the Lord said to Moses, Rise up early in the morning, and stand before Pharao: and behold, he will go forth to the water, and thou shalt say to him, These things says the Lord: Send away my people, that they may serve me in the wilderness.

21 But if you will not let My people go, I will send swarms of flies upon you and your officials and your people and your houses. The houses of the Egyptians and even the ground where they stand will be full of flies.

And if thou wilt not let my people go, behold, I send upon thee, and upon thy servants, and upon thy people, and upon your houses, the dog-fly; and the houses of the Egyptians shall be filled with the dog-fly, even throughout the land upon which they are.

22 But on that day I will give special treatment to the land of Goshen, where My people live; no swarms of flies will be found there. In this way you will know that I, the LORD, am in the land.

and I will distinguish marvellously in that day the land of Gesem, on which my people dwell, in which the dog-fly shall not be: that thou mayest know that I am the Lord the God of all the earth.

23 I will make a distinction between My people and your people. This sign will take place tomorrow.’”

And I will put a difference between my people and thy people, and on the morrow shall this be on the land. And the Lord did thus.

24 And the LORD did so. Thick swarms of flies poured into Pharaoh’s palace and into the houses of his officials. Throughout Egypt the land was ruined by swarms of flies.

And the dog-fly came in abundance into the houses of Pharao, and into the houses of his servants, and into all the land of Egypt; and the land was destroyed by the dog-fly.

25 Then Pharaoh summoned Moses and Aaron and said, “Go, sacrifice to your God within this land.”

And Pharao called Moses and Aaron, saying, Go and sacrifice to the Lord your God in the land.

26 But Moses replied, “It would not be right to do that, because the sacrifices we offer to the LORD our God would be detestable to the Egyptians. If we offer sacrifices that are detestable before the Egyptians, will they not stone us?

And Moses said, It cannot be so, for we shall sacrifice to the Lord our God the abominations of the Egyptians; for if we sacrifice the abominations of the Egyptians before them, we shall be stoned.

27 We must make a three-day journey into the wilderness and sacrifice to the LORD our God as He commands us.”

We will go a journey of three days into the wilderness, and we will sacrifice to the Lord our God, as the Lord said to us.

28 Pharaoh answered, “I will let you go and sacrifice to the LORD your God in the wilderness, but you must not go very far. Now pray for me.”

And Pharao said, I [will] let you go, and do ye sacrifice to your God in the wilderness, but do not go very far away: pray then for me to the Lord.

29 “As soon as I leave you,” Moses said, “I will pray to the LORD, so that tomorrow the swarms of flies will depart from Pharaoh and his officials and his people. But Pharaoh must not act deceitfully again by refusing to let the people go and sacrifice to the LORD.”

And Moses said, I then will go forth from thee and pray to God, and the dog-fly shall depart both from thy servants, and from thy people to-morrow. Do not thou, Pharao, deceive again, so as not to send the people away to do sacrifice to the Lord.

30 Then Moses left Pharaoh and prayed to the LORD,

And Moses went out from Pharao, and prayed to God.

31 and the LORD did as Moses requested. He removed the swarms of flies from Pharaoh and his officials and his people; not one fly remained.

And the Lord did as Moses said, and removed the dog-fly from Pharao, and from his servants, and from his people, and there was not one left.

32 But Pharaoh hardened his heart this time as well, and he would not let the people go.

And Pharao hardened his heart, even on this occasion, and he would not send the people away.