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.

Then Yahweh said to Moses/me, “Go back to the king and tell him, ‘Yahweh says that you must let my people go, in order that they can worship me [in the desert].

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

But if you refuse to let them go, I will punish you by sending frogs to cover your country.

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.

[Not only] will the Nile [River] be full of frogs, [but] the frogs will come up [out of the river] into your palace. They will come into your bedroom and onto your bed. They will be in the houses of your officials and all [the rest of] your people. They will even get into your ovens and your pans for mixing the materials for baking bread.

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

The frogs will jump up on you and your officials and [all the rest of] your people.’”

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.’”

Yahweh [also] said to Moses/me, “Say this to Aaron: ‘Hold your stick in your hand and stretch it out [as though you were stretching it] over the river, the canals, and over the pools, and cause frogs to come up [from all this water and] cover the land of Egypt.’”

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

[After Moses/I told that to] Aaron, he stretched out his hand [as though he were stretching it] over all the water in Egypt. And the frogs came up [from the water and] covered Egypt.

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

But the men who performed magic did the same thing, and they caused [more] frogs to come up [from the water onto the land].

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.”

Then the king summoned Moses/me and said, “Ask Yahweh to take away these frogs from me and my people. After that happens, I will allow your people to go, in order that they can offer sacrifices to Yahweh.”

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?”

Moses/I said to the king, “I will be glad to pray for you and for your officials and for [the rest of] your people. [I will ask Yahweh] to get rid of the frogs from all your houses. The only frogs left will be [those] in the Nile [River]. Just tell me when I should pray.”

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.

He replied, “Tomorrow.” So Moses/I said, “[I will do] what you say, and then you will know that Yahweh God, the one we [worship, is the only true god], and that there is no other god like him.

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

The frogs will leave you and your officials and all [the rest of] your people. The only ones left will be in the Nile [River].”

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.

Aaron and Moses/I left the king. Then Moses/I prayed to Yahweh, [asking him to take away] all the frogs he had [brought to the king’s land].

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

And Yahweh did just what Moses/I [asked him to do]. As a result, all the frogs in the houses, in their courtyards, and in the fields died.

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

The people gathered together all the dead frogs into big piles, and the land stank [from the smell].

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.

But when the king saw that [the problem] was ended, he became stubborn [IDM] [again]. And just as Yahweh had predicted, he would not pay attention to what Aaron and Moses/we told him.

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.’”

Then Yahweh said to Moses/me, “Tell Aaron to strike the ground with his stick. [When he does that], all the fine particles of ground/dust will become gnats, all over 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 they/we did that. Aaron struck the ground with his stick, and all over Egypt, the fine particles of ground/dirt became gnats. The gnats covered the people and all [their] animals.

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

The men who worked magic tried to cause gnats to appear, but they were unable to do it. So the gnats [stayed] on the Egyptian people and on their animals.

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.

The men who worked magic said to the king, “It is God who has done this with his power [MTY]!” But the king continued to be stubborn [IDM], and he would not pay attention to us, just as Yahweh had predicted.

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.

Then Yahweh said to Moses/me, “Get up early [tomorrow] morning. [Go down] to the river and wait for the king. [When he comes to bathe] [MTY], say to him, ‘This is what Yahweh says to you: “Let my people go, in order that they may worship me [in the desert].

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.

[I warn you that] if you do not let my people go, I will send swarms of flies to you. They will come down on you and on your officials and on [the rest of] your people. The houses of all you Egyptians will be full of flies. They will [even] cover the ground.

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.

But when that happens, I will treat the Goshen region, where my people live, differently. There will be no swarms of flies there. In that way, you will know that I, Yahweh, am doing these things [here] in this land.

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

I will distinguish clearly between [how I act toward] my people and [how I act toward] your people. And this plague is going to happen tomorrow!”’”

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.

[Early the next morning, Moses/I told that to the king, but the king would not pay any attention]. So Yahweh did what he said he would do. He sent great swarms of flies into the palace of the king and into the houses of his officials. The whole country of Egypt was ruined by the flies.

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

Then the king summoned Aaron and Moses/me and said, “You Israeli people can go and offer sacrifices to your god, [but you must do it] here in [this] 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?

But Moses/I replied, “It would not be right [for us] to do that, because we will be offering sacrifices that are very offensive to the Egyptian people. If we offer sacrifices that the Egyptian people think are disgusting, they will kill us by throwing stones at us [RHQ]!

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

No, we need to travel for three days into the desert. There we will offer sacrifices to Yahweh, the God we worship, just as he commands (OR, has commanded) 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.”

So the king said, “I will let your people go to offer sacrifices to Yahweh, your god, in the desert. But you must not go very far. [Now] pray for me!”

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.”

Moses/I said, “Listen [to me]! After I leave you, I will pray to Yahweh, [asking] that tomorrow [he will cause] the swarms of flies to leave you and your officials and [the rest of] your people. But do not deceive us again by refusing to let our people go to offer sacrifices to Yahweh!”

30 Then Moses left Pharaoh and prayed to the LORD,

Then Moses/I left the king and prayed to Yahweh.

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 Yahweh did what Moses/I asked, and he got rid of the swarms of flies from [around] the king and his officials and [the rest of] his people. No flies remained.

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

But the king was stubborn [IDM] this time also, and he did not allow the Israeli people to go.