< Exodus 9 >
1 Then the Lord said to Moses, Go in to Pharaoh and say to him, This is what the Lord, the God of the Hebrews, says: Let my people go so that they may give me worship.
Then the LORD said to Moses, “Go to Pharaoh and tell him that this is what the LORD, the God of the Hebrews, says: ‘Let My people go, so that they may worship Me.
2 For if you will not let them go, but still keep them in your power,
But if you continue to restrain them and refuse to let them go,
3 Then the hand of the Lord will put on your cattle in the field, on the horses and the asses and the camels, on the herds and the flocks, a very evil disease.
then the hand of the LORD will bring a severe plague on your livestock in the field—on your horses, donkeys, camels, herds, and flocks.
4 And the Lord will make a division between the cattle of Israel and the cattle of Egypt; there will be no loss of any of the cattle of Israel.
But the LORD will make a distinction between the livestock of Israel and the livestock of Egypt, so that no animal belonging to the Israelites will die.’”
5 And the time was fixed by the Lord, and he said, Tomorrow the Lord will do this thing in the land.
The LORD set a time, saying, “Tomorrow the LORD will do this in the land.”
6 And on the day after, the Lord did as he had said, causing the death of all the cattle of Egypt, but there was no loss of any of the cattle of Israel.
And the next day the LORD did just that. All the livestock of the Egyptians died, but not one animal belonging to the Israelites died.
7 And Pharaoh sent and got word that there was no loss of any of the cattle of Israel. But the heart of Pharaoh was hard and he did not let the people go.
Pharaoh sent officials and found that none of the livestock of the Israelites had died. But Pharaoh’s heart was hardened, and he would not let the people go.
8 And the Lord said to Moses and to Aaron, Take in your hand a little dust from the fire and let Moses send it in a shower up to heaven before the eyes of Pharaoh.
Then the LORD said to Moses and Aaron, “Take handfuls of soot from the furnace; in the sight of Pharaoh, Moses is to toss it into the air.
9 And it will become small dust over all the land of Egypt, and will be a skin-disease bursting out in wounds on man and beast through all the land of Egypt.
It will become fine dust over all the land of Egypt, and festering boils will break out on man and beast throughout the land.”
10 So they took some dust from the fire, and placing themselves before Pharaoh, Moses sent it out in a shower up to heaven; and it became a skin-disease bursting out on man and on beast.
So they took soot from the furnace and stood before Pharaoh. Moses tossed it into the air, and festering boils broke out on man and beast.
11 And the wonder-workers were not able to take their places before Moses, because of the disease; for the disease was on the wonder-workers and on all the Egyptians.
The magicians could not stand before Moses, because the boils had broken out on them and on all the Egyptians.
12 And the Lord made Pharaoh's heart hard, and he would not give ear to them, as the Lord had said.
But the LORD hardened Pharaoh’s heart, and he would not listen to them, just as the LORD had said to Moses.
13 And the Lord said to Moses, Get up early in the morning and take your place before Pharaoh, and say to him, This is what the Lord, the God of the Hebrews, says: Let my people go so that they may give me worship.
Then the LORD said to Moses, “Get up early in the morning, stand before Pharaoh, and tell him that this is what the LORD, the God of the Hebrews, says: ‘Let My people go, so that they may worship Me.
14 For this time I will send all my punishments on yourself and on your servants and on your people; so that you may see that there is no other like me in all the earth.
Otherwise, I will send all My plagues against you and your officials and your people, so you may know that there is no one like Me in all the earth.
15 For if I had put the full weight of my hand on you and your people, you would have been cut off from the earth:
For by this time I could have stretched out My hand and struck you and your people with a plague to wipe you off the earth.
16 But, for this very reason, I have kept you from destruction, to make clear to you my power, and so that my name may be honoured through all the earth.
But I have raised you up for this very purpose, that I might display My power to you, and that My name might be proclaimed in all the earth.
17 Are you still uplifted in pride against my people so that you will not let them go?
Still, you lord it over My people and do not allow them to go.
18 Truly, tomorrow about this time I will send down an ice-storm, such as never was in Egypt from its earliest days till now.
Behold, at this time tomorrow I will rain down the worst hail that has ever fallen on Egypt, from the day it was founded until now.
19 Then send quickly and get in your cattle and all you have from the fields; for if any man or beast in the field has not been put under cover, the ice-storm will come down on them with destruction.
So give orders now to shelter your livestock and everything you have in the field. Every man or beast that remains in the field and is not brought inside will die when the hail comes down upon them.’”
20 Then everyone among the servants of Pharaoh who had the fear of the Lord, made his servants and his cattle come quickly into the house:
Those among Pharaoh’s officials who feared the word of the LORD hurried to bring their servants and livestock to shelter,
21 And he who gave no attention to the word of the Lord, kept his servants and his cattle in the field.
but those who disregarded the word of the LORD left their servants and livestock in the field.
22 And the Lord said to Moses, Now let your hand be stretched out to heaven so that there may be an ice-storm on all the land of Egypt, on man and on beast and on every plant of the field through all the land of Egypt.
Then the LORD said to Moses, “Stretch out your hand toward heaven, so that hail may fall on all the land of Egypt—on man and beast and every plant of the field throughout the land of Egypt.”
23 And Moses put out his rod to heaven: and the Lord sent thunder, and an ice-storm, and fire running down on the earth; the Lord sent an ice-storm on the land of Egypt.
So Moses stretched out his staff toward heaven, and the LORD sent thunder and hail, and lightning struck the earth. So the LORD rained down hail upon the land of Egypt.
24 So there was an ice-storm with fire running through it, coming down with great force, such as never was in all the land of Egypt from the time when it became a nation.
The hail fell and the lightning continued flashing through it. The hail was so severe that nothing like it had ever been seen in all the land of Egypt from the time it became a nation.
25 And through all the land of Egypt the ice-storm came down on everything which was in the fields, on man and on beast; and every green plant was crushed and every tree of the field broken.
Throughout the land of Egypt, the hail struck down everything in the field, both man and beast; it beat down every plant of the field and stripped every tree.
26 Only in the land of Goshen, where the children of Israel were, there was no ice-storm.
The only place where it did not hail was in the land of Goshen, where the Israelites lived.
27 Then Pharaoh sent for Moses and Aaron, and said to them, I have done evil this time: the Lord is upright, and I and my people are sinners.
Then Pharaoh summoned Moses and Aaron. “This time I have sinned,” he said. “The LORD is righteous, and I and my people are wicked.
28 Make prayer to the Lord; for there has been enough of these thunderings of God and this ice-storm; and I will let you go and will keep you no longer.
Pray to the LORD, for there has been enough of God’s thunder and hail. I will let you go; you do not need to stay any longer.”
29 And Moses said, When I am gone outside the town, my hands will be stretched out to the Lord; the thunders and the ice-storm will come to an end, so that you may see that the earth is the Lord's.
Moses said to him, “When I have left the city, I will spread out my hands to the LORD. The thunder will cease, and there will be no more hail, so that you may know that the earth is the LORD’s.
30 But as for you and your servants, I am certain that even now the fear of the Lord God will not be in your hearts.
But as for you and your officials, I know that you still do not fear the LORD our God.”
31 And the flax and the barley were damaged, for the barley was almost ready to be cut and the flax was in flower.
(Now the flax and barley were destroyed, since the barley was ripe and the flax was in bloom;
32 But the rest of the grain-plants were undamaged, for they had not come up.
but the wheat and spelt were not destroyed, because they are late crops.)
33 So Moses went out of the town, and stretching out his hands made prayer to God: and the thunders and the ice-storm came to an end; and the fall of rain was stopped.
Then Moses departed from Pharaoh, went out of the city, and spread out his hands to the LORD. The thunder and hail ceased, and the rain no longer poured down on the land.
34 But when Pharaoh saw that the rain and the ice-storm and the thunders were ended, he went on sinning, and made his heart hard, he and his servants.
When Pharaoh saw that the rain and hail and thunder had ceased, he sinned again and hardened his heart—he and his officials.
35 And the heart of Pharaoh was hard, and he did not let the people go, as the Lord had said by the mouth of Moses.
So Pharaoh’s heart was hardened, and he would not let the Israelites go, just as the LORD had said through Moses.