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.
The Lord told Moses, “Go and speak to Pharaoh. Tell him, ‘This is what the Lord says: Let my people go, so that they can worship me.
2 For if you will not let them go, but still keep them in your power,
If you refuse to let them go and keep holding onto them,
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.
I will punish you by bringing a very severe plague on your livestock—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 distinguish between the livestock of the Israelites and the Egyptians, so that none of those 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 has set a time, saying, ‘Tomorrow this is what is going to happen here in the country.’”
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.
The following day the Lord did what he had said. All the Egyptians' livestock died, but not a single 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 out officials and discovered that not a single one of the Israelites' livestock had died. But Pharaoh was stubborn, and he would not let the people leave.
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.
The Lord told Moses and Aaron, “Go and get some handfuls of soot from a furnace. Then have Moses throw it into the air in front of Pharaoh.
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 spread like fine dust over the whole country of Egypt, and open sores will break out on people and animals 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.
They got soot from a furnace, and went to see Pharaoh. Moses threw it into the air, and open sores broke out on people and animals.
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 were unable to come and appear before Moses, because they and all the other Egyptians were covered in sores.
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 gave Pharaoh a stubborn attitude, and he would not listen to them, just as the Lord had told 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.
The Lord told Moses, “Tomorrow morning get up early and 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 can 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.
This time I will direct all my plagues against you and your officials and your people, so you will realize 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:
By now I could have reached out to strike you and your people with a plague that would have completely destroyed you.
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.
However, I have let you live so you can see my power, and that my reputation may be spread throughout the earth.
17 Are you still uplifted in pride against my people so that you will not let them go?
But in your pride you are still tyrannizing my people, and refuse to let them leave.
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.
So watch out! About this time tomorrow I will send down the worst hailstorm that has ever fallen on Egypt, from the beginning of its history 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 order your livestock and everything you have in the field to be brought inside. Every person and every animal that stays outside and is not brought inside will die when the hail falls on 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 of Pharaoh's officials who took seriously what the Lord said rushed to bring their servants and livestock inside.
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 didn't care what the Lord said left their servants and livestock outside.
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.
The Lord told Moses, “Lift your hand towards the sky so that a hailstorm will fall over the whole of Egypt, on people and on animals, and on everything growing in the fields 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.
Moses held up his staff toward heaven, and the Lord sent thunder and hail, and made lightning hit the ground. This is how the Lord rained hail down on 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.
As the hail fell it was accompanied by lightning flashing back and forth. The hail that fell was so severe that nothing like it had ever been seen in the whole of Egypt since the beginning of its history.
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.
All across Egypt hail hit everything in the fields, both people and animals. It knocked down everything growing in the fields, and stripped every tree bare.
26 Only in the land of Goshen, where the children of Israel were, there was no ice-storm.
Only in the land of Goshen where the Israelites lived was there no hail.
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.
Pharaoh called for Moses and Aaron and told them, “I admit that I sinned this time! The Lord is right, and I and my people are wrong!
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 us, because there's been more than enough of God's thunder and hail. I will let you leave. You don't need to stay here 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.
“Once I've left the city, I will pray to the Lord for you,” Moses told him. “The thunder will stop, and there'll be no more hail, so that you will realize that the earth belongs to the Lord.
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 I know you and your officials still do not really respect 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.
(The flax and barley were destroyed, because the barley was ripe and the flax was flowering.
32 But the rest of the grain-plants were undamaged, for they had not come up.
However, the wheat and the spelt were not destroyed because they grow later.)
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.
Moses left Pharaoh and went out of the city, and prayed to the Lord. The thunder and hail stopped, and the rainstorm finished.
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 stopped, he sinned again, and he chose to become stubborn again, along with 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.
Because of his stubborn attitude, Pharaoh would not let the Israelites leave, just as the Lord had predicted through Moses.
