Exodus 8

1 The Lord also said to Moses: “Enter to Pharaoh, and you will say to him: ‘Thus says the Lord: Release my people in order to sacrifice to me.

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.

2 But if you are not willing to release them, behold, I will strike all your coasts with frogs.

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

3 And the river will seethe with frogs, which will go up and enter into your house, and your bedroom, and upon your bed, and into the houses of your servants and your people, and into your ovens, and into the remains of your foods.

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.

4 And to you, and to your people, and to all your servants, the frogs will enter.’”

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

5 And the Lord said to Moses: “Say to Aaron: ‘Extend your hand over the rivers, and also over the streams and the marshes, and bring forth frogs over the land of Egypt.’”

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.’”

6 And Aaron extended his hand over the waters of Egypt, and the frogs came up and covered 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.

7 Then the sorcerers also, by their incantations, did similarly, and they brought forth frogs upon the land of Egypt.

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

8 But Pharaoh called Moses and Aaron, and he said to them: “Pray to the Lord, so as to take away the frogs from me and from my people. And I will release the people, so as to sacrifice to the Lord.”

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.”

9 And Moses said to Pharaoh: “Appoint for me a time, when I should petition on behalf of you, and your servants, and your people, so that the frogs may be driven away from you, and from your house, and from your servants, and from your people, and so that they may remain only in the river.”

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?”

10 And he responded, “Tomorrow.” Then he said, “I will act according to your word, so that you may know that there is no one like the Lord our God.

“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.

11 And the frogs will withdraw from you, and from your house, and from your servants, and from your people. And they will remain only in the river.”

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

12 And Moses and Aaron departed from Pharaoh. And Moses cried out to the Lord on behalf of the promise that he had made to Pharaoh concerning the frogs.

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

13 And the Lord acted according to the word of Moses. And the frogs died out of the houses, and out of the villages, and out of the fields.

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

14 And they gathered them together into immense piles, and the land was polluted.

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

15 Then Pharaoh, seeing that relief had been provided, hardened his own heart, and he did not listen to them, just as the Lord had instructed.

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.

16 And the Lord said to Moses: “Say to Aaron: ‘Extend your staff and strike the dust of the earth. And let there be stinging insects throughout the entire the land of Egypt.’”

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.’”

17 And they did so. And Aaron extended his hand, holding the staff, and he struck the dust of the earth, and there came stinging insects upon men and upon beasts. All the dust of the earth was turned into stinging insects through all the land of Egypt.

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.

18 And the sorcerers, with their incantations, did similarly, in order to bring forth stinging insects, but they were not able. And there were stinging insects, as much on men as on beasts.

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

19 And the sorcerers said to Pharaoh: “This is the finger of God.” And the heart of Pharaoh was hardened, and he did not listen to them, just as the Lord had instructed.

“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.

20 The Lord also said to Moses: “Arise at first light, and stand in the sight of Pharaoh, for he will go out to the waters. And you will say to him: ‘Thus says the Lord: Release my people to sacrifice to me.

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.

21 But if you will not release them, behold, I will send upon you, and upon your servants, and upon your people, and into your houses, diverse kinds of flies. And the houses of the Egyptians will be filled with diverse kinds of flies, as well as the whole land in which they will be.

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.

22 And in that day, I will cause a miracle in the land of Goshen, where my people are, so that flies will not be there. And you will know that I am the Lord in the midst of the earth.

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.

23 And I will set a division between my people and your people. Tomorrow this sign will be.’”

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

24 And the Lord did so. And there came very grievous flies into the houses of Pharaoh and of his servants, and into all the land of Egypt. And the land was polluted, in this way, by the flies.

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.

25 And Pharaoh called Moses and Aaron, and he said to them, “Go and sacrifice to your God in this land.”

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

26 And Moses said: “It cannot be so. For we will immolate the abominations of the Egyptians to the Lord our God. For if we slaughter those things which the Egyptians worship, in their presence, they will stone us.

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?

27 We will sojourn three days’ journey into the wilderness. And we will sacrifice to the Lord our God, just as he has instructed us.”

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

28 And Pharaoh said: “I will release you in order to sacrifice to the Lord your God in the desert. Yet you may only go so far. Petition for me.”

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.”

29 And Moses said: “After departing from you, I will pray to the Lord. And the flies will withdraw from Pharaoh, and from his servants, and from his people, tomorrow. Yet do not be willing to deceive any longer, so that you would not release the people to sacrifice to the Lord.”

“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.”

30 And Moses, departing from Pharaoh, prayed to the Lord.

Then Moses left Pharaoh and prayed to the LORD,

31 And he acted according to his word. And he took away the flies from Pharaoh, and from his servants, and from his people. There was not even one left behind.

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.

32 And the heart of Pharaoh was hardened, so that, even at this turn, he would not release the people.

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