Exodus 8

1 Then the Lord told Moses, “Go and see Pharaoh and say to him, ‘This is what the Lord says: Let my people go, so that they can worship me.

And Jehovah said to Moses, Go unto Pharaoh, and say unto him, Thus saith Jehovah: Let my people go, that they may serve me.

2 If you refuse to let them leave, I will send a plague of frogs all over your country.

And if thou refuse to let [them] go, behold, I will smite all thy borders with frogs.

3 They will swarm out of the Nile, and they will enter your palace and get into your bedroom and jump onto your bed. They will get into the houses of your officials and jump around your people—even into your ovens and breadmaking bowls.

And the river shall swarm with frogs, and they shall go up and come into thy house, and into thy bedroom, and upon thy bed, and into the house of thy bondmen, and upon thy people, and into thine ovens, and into thy kneading-troughs.

4 Frogs will jump all over you, your people, and all your officials.’”

And the frogs shall come up both upon thee and upon thy people, and upon all thy bondmen.

5 The Lord said to Moses, “Tell Aaron, ‘Hold out your walking stick in your hand over the rivers and canals and ponds, and make frogs spread over Egypt.’”

And Jehovah said to Moses, Say unto Aaron, Stretch out thy hand with thy staff over the streams, over the rivers, and over the ponds, and cause frogs to come up on the land of Egypt.

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

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

7 But the Egyptian magicians did the same thing using their magic arts. They brought up frogs in Egypt.

And the scribes did so with their sorceries, and brought up frogs on the land of Egypt.

8 Pharaoh called for Moses and Aaron and pleaded with them, “Pray to the Lord, and ask him to take away the frogs from me and my people. Then I will let your people go so they can offer sacrifices to the Lord.”

And Pharaoh called Moses and Aaron, and said, Intreat Jehovah, that he may take away the frogs from me and from my people; and I will let the people go, that they may sacrifice to Jehovah.

9 “You may have the honor of deciding when I'll pray for you, your officials, and your people that the frogs will be removed from you and your houses. They will remain only in the Nile.”

And Moses said to Pharaoh, Glory over me, for what time shall I intreat for thee, and for thy bondmen, and for thy people, to cut off the frogs from thee and from thy houses; [so that] they shall remain in the river only?

10 “Do it tomorrow,” Pharaoh replied. Moses said, “It will happen as you have requested so you will know that there is no one like the Lord our God.

And he said, For to-morrow. And he said, Be it according to thy word; that thou mayest know that there is none like Jehovah our God.

11 The frogs will leave you and your houses, your officials and your people, and they will remain only in the Nile.”

And the frogs shall depart from thee, and from thy houses, and from thy bondmen, and from thy people: they shall remain in the river only.

12 Moses and Aaron left Pharaoh, and Moses pleaded with the Lord about the frogs he had sent against Pharaoh.

And Moses and Aaron went out from Pharaoh; and Moses cried to Jehovah because of the frogs that he had brought against Pharaoh.

13 The Lord did as Moses asked. The frogs in the houses, the courtyards, and the fields died.

And Jehovah did according to the word of Moses; and the frogs died out of the houses, out of the courts, and out of the fields.

14 The people collected them in pile upon pile, and the whole country smelled terrible.

And they gathered them in heaps; and the land stank.

15 But when Pharaoh realized the plague had passed he chose to become hard and stubborn again, wouldn't listen to Moses and Aaron, just as the Lord had predicted.

And Pharaoh saw that there was respite; and he hardened his heart, and hearkened not to them, as Jehovah had said.

16 The Lord said to Moses, “Tell Aaron, ‘Pick up your walking stick and hit the dust of the ground. The dust will become gnats swarming all over Egypt.’”

And Jehovah said to Moses, Say unto Aaron, Stretch out thy staff, and smite the dust of the earth, and it shall become gnats throughout the land of Egypt.

17 They did what the Lord said. When Aaron lifted up his walking stick and hit the dust of the earth, gnats swarmed over both people and animals. The dust in the whole of Egypt turned into gnats.

And they did so; and Aaron stretched out his hand with his staff, and smote the dust of the earth, and there arose gnats on man and on beast: all the dust of the land became gnats throughout the land of Egypt.

18 The magicians also tried to make gnats using their magic arts, but they couldn't. The gnats stayed on both people and animals.

And the scribes did so with their sorceries, to bring forth gnats; but they could not. And the gnats were on man and on beast.

19 “This is an act of God,” the magicians told Pharaoh. But Pharaoh chose to be stubbornly hard-hearted, and he wouldn't listen to Moses and Aaron, just as the Lord had predicted.

Then the scribes said to Pharaoh, This is the finger of God! But Pharaoh's heart was stubborn, and he hearkened not to them, as Jehovah had said.

20 The Lord told Moses, “Tomorrow morning get up early and block Pharaoh's way as he walks down to the river. Tell him, ‘This is what the Lord says: Let my people go, so that they can worship me.

And Jehovah said to Moses, Rise up early in the morning, and stand before Pharaoh — behold, he will go out to the water — and say to him, Thus saith Jehovah, Let my people go, that they may serve me.

21 If you don't let my people leave, I will send swarms of flies on you and your officials, and on your people and your houses. Every Egyptian house and even the ground on which they stand will be filled with swarms of flies.

For, if thou do not let my people go, behold, I will send dog-flies upon thee, and upon thy bondmen, and upon thy people, and into thy houses; and the houses of the Egyptians shall be full of dog-flies, and also the ground on which they are.

22 However, on this occasion I will treat the land of Goshen differently—that's where my people live—there won't be any swarms of flies there. This is how you will know that I, the Lord, am here in your country.

And I will distinguish in that day the land of Goshen, in which my people dwell, that no dog-flies shall be there; that thou mayest know that I Jehovah am in the midst of the land.

23 I will distinguish my people from your people. You will see this sign that confirms it tomorrow.”

And I will put a separation between my people and thy people; to-morrow shall this sign be.

24 The Lord did what he had said. Huge swarms of flies swept into Pharaoh's palace and into the houses of his officials. The whole of Egypt was devastated because of these swarms of flies.

And Jehovah did so; and there came dog-flies in a multitude into the house of Pharaoh, and [into] the houses of his bondmen; and throughout the land of Egypt, the land was corrupted by the dog-flies.

25 Pharaoh called for Moses and Aaron and told them, “Go and offer sacrifices to your God here in this country.”

And Pharaoh called Moses and Aaron, and said, Go, sacrifice to your God in the land.

26 “No, that wouldn't be the right thing to do,” Moses replied. “The sacrifices we offer to the Lord our God would be offensive to Egyptians. If we went ahead and offered sacrifices offensive to Egyptians, they'd stone us!

And Moses said, It is not proper to do so; for we should sacrifice the abomination of the Egyptians to Jehovah our God: lo, if we sacrificed the abomination of the Egyptians before their eyes, would they not stone us?

27 We must make a three-day journey into the wilderness and offer sacrifices there to the Lord our God as he has told us.”

We will go three days' journey into the wilderness, and sacrifice to Jehovah our God, as he shall command us.

28 “I'll let you go and offer sacrifices to the Lord your God in the desert, but don't go very far,” Pharaoh answered. “Now pray for me that this plague ends.”

And Pharaoh said, I will let you go, that you may sacrifice to Jehovah your God in the wilderness; only, go not very far away: intreat for me!

29 “As soon as I leave you, I will pray to the Lord,” Moses replied, “and tomorrow the flies will leave Pharaoh and his officials and his people. But Pharaoh should be sure not to be deceitful again and refuse to let the people go and offer sacrifices to the Lord.”

And Moses said, Behold, I go out from thee, and will intreat Jehovah; and the dog-flies will depart from Pharaoh, from his bondmen, and from his people, to-morrow; only let not Pharaoh deal deceitfully any more in not letting the people go to sacrifice to Jehovah.

30 Moses left Pharaoh and prayed to the Lord,

And Moses went out from Pharaoh, and intreated Jehovah.

31 and the Lord did as Moses asked, and removed the swarms of flies from Pharaoh and his officials and his people. Not a single fly remained.

And Jehovah did according to the word of Moses; and he removed the dog-flies from Pharaoh, from his bondmen, and from his people; there remained not one.

32 But once again Pharaoh chose to be stubbornly hard-hearted and would not let the people leave.

And Pharaoh hardened his heart this time also, and would not let the people go.