Exodus 9
1 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.
And the Lord said to Moses, Go in to Pharao, and you shall say to him, These things says the Lord God of the Hebrews; Send my people away that they may serve me.
2 If you refuse to let them go and keep holding onto them,
If however you will not send my people away, but yet detain them:
3 I will punish you by bringing a very severe plague on your livestock—on your horses, donkeys, camels, herds, and flocks.
behold, the hand of the Lord shall be upon your cattle in the fields, both on the horses, and on the asses, and on the camels and oxen and sheep, a very great mortality.
4 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.’
And I will make a marvellous distinction in that time between the cattle of the Egyptians, and the cattle of the children of Israel: nothing shall die of all that is of the children's of Israel.
5 The Lord has set a time, saying, ‘Tomorrow this is what is going to happen here in the country.’”
And God fixed a limit, saying, To-morrow the Lord will do this thing on the land.
6 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.
And the Lord did this thing on the next day, and all the cattle of the Egyptians died, but of the cattle of the children of Israel there died not one.
7 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.
And when Pharao saw, that of all the cattle of the children of Israel there died not one, the heart of Pharao was hardened, and he did not let the people go.
8 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.
And the Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron, saying, Take you handfuls of ashes of the furnace, and let Moses scatter it towards heaven before Pharao, and before his servants.
9 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.”
And let it become dust over all the land of Egypt, and there shall be upon men and upon beasts sore blains breaking forth both on men and on beasts, in all the land of Egypt.
10 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.
So he took of the ashes of the furnace before Pharao, and Moses scattered it towards heaven, and it became sore blains breaking forth both on men and on beasts.
11 The magicians were unable to come and appear before Moses, because they and all the other Egyptians were covered in sores.
And the sorcerers could not stand before Moses because of the sores, for the sores were on the sorcerers, and in all the land of Egypt.
12 But the Lord gave Pharaoh a stubborn attitude, and he would not listen to them, just as the Lord had told Moses.
And the Lord hardened Pharao's heart, and he listened not to them, as the Lord appointed.
13 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.
And the Lord said to Moses, Rise up early in the morning, and stand before Pharao; and you shall say to him, These things says the Lord God of the Hebrews, Send away my people that they may serve me.
14 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.
For at this present time do I send forth all my plagues into your heart, and the heart of your servants and of your people; that you may know that there is not another such as I in all the earth.
15 By now I could have reached out to strike you and your people with a plague that would have completely destroyed you.
For now I will stretch forth my hand and strike you and kill your people, and you shall be consumed from off the earth.
16 However, I have let you live so you can see my power, and that my reputation may be spread throughout the earth.
And for this purpose have you been preserved, that I might display in you my strength, and that my name might bepublished in all the earth.
17 But in your pride you are still tyrannizing my people, and refuse to let them leave.
Do you then yet exert yourself to hinder my people, so as not to let them go?
18 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.
Behold, to-morrow at this hour I will rain a very great hail, such as has not been in Egypt, from the time it was created until this day.
19 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.’”
Now then hasten to gather your cattle, and all that you have in the fields; for all the men and cattle as many as shall be found in the fields, and shall not enter into a house, (but the hail shall fall upon them, ) shall die.
20 Those of Pharaoh's officials who took seriously what the Lord said rushed to bring their servants and livestock inside.
He of the servants of Pharao that feared the word of the Lord, gathered his cattle into the houses.
21 But those who didn't care what the Lord said left their servants and livestock outside.
And he that did not attend in his mind to the word of the Lord, left the cattle in the fields.
22 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.”
And the Lord said to Moses, Stretch out your hand to heaven, and there shall be hail on all the land of Egypt, both on the men and on the cattle, and on all the herbage on the land.
23 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.
And Moses stretched forth his hand to heaven, and the Lord sent thunderings and hail; and the fire ran along upon the ground, and the Lord rained hail on all the land of Egypt.
24 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.
So there was hail and flaming fire mingled with hail; and the hail was very great, such as was not in Egypt, from the time there was a nation upon it.
25 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.
And the hail struck in all the land of Egypt both man and beast, and the hail struck all the grass in the field, and the hail broke in pieces all the trees in the field.
26 Only in the land of Goshen where the Israelites lived was there no hail.
Only in the land of Gesem where the children of Israel were, the hail was not.
27 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!
And Pharao sent and called Moses and Aaron, and said to them, I have sinned this time: the Lord [is] righteous, and I and my people are wicked.
28 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.”
Pray then for me to the Lord, and let him cause the thunderings of God to cease, and the hail and the fire, and I will send you forth and you shall remain no longer.
29 “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.
And Moses said to him, When I shall have departed from the city, I will stretch out my hands to the Lord, and the thunderings shall cease, and the hail and the rain shall be no longer, that you may know that the earth [is] the Lord's.
30 But I know you and your officials still do not really respect the Lord our God.”
But as for you and your servants, I know that you have not yet feared the Lord.
31 (The flax and barley were destroyed, because the barley was ripe and the flax was flowering.
And the flax and the barley were struck, for the barley was advanced, and the flax was seeding.
32 However, the wheat and the spelt were not destroyed because they grow later.)
But the wheat and the rye were not struck, for they were late.
33 Moses left Pharaoh and went out of the city, and prayed to the Lord. The thunder and hail stopped, and the rainstorm finished.
And Moses went forth from Pharao out of the city, and stretched out his hands to the Lord, and the thunders ceased and the hail, and the rain did not drop on the earth.
34 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.
And when Pharao saw that the rain and the hail and the thunders ceased, he continued to sin; and [he] hardened his heart, and the heart of his servants.
35 Because of his stubborn attitude, Pharaoh would not let the Israelites leave, just as the Lord had predicted through Moses.
And the heart of Pharao was hardened, and he did not send forth the children of Israel, as the Lord said to Moses.
