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 speak to him: Thus saith the Lord God of the Hebrews: Let my people go to sacrifice to me.
2 If you refuse to let them go and keep holding onto them,
But if thou refuse, and withhold them still:
3 I will punish you by bringing a very severe plague on your livestock—on your horses, donkeys, camels, herds, and flocks.
Behold my hand shall be upon thy fields: and a very grievous murrain upon thy horses, and asses, and camels, and oxen, and sheep.
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 the Lord will make a wonderful difference between the possessions of Israel and the possessions of the Egyptians, that nothing at all shall die of those things that belong to the children of Israel.
5 The Lord has set a time, saying, ‘Tomorrow this is what is going to happen here in the country.’”
And the Lord appointed a time, saying: Tomorrow will the Lord do this thing in 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.
The Lord therefore did this thing the next day: and all the beasts of the Egyptians died, but of the beasts 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 Pharao sent to see: and there was not any thing dead of that which Israel possessed. And Pharao’s heart 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 said to Moses and Aaron: Take to you handfuls of ashes out of the chimney, and let Moses sprinkle it in the air in the presence of Pharao.
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 be there dust upon all the land of Egypt: for there shall be boils and swelling blains both in men and beasts in the whole 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.
And they took ashes out of the chimney, and stood before Pharao, and Moses sprinkled it in the air: and there came boils with swelling blains in men and beasts.
11 The magicians were unable to come and appear before Moses, because they and all the other Egyptians were covered in sores.
Neither could the magicians stand before Moses for the boils that were upon them, 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 hearkened not unto them, as the Lord had spoken to Moses.
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: Arise in the morning, and stand before Pharao, and thou shalt say to him: Thus saith the Lord the God of the Hebrews: Let my people go to sacrifice to 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 I will at this time send all my plagues upon thy heart, and upon thy servants, and upon thy people: that thou mayst know there is none like me 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 out my hand to strike thee, and thy people with pestilence, and thou shalt perish from 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 therefore have I raised thee, that I may shew my power in thee, and my name may be spoken of throughout all the earth.
17 But in your pride you are still tyrannizing my people, and refuse to let them leave.
Dost thou yet hold back my people: and wilt thou not 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 I will cause it to rain tomorrow at this same hour, an exceeding great hail: such as hath not been in Egypt from the day that it was founded, until this present time.
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.’”
Send therefore now presently, and gather together thy cattle, and all that thou hast in the field: for men and beasts, and all things that shall be found abroad, and not gathered together out of the fields, which the hail shall fall upon, shall die.
20 Those of Pharaoh's officials who took seriously what the Lord said rushed to bring their servants and livestock inside.
He that feared the word of the Lord among Pharao’s servants, made his servants and his cattle flee into houses:
21 But those who didn't care what the Lord said left their servants and livestock outside.
But he that regarded not the word of the Lord, left his servants and his 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 forth thy hand towards heaven, that there may be hail in the whole land of Egypt, upon men, and upon beasts, and upon every herb of the field in the land of Egypt.
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 rod towards heaven, and the Lord sent thunder and hail, and lightning running along the ground: and the Lord rained hail upon 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.
And the hail and fire mixed with it drove on together: and it was of so great bigness, as never before was seen in the whole land of Egypt since that nation was founded.
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 destroyed through all the land of Egypt all things that were in the fields, both man and beast: and the hail smote every herb of the field, and it broke every tree of the country.
26 Only in the land of Goshen where the Israelites lived was there no hail.
Only in the land of Gessen, where the children of Israel were, the hail fell 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, saying to them: I have sinned this time also; the Lord is just: 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 ye to the Lord, that the thunderings of God and the hail may cease: that I may let you go, and that you may stay here 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.
Moses said: As soon as I am gone out of the city, I will stretch forth my hands to the Lord, and the thunders shall cease, and the hail shall be no more: that thou mayst 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 I know that neither thou, nor thy servants do yet fear the Lord God.
31 (The flax and barley were destroyed, because the barley was ripe and the flax was flowering.
The flax therefore and the barley were hurt, because the barley was green, and the flax was now boiled:
32 However, the wheat and the spelt were not destroyed because they grow later.)
But the wheat, and other winter corn were not hurt, because they were lateward.
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 when Moses was gone from Pharao out of the city, he stretched forth his hands to the Lord: and the thunders and the hail ceased, neither did there drop any more rain upon 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 Pharao seeing that the rain and the hail, and the thunders were ceased, increased his sin.
35 Because of his stubborn attitude, Pharaoh would not let the Israelites leave, just as the Lord had predicted through Moses.
And his heart was hardened, and the heart of his servants, and it was made exceeding hard: neither did he let the children of Israel go, as the Lord had commanded by the hand of Moses.
