Exodus 9
1 And YHWH says to Moses, “Go to Pharaoh, and you have spoken to him, Thus said YHWH, God of the Hebrews: Send My people away, and they serve Me,
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 are refusing to send [them] away, and are still keeping hold on them,
If you refuse to let them go and keep holding onto them,
3 behold, the hand of YHWH is on your livestock which [are] in the field, on horses, on donkeys, on camels, on herd, and on flock—a very grievous pestilence.
I will punish you by bringing a very severe plague on your livestock—on your horses, donkeys, camels, herds, and flocks.
4 And YHWH has separated between the livestock of Israel and the livestock of Egypt, and there does not die a thing of all the sons 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 YHWH sets an appointed time, saying, Tomorrow YHWH does 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 YHWH does this thing on the next day, and all the livestock of Egypt die, and of the livestock of the sons of Israel not one has died;
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 sends, and behold, not even one of the livestock of Israel has died, and the heart of Pharaoh is hard, and he has not sent the people away.
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 YHWH says to Moses and to Aaron, “Take for yourselves the fullness of your handfuls—soot of a furnace, and Moses has sprinkled it toward the heavens, 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 has become small dust over all the land of Egypt, and it has become on man and on livestock a boil breaking forth [with] blisters in 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 And they take the soot of the furnace, and stand before Pharaoh, and Moses sprinkles it toward the heavens, and it is a boil [with] blisters breaking forth 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 enchanters have not been able to stand before Moses because of the boil, for the boil has been on the enchanters, 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 YHWH strengthens the heart of Pharaoh, and he has not listened to them, as YHWH has spoken to Moses.
But the Lord gave Pharaoh a stubborn attitude, and he would not listen to them, just as the Lord had told Moses.
13 And YHWH says to Moses, “Rise early in the morning, and station yourself before Pharaoh, and you have said to him, Thus said YHWH, God of the Hebrews: Send My people away, and they serve Me,
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 at this time I am sending all My plagues to your heart, and on your servants, and on your people, so that you know that there is none 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 now I have put forth My hand, and I strike you, and your people, with pestilence, and you are hidden 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 And yet for this I have caused you to stand, so as to show you My power, and for the sake of declaring My Name in 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 still you are exalting yourself against My people—so as not to send them away;
But in your pride you are still tyrannizing my people, and refuse to let them leave.
18 behold, I am raining very grievous hail about [this] time tomorrow, such as has not been in Egypt from the day of its founding and until 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 And now, send, strengthen your livestock and all that you have in the field; every man and beast which is found in the field, and is not gathered into the house—the hail has come down on them, and they have died.”
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 He who is fearing the word of YHWH among the servants of Pharaoh has caused his servants and his livestock to flee to the houses;
Those of Pharaoh's officials who took seriously what the Lord said rushed to bring their servants and livestock inside.
21 and he who has not set his heart to the word of YHWH leaves his servants and his livestock in the field.
But those who didn't care what the Lord said left their servants and livestock outside.
22 And YHWH says to Moses, “Stretch forth your hand toward the heavens, and there is hail in all the land of Egypt, on man, and on beast, and on every herb of the field in 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 stretches out his rod toward the heavens, and YHWH has given voices and hail, and fire goes toward the earth, and YHWH rains hail 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 and there is hail, and fire catching itself in the midst of the hail, very grievous, such as has not been in all the land of Egypt since it has become 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 the hail strikes all that [is] in the field in all the land of Egypt, from man even to beast, and the hail has struck every herb of the field, and it has broken every tree of the field;
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 sons of Israel [are], there has been no hail.
Only in the land of Goshen where the Israelites lived was there no hail.
27 And Pharaoh sends, and calls for Moses and for Aaron, and says to them, “I have sinned this time—YHWH [is] the righteous, and I and my people [are] the wicked,
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 supplication to YHWH, and plead that there be no voices of God and hail, and I send you away, and you do not add to remain.”
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 says to him, “At my going out of the city, I spread my palms to YHWH—the voices cease, and there is no more hail, so that you know that the earth [is] YHWH’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 you and your servants—I have known that you are not yet afraid of the face of YHWH God.”
But I know you and your officials still do not really respect the Lord our God.”
31 And the flax and the barley have been struck, for the barley [is] budding, and the flax forming flowers,
(The flax and barley were destroyed, because the barley was ripe and the flax was flowering.
32 and the wheat and the rye have not been struck, for they are late.
However, the wheat and the spelt were not destroyed because they grow later.)
33 And Moses goes out from Pharaoh, [from] the city, and spreads his hands to YHWH, and the voices and the hail cease, and rain has not been poured out to the earth;
Moses left Pharaoh and went out of the city, and prayed to the Lord. The thunder and hail stopped, and the rainstorm finished.
34 and Pharaoh sees that the rain has ceased, and the hail and the voices, and he continues to sin, and hardens his heart, 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 is strong, and he has not sent the sons of Israel away, as YHWH has spoken by the hand of Moses.
Because of his stubborn attitude, Pharaoh would not let the Israelites leave, just as the Lord had predicted through Moses.
