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,
Then Yahweh said to Moses/me, “Go to the king and say to him, ‘This is what Yahweh, the God [we] Hebrews [worship], says: “Allow my people to go, in order that they may worship me.
2 for if you are refusing to send [them] away, and are still keeping hold on them,
If you still keep refusing to let them go [DOU],
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 warn you that I will punish you with my power [MTY] by sending a terrible disease on all your animals—on your horses, donkeys, camels, on your cattle, and on your flocks [of sheep and goats].
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 I, Yahweh, will distinguish between [what I do to] the animals that belong to the Israeli people and [what I do to] your animals. The result will be that no animal that belongs to the Israeli people will die.”’
5 and YHWH sets an appointed time, saying, Tomorrow YHWH does this thing in the land.”
[Tell him that] I have determined/decided that tomorrow is the day that I will do this in this land.”
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 next day Yahweh did just what he said [that he would do]. A terrible disease afflicted all of the Egyptians’ animals, and many of them [HYP] died. But none of the Israeli people’s animals 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.
The king sent [men to investigate], and they were surprised [to see] that none of the Israeli people’s animals had died. But [after they reported that to] the king, he continued to be stubborn [IDM], and he did not let the [Israeli] people go.
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,
Then Yahweh said to Aaron and Moses/me, “Take a few handfuls of ashes/soot from (a furnace/an oven where they burn lime), and let Moses throw them up into the air, in front of the king.
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.”
The [ashes/soot] will spread all over the country of Egypt like fine dust. And the ashes/soot will cause boils to afflict both the Egyptian people and their animals, all over 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;
So they/we both got some ashes/soot and [went and] stood in front of the king. Moses/I threw the ashes/soot up into the air. The ashes/soot spread all over, causing boils to afflict the [Egyptian] people and their animals. All the boils became open sores.
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.
Even the men who worked magic had boils. The result was that [they were suffering so much that] they were not able to come to Moses/me, because the men who worked magic had boils just like all [the rest of] the Egyptian people.
12 And YHWH strengthens the heart of Pharaoh, and he has not listened to them, as YHWH has spoken to Moses.
But Yahweh caused the king to [continue to] be stubborn [IDM]. He did not pay any attention to what they/we [said], just as Yahweh had told Moses/me [would happen].
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,
Then Yahweh said to Moses/me, “Get up early [tomorrow] morning. Go and stand in front of the king and tell him that Yahweh God, the one that the Hebrew people [worship], says this: ‘Let my people go, in order that they may worship me [in the desert].
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,
[If you do not let them go], this time I will [punish] with plagues [not only] your officials and the rest of your people, but I will punish you yourself [SYN], in order that you will know there is no [god] like me anywhere in the world.
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 this time I could have used my power [MTY] to strike you and your people with terrible diseases that would have wiped you all from the earth.
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;
But I have let you live. The reason I have let you live is to show you my power, with the result that [people] all over the earth [HYP] will know how great I [MTY] am.
17 still you are exalting yourself against My people—so as not to send them away;
You are still acting proudly and refusing to let my people go.
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 listen [to this]: About this time tomorrow I will cause very heavy hail to fall [in Egypt]. From the time Egypt first became [a country], there has never been a hailstorm [as bad as this one will be].
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 you should send [a message to everyone] to put their cattle, and everything else that they own that is [out] in the fields, under shelters. The hail will fall on every person and every animal that is out in the fields and that is not put under a shelter, and they will all die.’” [So Moses/I did what Yahweh said].
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;
Some of the king’s officials who heard what Yahweh had said became very afraid. So they put all their animals and their slaves under shelters.
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 did not pay any attention to what Yahweh had said left their slaves and their animals in the fields.
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.”
Then Yahweh said to Moses/me, “Raise your hand up toward the sky, in order that hail will fall all over the land of Egypt—on the people and on their animals and on all the plants in the fields.”
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,
So Moses/I lifted his/my stick up toward the sky. And Yahweh sent down hail, all over the land of Egypt. There was also thunder and lightning.
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.
While very heavy hail was falling, there was thunder, and lightning struck the ground. There had never been a hailstorm like that since Egypt first became a country.
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;
The hail struck everything that was in the fields all over Egypt—every person and every animal. The hail destroyed the plants in the fields and stripped [the leaves off] the trees.
26 only in the land of Goshen, where the sons of Israel [are], there has been no hail.
Only in the Goshen region, where the Israeli people were [living], 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,
Then the king sent [someone] to summon Aaron and Moses/me. [When they/we came to the king], he said to them/us, “This time [I admit that] I have sinned. What Yahweh [has done] is right, and what I and my people [have done] is 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/Plead with) Yahweh [to cause it to stop]! [We] cannot [endure any more] of this thunder and hail! I will let your people go; they do not have to stay [here in Egypt] 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;
Moses/I replied, “As soon as I go out of this city, I will lift up my hands [and pray] to Yahweh. Then the thunder will cease, and no more hail [will fall]. [This will happen] in order that you will know that Yahweh, [not your gods], controls everything [that happens] on the earth.
30 but you and your servants—I have known that you are not yet afraid of the face of YHWH God.”
But as for you and your officials, I know that you do not yet fear Yahweh God.”
31 And the flax and the barley have been struck, for the barley [is] budding, and the flax forming flowers,
When the hail fell, the flax was ruined because the buds were forming, and the barley was ruined because its grain was ripe.
32 and the wheat and the rye have not been struck, for they are late.
But none of the wheat crops was ruined, because their shoots were still very small.
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;
So Moses/I left the king and went outside the city. He/I lifted up his/my hands toward Yahweh [and prayed]. Then the thunder and the hail stopped, and the rain also stopped falling on the land [of Egypt].
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;
But when the king saw that the rain and the hail and the thunder had stopped, he sinned again. He and his officials continued to be stubborn [IDM].
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.
So, just as Yahweh had predicted by what he told Moses/me, the king did not allow the Israeli people to leave.
