Exodus 8

1 Then said Yahweh unto Moses, Go in unto Pharaoh, —then shalt thou say unto him—Thus, saith Yahweh, —Let my people go, that they may serve me.

Then Yahweh said to Moses/me, “Go back to the king and tell him, ‘Yahweh says that you must let my people go, in order that they can worship me [in the desert].

2 But if thou art, refusing, to let them go, lo! I, am plaguing all thy boundaries with frogs;

But if you refuse to let them go, I will punish you by sending frogs to cover your country.

3 so shall the river swarm with frogs, and they shall come up, and enter into thy house, and into thy bedchamber and upon thy couch, —and into the house of thy servants and among thy people, and into thine ovens and into thy kneading-troughs:

[Not only] will the Nile [River] be full of frogs, [but] the frogs will come up [out of the river] into your palace. They will come into your bedroom and onto your bed. They will be in the houses of your officials and all [the rest of] your people. They will even get into your ovens and your pans for mixing the materials for baking bread.

4 both against thee, and against thy people, and against all thy servants, shall come up the frogs.

The frogs will jump up on you and your officials and [all the rest of] your people.’”

5 Then said Yahweh unto Moses, Say unto Aaron—Stretch forth thy hand with thy staff, over the streams over the rivers and over the pools, —and bring up the frogs, over the land of Egypt.

Yahweh [also] said to Moses/me, “Say this to Aaron: ‘Hold your stick in your hand and stretch it out [as though you were stretching it] over the river, the canals, and over the pools, and cause frogs to come up [from all this water and] cover the land of Egypt.’”

6 So Aaron stretched forth his hand, over the waters of Egypt, —and the frog came up, and covered the land of Egypt.

[After Moses/I told that to] Aaron, he stretched out his hand [as though he were stretching it] over all the water in Egypt. And the frogs came up [from the water and] covered Egypt.

7 And the sacred scribes did in like manner, with their secret arts, —and brought up frogs over the land of Egypt.

But the men who performed magic did the same thing, and they caused [more] frogs to come up [from the water onto the land].

8 Then called Pharaoh for Moses and for Aaron and said—Make entreaty unto Yahweh, that he take away the frogs from me and from my people, —and I must let the people go that they may sacrifice to Yahweh.

Then the king summoned Moses/me and said, “Ask Yahweh to take away these frogs from me and my people. After that happens, I will allow your people to go, in order that they can offer sacrifices to Yahweh.”

9 And Moses said to Pharaoh—Explain thyself unto me: For what time, shall I make entreaty for thee and for thy servants and for thy people, to cause the frogs to be cut off, from thee and from thy houses, —only in the river, shall they remain?

Moses/I said to the king, “I will be glad to pray for you and for your officials and for [the rest of] your people. [I will ask Yahweh] to get rid of the frogs from all your houses. The only frogs left will be [those] in the Nile [River]. Just tell me when I should pray.”

10 And he said—For to-morrow. And he said—According to thy word! that thou mayest know that there is none like Yahweh, our God:

He replied, “Tomorrow.” So Moses/I said, “[I will do] what you say, and then you will know that Yahweh God, the one we [worship, is the only true god], and that there is no other god like him.

11 so the frogs shall depart—from thee and from thy houses and from thy servants and from thy people, —only in the river, shall they remain.

The frogs will leave you and your officials and all [the rest of] your people. The only ones left will be in the Nile [River].”

12 Then went forth Moses and Aaron from Pharaoh, —and Moses made outcry unto Yahweh, over the matter of the frogs which he had appointed for Pharaoh.

Aaron and Moses/I left the king. Then Moses/I prayed to Yahweh, [asking him to take away] all the frogs he had [brought to the king’s land].

13 And Yahweh did according to the word of Moses, —and the frogs died, out of the houses and out of the yards, and out of the fields;

And Yahweh did just what Moses/I [asked him to do]. As a result, all the frogs in the houses, in their courtyards, and in the fields died.

14 and they piled them up, heaps—heaps, —and the land became loathsome.

The people gathered together all the dead frogs into big piles, and the land stank [from the smell].

15 But when Pharaoh saw that there had come a respite, then made he his heart dull and hearkened not unto them, —as spake Yahweh.

But when the king saw that [the problem] was ended, he became stubborn [IDM] [again]. And just as Yahweh had predicted, he would not pay attention to what Aaron and Moses/we told him.

16 Then said Yahweh unto Moses, Say unto Aaron—Stretch forth thy staff, and smite the dust of the land, —so shall it become gnats in all the land of Egypt.

Then Yahweh said to Moses/me, “Tell Aaron to strike the ground with his stick. [When he does that], all the fine particles of ground/dust will become gnats, all over the land of Egypt.”

17 And they did so, and Aaron stretched forth his hand with his staff and smote the dust of the land, and there canto to be gnats, among men and among beasts, —all the dust of the land, became gnats, in all the land of Egypt.

So they/we did that. Aaron struck the ground with his stick, and all over Egypt, the fine particles of ground/dirt became gnats. The gnats covered the people and all [their] animals.

18 And the sacred scribes did in like manner with their secret arts, to bring forth the gnats, but they could not. So there came to be gnats, among men and among beasts.

The men who worked magic tried to cause gnats to appear, but they were unable to do it. So the gnats [stayed] on the Egyptian people and on their animals.

19 Then said the sacred scribes unto Pharaoh, The finger of God, it is! But the heart of Pharaoh waxed bold and he hearkened not unto them, as spake Yahweh.

The men who worked magic said to the king, “It is God who has done this with his power [MTY]!” But the king continued to be stubborn [IDM], and he would not pay attention to us, just as Yahweh had predicted.

20 Then said Yahweh unto Moses—Rise thou early in the morning, and station thyself before Pharaoh, lo! he is coming forth to the waters, —then shalt thou say unto him—Thus, saith Yahweh: Let my people go, that they may serve me.

Then Yahweh said to Moses/me, “Get up early [tomorrow] morning. [Go down] to the river and wait for the king. [When he comes to bathe] [MTY], say to him, ‘This is what Yahweh says to you: “Let my people go, in order that they may worship me [in the desert].

21 But if thou art not letting my people go, behold me! sending forth—against thee, and against thy servants, and against thy people, and against thy houses the gad-fly, —and the houses of the Egyptians shall be full of the gad-fly, moreover also the ground whereon, they are:

[I warn you that] if you do not let my people go, I will send swarms of flies to you. They will come down on you and on your officials and on [the rest of] your people. The houses of all you Egyptians will be full of flies. They will [even] cover the ground.

22 then will I make to differ on that day, the land of Goshen wherein my people do dwell, so that there shall not be there a gad-fly! in order that thou mayest know, that I, Yahweh, am in the midst of the land;

But when that happens, I will treat the Goshen region, where my people live, differently. There will be no swarms of flies there. In that way, you will know that I, Yahweh, am doing these things [here] in this land.

23 so will I put a separation betwixt my people and thy people. By to-morrow, shall come to pass this sign.

I will distinguish clearly between [how I act toward] my people and [how I act toward] your people. And this plague is going to happen tomorrow!”’”

24 And Yahweh did so, and brought a grievous gad-fly unto the house of Pharaoh and the houses of his servants and in all the land of Egypt, and the land was laid waste by reason of the gad-fly.

[Early the next morning, Moses/I told that to the king, but the king would not pay any attention]. So Yahweh did what he said he would do. He sent great swarms of flies into the palace of the king and into the houses of his officials. The whole country of Egypt was ruined by the flies.

25 Then did Pharaoh cry out—unto Moses and to Aaron, —and said-Go your way, sacrifice to your God, in the land.

Then the king summoned Aaron and Moses/me and said, “You Israeli people can go and offer sacrifices to your god, [but you must do it] here in [this] land.”

26 And Moses said: Not meet, is it, to do thus, for, an abomination to the Egyptians, we should sacrifice to Yahweh our God. Lo! could we sacrifice that which is an abomination to the Egyptians before their eyes and they not stone us?

But Moses/I replied, “It would not be right [for us] to do that, because we will be offering sacrifices that are very offensive to the Egyptian people. If we offer sacrifices that the Egyptian people think are disgusting, they will kill us by throwing stones at us [RHQ]!

27 A journey of three days, must we go, in the desert, —then will we sacrifice to Yahweh our God, as, Yahweh, hath said unto us.

No, we need to travel for three days into the desert. There we will offer sacrifices to Yahweh, the God we worship, just as he commands (OR, has commanded) us.”

28 Then said Pharaoh: I, will let you go—so shall ye sacrifice to Yahweh your God in the desert, only ye shall not go a, very long, journey, —make ye entreaty for me.

So the king said, “I will let your people go to offer sacrifices to Yahweh, your god, in the desert. But you must not go very far. [Now] pray for me!”

29 And Moses said: Lo! I, am going out from thee and will make entreaty unto Yahweh, so will he take away the gad-fly—from Pharaoh from his servants, and from his people tomorrow, —only let not Pharaoh again deceive, in not letting the people go, to sacrifice to Yahweh.

Moses/I said, “Listen [to me]! After I leave you, I will pray to Yahweh, [asking] that tomorrow [he will cause] the swarms of flies to leave you and your officials and [the rest of] your people. But do not deceive us again by refusing to let our people go to offer sacrifices to Yahweh!”

30 So Moses went out from Pharaoh, —and made entreaty unto Yahweh.

Then Moses/I left the king and prayed to Yahweh.

31 And Yahweh did according to the word of Moses, and took away the gad-fly, from Pharaoh from his servants and from his people, —there remained not, one.

And Yahweh did what Moses/I asked, and he got rid of the swarms of flies from [around] the king and his officials and [the rest of] his people. No flies remained.

32 And Pharaoh made his heart dull, this time also, —and did not let the people go.

But the king was stubborn [IDM] this time also, and he did not allow the Israeli people to go.