Exodus 8

1 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].

And the Lord said unto Moses, Go in unto Pharaoh, and say unto him, Thus hath said the Lord, Let my people go, that they may serve me.

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

And if thou refuse to let them go, behold, I will smite all thy borders with frogs:

3 [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.

And the river shall bring forth frogs abundantly, and they shall go up and come into thy house, and into thy sleeping-chamber, and upon thy bed, and into the house of thy servants, and among thy people, and into thy ovens, and into thy kneading-troughs;

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

And upon thee, and upon thy people, and upon all thy servants, shall the frogs come up.

5 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.’”

And the Lord said unto Moses, Say unto Aaron, Stretch forth thy hand with thy staff over the streams, over the rivers, and over the ponds, and cause the frogs to come up over the land of Egypt.

6 [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.

And Aaron stretched out his hand over the waters of Egypt; and the frogs came up, and covered the land of Egypt.

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

And the magicians did so with their secret arts, and brought up the frogs over the land of Egypt.

8 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.”

Then did Pharaoh call for Moses and Aaron, and said, Entreat the Lord, that he may take away the frogs from me, and from my people; and I will let the people go, that they may sacrifice unto the Lord.

9 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.”

And Moses said unto Pharaoh, Arrogate thyself glory over me: for what time shall I entreat for thee, and for thy servants, and for thy people, to destroy the frogs from thee and from thy houses, that they may remain in the river only?

10 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.

And he said, For tomorrow; and he said, Be it according to thy word; in order that thou mayest know that there is none like unto the Lord our God.

11 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].”

And 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.

12 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].

And Moses and Aaron went out from Pharaoh; and Moses cried unto the Lord on account of the frogs which he had inflicted on Pharaoh.

13 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.

And the Lord did according to the word of Moses; and the frogs died out of the houses, out of the courts, and out of the fields.

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

And they gathered them together in many heaps; and the land stank.

15 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.

But when Pharaoh saw that there was a respite, he hardened his heart, and hearkened not unto them; as the Lord had spoken.

16 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.”

And the Lord said unto Moses, Say unto Aaron, Stretch out thy staff, and smite the dust of the earth, and it shall become lice throughout all the land of Egypt.

17 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.

And they did so; and Aaron stretched out his hand with his staff, and smote the dust of the earth, and the lice were thus on man, and on beast; all the dust of the land became lice throughout all the land of Egypt.

18 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.

And the magicians did so with their secret arts to bring forth the lice, but they could not; so were the lice upon man and upon beast.

19 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.

Then said the magicians unto Pharaoh, This is a finger of God; but Pharaoh's heart remained hardened, and he hearkened not unto them; as the Lord had spoken.

20 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].

And the Lord said unto Moses, Rise up early in the morning, and place thyself before Pharaoh; lo, he goeth forth to the water; and say unto him, Thus hath said the Lord, Let my people go, that they may serve me.

21 [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.

For if thou wilt not let my people go, behold, I will send against thee, and against thy servants, and against thy people, and into thy houses various wild beasts: and the houses of the Egyptians shall be full of the wild beasts, and also the ground whereon they dwell.

22 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.

And I will distinguish on that day the land of Goshen, in which my people abideth, so that no wild beasts shall be there; to the end thou mayest know that I am the Lord in the midst of the earth.

23 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!”’”

And I will put a distinction between my people and thy people; tomorrow shall this sign be.

24 [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.

And the Lord did so; and there came a grievous multitude of beasts into the house of Pharaoh, and into the house of his servants; and in all the land of Egypt, the land was laid waste by reason of the wild beasts.

25 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.”

And Pharaoh called for Moses and for Aaron, and said, Go ye, sacrifice to your God in the land.

26 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]!

And Moses said, It is not proper to do so; for the abomination of the Egyptians must we sacrifice to the Eternal our God: lo, if we should sacrifice the abomination of the Egyptians before their eyes, would they not stone us?

27 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.”

A three days' journey will we go into the wilderness, and sacrifice to the Lord our God, just as he may say unto us.

28 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!”

And Pharaoh said, I will surely let you go, that ye may sacrifice to the Eternal your God in the wilderness; only do not go very far away: entreat for me.

29 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!”

And Moses said, Behold, I am going out from thee, and I will entreat the Lord, and the wild beasts shall depart from Pharaoh, from his servants, and from his people, tomorrow; only let not Pharaoh deal deceitfully any more, so as not to let the people go to sacrifice to the Lord.

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

And Moses went out from Pharaoh, and entreated the Lord.

31 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.

And the Lord did according to the word of Moses; and he removed the wild beasts from Pharaoh, from his servants, and from his people; there remained not one.

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

But Pharaoh hardened his heart at this time also, and he did not let the people go.