Exodus 9
1 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.
Then the LORD said to Moses, “Go in to Pharaoh, and tell him, ‘This is what the LORD, the God of the Hebrews, says: “Let my people go, that they may serve me.
2 If you still keep refusing to let them go [DOU],
For if you refuse to let them go, and hold them still,
3 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].
behold, the LORD’s hand is on your livestock which are in the field, on the horses, on the donkeys, on the camels, on the herds, and on the flocks with a very grievous pestilence.
4 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.”’
The LORD will make a distinction between the livestock of Israel and the livestock of Egypt; and nothing shall die of all that belongs to the children of Israel.”’”
5 [Tell him that] I have determined/decided that tomorrow is the day that I will do this in this land.”
The LORD appointed a set time, saying, “Tomorrow the LORD shall do this thing in the land.”
6 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.
The LORD did that thing on the next day; and all the livestock of Egypt died, but of the livestock of the children of Israel, not one died.
7 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.
Pharaoh sent, and, behold, there was not so much as one of the livestock of the Israelites dead. But the heart of Pharaoh was stubborn, and he did not let the people go.
8 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.
The LORD said to Moses and to Aaron, “Take handfuls of ashes of the furnace, and let Moses sprinkle it toward the sky in the sight of Pharaoh.
9 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.”
It shall become small dust over all the land of Egypt, and shall be boils and blisters breaking out on man and on animal, throughout all the land of Egypt.”
10 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.
They took ashes of the furnace, and stood before Pharaoh; and Moses sprinkled it up toward the sky; and it became boils and blisters breaking out on man and on animal.
11 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.
The magicians could not stand before Moses because of the boils; for the boils were on the magicians and on all the Egyptians.
12 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].
The LORD hardened the heart of Pharaoh, and he did not listen to them, as the LORD had spoken to Moses.
13 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].
The LORD said to Moses, “Rise up early in the morning, and stand before Pharaoh, and tell him, ‘This is what the LORD, the God of the Hebrews, says: “Let my people go, that they may serve me.
14 [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.
For this time I will send all my plagues against your heart, against your officials, and against your people; that you may know that there is no one like me in all the earth.
15 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.
For now I would have stretched out my hand, and struck you and your people with pestilence, and you would have been cut off from the earth;
16 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.
but indeed for this cause I have made you stand: to show you my power, and that my name may be declared throughout all the earth,
17 You are still acting proudly and refusing to let my people go.
because you still exalt yourself against my people, that you will not let them go.
18 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].
Behold, tomorrow about this time I will cause it to rain a very grievous hail, such as has not been in Egypt since the day it was founded even until now.
19 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].
Now therefore command that all of your livestock and all that you have in the field be brought into shelter. The hail will come down on every man and animal that is found in the field, and is not brought home, and they will die.”’”
20 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.
Those who feared the LORD’s word among the servants of Pharaoh made their servants and their livestock flee into the houses.
21 But those who did not pay any attention to what Yahweh had said left their slaves and their animals in the fields.
Whoever did not respect the LORD’s word left his servants and his livestock in the field.
22 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.”
The LORD said to Moses, “Stretch out your hand toward the sky, that there may be hail in all the land of Egypt, on man, and on animal, and on every herb of the field, throughout the land of Egypt.”
23 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.
Moses stretched out his rod toward the heavens, and the LORD sent thunder and hail; and lightning flashed down to the earth. The LORD rained hail on the land of Egypt.
24 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.
So there was very severe hail, and lightning mixed with the hail, such as had not been in all the land of Egypt since it became a nation.
25 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.
The hail struck throughout all the land of Egypt all that was in the field, both man and animal; and the hail struck every herb of the field, and broke every tree of the field.
26 Only in the Goshen region, where the Israeli people were [living], was there no hail.
Only in the land of Goshen, where the children of Israel were, there was no hail.
27 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.
Pharaoh sent and called for Moses and Aaron, and said to them, “I have sinned this time. The LORD is righteous, and I and my people are wicked.
28 (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.”
Pray to the LORD; for there has been enough of mighty thunderings and hail. I will let you go, and you shall stay no longer.”
29 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.
Moses said to him, “As soon as I have gone out of the city, I will spread out my hands to the LORD. The thunders shall cease, and there will not be any more hail; that you may know that the earth is the LORD’s.
30 But as for you and your officials, I know that you do not yet fear Yahweh God.”
But as for you and your servants, I know that you do not yet fear the LORD God.”
31 When the hail fell, the flax was ruined because the buds were forming, and the barley was ruined because its grain was ripe.
The flax and the barley were struck, for the barley had ripened and the flax was blooming.
32 But none of the wheat crops was ruined, because their shoots were still very small.
But the wheat and the spelt were not struck, for they had not grown up.
33 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].
Moses went out of the city from Pharaoh, and spread out his hands to the LORD; and the thunders and hail ceased, and the rain was not poured on the earth.
34 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].
When Pharaoh saw that the rain and the hail and the thunders had ceased, he sinned yet more, and hardened his heart, he and his servants.
35 So, just as Yahweh had predicted by what he told Moses/me, the king did not allow the Israeli people to leave.
The heart of Pharaoh was hardened, and he did not let the children of Israel go, just as the LORD had spoken through Moses.
