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.
And Jehovah said to Moses, Go in unto Pharaoh, and tell him, Thus saith Jehovah the God of the Hebrews: Let my people go, that they may serve me.
2 If you still keep refusing to let them go [DOU],
For if thou refuse to let them go, and shalt retain 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 hand of Jehovah shall be on thy cattle which is in the field, on the horses, on the asses, on the camels, on the oxen and on the sheep, with a very grievous plague.
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.”’
And Jehovah will distinguish between the cattle of Israel and the cattle of Egypt; and there shall nothing die of all that the children of Israel have.
5 [Tell him that] I have determined/decided that tomorrow is the day that I will do this in this land.”
And Jehovah appointed a set time, saying, To-morrow will Jehovah 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.
And Jehovah did this thing on the following day, and all the cattle of Egypt died; but of the cattle of the children of Israel died not one.
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.
And Pharaoh sent, and behold, there was not one of the cattle of the Israelites dead. But the heart of Pharaoh was hardened, 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.
And Jehovah said to Moses and to Aaron, Take to yourselves handfuls of ashes of the furnace, and let Moses scatter it toward the heavens before the eyes 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.”
And it shall become fine dust over all the land of Egypt, and shall become boils on man and on cattle, breaking out [with] blisters, throughout 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.
And they took ashes of the furnace, and stood before Pharaoh; and Moses sprinkled it toward the heavens; and it became boils [with] blisters breaking out on man and on cattle.
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.
And the scribes could not stand before Moses because of the boils; for the boils were on the scribes, 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].
And Jehovah made Pharaoh's heart stubborn, and he did not hearken to them, as Jehovah had told 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].
And Jehovah said to Moses, Rise up early in the morning, and set thyself before Pharaoh, and say to him, Thus saith Jehovah, the God of the Hebrews: 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 I will at this time send all my plagues to thy heart, and on thy bondmen, and on thy people; that thou mayest know that there is none 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 shall I put forth my hand, and I will smite thee and thy people with pestilence; and thou shalt be 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.
And for this very cause have I raised thee up, to shew thee my power; and that my name may be declared in all the earth.
17 You are still acting proudly and refusing to let my people go.
Dost thou still exalt thyself against my people, that thou wilt 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, to-morrow about this time I will cause it to rain a very grievous hail, such as hath not been in Egypt since its foundation 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].
And now send, [and] secure thy cattle, and all that thou hast in the field: all the men and the cattle that are found in the field, and are not brought home — on them the hail shall come down, and they shall 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.
He that feared the word of Jehovah among the bondmen of Pharaoh made his bondmen and his cattle 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.
But he that did not regard the word of Jehovah left his bondmen and his cattle 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.”
And Jehovah said to Moses, Stretch out thy hand toward the heavens, that there may be hail throughout the land of Egypt, upon men, and upon cattle, and upon every herb of the field in 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.
And Moses stretched out his staff toward the heavens, and Jehovah gave thunder and hail; and the fire ran along the ground; and Jehovah 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.
And there was hail, and fire mingled with the hail, very grievous, such as there had been none like it 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.
And the hail smote throughout the land of Egypt all that was in the field, both men and cattle; and the hail smote 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, was there 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.
And Pharaoh sent, and called Moses and Aaron, and said to them, I have sinned this time: Jehovah is the righteous [one], but I and my people are the wicked [ones].
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.”
Intreat Jehovah that it may be enough, that there be no more thunder of God and hail; and I will let you go, and ye 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.
And Moses said to him, When I go out of the city, I will spread out my hands to Jehovah: the thunder will cease, and there will be no more hail; that thou mayest know that the earth is Jehovah's.
30 But as for you and your officials, I know that you do not yet fear Yahweh God.”
But as to thee and thy bondmen, I know that ye do not yet fear Jehovah Elohim.
31 When the hail fell, the flax was ruined because the buds were forming, and the barley was ruined because its grain was ripe.
And the flax and the barley were smitten; for the barley was in the ear, and the flax was bolled.
32 But none of the wheat crops was ruined, because their shoots were still very small.
But the wheat and the spelt were not smitten; for they were not come out into ear.
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].
And Moses went out of the city from Pharaoh, and spread out his hands to Jehovah; and the thunders and hail ceased, and the rain was not [any more] 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].
And Pharaoh saw that the rain and the hail and the thunders had ceased, and he sinned yet more, and hardened his heart, he, and his bondmen.
35 So, just as Yahweh had predicted by what he told Moses/me, the king did not allow the Israeli people to leave.
And the heart of Pharaoh was stubborn, neither would he let the children of Israel go, as Jehovah had spoken by Moses.
