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 the Lord said to Moses, Go in to Pharao, and you shall say to him, These things says the Lord God of the Hebrews; Send my people away that they may serve me.
2 If you still keep refusing to let them go [DOU],
If however you will not send my people away, but yet detain them:
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 the Lord shall be upon your cattle in the fields, both on the horses, and on the asses, and on the camels and oxen and sheep, a very great mortality.
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 I will make a marvelous distinction in that time between the cattle of the Egyptians, and the cattle of the children of Israel: nothing shall die of all that is of the children's of Israel.
5 [Tell him that] I have determined/decided that tomorrow is the day that I will do this in this land.”
And God fixed a limit, saying, To-morrow the Lord will do this thing on 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 the Lord did this thing on the next day, and all the cattle of the Egyptians died, but of the cattle of the children of Israel there 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 when Pharao saw, that of all the cattle of the children of Israel there died not one, the heart of Pharao 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 the Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron, saying, Take you handfuls of ashes of the furnace, and let Moses scatter it toward heaven before Pharao, and before his servants.
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 let it become dust over all the land of Egypt, and there shall be upon men and upon beasts sore blains breaking forth both on men and on beasts, in 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.
So he took of the ashes of the furnace before Pharao, and Moses scattered it toward heaven, and it became sore blains breaking forth both on men and on beasts.
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 sorcerers could not stand before Moses because of the sores, for the sores were on the sorcerers, and in all the land of Egypt.
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 the Lord hardened Pharao's heart, and he listened not to them, as the Lord appointed.
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 the Lord said to Moses, Rise up early in the morning, and stand before Pharao; and you shall say to him, These things says the Lord God of the Hebrews, Send away my people 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 at this present time do I send forth all my plagues into your heart, and the heart of your servants and of your people; that you may know that there is not another such as I 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 will stretch forth my hand and strike you and kill your people, and you shall be consumed from off 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 purpose have you been preserved, that I might display in you my strength, and that my name might bepublished in all the earth.
17 You are still acting proudly and refusing to let my people go.
Do you then yet exert yourself to hinder my people, so as not to 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 at this hour I will rain a very great hail, such as has not been in Egypt, from the time it was created until this day.
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 then hasten to gather your cattle, and all that you have in the fields; for all the men and cattle as many as shall be found in the fields, and shall not enter into a house, (but the hail shall fall upon them, ) 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 of the servants of Pharao that feared the word of the Lord, gathered his cattle 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.
And he that did not attend in his mind to the word of the Lord, left the cattle in the fields.
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 the Lord said to Moses, Stretch out your hand to heaven, and there shall be hail on all the land of Egypt, both on the men and on the cattle, and on all the herbage on the land.
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 forth his hand to heaven, and the Lord sent thunderings and hail; and the fire ran along upon the ground, and the Lord rained hail on all 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 hail and flaming fire mingled with hail; and the hail was very great, such as was not in Egypt, from the time there was a nation upon it.
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 struck in all the land of Egypt both man and beast, and the hail struck all the grass in the field, and the hail broke in pieces all the trees in the field.
26 Only in the Goshen region, where the Israeli people were [living], was there no hail.
Only in the land of Gesem where the children of Israel were, the hail was not.
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 Pharao sent and called 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 then for me to the Lord, and let him cause the thunderings of God to cease, and the hail and the fire, and I will send you forth and you shall remain 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 shall have departed from the city, I will stretch out my hands to the Lord, and the thunderings shall cease, and the hail and the rain shall be no longer, 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 have not yet feared the Lord.
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 struck, for the barley was advanced, and the flax was seeding.
32 But none of the wheat crops was ruined, because their shoots were still very small.
But the wheat and the rye were not struck, for they were late.
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 forth from Pharao out of the city, and stretched out his hands to the Lord, and the thunders ceased and the hail, and the rain did not drop 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 when Pharao saw that the rain and the hail and the thunders ceased, he continued to sin; and [he] hardened his heart, and the heart of 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.
And the heart of Pharao was hardened, and he did not send forth the children of Israel, as the Lord said to Moses.
