Exodus 8

1 And Jehovah saith unto Moses, 'Go in unto Pharaoh: and thou hast said unto him, Thus said Jehovah, Send My people away, and they serve Me;

Then the Lord told Moses, “Go and see Pharaoh and say to him, ‘This is what the Lord says: Let my people go, so that they can worship me.

2 and if thou art refusing to send away, lo, I am smiting all thy border with frogs;

If you refuse to let them leave, I will send a plague of frogs all over your country.

3 and the River hath teemed [with] frogs, and they have gone up and gone into thy house, and into the inner-chamber of thy bed, and on thy couch, and into the house of thy servants, and among thy people, and into thine ovens, and into thy kneading-troughs;

They will swarm out of the Nile, and they will enter your palace and get into your bedroom and jump onto your bed. They will get into the houses of your officials and jump around your people—even into your ovens and breadmaking bowls.

4 yea, on thee, and on thy people, and on all thy servants do the frogs go up.'

Frogs will jump all over you, your people, and all your officials.’”

5 And Jehovah saith unto Moses, 'Say unto Aaron, Stretch out thy hand, with thy rod, against the streams, against the rivers, and against the ponds, and cause the frogs to come up against the land of Egypt.'

The Lord said to Moses, “Tell Aaron, ‘Hold out your walking stick in your hand over the rivers and canals and ponds, and make frogs spread over Egypt.’”

6 And Aaron stretcheth out his hand against the waters of Egypt, and the frog cometh up, and covereth the land of Egypt;

So Aaron held out his hand over the waters of Egypt, and frogs came up and covered the land.

7 and the scribes do so with their flashings, and cause the frogs to come up against the land of Egypt.

But the Egyptian magicians did the same thing using their magic arts. They brought up frogs in Egypt.

8 And Pharaoh calleth for Moses and for Aaron, and saith, 'Make supplication unto Jehovah, that he turn aside the frogs from me, and from my people, and I send the people away, and they sacrifice to Jehovah.'

Pharaoh called for Moses and Aaron and pleaded with them, “Pray to the Lord, and ask him to take away the frogs from me and my people. Then I will let your people go so they can offer sacrifices to the Lord.”

9 And Moses saith to Pharaoh, 'Beautify thyself over me; when do I make supplication for thee, and for thy servants, and for thy people, to cut off the frogs from thee and from thy houses — only in the River they do remain?'

“You may have the honor of deciding when I'll pray for you, your officials, and your people that the frogs will be removed from you and your houses. They will remain only in the Nile.”

10 and he saith, 'To-morrow.' And he saith, According to thy word [it is], so that thou knowest that there is none like Jehovah our God,

“Do it tomorrow,” Pharaoh replied. Moses said, “It will happen as you have requested so you will know that there is no one like the Lord our God.

11 and the frogs have turned aside from thee, and from thy houses, and from thy servants, and from thy people; only in the River they do remain.'

The frogs will leave you and your houses, your officials and your people, and they will remain only in the Nile.”

12 And Moses — Aaron also — goeth out from Pharaoh, and Moses crieth unto Jehovah, concerning the matter of the frogs which He hath set on Pharaoh;

Moses and Aaron left Pharaoh, and Moses pleaded with the Lord about the frogs he had sent against Pharaoh.

13 and Jehovah doth according to the word of Moses, and the frogs die out of the houses, out of the courts, and out of the fields,

The Lord did as Moses asked. The frogs in the houses, the courtyards, and the fields died.

14 and they heap them up together, and the land stinketh.

The people collected them in pile upon pile, and the whole country smelled terrible.

15 And Pharaoh seeth that there hath been a respite, and he hath hardened his heart, and hath not hearkened unto them, as Jehovah hath spoken.

But when Pharaoh realized the plague had passed he chose to become hard and stubborn again, wouldn't listen to Moses and Aaron, just as the Lord had predicted.

16 And Jehovah saith unto Moses, 'Say unto Aaron, Stretch out thy rod, and smite the dust of the land, and it hath become gnats in all the land of Egypt.'

The Lord said to Moses, “Tell Aaron, ‘Pick up your walking stick and hit the dust of the ground. The dust will become gnats swarming all over Egypt.’”

17 And they do so, and Aaron stretcheth out his hand with his rod, and smiteth the dust of the land, and the gnats are on man and on beast; all the dust of the land hath been gnats in all the land of Egypt.

They did what the Lord said. When Aaron lifted up his walking stick and hit the dust of the earth, gnats swarmed over both people and animals. The dust in the whole of Egypt turned into gnats.

18 And the scribes do so with their flashings, to bring out the gnats, and they have not been able, and the gnats are on man and on beast;

The magicians also tried to make gnats using their magic arts, but they couldn't. The gnats stayed on both people and animals.

19 and the scribes say unto Pharaoh, 'It [is] the finger of God;' and the heart of Pharaoh is strong, and he hath not hearkened unto them, as Jehovah hath spoken.

“This is an act of God,” the magicians told Pharaoh. But Pharaoh chose to be stubbornly hard-hearted, and he wouldn't listen to Moses and Aaron, just as the Lord had predicted.

20 And Jehovah saith unto Moses, 'Rise early in the morning, and station thyself before Pharaoh, lo, he is going out to the waters, and thou hast said unto him, Thus said Jehovah, Send My people away, and they serve Me;

The Lord told Moses, “Tomorrow morning get up early and block Pharaoh's way as he walks down to the river. Tell him, ‘This is what the Lord says: Let my people go, so that they can worship me.

21 for, if thou art not sending My people away, lo, I am sending against thee, and against thy servants, and against thy people, and against thy houses, the beetle, and the houses of the Egyptians have been full of the beetle, and also the ground on which they are.

If you don't let my people leave, I will send swarms of flies on you and your officials, and on your people and your houses. Every Egyptian house and even the ground on which they stand will be filled with swarms of flies.

22 'And I have separated in that day the land of Goshen, in which My people are staying, that the beetle is not there, so that thou knowest that I [am] Jehovah in the midst of the land,

However, on this occasion I will treat the land of Goshen differently—that's where my people live—there won't be any swarms of flies there. This is how you will know that I, the Lord, am here in your country.

23 and I have put a division between My people and thy people: to-morrow is this sign.'

I will distinguish my people from your people. You will see this sign that confirms it tomorrow.”

24 And Jehovah doth so, and the grievous beetle entereth the house of Pharaoh, and the house of his servants, and in all the land of Egypt the land is corrupted from the presence of the beetle.

The Lord did what he had said. Huge swarms of flies swept into Pharaoh's palace and into the houses of his officials. The whole of Egypt was devastated because of these swarms of flies.

25 And Pharaoh calleth unto Moses and to Aaron, and saith, 'Go, sacrifice to your God in the land;'

Pharaoh called for Moses and Aaron and told them, “Go and offer sacrifices to your God here in this country.”

26 and Moses saith, 'Not right to do so, for the abomination of the Egyptians we do sacrifice to Jehovah our God; lo, we sacrifice the abomination of the Egyptians before their eyes — and they do not stone us!

“No, that wouldn't be the right thing to do,” Moses replied. “The sacrifices we offer to the Lord our God would be offensive to Egyptians. If we went ahead and offered sacrifices offensive to Egyptians, they'd stone us!

27 A journey of three days we go into the wilderness, and have sacrificed to Jehovah our God, as He saith unto us.'

We must make a three-day journey into the wilderness and offer sacrifices there to the Lord our God as he has told us.”

28 And Pharaoh saith, 'I send you away, and ye have sacrificed to Jehovah your God in the wilderness, only go not very far off; make ye supplication for me;'

“I'll let you go and offer sacrifices to the Lord your God in the desert, but don't go very far,” Pharaoh answered. “Now pray for me that this plague ends.”

29 and Moses saith, 'Lo, I am going out from thee, and have made supplication unto Jehovah, and the beetle hath turned aside from Pharaoh, from his servants, and from his people — to-morrow, only let not Pharaoh add to deceive — in not sending the people away to sacrifice to Jehovah.'

“As soon as I leave you, I will pray to the Lord,” Moses replied, “and tomorrow the flies will leave Pharaoh and his officials and his people. But Pharaoh should be sure not to be deceitful again and refuse to let the people go and offer sacrifices to the Lord.”

30 And Moses goeth out from Pharaoh, and maketh supplication unto Jehovah,

Moses left Pharaoh and prayed to the Lord,

31 and Jehovah doth according to the word of Moses, and turneth aside the beetle from Pharaoh, from his servants, and from his people — there hath not been left one;

and the Lord did as Moses asked, and removed the swarms of flies from Pharaoh and his officials and his people. Not a single fly remained.

32 and Pharaoh hardeneth his heart also at this time, and hath not sent the people away.

But once again Pharaoh chose to be stubbornly hard-hearted and would not let the people leave.