Exodus 8
8
1Then the Lord said to Moses, “Go to Pharaoh. Tell him, ‘The Lord says, “Let my people go. Then they will be able to worship me. 2If you refuse to let them go, I will send a plague of frogs on your whole country. 3The Nile River will be full of frogs. They will come up into your palace. You will have frogs in your bedroom and on your bed. They will be in the homes of your officials and your people. They will be in your ovens and in the bowls for kneading your bread. 4The frogs will be on you, your people and all your officials.” ’ ”
5Then the Lord spoke to Moses. He said, “Tell Aaron, ‘Reach out your hand. Hold your walking stick over the streams, canals and ponds. Make frogs come up on the land of Egypt.’ ”
6So Aaron reached out his hand over the waters of Egypt. The frogs came up and covered the land. 7But the magicians did the same things by doing their magic tricks. They also made frogs come up on the land of Egypt.
8Pharaoh sent for Moses and Aaron. He said to them, “Pray to the Lord to take the frogs away from me and my people. Then I’ll let your people go to offer sacrifices to the Lord.”
9Moses said to Pharaoh, “You can have the honor of setting the time for me to pray. I will pray for you, your officials and your people. I’ll pray that the frogs will leave you and your homes. The only frogs left will be the ones in the Nile River.”
10“Tomorrow,” Pharaoh said.
Moses replied, “It will happen just as you say. Then you will know that there is no one like the Lord our God. 11The frogs will leave you and your houses. They will leave your officials and your people. The frogs will remain only in the Nile River.”
12Moses and Aaron left Pharaoh. Then Moses cried out to the Lord about the frogs he had brought on Pharaoh. 13And the Lord did what Moses asked. The frogs died in the houses, courtyards and fields. 14The Egyptians piled them up. The land smelled very bad because of them. 15But when Pharaoh saw that the frogs were dead, he became stubborn. He wouldn’t listen to Moses and Aaron, just as the Lord had said.
The Plague of Gnats
16Then the Lord spoke to Moses. He said, “Tell Aaron, ‘Reach out your walking stick. Strike the dust on the ground with it.’ Then all over the land of Egypt the dust will turn into gnats.” 17So they did it. Aaron reached out the stick that was in his hand. He struck the dust on the ground with it. The dust all over the land of Egypt turned into gnats. They landed on people and animals alike. 18The magicians tried to produce gnats by doing their magic tricks. But they couldn’t.
The gnats stayed on people and animals everywhere. 19So the magicians said to Pharaoh, “God’s powerful finger has done this.” But Pharaoh remained stubborn. He wouldn’t listen, just as the Lord had said.
The Plague of Flies
20Then the Lord spoke to Moses. He said, “Get up early in the morning. Talk to Pharaoh as he goes down to the Nile River. Say to him, ‘The Lord says, “Let my people go. Then they will be able to worship me. 21If you do not let my people go, I will send large numbers of flies. I will send them on you and your officials. I will send them on your people and into your homes. The houses of the Egyptians will be full of flies. Even the ground will be covered with them.
22“ ‘ “But on that day I will treat the area of Goshen differently from yours. That is where my people live. There will not be large numbers of flies in Goshen. Then you will know that I, the Lord, am in this land. 23I will treat my people differently from yours. This sign will take place tomorrow.” ’ ”
24So the Lord did it. Huge numbers of flies poured into Pharaoh’s palace. They came into the homes of his officials. All over Egypt the flies destroyed the land.
25Then Pharaoh sent for Moses and Aaron. He said to them, “Go. Offer sacrifices to your God here in the land.”
26But Moses said, “That wouldn’t be right. The sacrifices we offer to the Lord our God wouldn’t be accepted by the Egyptians because of their beliefs. For that reason, they would throw stones at us and try to kill us. 27We have to take a journey that lasts about three days. We want to go into the desert to offer sacrifices to the Lord our God, just as he commands us.”
28Pharaoh said, “I will let you and your people go to offer sacrifices. You can offer them to the Lord your God in the desert. But you must not go very far. Now pray for me.”
29Moses replied, “As soon as I leave you, I will pray to the Lord. Tomorrow the flies will leave you. They will also leave your officials and your people. Just be sure you don’t try to trick us again. Let the people go to offer sacrifices to the Lord.”
30Then Moses left Pharaoh and prayed to the Lord. 31And the Lord did what Moses asked. The flies left Pharaoh, his officials and his people. Not one fly remained. 32But Pharaoh became stubborn this time also. He wouldn’t let the people go.
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Exodus 8: NIrV
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Holy Bible, New International Reader’s Version®, NIrV®
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Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
Exodus 8
8
Invasion of frogs
1 # 8.1 7:26 in Heb Then the LORD said to Moses, “Go to Pharaoh and tell him: This is what the LORD says: Let my people go so that they can worship me. 2If you refuse to let them go, then I’ll send a plague of frogs over your whole country. 3The Nile will overflow with frogs. They’ll get into your palace, into your bedroom and onto your bed, into your officials’ houses, and among all your people, and even into your ovens and bread pans. 4The frogs will crawl up on you, your people, and all your officials.” 5And#8.5 8:1 in Heb the LORD said to Moses, “Tell Aaron, ‘Stretch out your hand with your shepherd’s rod over the rivers, the canals, and the marshes, and make the frogs crawl up all over the land of Egypt.’” 6So Aaron stretched out his hand over the waters of Egypt. The frogs crawled up and covered the land of Egypt. 7However, the Egyptian religious experts were able to do the same thing by their secret knowledge. They too made frogs crawl up onto the land of Egypt.
8Then Pharaoh called for Moses and Aaron, and said, “If you pray to the LORD to get rid of the frogs from me and my people, then I’ll let the people go so that they can offer sacrifices to the LORD.”
9Moses said to Pharaoh, “Have it your way. When should I pray for you and your officials and your people to remove the frogs from your houses, courtyards, and fields? They’ll stay only in the Nile.”
10Pharaoh said, “Tomorrow!”
Moses said, “Just as you say! That way you will know that there is no one like the LORD our God. 11The frogs will leave you, your houses, your officials, and your people. They’ll stay only in the Nile.” 12After Moses and Aaron had left Pharaoh, Moses cried out to the LORD about the frogs that the LORD had brought on Pharaoh. 13The LORD did as Moses asked. The frogs died inside the houses, out in the yards, and in the fields. 14They gathered them together in big piles, and the land began to stink. 15But when Pharaoh saw that the disaster was over, he became stubborn again and wouldn’t listen to them, just as the LORD had said.
Swarming lice
16Then the LORD said to Moses, “Tell Aaron, ‘Stretch out your shepherd’s rod and hit the land’s dirt so that lice#8.16 Heb uncertain appear in the whole land of Egypt.’” 17They did this. Aaron stretched out his hand with his shepherd’s rod, hit the land’s dirt, and lice appeared on both people and animals. All the land’s dirt turned into lice throughout the whole land of Egypt.
18The religious experts#8.18 Or magicians tried to produce lice by their secret knowledge, but they weren’t able to do it. There were lice on people and animals. 19The religious experts said to Pharaoh, “This is something only God could do!” But Pharaoh was stubborn, and he wouldn’t listen to them, just as the LORD had said.
Insects fill Egypt
20The LORD said to Moses, “Get up early in the morning and confront Pharaoh as he goes out to the water. Say to him, This is what the LORD says: Let my people go so that they can worship me. 21If you refuse to let my people go, I’ll send swarms of insects#8.21 Heb uncertain on you, your officials, your people, and your houses. All Egyptian houses will be filled with swarms of insects and also the ground that they cover. 22But on that day I’ll set apart the land of Goshen, where my people live. No swarms of insects will come there so you will know that I, the LORD, am in this land. 23I’ll put a barrier between my people and your people. This sign will happen tomorrow.” 24The LORD did this. Great swarms of insects came into the houses of Pharaoh and his officials and into the whole land of Egypt. The land was ruined by the insects.
25Then Pharaoh called in Moses and Aaron and said, “Go, offer sacrifices to your God within the land.”
26Moses replied, “It wouldn’t be right to do that, because the sacrifices that we offer to the LORD our God will offend Egyptians. If we openly offer sacrifices that offend Egyptians, won’t they stone us to death? 27We need to go for a three-day journey into the desert to offer sacrifices to the LORD our God as he has ordered us.”
28So Pharaoh said, “I’ll let you go to offer sacrifices to the LORD your God in the desert, provided you don’t go too far away and you pray for me.”
29Moses said, “I’ll leave you now, and I’ll pray to the LORD. Tomorrow the swarms of insects will leave Pharaoh, his officials, and his people. Just don’t let Pharaoh lie to us again and not let the people go to offer sacrifices to the LORD.”
30So Moses left Pharaoh and prayed to the LORD. 31The LORD did as Moses asked and removed the swarms of insects from Pharaoh, from his officials, and from his people. Not one insect remained. 32But Pharaoh was stubborn once again, and he wouldn’t let the people go.
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