Exodus 9
9
The Plague on Livestock
1Then the Lord spoke to Moses. He said, “Go to Pharaoh. Tell him, ‘The Lord, the God of the Hebrews, says, “Let my people go. Then they will be able to worship me. 2Do not refuse to let them go. Do not keep holding them back. 3If you refuse, my powerful hand will bring a terrible plague on you. I will strike your livestock in the fields. I will strike your horses, donkeys, camels, cattle, sheep and goats. 4But I will treat Israel’s livestock differently from yours. No animal that belongs to the people of Israel will die.” ’ ”
5The Lord set a time for the plague. He said, “Tomorrow I will send it on the land.” 6So the next day the Lord sent it. All the livestock of the Egyptians died. But not one animal that belonged to the Israelites died. 7Pharaoh searched and found out what had happened. He discovered that not even one animal that belonged to the Israelites had died. But he was still very stubborn. He wouldn’t let the people go.
The Plague of Boils
8Then the Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron. He said, “Take handfuls of ashes from a furnace. Have Moses toss them into the air in front of Pharaoh. 9The ashes will turn into fine dust over the whole land of Egypt. Then painful boils will break out on people and animals all over the land. Their bodies will be covered with them.”
10So Moses and Aaron took ashes from a furnace and stood in front of Pharaoh. Moses tossed them into the air. Then boils broke out on people and animals alike. 11The bodies of all the Egyptians were covered with boils. The magicians couldn’t stand in front of Moses because of the boils that were all over them. 12But the Lord made Pharaoh stubborn. Pharaoh wouldn’t listen to Moses and Aaron, just as the Lord had said to Moses.
The Plague of Hail
13Then the Lord spoke to Moses. He said, “Get up early in the morning. Go to Pharaoh and say to him, ‘The Lord, the God of the Hebrews, says, “Let my people go. Then they will be able to worship me. 14If you do not let them go, I will send the full force of my plagues against you this time. They will strike your officials and your people. Then you will know that there is no one like me in the whole earth. 15By now I could have reached out my hand. I could have struck you and your people with a plague that would have wiped you off the earth. 16But I had a special reason for making you king. I decided to show you my power. I wanted my name to become known everywhere on earth. 17But you are still against my people. You will not let them go. 18So at this time tomorrow I will send the worst hailstorm ever to fall on Egypt in its entire history. 19Give an order now to bring your livestock inside to a safe place. Bring in everything that is outside. The hail will fall on all the people and animals that are left outside. They will die.” ’ ”
20The officials of Pharaoh who had respect for what the Lord had said obeyed him. They hurried to bring their slaves and their livestock inside. 21But others didn’t pay attention to what the Lord had said. They left their slaves and livestock outside.
22Then the Lord spoke to Moses. He said, “Reach out your hand toward the sky. Then hail will fall all over Egypt. It will beat down on people and animals alike. It will strike everything growing in the fields of Egypt.” 23Moses reached out his walking stick toward the sky. Then the Lord sent thunder and hail. Lightning flashed down to the ground. The Lord rained hail on the land of Egypt. 24Hail fell and lightning flashed back and forth. It was the worst storm in Egypt’s entire history. 25Hail struck everything in the fields all over Egypt. It fell on people and animals alike. It beat down everything growing in the fields. It tore all the leaves off the trees. 26The only place it didn’t hail was in the area of Goshen. That’s where the people of Israel were.
27Then Pharaoh sent for Moses and Aaron. “This time I’ve sinned,” he said to them. “The Lord has done what is right. I and my people have done what is wrong. 28Pray to the Lord, because we’ve had enough thunder and hail. I’ll let you and your people go. You don’t have to stay here any longer.”
29Moses replied, “When I’ve left the city, I’ll lift up my hands and pray to the Lord. The thunder will stop. There won’t be any more hail. Then you will know that the earth belongs to the Lord. 30But I know that you and your officials still don’t have any respect for the Lord God.”
31The barley was ripe. The flax was in bloom. So they were both destroyed. 32But the wheat and spelt weren’t destroyed. That’s because they ripen later.
33Then Moses left Pharaoh and went out of the city. Moses lifted up his hands and prayed to the Lord. The thunder and hail stopped. The rain didn’t pour down on the land any longer. 34Pharaoh saw that the rain, hail and thunder had stopped. So he sinned again. He and his officials became stubborn. 35So Pharaoh was stubborn. He wouldn’t let the people of Israel go, just as the Lord had said through Moses.
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Exodus 9: 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 9
9
1The Lord told Moses, “Go and speak to Pharaoh. 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 and keep holding on to them, 3I will punish you by bringing a very severe plague on your livestock—on your horses, donkeys, camels, herds, and flocks. 4But the Lord will distinguish between the livestock of the Israelites and the Egyptians, so that none of those belonging to the Israelites will die. 5The Lord has set a time, saying, Tomorrow this is what is going to happen here in the country.’”
6The following day the Lord did what he had said. All the Egyptians' livestock died, but not a single animal belonging to the Israelites died. 7Pharaoh sent out officials and discovered that not a single one of the Israelites' livestock had died. But Pharaoh was stubborn, and he would not let the people leave.
8The Lord told Moses and Aaron, “Go and get some handfuls of soot from a furnace. Then have Moses throw it into the air in front of Pharaoh. 9It will spread like fine dust over the whole country of Egypt, and open sores will break out on people and animals throughout the land.” 10They got soot from a furnace, and went to see Pharaoh. Moses threw it into the air, and open sores broke out on people and animals. 11The magicians were unable to come and appear before Moses, because they and all the other Egyptians were covered in sores. 12But the Lord gave Pharaoh a stubborn attitude, and he would not listen to them, just as the Lord had told Moses.
13The Lord told Moses, “Tomorrow morning get up early and go to Pharaoh, and tell him that this is what the Lord, the God of the Hebrews, says: ‘Let my people go, so that they can worship me. 14This time I will direct all my plagues against you and your officials and your people, so you will realize that there is no one like me in all the earth. 15By now I could have reached out to strike you and your people with a plague that would have completely destroyed you.#9:15. “Completely destroyed you”: literally, “you would have perished from the earth.” 16However, I have let you live so you can see my power, and that my reputation may be spread throughout the earth. 17But in your pride you are still tyrannizing my people, and refuse to let them leave. 18So watch out! About this time tomorrow I will send down the worst hailstorm that has ever fallen on Egypt, from the beginning of its history until now. 19So order your livestock and everything you have in the field to be brought inside. Every person and every animal that stays outside and is not brought inside will die when the hail falls on them.’”
20Those of Pharaoh's officials who took seriously what the Lord said rushed to bring their servants and livestock inside. 21But those who didn't care what the Lord said left their servants and livestock outside.
22The Lord told Moses, “Lift your hand towards the sky so that a hailstorm will fall over the whole of Egypt, on people and on animals, and on everything growing in the fields of Egypt.”
23Moses held up his staff toward heaven, and the Lord sent thunder and hail, and made lightning hit the ground. This is how the Lord rained hail down on Egypt. 24As the hail fell it was accompanied by lightning flashing back and forth. The hail that fell was so severe that nothing like it had ever been seen in the whole of Egypt since the beginning of its history. 25All across Egypt hail hit everything in the fields, both people and animals. It knocked down everything growing in the fields, and stripped every tree bare. 26Only in the land of Goshen where the Israelites lived was there no hail.
27Pharaoh called for Moses and Aaron and told them, “I admit that I sinned this time! The Lord is right, and I and my people are wrong! 28Pray to the Lord for us, because there's been more than enough of God's thunder and hail. I will let you leave. You don't need to stay here any longer.”
29“Once I've left the city, I will pray to the Lord for you,” Moses told him. “The thunder will stop, and there'll be no more hail, so that you will realize that the earth belongs to the Lord. 30But I know you and your officials still do not really respect the Lord our God.”
31(The flax and barley were destroyed, because the barley was ripe and the flax was flowering. 32However, the wheat and the spelt were not destroyed because they grow later.)
33Moses left Pharaoh and went out of the city, and prayed to the Lord. The thunder and hail stopped, and the rainstorm finished. 34When Pharaoh saw that the rain and hail and thunder had stopped, he sinned again, and he chose to become stubborn again, along with his officials. 35Because of his stubborn attitude, Pharaoh would not let the Israelites leave, just as the Lord had predicted through Moses.
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Dr. Jonathan Gallagher. Released under Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 Unported License. Version 4.3. For corrections send email to jonathangallagherfbv@gmail.com