Exodus 8
8
1Then the Lord told Moses, “Go to the king of Egypt and tell him, ‘This is what the Lord says: Let my people go to worship me. 2If you refuse, then I will punish Egypt with frogs. 3The Nile River will be filled with frogs. They will come from the river and enter your palace. They will be in your bedroom and your bed. The frogs will enter the houses of your officers and your people. They will enter your ovens and your baking pans. 4The frogs will jump up all over you, your people and your officers.’”
5Then the Lord said to Moses, “Tell Aaron to hold his walking stick in his hand over the rivers, canals and ponds. Make frogs come up out of the water onto the land of Egypt.”
6So Aaron held his hand over all the waters of Egypt. The frogs came up out of the water and covered the land of Egypt. 7The magicians used their tricks to do the same thing. So even more frogs came up onto the land of Egypt.
8So the king called for Moses and Aaron. He said, “Pray to the Lord to take the frogs away from me and my people. I will let your people go to offer sacrifices to the Lord.”
9Moses said to the king, “Please set the time that I should pray for you, your people and your officers. Then the frogs will leave you and your houses. They will remain only in the Nile.”
10The king answered, “Tomorrow.”
Moses said, “What you want will happen. By this you will know that there is no one like the Lord our God. 11The frogs will leave you, your houses, your officers and your people. They will remain only in the Nile.”
12Moses and Aaron left the king. Moses asked the Lord about the frogs he had sent to the king. 13And the Lord did as Moses asked. The frogs died in the houses, in the yards and in the fields. 14The Egyptians put them in piles. The whole country began to stink. 15When the king saw that they were free of the frogs, he became stubborn again. He did not listen to Moses and Aaron, just as the Lord had said.
The Gnats
16Then the Lord said to Moses, “Tell Aaron to raise his walking stick and strike the dust on the ground. Then everywhere in Egypt the dust will change into gnats.” 17They did this. Aaron raised the walking stick that was in his hand and struck the dust on the ground. Then everywhere in Egypt the dust changed into gnats. The gnats got on the people and animals. 18Using their tricks, the magicians tried to do the same thing. But they could not make the dust change into gnats. The gnats remained on the people and animals. 19So the magicians told the king that the power of God had done this. But the king was stubborn and refused to listen to them. This happened just as the Lord had said.
The Flies
20The Lord told Moses, “Get up early in the morning. Meet the king of Egypt as he goes out to the river. Tell him, ‘This is what the Lord says: Let my people go so they can worship me. 21If you don’t let them go, I will send swarms of flies. I will send them into your houses. The flies will be on you, your officers and your people. The houses of Egypt will be full of flies. And they will be all over the ground, too. 22But I will not treat the people of Israel the same as the Egyptian people. There will not be any flies in the land of Goshen, where my people live. By this you will know that I, the Lord, am in this land. 23I will treat my people differently from your people. This miracle will happen tomorrow.’”
24So the Lord did as he had said. Great swarms of flies came into the king’s palace and his officers’ houses. All over Egypt flies were ruining the land. 25The king called for Moses and Aaron. He told them, “Offer sacrifices to your God here in this country.”
26But Moses said, “It wouldn’t be right to do that. The Egyptians hate the sacrifices we offer to the Lord our God. They will see us offer sacrifices they hate. Then they will throw stones at us and kill us. 27Let us make a three-day journey into the desert. We must offer sacrifices to the Lord our God there. This is what the Lord told us to do.”
28The king said, “I will let you go. Then you may offer sacrifices to the Lord your God in the desert. But you must not go very far away. Now go and pray for me.”
29Moses said, “I will leave and pray to the Lord. He will take the flies away from you, your officers and your people tomorrow. But do not try to trick us again. Do not stop the people from going to offer sacrifices to the Lord.”
30So Moses left the king and prayed to the Lord. 31And the Lord did as Moses asked. He removed the flies from the king, his officers and his people. Not one fly was left. 32But the king became stubborn again and did not let the people go.
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Exodus 8: ICB
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Copyright © 2015 by Tommy Nelson™, a Division of Thomas Nelson, Inc. All rights reserved. Used by permission.
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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