Day 21 of 364

^8:1The LORD spoke to Moses, “Go in to Pharaoh, and tell him, ‘This is what the LORD says, “Let my people go, that they may serve me. ^8:2If you refuse to let them go, behold, I will plague all your borders with frogs. ^8:3The river will swarm with frogs, which will go up and come into your house, and into your bedroom, and on your bed, and into the house of your servants, and on your people, and into your ovens, and into your kneading troughs. ^8:4The frogs shall come up both on you, and on your people, and on all your servants.”’” ^8:5The LORD said to Moses, “Tell Aaron, ‘Stretch out your hand with your rod over the rivers, over the streams, and over the pools, and cause frogs to come up on the land of Egypt.’” ^8:6Aaron stretched out his hand over the waters of Egypt; and the frogs came up, and covered the land of Egypt. ^8:7The magicians did the same thing with their enchantments, and brought up frogs on the land of Egypt. ^8:8Then Pharaoh called for Moses and Aaron, and said, “Entreat the LORD, that he take away the frogs from me and from my people; and I will let the people go, that they may sacrifice to the LORD.” ^8:9Moses said to Pharaoh, “I give you the honor of setting the time that I should pray for you, and for your servants, and for your people, that the frogs be destroyed from you and your houses, and remain in the river only.” ^8:10Pharaoh said, “Tomorrow.” Moses said, “Let it be according to your word, that you may know that there is no one like the LORD our God. ^8:11The frogs shall depart from you, and from your houses, and from your servants, and from your people. They shall remain in the river only.” ^8:12Moses and Aaron went out from Pharaoh, and Moses cried to the LORD concerning the frogs which he had brought on Pharaoh. ^8:13The LORD did according to the word of Moses, and the frogs died out of the houses, out of the courts, and out of the fields. ^8:14They gathered them together in heaps, and the land stank. ^8:15But when Pharaoh saw that there was a respite, he hardened his heart, and didn’t listen to them, as the LORD had spoken. ^8:16The LORD said to Moses, “Tell Aaron, ‘Stretch out your rod, and strike the dust of the earth, that it may become lice throughout all the land of Egypt.’” ^8:17They did so; and Aaron stretched out his hand with his rod, and struck the dust of the earth, and there were lice on man, and on animal; all the dust of the earth became lice throughout all the land of Egypt. ^8:18The magicians tried with their enchantments to produce lice, but they couldn’t. There were lice on man, and on animal. ^8:19Then the magicians said to Pharaoh, “This is God’s finger;” but Pharaoh’s heart was hardened, and he didn’t listen to them, as the LORD had spoken. ^8:20The LORD said to Moses, “Rise up early in the morning, and stand before Pharaoh; behold, he comes out to the water; and tell him, ‘This is what the LORD says, “Let my people go, that they may serve me. ^8:21Else, if you will not let my people go, behold, I will send swarms of flies on you, and on your servants, and on your people, and into your houses. The houses of the Egyptians shall be full of swarms of flies, and also the ground they are on. ^8:22I will set apart in that day the land of Goshen, in which my people dwell, that no swarms of flies shall be there, to the end you may know that I am the LORD on the earth. ^8:23I will put a division between my people and your people. This sign shall happen by tomorrow.”’” ^8:24The LORD did so; and there came grievous swarms of flies into the house of Pharaoh, and into his servants’ houses. In all the land of Egypt the land was corrupted by reason of the swarms of flies. ^8:25Pharaoh called for Moses and for Aaron, and said, “Go, sacrifice to your God in the land!” ^8:26Moses said, “It isn’t appropriate to do so; for we shall sacrifice the abomination of the Egyptians to the LORD our God. Behold, if we sacrifice the abomination of the Egyptians before their eyes, won’t they stone us? ^8:27We will go three days’ journey into the wilderness, and sacrifice to the LORD our God, as he shall command us.” ^8:28Pharaoh said, “I will let you go, that you may sacrifice to the LORD your God in the wilderness, only you shall not go very far away. Pray for me.” ^8:29Moses said, “Behold, I am going out from you. I will pray to the LORD that the swarms of flies may depart from Pharaoh, from his servants, and from his people, tomorrow; only don’t let Pharaoh deal deceitfully any more in not letting the people go to sacrifice to the LORD.” ^8:30Moses went out from Pharaoh, and prayed to the LORD. ^8:31The LORD did according to the word of Moses, and he removed the swarms of flies from Pharaoh, from his servants, and from his people. There remained not one. ^8:32Pharaoh hardened his heart this time also, and he didn’t let the people go. ^9:1Then the LORD said to Moses, “Go in to Pharaoh, and tell him, ‘This is what the LORD, the God of the Hebrews, says: “Let my people go, that they may serve me. ^9:2For if you refuse to let them go, and hold them still, ^9:3behold, the LORD’s hand is on your livestock which are in the field, on the horses, on the donkeys, on the camels, on the herds, and on the flocks with a very grievous pestilence. ^9:4The LORD will make a distinction between the livestock of Israel and the livestock of Egypt; and nothing shall die of all that belongs to the children of Israel.”’” ^9:5The LORD appointed a set time, saying, “Tomorrow the LORD shall do this thing in the land.” ^9:6The LORD did that thing on the next day; and all the livestock of Egypt died, but of the livestock of the children of Israel, not one died. ^9:7Pharaoh sent, and, behold, there was not so much as one of the livestock of the Israelites dead. But the heart of Pharaoh was stubborn, and he didn’t let the people go. ^9:8The LORD said to Moses and to Aaron, “Take handfuls of ashes of the furnace, and let Moses sprinkle it toward the sky in the sight of Pharaoh. ^9:9It shall become small dust over all the land of Egypt, and shall be boils and blisters breaking out on man and on animal, throughout all the land of Egypt.” ^9:10They took ashes of the furnace, and stood before Pharaoh; and Moses sprinkled it up toward the sky; and it became boils and blisters breaking out on man and on animal. ^9:11The magicians couldn’t stand before Moses because of the boils; for the boils were on the magicians and on all the Egyptians. ^9:12The LORD hardened the heart of Pharaoh, and he didn’t listen to them, as the LORD had spoken to Moses. ^9:13The LORD said to Moses, “Rise up early in the morning, and stand before Pharaoh, and tell him, ‘This is what the LORD, the God of the Hebrews, says: “Let my people go, that they may serve me. ^9:14For this time I will send all my plagues against your heart, against your officials, and against your people; that you may know that there is no one like me in all the earth. ^9:15For now I would have stretched out my hand, and struck you and your people with pestilence, and you would have been cut off from the earth; ^9:16but indeed for this cause I have made you stand: to show you my power, and that my name may be declared throughout all the earth, ^9:17because you still exalt yourself against my people, that you won’t let them go. ^9:18Behold, tomorrow about this time I will cause it to rain a very grievous hail, such as has not been in Egypt since the day it was founded even until now. ^9:19Now therefore command that all of your livestock and all that you have in the field be brought into shelter. The hail will come down on every man and animal that is found in the field, and isn’t brought home, and they will die.”’” ^9:20Those who feared the LORD’s word among the servants of Pharaoh made their servants and their livestock flee into the houses. ^9:21Whoever didn’t respect the LORD’s word left his servants and his livestock in the field. ^9:22The LORD said to Moses, “Stretch out your hand toward the sky, that there may be hail in all the land of Egypt, on man, and on animal, and on every herb of the field, throughout the land of Egypt.” ^9:23Moses stretched out his rod toward the heavens, and the LORD sent thunder and hail; and lightning flashed down to the earth. The LORD rained hail on the land of Egypt. ^9:24So there was very severe hail, and lightning mixed with the hail, such as had not been in all the land of Egypt since it became a nation. ^9:25The hail struck throughout all the land of Egypt all that was in the field, both man and animal; and the hail struck every herb of the field, and broke every tree of the field. ^9:26Only in the land of Goshen, where the children of Israel were, there was no hail. ^9:27Pharaoh sent and called for Moses and Aaron, and said to them, “I have sinned this time. The LORD is righteous, and I and my people are wicked. ^9:28Pray to the LORD; for there has been enough of mighty thunderings and hail. I will let you go, and you shall stay no longer.” ^9:29Moses said to him, “As soon as I have gone out of the city, I will spread out my hands to the LORD. The thunders shall cease, and there will not be any more hail; that you may know that the earth is the LORD’s. ^9:30But as for you and your servants, I know that you don’t yet fear the LORD God.” ^9:31The flax and the barley were struck, for the barley had ripened and the flax was blooming. ^9:32But the wheat and the spelt were not struck, for they had not grown up. ^9:33Moses went out of the city from Pharaoh, and spread out his hands to the LORD; and the thunders and hail ceased, and the rain was not poured on the earth. ^9:34When Pharaoh saw that the rain and the hail and the thunders had ceased, he sinned yet more, and hardened his heart, he and his servants. ^9:35The heart of Pharaoh was hardened, and he didn’t let the children of Israel go, just as the LORD had spoken through Moses. ^10:1The LORD said to Moses, “Go in to Pharaoh, for I have hardened his heart and the heart of his servants, that I may show these my signs among them; ^10:2and that you may tell in the hearing of your son, and of your son’s son, what things I have done to Egypt, and my signs which I have done among them; that you may know that I am the LORD.” ^10:3Moses and Aaron went in to Pharaoh, and said to him, “This is what the LORD, the God of the Hebrews, says: ‘How long will you refuse to humble yourself before me? Let my people go, that they may serve me. ^10:4Or else, if you refuse to let my people go, behold, tomorrow I will bring locusts into your country, ^10:5and they shall cover the surface of the earth, so that one won’t be able to see the earth. They shall eat the residue of that which has escaped, which remains to you from the hail, and shall eat every tree which grows for you out of the field. ^10:6Your houses shall be filled, and the houses of all your servants, and the houses of all the Egyptians, as neither your fathers nor your fathers’ fathers have seen, since the day that they were on the earth to this day.’” He turned, and went out from Pharaoh. ^10:7Pharaoh’s servants said to him, “How long will this man be a snare to us? Let the men go, that they may serve the LORD, their God. Don’t you yet know that Egypt is destroyed?” ^10:8Moses and Aaron were brought again to Pharaoh, and he said to them, “Go, serve the LORD your God; but who are those who will go?” ^10:9Moses said, “We will go with our young and with our old. We will go with our sons and with our daughters, with our flocks and with our herds; for we must hold a feast to the LORD.” ^10:10He said to them, “The LORD be with you if I let you go with your little ones! See, evil is clearly before your faces. ^10:11Not so! Go now you who are men, and serve the LORD; for that is what you desire!” Then they were driven out from Pharaoh’s presence. ^10:12The LORD said to Moses, “Stretch out your hand over the land of Egypt for the locusts, that they may come up on the land of Egypt, and eat every herb of the land, even all that the hail has left.” ^10:13Moses stretched out his rod over the land of Egypt, and the LORD brought an east wind on the land all that day, and all night; and when it was morning, the east wind brought the locusts. ^10:14The locusts went up over all the land of Egypt, and rested in all the borders of Egypt. They were very grievous. Before them there were no such locusts as they, nor will there ever be again. ^10:15For they covered the surface of the whole earth, so that the land was darkened, and they ate every herb of the land, and all the fruit of the trees which the hail had left. There remained nothing green, either tree or herb of the field, through all the land of Egypt. ^10:16Then Pharaoh called for Moses and Aaron in haste, and he said, “I have sinned against the LORD your God, and against you. ^10:17Now therefore please forgive my sin again, and pray to the LORD your God, that he may also take away from me this death.” ^10:18Moses went out from Pharaoh, and prayed to the LORD. ^10:19The LORD sent an exceedingly strong west wind, which took up the locusts, and drove them into the Red Sea. There remained not one locust in all the borders of Egypt. ^10:20But the LORD hardened Pharaoh’s heart, and he didn’t let the children of Israel go. ^10:21The LORD said to Moses, “Stretch out your hand toward the sky, that there may be darkness over the land of Egypt, even darkness which may be felt.” ^10:22Moses stretched out his hand toward the sky, and there was a thick darkness in all the land of Egypt for three days. ^10:23They didn’t see one another, and nobody rose from his place for three days; but all the children of Israel had light in their dwellings. ^10:24Pharaoh called to Moses, and said, “Go, serve the LORD. Only let your flocks and your herds stay behind. Let your little ones also go with you.” ^10:25Moses said, “You must also give into our hand sacrifices and burnt offerings, that we may sacrifice to the LORD our God. ^10:26Our livestock also shall go with us. Not a hoof shall be left behind, for of it we must take to serve the LORD our God; and we don’t know with what we must serve the LORD, until we come there.” ^10:27But the LORD hardened Pharaoh’s heart, and he wouldn’t let them go. ^10:28Pharaoh said to him, “Get away from me! Be careful to see my face no more; for in the day you see my face you shall die!” ^10:29Moses said, “You have spoken well. I will see your face again no more.”