Exodus 9
9
1Then the Lord said to Moses, “Go in to Pharaoh, and say to him, ‘Thus says the Lord, the God of the Hebrews, “Let my people go, that they may serve me. 2For if you refuse to let them go and still hold them, 3behold, the hand of the Lord will fall with a very severe plague upon your cattle which are in the field, the horses, the asses, the camels, the herds, and the flocks. 4But the Lord will make a distinction between the cattle of Israel and the cattle of Egypt, so that nothing shall die of all that belongs to the people of Israel.” ’ ” 5And the Lord set a time, saying, “Tomorrow the Lord will do this thing in the land.” 6And on the morrow the Lord did this thing; all the cattle of the Egyptians died, but of the cattle of the people of Israel not one died. 7And Pharaoh sent, and behold, not one of the cattle of the Israelites was dead. But the heart of Pharaoh was hardened, and he did not let the people go.
8And the Lord said to Moses and Aaron, “Take handfuls of ashes from the kiln, and let Moses throw them toward heaven in the sight of Pharaoh. 9And it shall become fine dust over all the land of Egypt, and become boils breaking out in sores on man and beast throughout all the land of Egypt.” 10So they took ashes from the kiln, and stood before Pharaoh, and Moses threw them toward heaven, and it became boils breaking out in sores on man and beast. 11And the magicians could not stand before Moses because of the boils, for the boils were upon the magicians and upon all the Egyptians. 12But the Lord hardened the heart of Pharaoh, and he did not listen to them; as the Lord had spoken to Moses.
13Then the Lord said to Moses, “Rise up early in the morning and stand before Pharaoh, and say to him, ‘Thus says the Lord, the God of the Hebrews, “Let my people go, that they may serve me. 14For this time I will send all my plagues upon your heart, and upon your servants and your people, that you may know that there is none like me in all the earth. 15For by now I could have put forth my hand and struck you and your people with pestilence, and you would have been cut off from the earth; 16#Rom 9.17. but for this purpose have I let you live, to show you my power, so that my name may be declared throughout all the earth. 17You are still exalting yourself against my people, and will not let them go. 18Behold, tomorrow about this time I will cause very heavy hail to fall, such as never has been in Egypt from the day it was founded until now. 19Now therefore send, get your cattle and all that you have in the field into safe shelter; for the hail shall come down upon every man and beast that is in the field and is not brought home, and they shall die.” ’ ” 20Then he who feared the word of the Lord among the servants of Pharaoh made his slaves and his cattle flee into the houses; 21but he who did not regard the word of the Lord left his slaves and his cattle in the field.
22And the Lord said to Moses, “Stretch forth your hand toward heaven, that there may be hail in all the land of Egypt, upon man and beast and every plant of the field, throughout the land of Egypt.” 23Then Moses stretched forth his rod toward heaven; and the Lord sent thunder and hail, and fire ran down to the earth. And the Lord rained hail upon the land of Egypt; 24there was hail, and fire flashing continually in the midst of the hail, very heavy hail, such as had never been in all the land of Egypt since it became a nation. 25The hail struck down everything that was in the field throughout all the land of Egypt, both man and beast; and the hail struck down every plant of the field, and shattered every tree of the field. 26Only in the land of Goshen, where the people of Israel were, there was no hail.
27Then Pharaoh sent, and called Moses and Aaron, and said to them, “I have sinned this time; the Lord is in the right, and I and my people are in the wrong. 28Entreat the Lord; for there has been enough of this thunder and hail; I will let you go, and you shall stay no longer.” 29Moses said to him, “As soon as I have gone out of the city, I will stretch out my hands to the Lord; the thunder will cease, and there will be no more hail, that you may know that the earth is the Lord's. 30But as for you and your servants, I know that you do not yet fear the Lord God.” 31(The flax and the barley were ruined, for the barley was in the ear and the flax was in bud. 32But the wheat and the spelt were not ruined, for they are late in coming up.) 33So Moses went out of the city from Pharaoh, and stretched out his hands to the Lord; and the thunder and the hail ceased, and the rain no longer poured upon the earth. 34But when Pharaoh saw that the rain and the hail and the thunder had ceased, he sinned yet again, and hardened his heart, he and his servants. 35So the heart of Pharaoh was hardened, and he did not let the people of Israel go; as the Lord had spoken through Moses.
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Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America
Exodus 9
9
Dead Animals
1The Lord sent Moses with this message for the king#9.1 the king: See the note at 1.11. of Egypt:
The Lord God of the Hebrews commands you to let his people go, so they can worship him. 2If you keep refusing, 3he will bring a terrible disease on your horses and donkeys, your camels and cattle, and your sheep and goats. 4But the Lord will protect the animals that belong to the people of Israel, and none of theirs will die. 5Tomorrow is the day the Lord has set to do this.
6It happened the next day—all of the animals belonging to the Egyptians died, but the Israelites did not lose even one. 7When the king found out, he was still too stubborn to let the people go.
Sores
8The Lord said to Moses and Aaron:
Take a few handfuls of ashes from a stove and you, Moses, throw them into the air. Be sure the king is watching. 9The ashes will blow across the land of Egypt, causing sores to break out on people and animals.
10 #
Rev 16.2. So they took a few handfuls of ashes and went to the king.#9.10 the king: See the note at 1.11. Moses threw them into the air, and sores immediately broke out on the Egyptians and their animals. 11The magicians were suffering so much from the sores, that they could not even come to Moses. 12Everything happened just as the Lord had told Moses—he made the king too stubborn to listen to Moses and Aaron.
Hailstones
13The Lord told Moses to get up early the next morning and say to the king:#9.13 the king: See the note at 1.11.
The Lord God of the Hebrews commands you to let his people go, so they can worship him! 14If you don't, he will send his worst plagues to strike you, your officials, and everyone else in your country. Then you will find out that no one can oppose the Lord. 15In fact, he could already have sent a terrible disease and wiped you from the face of the earth. 16#3 Macc 2.6; Ro 9.17. But he has kept you alive, just to show you his power and to bring honor to himself everywhere in the world.
17You are still determined not to let the Lord's people go. 18All right. At this time tomorrow, he will bring on Egypt the worst hailstorm in its history. 19You had better give orders for every person and every animal in Egypt to take shelter. If they don't, they will die.
20Some of the king's officials were frightened by what the Lord had said, and they hurried off to make sure their slaves and animals were safe. 21But others paid no attention to his threats and left their slaves and animals out in the open.
22Then the Lord told Moses, “Stretch your arm toward the sky, so that hailstones will fall on people, animals, and crops in the land of Egypt.” 23-24#Rev 8.7; 16.21. Moses pointed his walking stick toward the sky, and hailstones started falling everywhere. Thunder roared, and lightning flashed back and forth, striking the ground. This was the worst storm in the history of Egypt. 25People, animals, and crops were pounded by the hailstones, and bark was stripped from trees. 26Only Goshen, where the Israelites lived, was safe from the storm.
27The king sent for Moses and Aaron and told them, “Now I have really sinned! My people and I are guilty, and the Lord is right. 28We can't stand any more of this thunder and hail. Please ask the Lord to make it stop. Your people can go—you don't have to stay in Egypt any longer.”
29Moses answered, “As soon as I leave the city, I will lift my arms in prayer. When the thunder and hail stop, you will know that the earth belongs to the Lord. 30But I am certain that neither you nor your officials really fear the Lord God.”
31Meanwhile, the flax and barley crops had been destroyed by the storm because they were ready to ripen. 32But the wheat crops#9.32 wheat crops: The Hebrew text mentions two kinds of wheat. ripen later, and they were not damaged.
33After Moses left the royal palace and the city, he lifted his arms in prayer to the Lord, and the thunder, hail, and drenching rain stopped. 34When the king realized that the storm was over, he disobeyed once more. He and his officials were so stubborn 35that he refused to let the Israelites go. This was exactly what the Lord had said would happen.
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Contemporary English Version, Second Edition (CEV®)
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