Exodus 8
8
1he said to Moses:
Go to the palace and tell the king#8.1 the king: See the note at 1.11. of Egypt that I order him to let my people go, so they can worship me. 2If he refuses, I will cover his entire country with frogs. 3Warn the king that the Nile will be full of frogs, and from there they will spread into the royal palace, including the king's bedroom and even his bed. Frogs will enter the homes of his officials and will find their way into ovens and into the bowls of bread dough. 4Frogs will be crawling on everyone—the king, his officials, and every citizen of Egypt.
5Moses, now command Aaron to hold his stick over the water. Then frogs will come from all rivers, canals, and ponds in Egypt, and they will cover the land.
6Aaron obeyed, and suddenly frogs were everywhere in Egypt. 7But the magicians used their secret powers to do the same thing.
8The king sent for Moses and Aaron and told them, “If you ask the Lord to take these frogs away from me and my people, I will let your people go and offer sacrifices to him.”
9“All right,” Moses answered. “You choose the time when I am to pray for the frogs to stop bothering you, your officials, and your people, and for them to leave your houses and be found only in the river.”
10“Do it tomorrow!” the king replied.
“As you wish,” Moses agreed. “Then everyone will discover that there is no god like the Lord, 11and frogs will no longer be found anywhere, except in the Nile.”
12After Moses and Aaron left the palace, Moses begged the Lord to do something about the frogs he had sent as punishment for the king. 13The Lord listened to Moses, and the frogs died everywhere—in houses, yards, and fields. 14The dead frogs were placed in piles, and the whole country began to stink. 15But when the king saw that things were now better, he again did just as the Lord had said he would and stubbornly refused to listen to Moses and Aaron.
Gnats
16The Lord said to Moses, “Command Aaron to strike the ground with his walking stick, and everywhere in Egypt the dust will turn into gnats.” 17They obeyed, and when Aaron struck the ground with the stick, gnats started swarming on people and animals. In fact, every speck of dust in Egypt turned into a gnat. 18When the magicians tried to use their secret powers to do this,#8.18 to do this: Or “to get rid of the gnats.” they failed, and gnats stayed on people and animals.
19 #
Lk 11.20. The magicians told the king,#8.19 the king: See the note at 1.11. “God has done this.”
But, as the Lord had said, the king was too stubborn to listen.
Flies
20The Lord said to Moses:
Early tomorrow morning, while the king#8.20 the king: See the note at 1.11. is on his way to the river, go and say to him, “The Lord commands you to let his people go, so they can worship him. 21If you don't, he will send swarms of flies to attack you, your officials, and every citizen of your country. Your houses will be full of flies, and the ground will crawl with them.
22-23“The Lord's people in Goshen won't be bothered by flies, but your people in the rest of the country will be tormented by them. That's how you will know that the Lord is here in Egypt. This miracle will happen tomorrow.”
24The Lord kept his promise—the palace and the homes of the royal officials swarmed with flies, and the rest of the country was infested with them as well. 25Then the king sent for Moses and Aaron and told them, “Go ahead and sacrifice to your God, but stay here in Egypt.”
26“That's impossible!” Moses replied. “Any sacrifices we offer to the Lord our God would disgust the Egyptians, and they would stone us to death. 27No indeed! The Lord has ordered us to walk three days into the desert before offering sacrifices to him, and that's what we have to do.”
28Then the king told him, “I'll let you go into the desert to offer sacrifices, if you don't go very far. But in the meantime, pray for me.”
29“Your Majesty,” Moses replied, “I'll pray for you as soon as I leave, and by tomorrow the flies will stop bothering you, your officials, and the citizens of your country. Only make sure that you're telling the truth this time and that you really intend to let our people offer sacrifices to the Lord.”
30After leaving the palace, Moses prayed, 31and the Lord answered his prayer. Not a fly was left to pester the king, his officials, or anyone else in Egypt. 32But the king turned stubborn again and would not let the people go.
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Exodus 8: CEV
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Contemporary English Version, Second Edition (CEV®)
© 2006 American Bible Society. All rights reserved.
Exodus 8
8
The Second Plague—Frogs
1 # 8:1
Exodus 8:1–32
in English Bibles is Exodus 7:26–8:28 in the Hebrew Bible. Then the Lord said to Moses, “Go to Pharaoh, and tell him, ‘This is what the Lord says: Let my people go to worship me. 2If you refuse to let them go, I will bring a plague of frogs on your whole country. 3The Nile River will swarm with frogs. They will come into your palace, into your bedroom, on your bed, into the houses of your officials, on your people, into your ovens and into your mixing bowls. 4The frogs will jump on you, on your people, and on all your officials.’ ”
5Then the Lord said to Moses, “Tell Aaron, ‘Hold your staff over the rivers, canals, and ponds. This will bring frogs onto the land.’ ”
6So Aaron held his staff over the waters of Egypt. The frogs came up and covered the land of Egypt. 7But the magicians did the same thing using their magic spells and brought frogs onto the land.
8Pharaoh sent for Moses and Aaron and said, “Pray that the Lord will take the frogs away from me and my people. Then I will let your people go to offer sacrifices to the Lord.”
9Moses answered Pharaoh, “You may have the honor of choosing when I should pray for you, your officials, and your people. Then the frogs will leave you and your homes. The only ones left will be those in the Nile.”
10“Pray for me tomorrow,” Pharaoh said.
Moses replied, “It will be as you say so that you will know that there is no one like the Lord our God. 11The frogs will leave you, your homes, your officials, and your people. The only frogs left will be those in the Nile.”
12After Moses and Aaron left Pharaoh, Moses prayed to the Lord about the frogs he had brought on Pharaoh. 13The Lord did what Moses asked. The frogs died in the houses, in the yards, and in the fields. 14They were piled into countless heaps, and the land began to stink because of them.
15When Pharaoh saw that the plague was over, he became stubborn and would not listen to Moses and Aaron, as the Lord had predicted.
The Third Plague—Gnats
16Then the Lord said to Moses, “Tell Aaron, ‘Hold out your staff and strike the dust on the ground. All over Egypt the dust will turn into gnats.’ ”
17When Moses told him, Aaron held out the staff in his hand and struck the dust on the ground. It turned into gnats that bit people and animals. All the dust on the ground everywhere in Egypt turned into gnats.
18The magicians also tried to produce gnats using their magic spells, but they couldn’t do it. The gnats bit people and animals. 19So the magicians said to Pharaoh, “This is the hand of God!”
Yet, Pharaoh continued to be stubborn and would not listen to Moses and Aaron, as the Lord had predicted.
The Fourth Plague—Flies
20Then the Lord said to Moses, “Early in the morning, stand in Pharaoh’s way when he’s going to the Nile. Say to him, ‘This is what the Lord says: Let my people go to worship me. 21If you will not let my people go, I will send swarms of flies on you, your officials, your people, and your houses. The homes of the Egyptians will be filled with flies, and even the ground outside will be covered with them. 22But on that day I will treat the region of Goshen differently. That is where my people live. There won’t be any flies there. This way you will know that I, the Lord, am here in this land. 23I will distinguish between my people and yours. This miraculous sign will happen tomorrow.’ ”
24The Lord did what he said. Dense swarms of flies came into Pharaoh’s palace and into the houses of his officials. All over Egypt the flies were ruining everything. 25Pharaoh called for Moses and Aaron and said, “Go, sacrifice to your God here in this country.”
26Moses replied, “It wouldn’t be right to do that. The sacrifices we offer to the Lord our God are disgusting to Egyptians. If they see us offer sacrifices that they consider disgusting, won’t they stone us to death? 27We need to travel three days into the desert to offer sacrifices to the Lord our God, as he told us to do.”
28Pharaoh said, “I will let you go, but don’t go very far. You may offer sacrifices to the Lord your God in the desert and pray for me.”
29Moses answered, “As soon as I leave you, I will pray to the Lord. Tomorrow the swarms of flies will go away from you, your officials, and your people. But you must stop tricking us by not letting the people go to offer sacrifices to the Lord.”
30Moses left Pharaoh and prayed to the Lord. 31The Lord did what Moses asked. The swarms of flies left Pharaoh, his officials, and his people. Not one fly was left. 32Yet, this time, too, Pharaoh was stubborn and did not let the people go.
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