Exodus 8
Legacy Standard Bible
The Plague of Frogs
8 [a]Then Yahweh said to Moses, “Come to Pharaoh and say to him, ‘Thus says Yahweh, “(A)Let My people go, that they may serve Me. 2 But if you refuse to let them go, behold, I [b]will smite your whole territory with frogs. 3 And the Nile will (B)swarm with frogs, and they will go up and come into your house and into your bedroom and on your bed and into the houses of your servants and on your people and into your ovens and into your kneading bowls. 4 So the frogs will come up on you and on your people and on all your servants.”’” 5 [c]Then Yahweh said to Moses, “Say to Aaron, ‘(C)Stretch out your hand with your staff over the rivers, over the [d]streams and over the pools, and cause the frogs to come up on the land of Egypt.’” 6 So Aaron stretched out his hand over the waters of Egypt, and the [e](D)frogs came up and covered the land of Egypt. 7 (E)And the [f]magicians did [g]the same with their secret arts; they caused the frogs to come up on the land of Egypt.
8 Then Pharaoh (F)called for Moses and Aaron and said, “(G)Entreat Yahweh that He may cause the frogs to depart from me and from my people; and (H)I will let the people go, that they may sacrifice to Yahweh.” 9 And Moses said to Pharaoh, “[h]May the honor be yours to tell me: when shall I entreat for you and for your servants and for your people, that the frogs be cut off from you and your houses, that they may remain only in the Nile?”
10 Then he said, “Tomorrow.” So he said, “May it be according to your word, that you may know that there is (I)no one like Yahweh our God. 11 And the (J)frogs will depart from you and your houses and your servants and your people; they will remain only in the Nile.” 12 Then Moses and Aaron went out from Pharaoh, and (K)Moses cried out to Yahweh concerning the frogs which He had set upon Pharaoh. 13 So Yahweh did according to the word of Moses, and the frogs died out of the houses, the courts, and the fields. 14 So they piled them in heaps, and the land [i]became foul. 15 Then Pharaoh saw that there was relief, and he [j]hardened his heart with firmness and (L)did not listen to them, as Yahweh had spoken.
The Plague of Gnats
16 Then Yahweh said to Moses, “Say to Aaron, ‘Stretch out your staff and strike the dust of the earth, that it may become [k]gnats through all the land of Egypt.’” 17 And they did so; and Aaron stretched out his hand with his staff and struck the dust of the earth, and there were [l]gnats on man and beast. All the dust of the earth became [m](M)gnats through all the land of Egypt. 18 Then [n]the magicians did the same with their secret arts in order to bring forth [o]gnats, but (N)they could not; so there were [p]gnats on man and beast. 19 And the [q]magicians said to Pharaoh, “(O)This is the finger of God.” But Pharaoh’s heart was [r]hardened with strength, and he did not listen to them, as Yahweh had spoken.
The Plague of Flies
20 And Yahweh said to Moses, “(P)Rise early in the morning and stand before Pharaoh [s]as (Q)he comes out to the water, and you shall say to him, ‘Thus says Yahweh, “(R)Let My people go, that they may serve Me. 21 For if you do 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; and the houses of the Egyptians will be full of swarms of flies, and also the ground on which they stand. 22 (S)But on that day I will make a distinction for the land of Goshen, where My people are [t]living, so that no swarms of flies will be there, that you may know that [u](T)I, Yahweh, am in the midst of the land. 23 And I will [v]put a division between My people and your people. Tomorrow this sign will happen.”’” 24 Then Yahweh did so. And there came heavy swarms of flies into the house of Pharaoh and the houses of his servants, and the land was (U)laid waste because of the swarms of flies in all the land of Egypt.
25 And Pharaoh (V)called for Moses and Aaron and said, “(W)Go, sacrifice to your God within the land.” 26 But Moses said, “It is not right to do so, for we will sacrifice to Yahweh our God [w]what is (X)an abomination to the Egyptians. If we sacrifice [x]what is an abomination to the Egyptians before their eyes, will they not then stone us? 27 We must go a (Y)three days’ journey into the wilderness and sacrifice to Yahweh our God as He says to us.” 28 And Pharaoh said, “(Z)I will let you go, that you may sacrifice to Yahweh your God in the wilderness; only you shall not go very far away. (AA)Entreat for me.” 29 Then Moses said, “Behold, I am going out from you, and I shall entreat Yahweh that the swarms of flies may depart from Pharaoh, from his servants, and from his people tomorrow; only may Pharaoh not (AB)deal deceitfully again in not letting the people go to sacrifice to Yahweh.”
30 So (AC)Moses went out from Pharaoh and entreated Yahweh. 31 And Yahweh did according to the word of Moses and caused the swarms of flies to depart from Pharaoh, from his servants, and from his people; not one remained. 32 Then Pharaoh [y]hardened his heart with firmness this time also, and (AD)he did not let the people go.
Footnotes
- Exodus 8:1 Ch 7:26 in Heb
- Exodus 8:2 Or am about to, cf. 3:13; 7:17
- Exodus 8:5 Ch 8:1 in Heb
- Exodus 8:5 Or canals
- Exodus 8:6 Lit frog
- Exodus 8:7 Or soothsayer priests
- Exodus 8:7 Lit thus
- Exodus 8:9 Lit Glory over me
- Exodus 8:14 Had a bad smell
- Exodus 8:15 Or glorified, cf. 14:4; lit made heavy
- Exodus 8:16 Or lice
- Exodus 8:17 Or lice
- Exodus 8:17 Or lice
- Exodus 8:18 Or soothsayer priests
- Exodus 8:18 Or lice
- Exodus 8:18 Or lice
- Exodus 8:19 Or soothsayer priests
- Exodus 8:19 Lit strengthened
- Exodus 8:20 Lit behold
- Exodus 8:22 Lit standing
- Exodus 8:22 Or I am Yahweh in the midst of the earth
- Exodus 8:23 Lit set redemption
- Exodus 8:26 Lit the abomination of Egypt
- Exodus 8:26 Lit the abomination of Egypt
- Exodus 8:32 Or glorified, cf. 14:4; lit made heavy
Exodus 8
New Catholic Bible
Chapter 8
1 The Lord said to Moses, “Command Aaron: ‘Stretch out your hand with your staff over the waters, over the canals and pools, and make frogs come out all over the land of Egypt.’ ”
2 Aaron extended his hand over the waters of Egypt and frogs came out and covered the land of Egypt. 3 But the magicians, with their magic, did the same thing and made frogs to come up out all over the land of Egypt.
4 Pharaoh had Moses and Aaron summoned and said, “Pray to the Lord to take the frogs away from me, and my people and I will let the people go to sacrifice to the Lord.”
5 Moses said to Pharaoh, “Do me the honor of telling me when I should pray for you and your ministers and your people, to free you and your house from frogs, so that they only remain in the waters of the Nile.”
6 He answered, “Tomorrow.” Then Moses said, “As you say. In order that you may know that there is no equal to the Lord, our God, 7 the frogs will leave your house and those of your servants and of your people, remaining only in the Nile.”
8 Moses and Aaron left Pharaoh, and Moses beseeched the Lord concerning the frogs that he had sent against Pharaoh. 9 The Lord did as Moses had said and the frogs died in the houses, in the courtyards, and in the fields. 10 They piled them up in heaps and the land stank. 11 But Pharaoh saw that there was a moment of relief, and he became stubborn and did not listen to them, just as the Lord had predicted.
12 Third Plague: The Gnats.[a] Then the Lord said to Moses, “Command Aaron, ‘Stretch out your staff and strike the dust of the earth. It will change into gnats[b] in all the land of Egypt.’ ” 13 This is what he did. Aaron stretched out his hand with his staff, struck the dust of the earth, and there were gnats on man and beast. All the dust of the earth changed into gnats throughout Egypt. 14 The magicians did the same thing with their magic to produce gnats, but they were not able to do it. The gnats were on man and beast. 15 The magicians said to Pharaoh, “It is the finger of God.” But the heart of Pharaoh was so hardened that he did not listen, just as the Lord had predicted.
16 Fourth Plague: The Flies.[c] The Lord said to Moses, “Get up early tomorrow and present yourself to Pharaoh when he goes down to the water. You are to tell him, ‘Thus says the Lord, “Let my people go so that they can serve me! 17 If you do not let my people go, then I will send flies[d] upon you, upon your ministers, upon your people, and upon your houses. The houses of Egypt will be filled with flies, and even the ground on which they stand will be filled with them. 18 But on that day I will set apart the land of Goshen where my people live. There will be no flies there, so that you will know that I, the Lord, am in the land. 19 Thus I will establish a difference between my people and your people. This sign will happen tomorrow.” ’ ”
20 This is what the Lord did. A huge swarm of flies flew into the house of Pharaoh, the houses of his ministers, and all over the land of Egypt. The area was devastated because of the flies.
21 Pharaoh summoned Moses and Aaron and said, “Go and sacrifice to your God in the land.”
22 But Moses answered, “It would not work, for the sacrifice that we are going to make to the Lord, our God, is an abomination to the Egyptians. Could we perform a sacrifice that is an abomination to the Egyptians in their sight? Would they not stone us?[e] 23 We will go into the desert, a three days’ journey, and that is where we will sacrifice to the Lord, our God, just as he has ordered us.”
24 So Pharaoh answered, “I will let you go and you can sacrifice to the Lord in the desert. Only do not go too far and pray for me.”
25 Moses answered, “I will leave you and pray to the Lord. Tomorrow the flies will depart from Pharaoh, from his ministers, and from the people. Pharaoh, however, must not deceive us by not letting the people go to perform their sacrifice to the Lord.”
26 Moses left Pharaoh and prayed to the Lord. 27 The Lord did as Moses said, and the flies departed from Pharaoh, from his ministers, and from his people. There was not even one left. 28 But Pharaoh became stubborn and once again would not let the people go.
Footnotes
- Exodus 8:12 For the first time, the magicians cannot compete with the Lord and recognize his presence.
- Exodus 8:12 Gnats, flies: the type of bothersome insects that caused so much distress is not certain.
- Exodus 8:16 The power of God becomes more evident from the fact that he preserves Israel from the plague that he inflicts upon the Egyptians.
- Exodus 8:17 Gnats, flies: the type of bothersome insects that caused so much distress is not certain.
- Exodus 8:22 The Egyptians would not have endured seeing the Hebrews sacrifice animals that they, the Egyptians, regarded as sacred.
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