Exodus 5-8

New King James Version

First Encounter with Pharaoh

5 Afterward Moses and Aaron went in and told Pharaoh, “Thus says the Lord God of Israel: ‘Let My people go, that they may ^[a]hold ^(A)a feast to Me in the wilderness.’ ”

²And Pharaoh said, ^(B)“Who is the Lord, that I should obey His voice to let Israel go? I do not know the Lord, ^(C)nor will I let Israel go.”

³So they said, ^(D)“The God of the Hebrews has ^(E)met with us. Please, let us go three days’ journey into the desert and sacrifice to the Lord our God, lest He fall upon us with ^(F)pestilence or with the sword.”

⁴Then the king of Egypt said to them, “Moses and Aaron, why do you take the people from their work? Get back to your ^(G)labor.” ⁵And Pharaoh said, “Look, the people of the land are ^(H)many now, and you make them rest from their labor!”

⁶So the same day Pharaoh commanded the ^(I)taskmasters of the people and their officers, saying, ⁷“You shall no longer give the people straw to make ^(J)brick as before. Let them go and gather straw for themselves. ⁸And you shall lay on them the quota of bricks which they made before. You shall not reduce it. For they are idle; therefore they cry out, saying, ‘Let us go and sacrifice to our God.’ ⁹Let more work be laid on the men, that they may labor in it, and let them not regard false words.”

¹⁰And the taskmasters of the people and their officers went out and spoke to the people, saying, “Thus says Pharaoh: ‘I will not give you straw. ¹¹Go, get yourselves straw where you can find it; yet none of your work will be reduced.’ ” ¹²So the people were scattered abroad throughout all the land of Egypt to gather stubble instead of straw. ¹³And the taskmasters forced them to hurry, saying, “Fulfill your work, your daily quota, as when there was straw.” ¹⁴Also the ^(K)officers of the children of Israel, whom Pharaoh’s taskmasters had set over them, were ^(L)beaten and were asked, “Why have you not fulfilled your task in making brick both yesterday and today, as before?”

¹⁵Then the officers of the children of Israel came and cried out to Pharaoh, saying, “Why are you dealing thus with your servants? ¹⁶There is no straw given to your servants, and they say to us, ‘Make brick!’ And indeed your servants are beaten, but the fault is in your own people.”

¹⁷But he said, “You are idle! Idle! Therefore you say, ‘Let us go and sacrifice to the Lord.’ ¹⁸Therefore go now and work; for no straw shall be given you, yet you shall deliver the quota of bricks.” ¹⁹And the officers of the children of Israel saw that they were in trouble after it was said, “You shall not reduce any bricks from your daily quota.”

²⁰Then, as they came out from Pharaoh, they met Moses and Aaron who stood there to meet them. ²¹^(M)And they said to them, “Let the Lord look on you and judge, because you have made ^[b]us abhorrent in the sight of Pharaoh and in the sight of his servants, to put a sword in their hand to kill us.”

Israel’s Deliverance Assured^(N)

²²So Moses returned to the Lord and said, “Lord, why have You brought trouble on this people? Why is it You have sent me? ²³For since I came to Pharaoh to speak in Your name, he has done evil to this people; neither have You delivered Your people at all.”

God Renews His Promise to Israel

6 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Now you shall see what I will do to Pharaoh. For ^(O)with a strong hand he will let them go, and with a strong hand ^(P)he will drive them out of his land.”

²And God spoke to Moses and said to him: “I am ^[c]the Lord. ³^(Q)I appeared to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, as ^(R)God Almighty, but by My name ^(S)Lord^[d] I was not known to them. ⁴^(T)I have also ^[e]established My covenant with them, ^(U)to give them the land of Canaan, the land of their ^[f]pilgrimage, ^(V)in which they were ^[g]strangers. ⁵And ^(W)I have also heard the groaning of the children of Israel whom the Egyptians keep in bondage, and I have remembered My covenant. ⁶Therefore say to the children of Israel: ^(X)‘I am the Lord; ^(Y)I will bring you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians, I will ^(Z)rescue you from their bondage, and I will redeem you with ^[h]an outstretched arm and with great judgments. ⁷I will ^(AA)take you as My people, and ^(AB)I will be your God. Then you shall know that I am the Lord your God who brings you out ^(AC)from under the burdens of the Egyptians. ⁸And I will bring you into the land which I ^(AD)swore^[i] to give to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob; and I will give it to you as a heritage: I am the Lord.’ ” ⁹So Moses spoke thus to the children of Israel; ^(AE)but they did not heed Moses, because of ^(AF)anguish^[j] of spirit and cruel bondage.

¹⁰And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, ¹¹“Go in, tell Pharaoh king of Egypt to let the children of Israel go out of his land.”

¹²And Moses spoke before the Lord, saying, “The children of Israel have not heeded me. How then shall Pharaoh heed me, for ^(AG)I am ^[k]of uncircumcised lips?”

¹³Then the Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron, and gave them a ^(AH)command^[l] for the children of Israel and for Pharaoh king of Egypt, to bring the children of Israel out of the land of Egypt.

The Family of Moses and Aaron^(AI)

¹⁴These are the heads of their fathers’ houses: ^(AJ)The sons of Reuben, the firstborn of Israel, were Hanoch, Pallu, Hezron, and Carmi. These are the families of Reuben. ¹⁵^(AK)And the sons of Simeon were ^[m]Jemuel, Jamin, Ohad, Jachin, Zohar, and Shaul the son of a Canaanite woman. These are the families of Simeon. ¹⁶These are the names of ^(AL)the sons of Levi according to their generations: Gershon, Kohath, and Merari. And the years of the life of Levi were one hundred and thirty-seven. ¹⁷^(AM)The sons of Gershon were Libni and Shimi according to their families. ¹⁸And ^(AN)the sons of Kohath were Amram, Izhar, Hebron, and Uzziel. And the years of the life of Kohath were one hundred and thirty-three. ¹⁹^(AO)The sons of Merari were Mahli and Mushi. These are the families of Levi according to their generations.

²⁰Now ^(AP)Amram took for himself ^(AQ)Jochebed, his father’s sister, as wife; and she bore him ^(AR)Aaron and Moses. And the years of the life of Amram were one hundred and thirty-seven. ²¹^(AS)The sons of Izhar were Korah, Nepheg, and Zichri. ²²And ^(AT)the sons of Uzziel were Mishael, Elzaphan, and Zithri. ²³Aaron took to himself Elisheba, daughter of ^(AU)Amminadab, sister of Nahshon, as wife; and she bore him ^(AV)Nadab, Abihu, ^(AW)Eleazar, and Ithamar. ²⁴And ^(AX)the sons of Korah were Assir, Elkanah, and Abiasaph. These are the families of the Korahites. ²⁵Eleazar, Aaron’s son, took for himself one of the daughters of Putiel as wife; and ^(AY)she bore him Phinehas. These are the heads of the fathers’ houses of the Levites according to their families.

²⁶These are the same Aaron and Moses to whom the Lord said, “Bring out the children of Israel from the land of Egypt according to their ^(AZ)armies.”^[n] ²⁷These are the ones who spoke to Pharaoh king of Egypt, ^(BA)to bring out the children of Israel from Egypt. These are the same Moses and Aaron.

Aaron Is Moses’ Spokesman

²⁸And it came to pass, on the day the Lord spoke to Moses in the land of Egypt, ²⁹that the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, “I am the Lord. ^(BB)Speak to Pharaoh king of Egypt all that I say to you.”

³⁰But Moses said before the Lord, “Behold, ^(BC)I am ^[o]of uncircumcised lips, and how shall Pharaoh heed me?”

Moses Before Pharaoh

7 So the Lord said to Moses: “See, I have made you ^(BD)as God to Pharaoh, and Aaron your brother shall be ^(BE)your prophet. ²You ^(BF)shall speak all that I command you. And Aaron your brother shall tell Pharaoh to send the children of Israel out of his land. ³And ^(BG)I will harden Pharaoh’s heart, and ^(BH)multiply My ^(BI)signs and My wonders in the land of Egypt. ⁴But ^(BJ)Pharaoh will not heed you, so ^(BK)that I may lay My hand on Egypt and bring My ^[p]armies and My people, the children of Israel, out of the land of Egypt ^(BL)by great judgments. ⁵And the Egyptians ^(BM)shall know that I am the Lord, when I ^(BN)stretch out My hand on Egypt and ^(BO)bring out the children of Israel from among them.”

⁶Then Moses and Aaron ^(BP)did so; just as the Lord commanded them, so they did. ⁷And Moses was ^(BQ)eighty years old and ^(BR)Aaron eighty-three years old when they spoke to Pharaoh.

Aaron’s Miraculous Rod^(BS)

⁸Then the Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron, saying, ⁹“When Pharaoh speaks to you, saying, ^(BT)‘Show a miracle for yourselves,’ then you shall say to Aaron, ^(BU)‘Take your rod and cast it before Pharaoh, and let it become a serpent.’ ” ¹⁰So Moses and Aaron went in to Pharaoh, and they did so, just ^(BV)as the Lord commanded. And Aaron cast down his rod before Pharaoh and before his servants, and it ^(BW)became a serpent.

¹¹But Pharaoh also ^(BX)called the wise men and ^(BY)the ^[q]sorcerers; so the magicians of Egypt, they also ^(BZ)did in like manner with their ^[r]enchantments. ¹²For every man threw down his rod, and they became serpents. But Aaron’s rod swallowed up their rods. ¹³And Pharaoh’s heart grew hard, and he did not heed them, as the Lord had said.

The First Plague: Waters Become Blood

¹⁴So the Lord said to Moses: ^(CA)“Pharaoh’s heart is hard; he refuses to let the people go. ¹⁵Go to Pharaoh in the morning, when he goes out to the ^(CB)water, and you shall stand by the river’s bank to meet him; and ^(CC)the rod which was turned to a serpent you shall take in your hand. ¹⁶And you shall say to him, ^(CD)‘The Lord God of the Hebrews has sent me to you, saying, “Let My people go, ^(CE)that they may ^[s]serve Me in the wilderness”; but indeed, until now you would not hear! ¹⁷Thus says the Lord: “By this ^(CF)you shall know that I am the Lord. Behold, I will strike the waters which are in the river with the rod that is in my hand, and ^(CG)they shall be turned ^(CH)to blood. ¹⁸And the fish that are in the river shall die, the river shall stink, and the Egyptians will ^(CI)loathe^[t] to drink the water of the river.” ’ ”

¹⁹Then the Lord spoke to Moses, “Say to Aaron, ‘Take your rod and ^(CJ)stretch out your hand over the waters of Egypt, over their streams, over their rivers, over their ponds, and over all their pools of water, that they may become blood. And there shall be blood throughout all the land of Egypt, both in buckets of wood and pitchers of stone.’ ” ²⁰And Moses and Aaron did so, just as the Lord commanded. So he ^(CK)lifted up the rod and struck the waters that were in the river, in the sight of Pharaoh and in the sight of his servants. And all the ^(CL)waters that were in the river were turned to blood. ²¹The fish that were in the river died, the river stank, and the Egyptians ^(CM)could not drink the water of the river. So there was blood throughout all the land of Egypt.

²²^(CN)Then the magicians of Egypt did ^(CO)so with their ^[u]enchantments; and Pharaoh’s heart grew hard, and he did not heed them, ^(CP)as the Lord had said. ²³And Pharaoh turned and went into his house. Neither was his heart moved by this. ²⁴So all the Egyptians dug all around the river for water to drink, because they could not drink the water of the river. ²⁵And seven days passed after the Lord had struck the river.

The Second Plague: Frogs

8 And the Lord spoke to Moses, “Go to Pharaoh and say to him, ‘Thus says the Lord: “Let My people go, ^(CQ)that they may serve Me. ²But if you ^(CR)refuse to let them go, behold, I will smite all your territory with ^(CS)frogs. ³So the river shall bring forth frogs abundantly, which shall go up and come into your house, into your ^(CT)bedroom, on your bed, into the houses of your servants, on your people, into your ovens, and into your kneading bowls. ⁴And the frogs shall come up on you, on your people, and on all your servants.” ’ ”

⁵Then the Lord spoke to Moses, “Say to Aaron, ^(CU)‘Stretch out your hand with your rod over the streams, over the rivers, and over the ponds, and cause frogs to come up on the land of Egypt.’ ” ⁶So Aaron stretched out his hand over the waters of Egypt, and ^(CV)the frogs came up and covered the land of Egypt. ⁷^(CW)And the magicians did so with their ^[v]enchantments, and brought up frogs on the land of Egypt.

⁸Then Pharaoh called for Moses and Aaron, and said, ^(CX)“Entreat^[w] the Lord that He may take away the frogs from me and from my people; and I will let the people ^(CY)go, that they may sacrifice to the Lord.”

⁹And Moses said to Pharaoh, “Accept the honor of saying when I shall intercede for you, for your servants, and for your people, to destroy the frogs from you and your houses, that they may remain in the river only.”

¹⁰So he said, “Tomorrow.” And he said, “Let it be according to your word, that you may know that ^(CZ)there is no one like the Lord our God. ¹¹And the frogs shall depart from you, from your houses, from your servants, and from your people. They shall remain in the river only.”

¹²Then Moses and Aaron went out from Pharaoh. And Moses ^(DA)cried out to the Lord concerning the frogs which He had brought against Pharaoh. ¹³So the Lord did according to the word of Moses. And the frogs died out of the houses, out of the courtyards, and out of the fields. ¹⁴They gathered them together in heaps, and the land stank. ¹⁵But when Pharaoh saw that there was ^(DB)relief, ^(DC)he hardened his heart and did not heed them, as the Lord had said.

The Third Plague: Lice

¹⁶So the Lord said to Moses, “Say to Aaron, ‘Stretch out your rod, and strike the dust of the land, so that it may become ^[x]lice throughout all the land of Egypt.’ ” ¹⁷And they did so. For Aaron stretched out his hand with his rod and struck the dust of the earth, and ^(DD)it became lice on man and beast. All the dust of the land became lice throughout all the land of Egypt.

¹⁸Now ^(DE)the magicians so worked with their ^[y]enchantments to bring forth lice, but they ^(DF)could not. So there were lice on man and beast. ¹⁹Then the magicians said to Pharaoh, “This is ^(DG)the^[z] finger of God.” But Pharaoh’s ^(DH)heart grew hard, and he did not heed them, just as the Lord had said.

The Fourth Plague: Flies

²⁰And the Lord said to Moses, ^(DI)“Rise early in the morning and stand before Pharaoh as he comes out to the water. Then say to him, ‘Thus says the Lord: ^(DJ)“Let My people go, that they may serve Me. ²¹Or else, if you will not let My people go, behold, I will send swarms of flies on you and your servants, on your people and into your houses. The houses of the Egyptians shall be full of swarms of flies, and also the ground on which they stand. ²²And in that day ^(DK)I will set apart the land of ^(DL)Goshen, in which My people dwell, that no swarms of flies shall be there, in order that you may ^(DM)know that I am the Lord in the midst of the ^(DN)land. ²³I will ^[aa]make a difference between My people and your people. Tomorrow this ^(DO)sign shall be.” ’ ” ²⁴And the Lord did so. ^(DP)Thick swarms of flies came into the house of Pharaoh, into his servants’ houses, and into all the land of Egypt. The land was corrupted because of the swarms of flies.

²⁵Then Pharaoh called for Moses and Aaron, and said, “Go, sacrifice to your God in the land.”

²⁶And Moses said, “It is not right to do so, for we would be sacrificing ^(DQ)the abomination of the Egyptians to the Lord our God. If we sacrifice the abomination of the Egyptians before their eyes, then will they not ^[ab]stone us? ²⁷We will go ^(DR)three days’ journey into the wilderness and sacrifice to the Lord our God as ^(DS)He will command us.”

²⁸So Pharaoh 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. ^(DT)Intercede for me.”

²⁹Then Moses said, “Indeed I am going out from you, and I will entreat the Lord, that the swarms of flies may depart tomorrow from Pharaoh, from his servants, and from his people. But let Pharaoh not ^(DU)deal deceitfully anymore in not letting the people go to sacrifice to the Lord.”

³⁰So Moses went out from Pharaoh and ^(DV)entreated the Lord. ³¹And the Lord did according to the word of Moses; He removed the swarms of flies from Pharaoh, from his servants, and from his people. Not one remained. ³²But Pharaoh ^(DW)hardened his heart at this time also; neither would he let the people go.