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20 ¶ And the LORD said unto Moses, Rise up early in the morning and stand before Pharaoh; behold, he goes forth to the water and say unto him, The LORD hath said thus, Let my people go that they may serve me.

21 For if thou wilt not let my people go, behold, I will send swarms of flies upon thee and upon thy slaves and upon thy people and into thy houses; and the houses of the Egyptians shall be full of all kinds of flies and also the ground upon which they are.

22 And I will separate in that day the land of Goshen, in which my people dwell, that no kind of flies shall be there to the end that thou may know that I am the LORD in the midst of the earth.

23 And I will put redemption between my people and thy people. Tomorrow shall this sign be.

24 And the LORD did so: that there came a grievous swarm of flies into the house of Pharaoh and into his slaves’ houses and into all the land of Egypt; and the land was corrupted by reason of the swarm of flies.

25 Then Pharaoh called for Moses and for Aaron and said, Go ye, sacrifice to your God in the land of Egypt.

26 And Moses replied, It is not convenient 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, will they not stone us?

27 We will go three days’ journey into the wilderness and sacrifice to the LORD our God as he has said unto us.

28 And Pharaoh said, I will let you go that ye may sacrifice to the LORD your God in the wilderness; only ye shall not go very far away; pray for me.

29 And Moses answered, Behold, as I go out from thy presence, I will intreat the LORD that the swarms of flies may depart from Pharaoh, from his slaves, and from his people tomorrow; if Pharaoh will not deal deceitfully any more in not letting the people go to sacrifice to the LORD.

30 Then Moses went out from Pharaoh, and prayed unto the LORD.

31 And the LORD did according to the word of Moses, and he removed the swarms of flies from Pharaoh, from his slaves, and from his people; there remained not one.

32 And Pharaoh even hardened his heart this time and did not let the people go.

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The Plague of Flies

20 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Get up early in the morning(A) and confront Pharaoh as he goes to the river and say to him, ‘This is what the Lord says: Let my people go, so that they may worship(B) me. 21 If you do not let my people go, I will send swarms of flies on you and your officials, on your people and into your houses. The houses of the Egyptians will be full of flies; even the ground will be covered with them.

22 “‘But on that day I will deal differently with the land of Goshen,(C) where my people live;(D) no swarms of flies will be there, so that you will know(E) that I, the Lord, am in this land. 23 I will make a distinction[a] between my people and your people.(F) This sign will occur tomorrow.’”

24 And the Lord did this. Dense swarms of flies poured into Pharaoh’s palace and into the houses of his officials; throughout Egypt the land was ruined by the flies.(G)

25 Then Pharaoh summoned(H) Moses and Aaron and said, “Go, sacrifice to your God here in the land.”

26 But Moses said, “That would not be right. The sacrifices we offer the Lord our God would be detestable to the Egyptians.(I) And if we offer sacrifices that are detestable in their eyes, will they not stone us? 27 We must take a three-day journey(J) into the wilderness to offer sacrifices(K) to the Lord our God, as he commands us.”

28 Pharaoh said, “I will let you go to offer sacrifices to the Lord your God in the wilderness, but you must not go very far. Now pray(L) for me.”

29 Moses answered, “As soon as I leave you, I will pray to the Lord, and tomorrow the flies will leave Pharaoh and his officials and his people. Only let Pharaoh be sure that he does not act deceitfully(M) again by not letting the people go to offer sacrifices to the Lord.”

30 Then Moses left Pharaoh and prayed to the Lord,(N) 31 and the Lord did what Moses asked. The flies left Pharaoh and his officials and his people; not a fly remained. 32 But this time also Pharaoh hardened his heart(O) and would not let the people go.

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Footnotes

  1. Exodus 8:23 Septuagint and Vulgate; Hebrew will put a deliverance