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Then Jehovah said unto Moses, Go in unto Pharaoh, and tell him, Thus saith Jehovah, the God of the Hebrews, Let my people go, that they may serve me. For if thou refuse to let them go, and wilt hold them still, behold, the hand of Jehovah is upon thy cattle which are in the field, upon the horses, upon the asses, upon the camels, upon the herds, and upon the flocks: there shall be a very grievous murrain. And Jehovah shall make a distinction between the cattle of Israel and the cattle of Egypt; and there shall nothing die of all that belongeth to the children of Israel. And Jehovah appointed a set time, saying, To-morrow Jehovah shall do this thing in the land. And Jehovah did that thing on the morrow; and all the cattle of Egypt died; but of the cattle of the children of Israel died not one. And Pharaoh sent, and, behold, there was not so much as one of the cattle of the Israelites dead. But the heart of Pharaoh was [a]stubborn, and he did not let the people go.

And Jehovah said unto Moses and unto Aaron, Take to you handfuls of [b]ashes of the furnace, and let Moses sprinkle it toward heaven in the sight of Pharaoh. And it shall become small dust over all the land of Egypt, and shall be a boil breaking forth with blains upon man and upon beast, throughout all the land of Egypt. 10 And they took ashes of the furnace, and stood before Pharaoh; and Moses sprinkled it up toward heaven; and it became a boil breaking forth with blains upon man and upon beast. 11 And the magicians could not stand before Moses because of the boils; for the boils were upon the magicians, and upon all the Egyptians. 12 And Jehovah [c]hardened the heart of Pharaoh, and he hearkened not unto them; as Jehovah had spoken unto Moses. 13 And Jehovah said unto Moses, Rise up early in the morning, and stand before Pharaoh, and say unto him, Thus saith Jehovah, the God of the Hebrews, Let my people go, that they may serve me. 14 For I will this time send all my plagues upon thy heart, and upon thy servants, and upon thy people; that thou mayest know that there is none like me in all the earth. 15 For now I had put forth my hand, and smitten thee and thy people with pestilence, and thou hadst been cut off from the earth: 16 but in very deed for this cause have I made thee to stand, to show thee my power, and that my name may be declared throughout all the earth. 17 As yet exaltest thou thyself against my people, that thou wilt not let them go? 18 Behold, to-morrow about this time I will cause it to rain a very grievous hail, such as hath not been in Egypt since the day it was founded even until now. 19 Now therefore send, hasten in thy cattle and all that thou hast in the field; for every man and beast that shall be found in the field, and shall not be brought home, the hail shall come down upon them, and they shall die. 20 He that feared the word of Jehovah among the servants of Pharaoh made his servants and his cattle flee into the houses: 21 and he that regarded not the word of Jehovah left his servants and his cattle in the field.

22 And Jehovah said unto Moses, Stretch forth thy hand toward heaven, that there may be hail in all the land of Egypt, upon man, and upon beast, and upon every herb of the field, throughout the land of Egypt. 23 And Moses stretched forth his rod toward heaven: and Jehovah sent thunder and hail, and fire ran down unto the earth; and Jehovah rained hail upon the land of Egypt. 24 So there was hail, and fire [d]mingled with the hail, very grievous, such as had not been in all the land of Egypt since it became a nation. 25 And the hail smote throughout all the land of Egypt all that was in the field, both man and beast; and the hail smote every herb of the field, and brake every tree of the field. 26 Only in the land of Goshen, where the children of Israel were, was there no hail.

27 And Pharaoh sent, and called for Moses and Aaron, and said unto them, I have sinned this time: Jehovah is righteous, and I and my people are wicked. 28 Entreat Jehovah; for there hath been enough of these [e]mighty thunderings and hail; and I will let you go, and ye shall stay no longer. 29 And Moses said unto him, As soon as I am gone out of the city, I will spread abroad my hands unto Jehovah; the thunders shall cease, neither shall there be any more hail; that thou mayest know that the earth is Jehovah’s. 30 But as for thee and thy servants, I know that ye will not yet fear Jehovah God. 31 And the flax and the barley were smitten: for the barley was in the ear, and the flax was in bloom. 32 But the wheat and the spelt were not smitten: for they were not grown up. 33 And Moses went out of the city from Pharaoh, and spread abroad his hands unto Jehovah: and the thunders and hail ceased, and the rain was not poured upon the earth. 34 And when Pharaoh saw that the rain and the hail and the thunders were ceased, he sinned yet more, and [f]hardened his heart, he and his servants. 35 And the heart of Pharaoh [g]was hardened, and he did not let the children of Israel go; as Jehovah had spoken by Moses.

Footnotes

  1. Exodus 9:7 Hebrew heavy.
  2. Exodus 9:8 Or, soot
  3. Exodus 9:12 Hebrew made strong.
  4. Exodus 9:24 Or, flashing continually amidst
  5. Exodus 9:28 Hebrew voices (or thunderings) of God.
  6. Exodus 9:34 Hebrew made heavy.
  7. Exodus 9:35 Hebrew was strong.

Plague Five: Livestock Death

And Yahweh said to Moses, “Go to Pharaoh and say to him, ‘Thus says Yahweh, the God of the Hebrews, “Release my people so that they may serve me.” But if you are refusing to release and you still are keeping hold of them, look, the hand of Yahweh is about to be present with a very severe[a] plague on your livestock that are in the field, on the horses, on the donkeys, on the camels, on the cattle, and on the sheep and goats. But Yahweh will make a distinction between the livestock of Israel and the livestock of Egypt, and not a thing will die from all that belongs to the Israelites.’”[b] And Yahweh set an appointed time, saying, “Tomorrow Yahweh will do this thing in the land.”

And Yahweh did this thing the next day; all the livestock of Egypt died, but from the livestock of the Israelites[c] not one died. And Pharaoh sent to check, and it turned out[d] not even one from the livestock of Israel had died, but Pharaoh’s heart was insensitive,[e] and he did not release the people.

Plague Six: Painful Sores

And Yahweh said to Moses and to Aaron, “Take for yourselves full handfuls of soot from a smelting furnace, and let Moses sprinkle it toward the heavens before the eyes of Pharaoh. And it will become fine dust over all the land of Egypt, and it will become on humans and on animals a skin sore sprouting blisters in all the land of Egypt.” 10 And they took the soot of the smelting furnace, and they stood before Pharaoh, and Moses sprinkled it toward the heavens, and it became skin sores sprouting blisters on humans and on animals. 11 And the magicians were not able to stand before Moses because of the skin sores, for the skin sores were on the magicians and on all the Egyptians. 12 And Yahweh hardened Pharaoh’s heart, and he did not listen to them, as Yahweh had spoken to Moses.

Plague Seven: Hail

13 And Yahweh said to Moses, “Start early in the morning and stand before Pharaoh. Look, he is going out to the water, and you must say to him, ‘Thus says Yahweh, the God of the Hebrews, “Release my people so that they may serve me. 14 For at this time I am sending all of my plagues to you personally[f] and among your servants and among your people so that you will know that there is no one like me in all the earth. 15 For now I could have stretched out my hand, and I could have struck you and your people with the plague, and you would have perished from the earth. 16 But for the sake of this I have caused you to stand—for the sake of showing you my strength and in order to proclaim my name in all the earth. 17 Still you are behaving haughtily to my people by not releasing them. 18 Look, about this time tomorrow, I am going to cause very severe[g] hail to rain, the like of which has not been in Egypt from the day it was founded until now. 19 And now send word; bring into safety your livestock and all that belongs to you in the field. The hail will come down on every human and animal that is found in the field and not gathered into the house, and they will die.”’”

20 Anyone from the servants of Pharaoh who feared the word of Yahweh caused his servants and livestock to flee to the houses. 21 But whoever did not give regard to[h] the word of Yahweh abandoned his servants and his livestock in the field.

22 And Yahweh said to Moses, “Stretch out your hand to the heavens, and let there be hail in all the land of Egypt, on human and on animal and on all the vegetation of the field in the land of Egypt.” 23 And Moses stretched out his staff to the heavens, and Yahweh gave thunder[i] and hail, and fire went to the earth, and Yahweh caused hail to rain on the land of Egypt. 24 And there was hail, and fire was flashing back and forth in the midst of the very severe hail, the like of which was not in all the land of Egypt since it had become a nation. 25 And the hail struck in all the land of Egypt all that was in the field, from human to animal, and the hail struck all the vegetation of the field and smashed every tree of the field. 26 Only in the land of Goshen, where the Israelites[j] were, there was no hail.

27 And Pharaoh sent and called Moses and Aaron and said to them, “I have sinned this time. Yahweh is the righteous one, and I and my people are the wicked ones. 28 Pray to Yahweh. The thunder of God and hail are enough,[k] and I will release you, and you will no longer have to stay.”[l] 29 And Moses said to him, “At my leaving the city, I will spread out my hands to Yahweh. The thunder will stop, and the hail will be no more, so that you will know that the earth belongs to Yahweh. 30 But as for you and your servants, I know that you do not yet fear the presence of Yahweh God.”

31 And the flax and the barley were struck, because the barley was in the ear and the flax was in bud. 32 But the wheat and the spelt were not struck, because they are late-ripening.

33 And Moses went from Pharaoh out of the city, and he spread his hands to Yahweh, and the thunder and the hail stopped, and rain did not pour on the earth. 34 And Pharaoh saw that the rain and the hail and the thunder stopped, and he again sinned[m] and made his heart insensitive,[n] he and his servants. 35 And Pharaoh’s heart was hard, and he did not release the Israelites,[o] as Yahweh had said by the agency of Moses.[p]

Footnotes

  1. Exodus 9:3 Literally “heavy”
  2. Exodus 9:4 Literally “sons/children of Israel”
  3. Exodus 9:6 Literally “sons/children of Israel”
  4. Exodus 9:7 Literally “look”
  5. Exodus 9:7 Literally “heavy”
  6. Exodus 9:14 Literally “to your heart,” that is, in a way designed to receive attention
  7. Exodus 9:18 Literally “heavy”
  8. Exodus 9:21 Literally “put his heart to”
  9. Exodus 9:23 The word often translated “voice” or “sound” is also used to describe thunder, as in this chapter
  10. Exodus 9:26 Literally “sons/children of Israel”
  11. Exodus 9:28 Literally “much/great from the being of the voices/thunder”
  12. Exodus 9:28 Literally “you will not add to stand/remain”
  13. Exodus 9:34 Literally “he added to sin”
  14. Exodus 9:34 Literally “he made his heart heavy”
  15. Exodus 9:35 Literally “sons/children of Israel”
  16. Exodus 9:35 Literally “by the hand of Moses”