Exodus 7:14-12:30

Modern English Version

The First Plague: Waters Turn to Blood

¹⁴ The Lord said to Moses, “Pharaoh’s heart is hardened. He refuses to let the people go. ¹⁵ Go to Pharaoh in the morning as he goes out to the water, and you shall stand by the river’s bank to meet him. You must take the rod which was turned to a serpent in your hand. ¹⁶ Then you are to say to him, ‘The Lord, the God of the Hebrews, has sent me to you, saying, “Let My people go, so that they may serve Me in the wilderness.” But up to this point you have not listened! ¹⁷ Thus says the Lord, “In this you shall know that I am the Lord: Indeed, I will strike the waters of the Nile with the rod that is in my hand, and they shall be turned to blood. ¹⁸ And the fish that are in the river shall die, and the river shall stink so that the Egyptians shall be weary of drinking the river’s water.” ’ ”

¹⁹ Then the Lord spoke to Moses, “Say to Aaron, ‘Take your rod, and stretch out your hand over the waters of Egypt, over their rivers, over their canals, over their ponds, and over all their pools of water, so that they may become blood. And there will be blood throughout all the land of Egypt, both in vessels of wood, and in vessels of stone.’ ”

²⁰ Moses and Aaron did so, just as the Lord commanded. And he 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 waters that were in the river were turned to blood. ²¹ The fish that were in the river died, the river stank, and the Egyptians could not drink of the water of the river. Blood was everywhere throughout the land of Egypt.

²² Nevertheless, the magicians of Egypt did the same with their secret arts, and Pharaoh’s heart was hardened, and he did not listen to them, as the Lord had said. ²³ Then Pharaoh turned and went into his house, and he did not concern himself with this either. ²⁴ So all the Egyptians dug around about the river for water to drink, because they could not drink of the water of the river.

²⁵ Seven days passed after the Lord had struck the river.

The Second Plague: Frogs

8 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Go to Pharaoh and say to him, ‘Thus says the Lord: Let My people go, so that they may serve Me. ² But if you refuse to let them go, then I will plague all your borders with frogs. ³ And the river will swarm with frogs, which shall go up and come into your house, and into your bedchamber, and on your bed, and into the houses of your servants, and on your people, and into your ovens, and into your kneading troughs. ⁴ So the frogs shall come upon you, upon your people, and upon all your servants.’ ”

⁵ Then the Lord said to Moses, “Say to Aaron, ‘Stretch forth 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.’ ”

⁶ Aaron stretched out his hand over the waters of Egypt, and the frogs came up, and covered the land of Egypt. ⁷ The magicians did the same with their secret arts and brought up frogs upon the land of Egypt.

⁸ Then Pharaoh called for Moses and Aaron, and said, “Entreat the Lord, that He may take away the frogs from me, and from my people, and I will let the people go, so that they may sacrifice to the Lord.”

⁹ Moses said to Pharaoh, “Glory yourself over me: When shall I entreat for you, your servants, and your people, to destroy the frogs from you and your houses, that they may remain in the river only?”

¹⁰ And he said, “Tomorrow.”

Then he said, “Be it according to your word, in order that you may know that there is no one like the Lord our God. ¹¹ The frogs shall depart from you, and from your houses, from your servants, and from your people. They shall remain in the river only.”

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

The Third Plague: Gnats

¹⁶ Then the Lord said to Moses, “Say to Aaron, ‘Stretch out your rod, and strike the dust of the land, so that it may become gnats throughout all the land of Egypt.’ ” ¹⁷ They did so, for Aaron stretched out his hand with his rod and smote the dust of the earth, and it became gnats on man and on beast. All the dust of the land became gnats throughout all the land of Egypt. ¹⁸ Then the magicians tried with their secret arts to bring forth gnats, but they could not, so there were gnats upon man and beast.

¹⁹ Then the magicians said to Pharaoh, “This is the finger of God.” Nevertheless, Pharaoh’s heart was hardened, and he did not listen to them, just as the Lord had said.

The Fourth Plague: Flies

²⁰ So the Lord said to Moses, “Rise up early in the morning and stand before Pharaoh as he comes forth to the water and say to him, ‘Thus says the Lord: Let My people go, so that they may serve Me. ²¹ Otherwise, if you will not let My people go, indeed 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 shall be full of swarms of flies and also the ground wherever they are.

²² “ ‘I will in that day set apart the land of Goshen, in which My people dwell, so that no swarms of flies shall be there, in order that you may know that I am the Lord in the midst of the earth. ²³ I will put a division between My people and your people. Tomorrow this sign will happen.’ ”

²⁴ The Lord did so, and great swarms of flies came into the house of Pharaoh, and into his servants’ houses, and into all the land of Egypt. The land was corrupted because of the swarms of flies.

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

²⁶ Moses said, “It is not right to do so, for what we shall sacrifice to the Lord our God would be an abomination to the Egyptians. If we shall sacrifice what is an abomination of the Egyptians before their eyes, will they not stone us? ²⁷ We will go three days’ journey into the wilderness, and then we will sacrifice to the Lord our God, as He shall command us.”

²⁸ 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. Make entreaty for me.”

²⁹ Moses said, “Indeed, I am leaving you, and I will plead with the Lord that the swarms of flies may depart from Pharaoh, from his servants, and from his people tomorrow. But let not Pharaoh deal deceitfully any more by not letting the people go to sacrifice to the Lord.”

³⁰ Moses went away from Pharaoh and entreated the Lord. ³¹ Then the Lord did according to the word of Moses, and He removed the swarms of flies from Pharaoh, from his servants, and from his people. Not one remained. ³² Nevertheless, Pharaoh hardened his heart at this time also, nor would he let the people go.

The Fifth Plague: Livestock Die

9 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Go to Pharaoh, and speak to him, ‘Thus says the Lord, the God of the Hebrews: Let My people go, so that they may serve Me. ² For if you refuse to let them go and continue holding them, ³ indeed, the hand of the Lord will be upon your livestock which are in the field, upon the horses, upon the donkeys, upon the camels, upon the oxen, and upon the sheep. There shall be a very grievous pestilence. ⁴ The Lord shall separate between the livestock of Israel and the livestock of Egypt, and nothing shall die of all that belongs to the children of Israel.’ ”

⁵ So the Lord appointed a set time, saying, “Tomorrow the Lord shall do this thing in the land.” ⁶ Then the Lord did this thing the next day, so that all the livestock of Egypt died, but not one of the livestock of the children of Israel died. ⁷ Pharaoh sent, and there was not one of the livestock of the children of Israel dead. And the heart of Pharaoh was hardened, so that he did not let the people go.

The Sixth Plague: Boils

⁸ Then the Lord said to Moses and to Aaron, “Take for yourselves handfuls of ashes from a kiln, and let Moses toss it toward the heavens in the sight of Pharaoh. ⁹ It shall become fine dust over all the land of Egypt and shall be a boil breaking forth with blisters upon man and beast, throughout all the land of Egypt.”

¹⁰ So they took the ashes from a kiln and stood before Pharaoh. Then Moses tossed it up toward the heavens, and it became a boil breaking forth with blisters upon man and beast. ¹¹ The magicians could not stand before Moses because of the boils, for the boils were upon the magicians and upon all the Egyptians. ¹² Moreover, the Lord hardened the heart of Pharaoh, so that he did not listen to them, just as the Lord had spoken to Moses.

The Seventh Plague: Hail

¹³ Then the Lord said to Moses, “Rise up early in the morning, and stand before Pharaoh, and say to him, ‘Thus says the Lord, the God of the Hebrews: Let My people go, so that they may serve Me. ¹⁴ For I will at this time send all My plagues upon you and your servants and your people, so that you may know that there is none like Me in all the earth. ¹⁵ For by now I could have stretched out My hand, so that I might strike you and your people with pestilence, and you would be cut off from the earth. ¹⁶ But, indeed, for this cause I have raised you up, in order to show in you My power and so that My name may be declared throughout all the earth. ¹⁷ Still, you exalt yourself against My people by forbidding them to go. ¹⁸ Certainly, tomorrow about this time I will cause it to rain a very severe hail, such as has not happened in Egypt since it was founded until now. ¹⁹ Send therefore now and bring your livestock and all that you have in the field to safety. Every man and beast which shall be found in the field and not brought home when the hail comes down upon them will die.’ ”

²⁰ He that feared the word of the Lord among the servants of Pharaoh made his servants and his livestock flee into the houses. ²¹ But he that failed to regard the word of the Lord left his servants and his livestock in the field.

²² So the Lord said to Moses, “Stretch forth your hand toward the heavens, so that there may be hail in all the land of Egypt, upon man and beast, and upon every herb of the field, throughout the land of Egypt.” ²³ Moses stretched forth his rod toward the heavens, and the Lord sent thunder and hail, and fire ran along upon the ground. So the Lord rained hail upon the land of Egypt. ²⁴ So there was hail, and fire mingled with the hail. It was so severe that there had been none like it in all the land of Egypt since it became a nation. ²⁵ The hail struck all the land of Egypt, all that was in the field, both man and beast, and the hail struck every herb of the field and broke every tree of the field. ²⁶ Only in the land of Goshen, where the children of Israel were, was there no hail.

²⁷ Then Pharaoh sent and called for Moses and Aaron, and said to them, “I have sinned this time. The Lord is righteous, and I and my people are wicked. ²⁸ Entreat the Lord, for there has been enough of God’s mighty thunder and hail, and I will let you go, and you shall stay no longer.”

²⁹ Moses said to him, “As soon as I am gone out of the city, I will spread out my hands to the Lord. The thunder shall cease, and there shall no longer be any more hail, so that you may know that the earth is the Lord’s. ³⁰ But as for you and your servants, I know that you will not yet fear the Lord God.”

³¹ Now the flax and the barley were struck, for the barley was in the ear, and the flax was in bud. ³² But the wheat and the spelt were not struck, for they grow up later.

³³ So Moses went out of the city from Pharaoh and spread out his hands to the Lord, and the thunders and hail ceased, and the rain was no longer poured upon the earth. ³⁴ However, when Pharaoh saw that the rain and the hail and the thunders were ceased, he sinned yet more, and hardened his heart, he and his servants. ³⁵ The heart of Pharaoh hardened, and he would not let the children of Israel go, just as the Lord had spoken by Moses.

The Eighth Plague: Locusts

10 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Go to Pharaoh, for I have hardened his heart and the heart of his servants, that I might show these signs of Mine before him, ² in order that you may tell in the hearing of your son, and of your son’s son, what things I have done in Egypt, and My signs which I have done among them, that you may know that I am the Lord.”

³ Moses and Aaron came to Pharaoh and said to him, “Thus says the Lord, the God of the Hebrews, ‘How long will you refuse to humble yourself before Me? Let My people go, that they may serve Me. ⁴ For if you refuse to let My people go, indeed, tomorrow I will bring locusts into your territory. ⁵ And they shall cover the face of the earth, such that no one will be able to see the earth. What’s more, they shall eat the remainder of that which has escaped—that which remains to you from the hail—and shall eat every tree which grows for you out of the field. ⁶ And they shall fill your houses, and the houses of all your servants, and the houses of all the Egyptians—which neither your fathers, nor your fathers’ fathers have seen since the day that they were on the earth until this day.’ ” And he turned and went out from Pharaoh.

⁷ Then Pharaoh’s servants said to him, “How long shall this man be a snare to us? Let the men go, so that they may serve the Lord their God. Do you not yet know that Egypt is destroyed?”

⁸ So Moses and Aaron were brought back to Pharaoh, and he said to them, “Go, serve the Lord your God! But who are the ones that shall go?”

⁹ And Moses said, “We will go with our young and our old, with our sons and our daughters, with our flocks and our herds will we go, for we must hold a feast to the Lord.”

¹⁰ Then he said to them, “The Lord indeed be with you when I let you and your little ones go. Beware, for evil is before you. ¹¹ Not so! Go now, you that are men, and serve the Lord, for that is what you desire.” Then they were driven out from Pharaoh’s presence.

¹² Then the Lord said to Moses, “Stretch out your hand over the land of Egypt for the locusts, so that they may come up upon the land of Egypt and eat every herb of the land, even all that the hail has left.”

¹³ So Moses stretched forth his rod over the land of Egypt; then the Lord brought an east wind upon the land all that day and all that night. And when it was morning, the east wind brought the locusts. ¹⁴ The locusts went up over all the land of Egypt and settled down in all the territory of Egypt. They were very grievous. Never before had there been such locusts as they, nor would there be such ever again. ¹⁵ For they covered the face of the whole earth, so that the land was darkened, and they ate every herb of the land, and all the fruit of the trees which the hail had left. As a result, nothing green remained there in the trees or herbs of the field, through all the land of Egypt.

¹⁶ Then Pharaoh called for Moses and Aaron in haste and said, “I have sinned against the Lord, your God, and against you. ¹⁷ Now therefore please forgive my sin only this once, and entreat the Lord your God, so that He may take away from me this death only.”

¹⁸ So he went out from Pharaoh and prayed to the Lord. ¹⁹ Then the Lord turned a mighty strong west wind, which took away the locusts and threw them into the Red Sea. Not one locust remained in all the territory of Egypt. ²⁰ But the Lord hardened Pharaoh’s heart, so that he would not let the children of Israel go.

The Ninth Plague: Darkness

²¹ Then the Lord said to Moses, “Stretch out your hand toward the heavens, so that there may be darkness over the land of Egypt, a darkness which may be felt.” ²² So Moses stretched forth his hand toward the heavens, and there was a thick darkness in all the land of Egypt for three days. ²³ They did not see one another; nor did anyone rise from his place for three days. But all the children of Israel had light in their dwellings.

²⁴ Then Pharaoh called to Moses and said, “Go, serve the Lord. Only let your flocks and your herds be detained. Even let your little ones also go with you.”

²⁵ But Moses said, “You must also give us sacrifices and burnt offerings, so that we may sacrifice to the Lord our God. ²⁶ Our livestock will go with us also. Not a hoof will be left behind, for we must take of them to serve the Lord our God. And we do not know with what we must serve the Lord, until we get there.”

²⁷ But the Lord hardened Pharaoh’s heart, and he would not let them go. ²⁸ So Pharaoh said to him, “Get away from me! Watch yourself, do not see my face anymore; for in the day you see my face you shall die.”

²⁹ Then Moses said, “As you wish. I will never see your face again.”

Warning of the Final Plague

11 Now the Lord said to Moses, “I will still bring one plague more upon Pharaoh, and upon Egypt. Afterwards he will let you go from here. When he lets you go, he shall surely thrust you out from here altogether. ² Speak now in the hearing of the people, and let every man borrow of his neighbor and every woman of her neighbor, articles of silver and articles of gold.” ³ Then the Lord gave the people favor in the sight of the Egyptians. Moreover, the man Moses was very great in the land of Egypt, in the sight of Pharaoh’s servants, and in the sight of the people.

⁴ Moses said, “Thus says the Lord, ‘About midnight I will go out into the midst of Egypt, ⁵ and all the firstborn in the land of Egypt shall die, from the firstborn of Pharaoh who sits on his throne, even to the firstborn of the maidservant that is behind the mill, as well as all the firstborn of beasts. ⁶ Then there shall be a great cry throughout all the land of Egypt, such as there has never been, nor shall ever be again. ⁷ But against any of the children of Israel a dog will not even move his tongue, against man or beast, in order that you may know how that the Lord distinguishes between Egypt and Israel.’ ⁸ Then all these your servants shall come down to me and bow themselves to me, saying, ‘Get out, and all the people who follow you!’ After that I will go out.” And he went out from Pharaoh in great anger.

⁹ Then the Lord said to Moses, “Pharaoh shall not listen to you so that My wonders may be multiplied in the land of Egypt.” ¹⁰ So Moses and Aaron did all these wonders before Pharaoh, and the Lord hardened Pharaoh’s heart, and he would not let the children of Israel go out of his land.

The Passover Instituted^(A)

12 Now the Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt, saying: ² This month shall be the beginning of months to you. It shall be the first month of the year to you. ³ Speak to all the congregation of Israel, saying: On the tenth day of this month every man shall take a lamb, according to the house of their fathers, a lamb for a household. ⁴ And if the household be too little for the lamb, let him and his neighbor next to his house take it according to the number of the persons; according to what each man shall eat, divide the lamb. ⁵ Your lamb shall be without blemish, a male of the first year. You shall take it out from the sheep, or from the goats. ⁶ You shall keep it up until the fourteenth day of the same month, and then the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel shall kill it in the evening. ⁷ They shall take some of the blood and put it on the two side posts and on the upper doorpost of the houses in which they shall eat it. ⁸ They shall eat the flesh on that night, roasted with fire, and they shall eat it with unleavened bread and bitter herbs. ⁹ Do not eat it raw, nor boiled at all with water, but roasted with fire, its head with its legs and its entrails. ¹⁰ And you shall let nothing of it remain until the morning, but that of it which remains until the morning you shall burn with fire. ¹¹ In this way shall you eat it: with your waist girded, your sandals on your feet, and your staff in your hand. So you shall eat it in haste. It is the Lord’s Passover.

¹² For I will pass through the land of Egypt this night and will smite all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both man and beast, and against all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgment. I am the Lord. ¹³ The blood shall be to you for a sign on the houses where you are. And when I see the blood, I will pass over you, and the plague shall not be upon you to destroy you when I smite the land of Egypt.

¹⁴ This day shall be a memorial to you, and you shall keep it as a feast to the Lord. Throughout your generations you shall keep it a feast by an eternal ordinance. ¹⁵ Seven days you shall eat unleavened bread. On the first day you shall put away leaven out of your houses, for whoever eats leavened bread from the first day until the seventh day, that person shall be cut off from Israel. ¹⁶ On the first day there shall be a holy convocation, and on the seventh day there shall be a holy convocation for you. No manner of work shall be done on them; but that which every man must eat—that only may be prepared for you.

¹⁷ You shall observe the Feast of Unleavened Bread. For on this very day I brought your armies out of the land of Egypt. Therefore you shall observe this day throughout your generations as an ordinance forever. ¹⁸ In the first month, on the fourteenth day of the month at evening, you shall eat unleavened bread until the twenty-first day of the month at evening. ¹⁹ Seven days shall there be no leaven found in your houses, for whoever eats that which is leavened, that person shall be cut off from the congregation of Israel, whether he be a stranger or born in the land. ²⁰ You shall eat nothing leavened. In all your dwellings you shall eat unleavened bread.

²¹ Then Moses called for all the elders of Israel and said to them, “Draw out and take for yourselves a lamb according to your families and kill the Passover lamb. ²² You shall take a bunch of hyssop, and dip it in the blood that is in the basin, and apply the lintel and the two side posts with the blood that is in the basin, and none of you shall go out from the door of his house until the morning. ²³ For the Lord will pass through to kill the Egyptians. And when He sees the blood upon the lintel and on the two side posts, the Lord will pass over the door and will not permit the destroyer to come to your houses to kill you.

²⁴ “And you shall observe this thing as an ordinance to you and to your sons forever. ²⁵ When you enter the land which the Lord will give you, according as He has promised, that you shall observe this service. ²⁶ And when your children shall say to you, ‘What does this service mean to you?’ ²⁷ that you shall say, ‘It is the sacrifice of the Lord’s Passover, who passed over the houses of the children of Israel in Egypt, when He smote the Egyptians, and delivered our households.’ ” And the people bowed down and worshipped. ²⁸ Then the children of Israel went and did so. Just as the Lord had commanded Moses and Aaron, so they did.

The Tenth Plague: Death of the Firstborn

²⁹ At midnight the Lord smote all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, from the firstborn of Pharaoh that sat on his throne to the firstborn of the captive who was in the dungeon and all the firstborn of livestock. ³⁰ Pharaoh rose up in the night, he and all his servants and all the Egyptians, and there was a great cry in Egypt, for there was not a house where there was not someone dead.