The Plague of Gnats

¹⁶ Then the Lord said to Moses, “Tell Aaron, ‘Stretch out your staff^(A) and strike the dust of the ground,’ and throughout the land of Egypt the dust will become gnats.” ¹⁷ They did this, and when Aaron stretched out his hand with the staff and struck the dust of the ground, gnats^(B) came on people and animals. All the dust throughout the land of Egypt became gnats. ¹⁸ But when the magicians^(C) tried to produce gnats by their secret arts,^(D) they could not.

Since the gnats were on people and animals everywhere, ¹⁹ the magicians said to Pharaoh, “This is the finger^(E) of God.” But Pharaoh’s heart^(F) was hard and he would not listen,^(G) just as the Lord had said.

The Plague of Flies

²⁰ Then the Lord said to Moses, “Get up early in the morning^(H) 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^(I) 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,^(J) where my people live;^(K) no swarms of flies will be there, so that you will know^(L) that I, the Lord, am in this land. ²³ I will make a distinction^[a] between my people and your people.^(M) 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.^(N)

²⁵ Then Pharaoh summoned^(O) 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.^(P) And if we offer sacrifices that are detestable in their eyes, will they not stone us? ²⁷ We must take a three-day journey^(Q) into the wilderness to offer sacrifices^(R) 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^(S) for me.”

⁴ If you refuse^(A) to let them go, I will bring locusts^(B) into your country tomorrow. ⁵ They will cover the face of the ground so that it cannot be seen. They will devour what little you have left^(C) after the hail, including every tree that is growing in your fields.^{(D) 6} They will fill your houses^(E) and those of all your officials and all the Egyptians—something neither your parents nor your ancestors have ever seen from the day they settled in this land till now.’”^(F) Then Moses turned and left Pharaoh.

⁷ Pharaoh’s officials said to him, “How long will this man be a snare^(G) to us? Let the people go, so that they may worship the Lord their God. Do you not yet realize that Egypt is ruined?”^(H)

⁸ Then Moses and Aaron were brought back to Pharaoh. “Go, worship^(I) the Lord your God,” he said. “But tell me who will be going.”

⁹ Moses answered, “We will go with our young and our old, with our sons and our daughters, and with our flocks and herds, because we are to celebrate a festival^(J) to the Lord.”

¹⁰ Pharaoh said, “The Lord be with you—if I let you go, along with your women and children! Clearly you are bent on evil.^{[a] 11} No! Have only the men go and worship the Lord, since that’s what you have been asking for.” Then Moses and Aaron were driven out of Pharaoh’s presence.

¹² And the Lord said to Moses, “Stretch out your hand^(K) over Egypt so that locusts swarm over the land and devour everything growing in the fields, everything left by the hail.”

¹³ So Moses stretched out his staff^(L) over Egypt, and the Lord made an east wind blow across the land all that day and all that night. By morning the wind had brought the locusts;^{(M) 14} they invaded all Egypt and settled down in every area of the country in great numbers. Never before had there been such a plague of locusts,^(N) nor will there ever be again. ¹⁵ They covered all the ground until it was black. They devoured^(O) all that was left after the hail—everything growing in the fields and the fruit on the trees. Nothing green remained on tree or plant in all the land of Egypt.

¹⁶ Pharaoh quickly summoned^(P) Moses and Aaron and said, “I have sinned^(Q) against the Lord your God and against you. ¹⁷ Now forgive^(R) my sin once more and pray^(S) to the Lord your God to take this deadly plague away from me.”

¹⁸ Moses then left Pharaoh and prayed to the Lord.^{(T) 19} And the Lord changed the wind to a very strong west wind, which caught up the locusts and carried them into the Red Sea.^[b] Not a locust was left anywhere in Egypt.

9 The fifth angel sounded his trumpet, and I saw a star that had fallen from the sky to the earth.^(A) The star was given the key^(B) to the shaft of the Abyss.^{(C) 2} When he opened the Abyss, smoke rose from it like the smoke from a gigantic furnace.^(D) The sun and sky were darkened^(E) by the smoke from the Abyss.^{(F) 3} And out of the smoke locusts^(G) came down on the earth and were given power like that of scorpions^(H) of the earth. ⁴ They were told not to harm^(I) the grass of the earth or any plant or tree,^(J) but only those people who did not have the seal of God on their foreheads.^{(K) 5} They were not allowed to kill them but only to torture them for five months.^(L) And the agony they suffered was like that of the sting of a scorpion^(M) when it strikes. ⁶ During those days people will seek death but will not find it; they will long to die, but death will elude them.^(N)

⁷ The locusts looked like horses prepared for battle.^(O) On their heads they wore something like crowns of gold, and their faces resembled human faces.^{(P) 8} Their hair was like women’s hair, and their teeth were like lions’ teeth.^{(Q) 9} They had breastplates like breastplates of iron, and the sound of their wings was like the thundering of many horses and chariots rushing into battle.^{(R) 10} They had tails with stingers, like scorpions, and in their tails they had power to torment people for five months.^{(S) 11} They had as king over them the angel of the Abyss,^(T) whose name in Hebrew^(U) is Abaddon^(V) and in Greek is Apollyon (that is, Destroyer).