Exodus 8:20-9:12

New King James Version

The Fourth Plague: Flies

²⁰ And the Lord said to Moses, ^(A)“Rise early in the morning and stand before Pharaoh as he comes out to the water. Then say to him, ‘Thus says the Lord: ^(B)“Let My people go, that they may serve Me. ²¹ Or 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. ²² And in that day ^(C)I will set apart the land of ^(D)Goshen, in which My people dwell, that no swarms of flies shall be there, in order that you may ^(E)know that I am the Lord in the midst of the ^(F)land. ²³ I will ^[a]make a difference between My people and your people. Tomorrow this ^(G)sign shall be.” ’ ” ²⁴ And the Lord did so. ^(H)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.

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

²⁶ And Moses said, “It is not right to do so, for we would be sacrificing ^(I)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 ^[b]stone us? ²⁷ We will go ^(J)three days’ journey into the wilderness and sacrifice to the Lord our God as ^(K)He will command us.”

²⁸ So 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. ^(L)Intercede for me.”

²⁹ Then 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 ^(M)deal deceitfully anymore in not letting the people go to sacrifice to the Lord.”

³⁰ So Moses went out from Pharaoh and ^(N)entreated the Lord. ³¹ And 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. ³² But Pharaoh ^(O)hardened his heart at this time also; neither would he let the people go.

The Fifth Plague: Livestock Diseased

9 Then the Lord said to Moses, ^(P)“Go in to Pharaoh and tell him, ‘Thus says the Lord God of the Hebrews: “Let My people go, that they may ^(Q)serve Me. ² For if you ^(R)refuse to let them go, and still hold them, ³ behold, the ^(S)hand of the Lord will be on your cattle in the field, on the horses, on the donkeys, on the camels, on the oxen, and on the sheep—a very severe pestilence. ⁴ And ^(T)the Lord will make a difference between the livestock of Israel and the livestock of Egypt. So nothing shall die of all that belongs to the children of Israel.” ’ ” ⁵ Then the Lord appointed a set time, saying, “Tomorrow the Lord will do this thing in the land.”

⁶ So the Lord did this thing on the next day, and ^(U)all the livestock of Egypt died; but of the livestock of the children of Israel, not one died. ⁷ Then Pharaoh sent, and indeed, not even one of the livestock of the Israelites was dead. But the ^(V)heart of Pharaoh became hard, and he did not let the people go.

The Sixth Plague: Boils^(W)

⁸ So the Lord said to Moses and Aaron, “Take for yourselves handfuls of ashes from a furnace, and let Moses scatter it toward the heavens in the sight of Pharaoh. ⁹ And it will become fine dust in all the land of Egypt, and it will cause ^(X)boils that break out in sores on man and beast throughout all the land of Egypt.” ¹⁰ Then they took ashes from the furnace and stood before Pharaoh, and Moses scattered them toward heaven. And they caused ^(Y)boils that break out in sores on man and beast. ¹¹ And the ^(Z)magicians could not stand before Moses because of the ^(AA)boils, for the boils were on the magicians and on all the Egyptians. ¹² But the Lord hardened the heart of Pharaoh; and he ^(AB)did not heed them, just ^(AC)as the Lord had spoken to Moses.