The Second Plague: Frogs

[a]Then the Lord said to Moses, “Go in to Pharaoh and tell him: This is what Yahweh says: Let My people go, so that they may worship Me.(A) But if you refuse to let them go, then I will plague all your territory with frogs.(B) The Nile will swarm with frogs; they will come up and go into your palace, into your bedroom and on your bed, into the houses of your officials and your people, and into your ovens and kneading bowls. The frogs will come up on you, your people, and all your officials.”

[b]The Lord then said to Moses, “Tell Aaron: Stretch out your hand with your staff over the rivers, canals, and ponds, and cause the frogs to come up onto the land of Egypt.”(C) When Aaron stretched out his hand over the waters of Egypt, the frogs(D) came up and covered the land of Egypt. But the magicians did the same thing by their occult practices and brought frogs up onto the land of Egypt.

Pharaoh summoned Moses and Aaron and said, “Ask(E) Yahweh to remove the frogs from me and my people. Then I will let the people go and they can sacrifice to Yahweh.”

Moses said to Pharaoh, “You make the choice rather than me. When should I ask on behalf of you, your officials, and your people, that the frogs be taken away from you and your houses, and remain only in the Nile?”

10 “Tomorrow,” he answered.

Moses replied, “As you have said, so you may know there is no one like Yahweh our God,(F) 11 the frogs will go away from you, your houses, your officials, and your people. The frogs will remain only in the Nile.” 12 After Moses and Aaron went out from Pharaoh, Moses cried out to the Lord for help concerning the frogs that He had brought against[c] Pharaoh. 13 The Lord did as Moses had said: the frogs in the houses, courtyards, and fields died. 14 They piled them in countless heaps, and there was a terrible odor in the land. 15 But when Pharaoh saw there was relief, he hardened his heart(G) and would not listen to them, as the Lord had said.

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Footnotes

  1. Exodus 8:1 Ex 7:26 in Hb
  2. Exodus 8:5 Ex 8:1 in Hb
  3. Exodus 8:12 Or frogs, as he had agreed with

Plague Two: Frogs

[a] And Yahweh said to Moses, “Go to Pharaoh, and say to him, ‘Thus says Yahweh, “Release my people so that they may serve me.” And if you are refusing to release, look, I am going to plague all of your territory with frogs. And the Nile will swarm with frogs, and they will go up and come into your house and into your bedroom[b] and onto your bed and into the house of your servants and among your people and into your ovens and into your kneading troughs. And the frogs will go up against you and against your people and against all of your servants.’”

And Yahweh said to Moses, “Say to Aaron, ‘Stretch out your hand with your staff over the rivers, over the canals, and over the pools, and bring up the frogs on the land of Egypt.’” And Aaron stretched out his hand over the waters of Egypt, and the frogs went up and covered the land of Egypt. And the magicians did likewise with their secret arts, and they brought up frogs over the land of Egypt.

And Pharaoh called Moses and Aaron and said, “Pray to Yahweh, and let him remove the frogs from me and from my people, and let me release the people so that they can sacrifice to Yahweh.” And Moses said to Pharaoh, “I leave to you the honor[c] over me. When shall I pray for you and for your servants and for your people to cut off the frogs from you and from your houses? They will be left only in the Nile.” 10 And he said, “Tomorrow.” And he said, “Let it be according to your word so that you will know that there is no one like Yahweh our God. 11 And the frogs will depart from you and from your house and from your servants. They will be left only in the Nile.”

12 And Moses and Aaron went out from Pharaoh, and Moses cried out to Yahweh over the matter of the frogs that he had brought on Pharaoh. 13 And Yahweh did according to the word of Moses, and the frogs died from the houses, from the courtyards, and from the fields. 14 And they piled them in countless heaps,[d] and the land stank. 15 And Pharaoh saw that there was relief, and he made his heart insensitive,[e] and he did not listen to them, as Yahweh had spoken.

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Footnotes

  1. Exodus 8:1 Exodus 8:1–32 in the English Bible is 7:26–8:28 in the Hebrew Bible
  2. Exodus 8:3 Literally “the inner room of your bed”
  3. Exodus 8:9 Literally “glorify yourself”
  4. Exodus 8:14 Literally “heaps, heaps”
  5. Exodus 8:15 Literally “heavy”