Exodus 9:1-12

New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition

The Fifth Plague: Livestock Diseased

9 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Go to Pharaoh and say to him, ‘Thus says the Lord, the God of the Hebrews: Let my people go, so that they may serve me.^{(A) 2} For if you refuse to let them go and still hold them,^{(B) 3} the hand of the Lord will strike with a deadly pestilence your livestock in the field: the horses, the donkeys, the camels, the herds, and the flocks. ⁴ But the Lord will make a distinction between the livestock of Israel and the livestock of Egypt, so that nothing shall die of all that belongs to the Israelites.’ ”^{(C) 5} The Lord set a time, saying, “Tomorrow the Lord will do this thing in the land.” ⁶ And on the next day the Lord did so; all of the Egyptians’ livestock died, but none of the Israelites’ livestock died.^{(D) 7} Pharaoh inquired and found that not even one of the Israelites’ livestock had died. But the heart of Pharaoh was hardened, and he would not let the people go.^(E)

The Sixth Plague: Boils

⁸ Then the Lord said to Moses and Aaron, “Take handfuls of soot from the kiln, and let Moses throw it in the air in the sight of Pharaoh. ⁹ It shall become dust all over the land of Egypt and shall cause festering boils on humans and animals throughout the whole land of Egypt.”^{(F) 10} So they took soot from the kiln and stood before Pharaoh, and Moses threw it in the air, and it caused festering boils on humans and animals. ¹¹ The magicians could not stand before Moses because of the boils, for the boils afflicted the magicians as well as all the Egyptians. ¹² But the Lord hardened the heart of Pharaoh, and he would not listen to them, just as the Lord had spoken to Moses.^(G)