Exodus 9
New American Standard Bible
Egyptian Livestock Die
9 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Go to Pharaoh and speak to him, ‘This is what the Lord, the God of the Hebrews says: “(A)Let My people go, so that they may serve Me. 2 For (B)if you refuse to let them go and [a]continue to hold them, 3 behold, (C)the hand of the Lord [b]will come with a very severe plague on your livestock which are in the field, on the horses, on the donkeys, on the camels, on the herds, and on the flocks. 4 (D)But the Lord will make a distinction between the livestock of Israel and the livestock of Egypt, so that (E)nothing will die of all that belongs to the sons of Israel.”’” 5 And the Lord set a definite time, saying, “Tomorrow the Lord will do this thing in the land.” 6 So the Lord did this thing on the next day, and (F)all the livestock of Egypt died; (G)but not one of the livestock of the sons of Israel died. 7 And Pharaoh sent men, and they learned that, behold, not even one of the livestock of Israel was dead. But (H)the heart of Pharaoh was [c]hardened, and he did not let the people go.
The Plague of Boils
8 Then the Lord said to Moses and Aaron, “Take for yourselves handfuls of soot from a kiln, and Moses shall toss it toward the sky in the sight of Pharaoh. 9 Then it will become fine dust over all the land of Egypt, and will turn into (I)boils breaking out with sores on every person and animal through all the land of Egypt.” 10 So they took soot from a kiln, and stood before Pharaoh; and Moses tossed it toward the sky, and it became boils breaking out with sores on every person and animal. 11 (J)The soothsayer priests could not stand before Moses because of the boils, for the boils were on the soothsayer priests as well as on all the Egyptians. 12 But (K)the Lord [d]hardened Pharaoh’s heart, and he did not listen to them, just as the Lord had spoken to Moses.
13 Then the Lord said to Moses, “(L)Rise up early in the morning and stand before Pharaoh and say to him, ‘This is what the Lord, the God of the Hebrews says: “(M)Let My people go, so that they may serve Me. 14 For this time I am going to send all My plagues [e]on you and your servants and your people, so that (N)you may know that there is no one like Me in all the earth. 15 For had I now put out My hand and struck you and your people with plague, you would then have been eliminated from the earth. 16 But indeed, (O)for this reason I have allowed you to [f]remain, in order to show you My power and in order to proclaim My name throughout the earth. 17 Still you exalt yourself against My people [g]by not letting them go.
The Plague of Hail
18 Behold, about this time tomorrow, (P)I will [h]send a very heavy hail, such as has not been seen in Egypt from the day it was founded [i]until now. 19 So now, send word, bring (Q)your livestock and whatever you have in the field to safety. (R)Every person and animal that is found in the field and is not brought home, when the hail comes down on them, will die.”’” 20 (S)Everyone among the servants of Pharaoh who [j]feared the word of the Lord hurried to bring his servants and his livestock into the houses; 21 but everyone who [k]did not pay regard to the word of the Lord [l]left his servants and his livestock in the field.
22 Now the Lord said to Moses, “Reach out with your hand toward the sky, so that [m](T)hail may fall on all the land of Egypt, on every person and animal, and on every plant of the field, throughout the land of Egypt.” 23 So Moses reached out with his staff toward the sky, and the Lord [n]sent [o]thunder and (U)hail, and fire ran down to the earth. And the Lord rained hail on the land of Egypt. 24 So there was hail, and fire flashing intermittently in the midst of the hail, which was very heavy, such as had not occurred in all the land of Egypt since it became a nation. 25 (V)The hail struck everything that was in the field through all the land of Egypt, from people to animals; the hail also struck every plant of the field, and shattered every tree of the field. 26 (W)Only in the land of Goshen, where the sons of Israel were, was there no hail.
27 Then Pharaoh [p](X)sent for Moses and Aaron, and said to them, “(Y)I have sinned this time; the Lord is the righteous one, and I and my people are the wicked ones. 28 (Z)Plead with the Lord, for there has been enough of God’s [q]thunder and hail; and (AA)I will let you go, and you shall stay no longer.” 29 Moses said to him, “As soon as I go out of the city, I will (AB)spread out my [r]hands to the Lord; the [s]thunder will cease and there will no longer be hail, so that you may know that (AC)the earth is the Lord’s. 30 (AD)But as for you and your servants, I know that (AE)you do not yet [t]fear [u]the Lord God.” 31 (Now the flax and the (AF)barley were [v]ruined, for the barley was in the ear and the flax was in bud. 32 But the wheat and the spelt were not [w]ruined, for they ripen late.) 33 (AG)So Moses left the city from his meeting with Pharaoh, and spread out his [x]hands to the Lord; and the [y]thunder and the hail stopped, and rain [z]no longer poured on the earth. 34 But when Pharaoh saw that the rain and the hail and the [aa]thunder had stopped, he sinned again and [ab]hardened his heart, he and his servants. 35 So Pharaoh’s heart was [ac]hardened, and he did not let the sons of Israel go, just as the (AH)Lord had spoken through Moses.
Footnotes
- Exodus 9:2 Lit still hold
- Exodus 9:3 Lit will be
- Exodus 9:7 Lit heavy
- Exodus 9:12 Lit made strong
- Exodus 9:14 Lit to your heart
- Exodus 9:16 Lit stand
- Exodus 9:17 Lit so as not to let
- Exodus 9:18 Lit cause to rain
- Exodus 9:18 Lit and until now
- Exodus 9:20 Or revered
- Exodus 9:21 Lit did not set his heart to
- Exodus 9:21 Lit then left
- Exodus 9:22 Lit there may be hail
- Exodus 9:23 Lit gave
- Exodus 9:23 Lit sounds
- Exodus 9:27 Lit sent and called
- Exodus 9:28 Lit sounds
- Exodus 9:29 Lit palms
- Exodus 9:29 Lit sounds
- Exodus 9:30 Or revere
- Exodus 9:30 Lit before the Lord
- Exodus 9:31 Lit struck
- Exodus 9:32 Lit struck
- Exodus 9:33 Lit palms
- Exodus 9:33 Lit sounds
- Exodus 9:33 Lit was not poured
- Exodus 9:34 Lit sounds
- Exodus 9:34 Lit made heavy
- Exodus 9:35 Lit strong
Exodus 9
EasyEnglish Bible
5: Death of animals
9 Then the Lord said to Moses, ‘Go to Pharaoh and say to him, “The Lord, the God of the Israelites says this: Let my people go so that they may worship me. 2 If you refuse to let them go, you will have more trouble. If you still keep them in Egypt, 3 the Lord will punish you. He will send a very bad illness on all your animals. Your animals in the fields, your horses, donkeys, camels, cows, sheep and goats will all become very ill. 4 But the Lord will make a difference between the animals of the Israelites and the animals of the Egyptians. None of the animals of the Israelites will die.” ’
5 The Lord decided when this would happen. He said, ‘Tomorrow I will make this happen in the land of Egypt.’ 6 So on the next day, the Lord did it! All the animals of the Egyptians died. But not one of the animals of the Israelites died. 7 Pharaoh sent his men to see what had happened. They saw that not one of the animals of the Israelites was dead! But Pharaoh's mind was still hard. He did not let the people go.
6: Boils
8 Then the Lord said to Moses and Aaron, ‘Take in your hands some ashes from an oven. Throw them up in the air as Pharaoh watches. 9 They will become very small dust over the whole country of Egypt. The dust will cause boils to appear on the skin of people and animals. It will happen all over Egypt.’
10 So they took ashes from an oven and they stood in front of Pharaoh. Moses threw the ashes up in the air. Then bad boils appeared on both people and animals. 11 All the Egyptians had boils, even the magicians. Because of the boils, the magicians could not stand in front of Moses. 12 But Pharaoh refused to listen to Moses and Aaron. The Lord caused Pharaoh's mind to be hard. The Lord had told Moses that this would happen, and it did!
7: Hail
13 Then the Lord said to Moses, ‘Get up early in the morning and go to Pharaoh. Say to him, “This is what the Lord, the God of the Israelites says: Let my people go to worship me. 14 This time, I will send all my troubles to punish you. I will send them against you, your officers and your people. I want you to know that there is nobody as great as me in the whole earth. That is why I am doing this. 15 Already I could have used my power to destroy you and your people. With one very bad trouble, I could have removed you from the earth. 16 But I have let you live, to show you my power. Then people all over the world will know how great I am. 17 You are still too proud to let my people go.
18 Look! Tomorrow at this time, I will send a very great storm of hail. Nobody has ever seen hail fall like this in Egypt before now. From Egypt's first day as a country until today, nobody has seen a storm like this. 19 Now send your servants out to tell this message to your people. You must bring into your houses all your animals from the fields to be safe. The hail will fall on every person and on every animal that is still outside. They will all die.” ’
20 Some of Pharaoh's officers were afraid of what the Lord said he would do. So they quickly brought their servants and animals inside their houses. 21 But others did not believe the Lord's message. They left their servants and animals outside in the fields.
22 Then the Lord said to Moses, ‘Lift up your hand towards the sky. Then hail will fall over all the country of Egypt. It will fall on people and on animals. It will fall on all the plants that grow in the fields of Egypt.’
23 When Moses lifted up his stick towards the sky, the Lord sent a great storm. He sent thunder, hail and lightning. 24 The hail fell and there was lightning like fire. It was the worst storm anywhere in Egypt since Egypt had become a nation. 25 Everywhere in Egypt, the hail knocked down everything that was in the fields. It knocked down both people and animals. It knocked down all the plants in the fields and it broke all the trees. 26 But no hail fell in the region of Goshen, where the Israelites lived.
27 Then Pharaoh called Moses and Aaron to come to him. He said to them, ‘This time, I have done a bad thing. The Lord is right. I and my people are guilty. 28 The storms with the thunder and the hail are too much for us! Pray to the Lord to take them away. Then I will let you go! You do not need to stay any longer in Egypt.’
29 Then Moses said to Pharaoh, ‘As soon as I leave the city, I will lift my hands to the Lord and I will pray to him. The storm will stop and there will be no more hail. Then you will know that the whole world belongs to the Lord. 30 But I know you and your officers. You still do not respect the Lord God.’[a]
31 At that time, the barley was ripe in the fields and the flax was nearly ripe. So the storm of hail destroyed the flax and the barley. 32 But the hail did not destroy the wheat and other grains. Those crops become ripe later in the year.[b]
33 Then Moses left Pharaoh and he went out of the city. He lifted up his hands to the Lord and he prayed. Then the storms and the hail stopped. The heavy rain stopped falling on the earth.
34 Pharaoh saw that the rain and the hail and the storms had stopped. So he did a bad thing again. His mind and his officers' minds became hard. 35 Pharaoh still refused to obey God. He did not let the Israelites go. The Lord had told Moses that this would happen, and it did!
Footnotes
- 9:30 Moses knew that Pharaoh and his servants were not really afraid of God. They only wanted their problems to go away. They wanted the bad things that were happening to stop.
- 9:32 Flax is a plant. People make cloth from the flax plant. Barley is a food plant. Wheat is also a food plant that makes grains. These plants had not yet grown as tall, so the hail did not destroy them.
New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. All rights reserved.
EasyEnglish Bible Copyright © MissionAssist 2019 - Charitable Incorporated Organisation 1162807. Used by permission. All rights reserved.