The Seventh Plague: Hail

13 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Get up early in the morning and present yourself to Pharaoh. Tell him: This is what Yahweh, the God of the Hebrews says: Let My people go, so that they may worship Me. 14 Otherwise, I am going to send all My plagues against you,[a] your officials, and your people. Then you will know there is no one like Me in all the earth. 15 By now I could have stretched out My hand and struck you and your people with a plague, and you would have been obliterated from the earth.(A) 16 However, I have let you live for this purpose: to show you My power(B) and to make My name known in all the earth. 17 You are still acting arrogantly against[b] My people by not letting them go. 18 Tomorrow at this time I will rain down the worst hail(C) that has ever occurred in Egypt from the day it was founded until now. 19 Therefore give orders to bring your livestock and all that you have in the field into shelters. Every person and animal that is in the field and not brought inside will die when the hail falls on them.” 20 Those among Pharaoh’s officials who feared the word of the Lord made their servants and livestock flee to shelters, 21 but those who didn’t take the Lord’s word seriously left their servants and livestock in the field.

22 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Stretch out your hand toward heaven and let there be hail throughout the land of Egypt—on man and beast and every plant of the field in the land of Egypt.” 23 So Moses stretched out his staff toward heaven, and the Lord sent thunder and hail.(D) Lightning struck the earth, and the Lord rained hail on the land of Egypt. 24 The hail, with lightning flashing through it, was so severe that nothing like it had occurred in the land of Egypt since it had become a nation. 25 Throughout the land of Egypt, the hail struck down everything in the field, both man and beast. The hail beat down every plant of the field and shattered every tree in the field. 26 The only place it didn’t hail was in the land of Goshen where the Israelites were.(E)

27 Pharaoh sent for Moses and Aaron. “I have sinned this time,” he said to them. “Yahweh is the Righteous(F) One, and I and my people are the guilty ones. 28 Make an appeal to Yahweh. There has been enough of God’s thunder and hail. I will let you go;(G) you don’t need to stay any longer.”

29 Moses said to him, “When I have left the city, I will extend my hands(H) to Yahweh. The thunder will cease, and there will be no more hail, so that you may know the earth(I) belongs to Yahweh. 30 But as for you and your officials, I know that you still do not fear Yahweh our God.”

31 The flax and the barley were destroyed because the barley was ripe[c] and the flax was budding,(J) 32 but the wheat and the spelt were not destroyed since they are later crops.[d]

33 Moses went out from Pharaoh and the city, and extended his hands to the Lord. Then the thunder and hail ceased, and rain no longer poured down on the land. 34 When Pharaoh saw that the rain, hail, and thunder had ceased, he sinned again and hardened his heart, he and his officials. 35 So Pharaoh’s heart hardened, and he did not let the Israelites go, as the Lord had said through Moses.

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Footnotes

  1. Exodus 9:14 Lit your heart
  2. Exodus 9:17 Or still obstructing
  3. Exodus 9:31 Lit was ears of grain
  4. Exodus 9:32 Lit are late

Hail and thunder

13 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Get up early in the morning and confront Pharaoh. Say to him, This is what the Lord, the God of the Hebrews, says: Let my people go so that they can worship me. 14 This time I’m going to send all my plagues on you, your officials, and your people so that you will know that there is no one like me in the whole world. 15 By now I could have used my power to strike you and your people with a deadly disease so that you would have disappeared from the earth. 16 But I’ve left you standing for this reason: in order to show you my power and in order to make my name known in the whole world. 17 You are still abusing your power against my people, and you refuse to let them go. 18 Tomorrow at this time I’ll cause the heaviest hail to fall on Egypt that has ever fallen from the day Egypt was founded until now. 19 So bring under shelter your livestock and all that belongs to you that is out in the open. Every person or animal that is out in the open field and isn’t brought inside will die when the hail rains down on them.” 20 Some of Pharaoh’s officials who took the Lord’s word seriously rushed to bring their servants and livestock inside for shelter. 21 Others who didn’t take the Lord’s word to heart left their servants and livestock out in the open field.

22 The Lord said to Moses, “Raise your hand toward the sky so that hail will fall on the whole land of Egypt, on people and animals and all the grain in the fields in the land of Egypt.” 23 Then Moses raised his shepherd’s rod toward the sky, and the Lord sent thunder and hail, and lightning struck the earth. The Lord rained hail on the land of Egypt. 24 The hail and the lightning flashing in the middle of the hail were so severe that there had been nothing like it in the entire land of Egypt since it first became a nation. 25 The hail beat down everything that was in the open field throughout the entire land of Egypt, both people and animals. The hail also beat down all the grain in the fields, and it shattered every tree out in the field. 26 The only place where hail didn’t fall was in the land of Goshen where the Israelites lived.

27 Then Pharaoh sent for Moses and Aaron and said to them, “This time I’ve sinned. The Lord is right, and I and my people are wrong. 28 Pray to the Lord! Enough of God’s thunder and hail! I’m going to let you go. You don’t need to stay here any longer.”

29 Moses said to him, “As soon as I’ve left the city, I’ll spread out my hands to the Lord. Then the thunder and the hail will stop and won’t return so that you will know that the earth belongs to the Lord. 30 But I know that you and your officials still don’t take the Lord God seriously.” (31 Now the flax and the barley were destroyed, because the barley had ears of grain and the flax had buds. 32 But both durum and spelt wheat weren’t ruined, because they hadn’t come up.) 33 Moses left Pharaoh and the city, and spread out his hands to the Lord. Then the thunder and the hail stopped, and the rain stopped pouring down on the earth. 34 But when Pharaoh saw that the rain, hail, and thunder had stopped, he sinned again. Pharaoh and his officials became stubborn. 35 Because of his stubbornness, Pharaoh refused to let the Israelites go, just as the Lord had told Moses.

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