²¹ because if you will not let my people go, I will send swarms of flies on you, your officials, and your people, and into your houses. The houses of the Egyptians shall be filled with swarms of flies, as will the land where they live. ²² But on that day I will set apart the land of Goshen, where my people live, so that no swarms of flies shall be there, that you may know that I the Lord am in this land.^{(A) 23} Thus I will make a distinction^[a] between my people and your people. This sign shall appear tomorrow.’ ” ²⁴ The Lord did so, and great swarms of flies came into the house of Pharaoh and into his officials’ houses; in all of Egypt the land was ruined because of the flies.^(B)

The Third Plague: Gnats

¹⁶ Then the Lord said to Moses, “Say to Aaron, ‘Stretch out your staff and strike the dust of the earth, so that it may become gnats throughout the whole land of Egypt.’ ” ¹⁷ And they did so; Aaron stretched out his hand with his staff and struck the dust of the earth, and gnats came on humans and animals alike; all the dust of the earth turned into gnats throughout the whole land of Egypt.^{(A) 18} The magicians tried to produce gnats by their secret arts, but they could not. There were gnats on both humans and animals.^(B)

¹⁸ On that day the Lord will whistle for the fly that is at the sources of the streams of Egypt and for the bee that is in the land of Assyria.^(A)