8 ^1 [a]Then the Lord said to Moses, “Go in to Pharaoh and say to him, ‘Thus says the Lord, “Let my people go, that they may serve me. ² But if you refuse to let them go, behold, I will plague all your country with frogs; ³ the Nile shall swarm with frogs which shall come up into your house, and into your bedchamber and on your bed, and into the houses of your servants and of your people,^[b] and into your ovens and your kneading bowls; ⁴ the frogs shall come up on you and on your people and on all your servants.”’” ^5 [c] And the Lord said to Moses, “Say to Aaron, ‘Stretch out your hand with your rod over the rivers, over the canals, and over the pools, and cause frogs to come upon the land of Egypt!’” ⁶ So Aaron stretched out his hand over the waters of Egypt; and the frogs came up and covered the land of Egypt. ⁷ But the magicians did the same by their secret arts, and brought frogs upon the land of Egypt.

⁸ Then Pharaoh called Moses and Aaron, and said, “Entreat the Lord to take away the frogs from me and from my people; and I will let the people go to sacrifice to the Lord.” ⁹ Moses said to Pharaoh, “Be pleased to command me when I am to entreat, for you and for your servants and for your people, that the frogs be destroyed from you and your houses and be left only in the Nile.” ¹⁰ And he said, “Tomorrow.” Moses said, “Be it as you say, that you may know that there is no one like the Lord our God. ¹¹ The frogs shall depart from you and your houses and your servants and your people; they shall be left only in the Nile.” ¹² So Moses and Aaron went out from Pharaoh; and Moses cried to the Lord concerning the frogs, as he had agreed with Pharaoh.^{[d] 13} And the Lord did according to the word of Moses; the frogs died out of the houses and courtyards and out of the fields. ¹⁴ And they gathered them together in heaps, and the land stank. ¹⁵ But when Pharaoh saw that there was a respite, he hardened his heart, and would not listen to them; as the Lord had said.

The Third Plague: Gnats

¹⁶ Then the Lord said to Moses, “Say to Aaron, ‘Stretch out your rod and strike the dust of the earth, that it may become gnats throughout all the land of Egypt.’” ¹⁷ And they did so; Aaron stretched out his hand with his rod, and struck the dust of the earth, and there came gnats on man and beast; all the dust of the earth became gnats throughout all the land of Egypt. ¹⁸ The magicians tried by their secret arts to bring forth gnats, but they could not. So there were gnats on man and beast. ¹⁹ And the magicians said to Pharaoh, “This is the finger of God.” But Pharaoh’s heart was hardened, and he would not listen to them; as the Lord had said.

The Fourth Plague: Flies

²⁰ Then the Lord said to Moses, “Rise up early in the morning and wait for Pharaoh, as he goes out to the water, and say to him, ‘Thus says the Lord, “Let my people go, that they may serve me. ²¹ Else, if you will not let my people go, behold, I will send swarms of flies on you and your servants and your people, and into your houses; and the houses of the Egyptians shall be filled with swarms of flies, and also the ground on which they stand. ²² But on that day I will set apart the land of Goshen, where my people dwell, so that no swarms of flies shall be there; that you may know that I am the Lord in the midst of the earth. ²³ Thus I will put a division^[e] between my people and your people. By tomorrow shall this sign be.”’” ²⁴ And the Lord did so; there came great swarms of flies into the house of Pharaoh and into his servants’ houses, and in all the land of Egypt the land was ruined by reason of the flies.

²⁵ Then Pharaoh called Moses and Aaron, and said, “Go, sacrifice to your God within the land.” ²⁶ But Moses said, “It would not be right to do so; for we shall sacrifice to the Lord our God offerings abominable to the Egyptians. If we sacrifice offerings abominable to the Egyptians before their eyes, will they not stone us? ²⁷ We must go three days’ journey into the wilderness and sacrifice to the Lord our God as he will command us.” ²⁸ So Pharaoh said, “I will let you go, to sacrifice to the Lord your God in the wilderness; only you shall not go very far away. Make entreaty for me.” ²⁹ Then Moses said, “Behold, I am going out from you and I will pray to the Lord that the swarms of flies may depart from Pharaoh, from his servants, and from his people, tomorrow; only let not Pharaoh deal falsely again by not letting the people go to sacrifice to the Lord.” ³⁰ So Moses went out from Pharaoh and prayed to the Lord. ³¹ And the Lord did as Moses asked, and removed the swarms of flies from Pharaoh, from his servants, and from his people; not one remained. ³² But Pharaoh hardened his heart this time also, and did not let the people go.

6 ^[a] The Lord said to Moses, ² “If any one sins and commits a breach of faith against the Lord by deceiving his neighbor in a matter of deposit or security, or through robbery, or if he has oppressed his neighbor ³ or has found what was lost and lied about it, swearing falsely—in any of all the things which men do and sin therein, ⁴ when one has sinned and become guilty, he shall restore what he took by robbery, or what he got by oppression, or the deposit which was committed to him, or the lost thing which he found, ⁵ or anything about which he has sworn falsely; he shall restore it in full, and shall add a fifth to it, and give it to him to whom it belongs, on the day of his guilt offering. ⁶ And he shall bring to the priest his guilt offering to the Lord, a ram without blemish out of the flock, valued by you at the price for a guilt offering; ⁷ and the priest shall make atonement for him before the Lord, and he shall be forgiven for any of the things which one may do and thereby become guilty.”

Instructions concerning Sacrifices

^8 [b] The Lord said to Moses, ⁹ “Command Aaron and his sons, saying, This is the law of the burnt offering. The burnt offering shall be on the hearth upon the altar all night until the morning, and the fire of the altar shall be kept burning on it. ¹⁰ And the priest shall put on his linen garment, and put his linen breeches upon his body, and he shall take up the ashes to which the fire has consumed the burnt offering on the altar, and put them beside the altar. ¹¹ Then he shall put off his garments, and put on other garments, and carry forth the ashes outside the camp to a clean place. ¹² The fire on the altar shall be kept burning on it, it shall not go out; the priest shall burn wood on it every morning, and he shall lay the burnt offering in order upon it, and shall burn on it the fat of the peace offerings. ¹³ Fire shall be kept burning upon the altar continually; it shall not go out.

¹⁴ “And this is the law of the cereal offering. The sons of Aaron shall offer it before the Lord, in front of the altar. ¹⁵ And one shall take from it a handful of the fine flour of the cereal offering with its oil and all the frankincense which is on the cereal offering, and burn this as its memorial portion on the altar, a pleasing odor to the Lord. ¹⁶ And the rest of it Aaron and his sons shall eat; it shall be eaten unleavened in a holy place; in the court of the tent of meeting they shall eat it. ¹⁷ It shall not be baked with leaven. I have given it as their portion of my offerings by fire; it is a thing most holy, like the sin offering and the guilt offering. ¹⁸ Every male among the children of Aaron may eat of it, as decreed for ever throughout your generations, from the Lord’s offerings by fire; whoever touches them shall become holy.”

¹⁹ The Lord said to Moses, ²⁰ “This is the offering which Aaron and his sons shall offer to the Lord on the day when he is anointed: a tenth of an ephah of fine flour as a regular cereal offering, half of it in the morning and half in the evening. ²¹ It shall be made with oil on a griddle; you shall bring it well mixed, in baked^[c] pieces like a cereal offering, and offer it for a pleasing odor to the Lord. ²² The priest from among Aaron’s sons, who is anointed to succeed him, shall offer it to the Lord as decreed for ever; the whole of it shall be burned. ²³ Every cereal offering of a priest shall be wholly burned; it shall not be eaten.”

²⁴ The Lord said to Moses, ²⁵ “Say to Aaron and his sons, This is the law of the sin offering. In the place where the burnt offering is killed shall the sin offering be killed before the Lord; it is most holy. ²⁶ The priest who offers it for sin shall eat it; in a holy place it shall be eaten, in the court of the tent of meeting. ²⁷ Whatever^[d] touches its flesh shall be holy; and when any of its blood is sprinkled on a garment, you shall wash that on which it was sprinkled in a holy place. ²⁸ And the earthen vessel in which it is boiled shall be broken; but if it is boiled in a bronze vessel, that shall be scoured, and rinsed in water. ²⁹ Every male among the priests may eat of it; it is most holy. ³⁰ But no sin offering shall be eaten from which any blood is brought into the tent of meeting to make atonement in the holy place; it shall be burned with fire.

The Glory and Strength of Zion

A Song. A Psalm of the Sons of Korah.