The Plague of Hail

¹³ Then the Lord told Moses, “Get up early in the morning, present yourself to Pharaoh, and say to him, ‘This is what the Lord God of the Hebrews says: “Let my people go so they may serve^[a] me. ¹⁴ Indeed, this time I’m sending all my plagues against you^[b], your officials,^[c] and your people, so you may know that there is no one like me in all the earth. ¹⁵ Indeed, by now I could have sent forth my hand and struck you and your people with a plague, and you would have been destroyed from the earth. ¹⁶ However, I’ve kept you standing^[d] in order to show you my power and to declare my name in all the earth. ¹⁷ You are still acting arrogantly against my people by not letting them go. ¹⁸ Look! About this time tomorrow, I’ll send a severe hail storm, such as has not happened in Egypt from the day it was founded until now. ¹⁹ So send for your livestock and everything that belongs to you that’s out in the field, because^[e] every person and animal found in the field that has not been brought inside to shelters will die when the hail comes down on them.”’”

²⁰ Whoever feared the message from the Lord among Pharaoh’s officials^[f] made his servants and livestock flee into shelters. ²¹ But whoever did not pay attention^[g] to the message from the Lord left his servants and his livestock outside in the fields.

²² Then the Lord told Moses, “Stretch out your hand toward heaven, and there will be hail in all the land of Egypt, on people, animals, and all the vegetation of the field throughout the land of Egypt.” ²³ When Moses stretched out his staff toward heaven, the Lord sent thunder and hail, and lightning struck the earth. The Lord rained hail on the land of Egypt.

²⁴ There was very heavy hail, and lightning was flashing continuously in the midst of the hail. There had not been anything like it in the land of Egypt since it had become a nation. ²⁵ The hail struck everything, including people and animals, outside in the fields throughout the land of Egypt. The hail struck all the vegetation of the fields and shattered all the trees in the orchards. ²⁶ Only in the land of Goshen, where the Israelis were, was there no hail.

²⁷ Pharaoh sent word^[h] and called for Moses and Aaron. “I’ve sinned this time,” he told them. “The Lord is righteous, but I and my people are wicked. ²⁸ Pray to the Lord! There has been enough of God’s thunder and hail! I’ll let you go, and you need not stay any longer.”

²⁹ Moses told him, “When I leave the city I’ll spread out my hands to the Lord. The thunder will cease and the hail won’t continue, so that you may know that the earth belongs to the Lord. ³⁰ But as for you and your officials,^[i] I know that you don’t yet fear the Lord God.” ³¹ (Now the flax and the barley were ruined because the barley was in ear and the flax was in bud. ³² The wheat and the wild grain^[j] were not ruined because they were late crops.)

³³ Then Moses went out of the city from Pharaoh and spread out his hands to the Lord. The thunder and hail stopped, and the rain no longer poured out on the land. ³⁴ When Pharaoh saw that the rain, hail, and thunder had stopped, he continued to sin. He, along with his officials,^[k] hardened his heart. ³⁵ Pharaoh’s heart was stubborn,^[l] and he did not let the Israelis go, just as the Lord had said through Moses.