The Plague of Flies

Then the Lord said to Moses, “Get up early in the morning and confront Pharaoh as he goes to the river and say to him, ‘This is what the Lord says: Let my people go, so that they may worship me.

If you do not let my people go, I will send swarms of flies on you and your officials, on your people and into your houses. The houses of the Egyptians will be full of flies; even the ground will be covered with them.

“‘But on that day I will deal differently with the land of Goshen, where my people live; no swarms of flies will be there, so that you will know that I, the Lord, am in this land.

And the Lord did this. Dense swarms of flies poured into Pharaoh’s palace and into the houses of his officials; throughout Egypt the land was ruined by the flies.

Moses answered, “As soon as I leave you, I will pray to the Lord, and tomorrow the flies will leave Pharaoh and his officials and his people. Only let Pharaoh be sure that he does not act deceitfully again by not letting the people go to offer sacrifices to the Lord.”

and the Lord did what Moses asked. The flies left Pharaoh and his officials and his people; not a fly remained.

or like any animal on earth or any bird that flies in the air,

Like a dream he flies away, no more to be found, banished like a vision of the night.

He sent swarms of flies that devoured them, and frogs that devastated them.

You will not fear the terror of night, nor the arrow that flies by day,

He spoke, and there came swarms of flies, and gnats throughout their country.

As dead flies give perfume a bad smell, so a little folly outweighs wisdom and honor.

Assyria, the Lord’s Instrument

In that day the Lord will whistle for flies from the Nile delta in Egypt and for bees from the land of Assyria.

Lift up your eyes to the heavens, look at the earth beneath; the heavens will vanish like smoke, the earth will wear out like a garment and its inhabitants die like flies. But my salvation will last forever, my righteousness will never fail.