Chronological
7 The Lord said to Moses, “I have made you ·like God [L God] to ·the king of Egypt [L Pharaoh], and your brother Aaron will be like a prophet for you [C just as God would speak to people through prophets so Moses would speak to Pharaoh through Aaron]. 2 Tell Aaron your brother everything that I command you, and let him tell ·the king of Egypt [L Pharaoh] to let the ·Israelites [L sons/T children of Israel] leave his ·country [land]. 3 But I will ·make the king stubborn [L harden the heart of Pharaoh]. I will ·do many miracles [L multiply my signs and wonders] in Egypt, 4 but ·he will still refuse to listen [L Pharaoh will not listen to you]. So then I will ·punish Egypt terribly [L place my hand on Egypt with great judgments], and I will lead my ·divisions [hosts; companies; 6:26], my people the Israelites, out of ·that land [L the land of Egypt]. 5 I will ·punish Egypt with my power [L extend my hand against Egypt], and I will bring the ·Israelites [L sons/T children of Israel] ·out of that land [L from their midst]. Then the Egyptians will know I am the Lord.”
6 Moses and Aaron did just as the Lord had commanded them. 7 Moses was eighty years old and Aaron was eighty-three when they spoke to ·the king [L Pharaoh].
Aaron’s Walking Stick Becomes a Snake
8 The Lord said to Moses and Aaron, 9 “Moses, when ·the king [L Pharaoh] asks you to do a ·miracle [wonder], tell Aaron to [L take and] throw his ·walking stick [staff] down in front of ·the king [L Pharaoh], and it will become a ·snake [serpent; 4:3–5; C symbols of dangerous power in Egypt; Pharaoh’s headdress had a serpent at its crest].”
10 So Moses and Aaron went to ·the king [L Pharaoh] as the Lord had commanded. Aaron threw his ·walking stick [staff] down in front of ·the king [L Pharaoh] and his officers, and it became a ·snake [serpent].
11 So ·the king [L Pharaoh] called in his wise men and his ·magicians [sorcerers], and with their ·tricks [magic arts] the Egyptian magicians were able to do the same thing [C showing that they had spiritual powers supporting them]. 12 They threw their ·walking sticks [staffs] on the ground, and their ·sticks [staffs] became snakes. But Aaron’s ·stick [staff] swallowed theirs [C showing God’s power was superior]. 13 Still the king ·was stubborn [L hardened his heart] and refused to listen to Moses and Aaron, just as the Lord had said.
The Water Becomes Blood
14 Then the Lord said to Moses, “·The king is being stubborn [L Pharaoh’s heart is hard/heavy] and refuses to let the people go. 15 In the morning ·the king [L Pharaoh] will go out to the ·Nile River [L water]. Go meet him by the edge of the ·river [L Nile], and take with you the ·walking stick [staff] that became a ·snake [serpent]. 16 Tell him: The Lord, the God of the Hebrews, sent me to you. He said, ‘Let my people go ·worship [serve] me in the ·desert [wilderness].’ Until now you have not listened. 17 This is what the Lord says: ‘This is how you will know that I am the Lord. I will strike the water of the Nile River with this ·stick [staff] in my hand, and the water will change into blood. 18 Then the fish in the Nile will die, and the river will begin to stink. The Egyptians will not be able to drink the water from the Nile.’”
19 The Lord said to Moses, “Tell Aaron: ‘Take the ·walking stick [staff] in your hand and stretch your hand over the rivers, canals, ponds, and pools in Egypt.’ The water will become blood everywhere in Egypt, both in wooden buckets and in stone jars.”
20 So Moses and Aaron did just as the Lord had commanded. In front of ·the king [L Pharaoh] and his officers, Aaron raised his ·walking stick [staff] and struck the water in the Nile River. So all the water in the Nile changed into blood. 21 The fish in the Nile died, and the river began to stink, so the Egyptians could not drink water from it. Blood was everywhere in the land of Egypt.
22 Using their ·tricks [magic arts], the ·magicians [sorcerers] of Egypt did the same thing. So the ·king was stubborn [L heart of Pharaoh was hardened] and refused to listen to Moses and Aaron, just as the Lord had said. 23 ·The king [L Pharaoh] turned and went into his ·palace [house] and ·ignored what Moses and Aaron had done [L did not take this to heart]. 24 The Egyptians could not drink the water from the Nile, so all of them dug along the bank of the river, looking for water to drink.
The Frogs
25 Seven days passed after the Lord ·changed [L struck] the Nile River.
8 Then the Lord told Moses, “Go to the king of Egypt and tell him, ‘This is what the Lord says: Let my people go to ·worship [serve] me. 2 If you refuse, I will ·punish [plague] ·Egypt [L your boundaries] with frogs. 3 The Nile River will ·be filled [swarm] with frogs. They will come up into your palace, into your bedroom, on your bed, into the houses of your officers, and onto your people. They will come into your ovens and into your baking pans. 4 The frogs will ·jump all over [L come up on] you, your people, and your officers.’”
5 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Tell Aaron to ·hold his walking stick [stretch out his stick/staff] in his hand over the rivers, canals, and ponds. Make frogs come up out of the water onto the land of Egypt.”
6 So Aaron ·held [extended] his hand over the waters of Egypt, and the frogs came up out of the water and covered the land of Egypt. 7 The ·magicians [sorcerers] used their ·tricks [magic arts] to do the same thing, so even more frogs came up onto the land of Egypt.
8 ·The king [L Pharaoh] called for Moses and Aaron and said, “·Pray to [Intreat; Intercede] the Lord to take the frogs away from me and my people. I will let your people go to offer sacrifices to the Lord.”
9 Moses said to ·the king [L Pharaoh], “Please set the time when I should ·pray [intreat; intercede] for you, your people, and your officers. Then the frogs will ·leave [be removed/cut off from] you and your houses and will remain only in the Nile.”
10 The king answered, “Tomorrow.”
Moses said, “·What you want will happen [L According to your word]. By this you will know that there is no one like the Lord our God. 11 The frogs will ·leave [be removed from] you, your houses, your officers, and your people. They will remain only in the Nile.”
12 After Moses and Aaron ·left the king [went out from Pharaoh], Moses ·asked [cried out to] the Lord about the frogs he had ·sent to [L set against] ·the king [L Pharaoh]. 13 And the Lord did as Moses asked. The frogs died in the houses, in the ·yards [courtyards], and in the fields. 14 The Egyptians put them in piles, and the whole country began to stink. 15 But when ·the king [L Pharaoh] saw that they were free of the frogs, he ·became stubborn again [L hardened his heart]. He did not listen to Moses and Aaron, just as the Lord had said.
The Gnats
16 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Tell Aaron to ·raise [extend] his ·walking stick [staff] and strike the dust on the ground. Then everywhere in Egypt the dust will change into gnats.” 17 They did this, and when Aaron ·raised [extended] the ·walking stick [staff] that was in his hand and struck the dust on the ground, everywhere in Egypt the dust changed into gnats. The gnats got on the people and ·animals [cattle]. 18 Using their ·tricks [magic arts], the ·magicians [sorcerers] tried to do the same thing, but they could not make the dust change into gnats. The gnats remained on the people and animals. 19 So the ·magicians [sorcerers] told ·the king [L Pharaoh] that the ·power [L finger] of God had done this. But the ·king was stubborn [L heart of Pharaoh was hard] and refused to listen to them, just as the Lord had said.
The Flies
20 The Lord told Moses, “Get up early in the morning, and meet the king of Egypt as he goes out to the ·river [L water]. Tell him, ‘This is what the Lord says: Let my people go so they can ·worship [serve] me. 21 If you don’t let them go, I will send swarms of flies into your houses. The flies will be on you, your officers, and your people. The houses of Egypt will be full of flies, and they will be all over the ground, too. 22 ·But I will not treat the Israelites the same as the Egyptian people [On that day I will separate the land of Goshen where my people are; C located in the eastern part of the Nile Delta; Gen. 45:10]. There will not be any flies ·in the land of Goshen, where my people live [L there]. By this you will know that I, the Lord, am in this land. 23 I will ·treat my people differently from [or set redemption between my people and] your people. This ·miracle [sign] will happen tomorrow.’”
24 So the Lord did as he had said, and great swarms of flies came into ·the king’s [L Pharaoh’s] palace and his officers’ houses. All over Egypt flies were ·ruining [destroying] the land. 25 ·The king [L Pharaoh] called for Moses and Aaron and told them, “[L Go,] Offer sacrifices to your God here in this ·country [land].”
26 But Moses said, “It wouldn’t be right to do that, ·because the Egyptians hate the sacrifices we offer to the Lord our God [L the sacrifices we offer to the Lord our God are an abomination to the Egyptians]. If they see us offering sacrifices they ·hate [detest], ·they will throw stones at us and kill us [L will they not stone us?]. 27 Let us make a three-day journey into the ·desert [wilderness]. We must offer sacrifices to the Lord our God there, as he told us to do.”
28 ·The king [L Pharaoh] said, “I will let you go so that you may offer sacrifices to the Lord your God in the ·desert [wilderness], but you must not go very far away. Now go and ·pray [intreat; intercede] for me.”
29 Moses said, “I will ·leave [go out] and ·pray [intreat; intercede] to the Lord, and he will take the flies away from you, your officers, and your people tomorrow. But do not ·try to trick [deal falsely with] us again. Do not stop the people from going to offer sacrifices to the Lord.”
30 So Moses ·left the king [L went out from Pharaoh] and ·prayed to [entreated; interceded with] the Lord, 31 and the Lord did as he asked. He removed the flies from ·the king [L Pharaoh], his officers, and his people so that not one fly was left. 32 But ·the king became stubborn [L Pharaoh hardened his heart] again and did not let the people go.
The Disease on the Farm Animals
9 Then the Lord told Moses, “Go to ·the king of Egypt [L Pharaoh] and tell him, ‘This is what the Lord, the God of the Hebrews, says: Let my people go to ·worship [serve] me. 2 If you refuse to let them go and ·continue to hold [tighten your grip on] them, 3 the ·Lord will punish you and will send [L hand of the Lord will strike with] a terrible ·disease [pestilence] on your farm animals that are in the fields. He will cause your horses, donkeys, camels, cattle, goats, and sheep to become sick. 4 But the Lord will ·treat Israel’s animals differently from [make a distinction between the animals of Israel and] the animals of Egypt. None of the animals that belong to the Israelites will die. 5 The Lord has set tomorrow as the [L appointed] time he will do this in the land.’” 6 The next day the Lord did as he promised. All the farm animals in Egypt died, but none of the animals belonging to Israelites died. 7 ·The king [L Pharaoh] sent people to see what had happened to the animals of Israel, and they found that not one of them had died. But the ·king was still stubborn [L heart of Pharaoh was hardened] and did not let the people go.
The Boils
8 The Lord said to Moses and Aaron, “·Fill your hands with [Take handfuls of] ·ashes [soot] from a ·furnace [kiln]. Moses, throw the ashes into the air in front of ·the king of Egypt [L Pharaoh]. 9 The ·ashes [soot] will spread like dust through all the land of Egypt. They will cause boils to break out and become sores on the skin of people and animals everywhere in the land [C perhaps skin anthrax].”
10 So Moses and Aaron took ·ashes [soot] from a ·furnace [kiln] and went and stood before ·the king [L Pharaoh]. Moses threw ·ashes [the soot; L it] into the air, which caused boils to break out and become sores on people and animals. 11 The ·magicians [sorcerers] could not stand before Moses, because all the Egyptians had boils, even the ·magicians [sorcerers]. 12 But the Lord ·made the king stubborn [L hardened the heart of Pharaoh], so he refused to listen to them, just as the Lord had said.
The Hail
13 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Get up early in the morning and ·go to the king of Egypt [stand before Pharaoh]. Tell him, ‘This is what the Lord, the God of the Hebrews, says: Let my people go to ·worship [serve] me. 14 If you don’t, this time I will ·punish you, your officers, and your people, with all my power [L send all my plagues against you, your officers, and your people]. Then you will know there is no one in the whole land like me. 15 By now I could have ·used my power [L stretched out my hand] and caused a terrible disease that would have destroyed you and your people from the earth. 16 But I have let you live for this reason: to show you my power so that my ·name [fame; reputation] will be ·talked about [recounted] in all the earth. 17 You are still [L exalting yourself] against my people and do not want to let them go. 18 So at this time tomorrow, I will send a ·terrible [very heavy] hailstorm, the worst in Egypt ·since it became a nation [L from the day it was founded until now]. 19 Now send for your animals and whatever you have in the fields, and bring them into a safe place. The hail will fall on every person or animal that is still in the fields. If they have not been brought in, they will die.’” 20 Some of ·the king’s [L Pharaoh’s] officers ·respected [L feared] the word of the Lord and hurried to bring their slaves and animals inside. 21 But others ·ignored [L did not set their heart on] the Lord’s ·message [word] and left their slaves and animals in the fields.
22 The Lord told Moses, “·Raise [Stretch out] your hand toward the ·sky [heavens]. Then the hail will start falling in all the land of Egypt. It will fall on people, animals, and on ·everything that grows [all the plants] in the fields of Egypt.” 23 When Moses ·raised his walking stick [stretched out his staff] toward the ·sky [heavens], the Lord sent thunder and hail, and ·lightning [L fire] ·flashed [L came] down to the earth. So he caused hail to fall upon the land of Egypt. 24 There was hail, and lightning flashed as it hailed—the ·worst [most severe] hailstorm in Egypt since it had become a nation. 25 The hail ·destroyed [L struck] all the people and animals that were in the fields in all the land of Egypt. It also ·destroyed [L struck] ·everything that grew [the plants] in the fields and broke all the trees in the fields. 26 The only place it did not hail was in the land of Goshen [8:22], where the Israelites lived.
27 ·The king [L Pharaoh] sent for Moses and Aaron and told them, “This time I have sinned. The Lord is in the right, and I and my people are ·in the wrong [guilty]. 28 ·Pray to [Entreat; Intercede with] the Lord. We have had enough of God’s thunder and hail. I will let you go; you do not have to stay here any longer.”
29 Moses told ·the king [L him], “When I ·leave [L go out from] the city, I will ·raise [L spread] my hands to the Lord in prayer, and the thunder [L will cease] and hail will ·stop [L be no more]. Then you will know that the earth belongs to the Lord. 30 But I know that you and your officers do not yet fear the Lord God.”
31 The flax was in ·bloom [bud], and the barley ·had ripened [was in the ear], so these crops were ·destroyed [ruined]. 32 But ·both wheat crops [L the wheat and the spelt] ripen later, so they were not ·destroyed [ruined].
33 Moses left ·the king [L Pharaoh] and went outside the city. He ·raised [L spread] his hands to the Lord, and the thunder and hail ·stopped [L ceased]. The rain ·also stopped falling to [L no longer poured on] the ground. 34 When ·the king [L Pharaoh] saw that the rain, hail, and thunder had ·stopped [L ceased], he sinned again, and he and his officers ·became stubborn [L hardened their hearts]. 35 So ·the king [L Pharaoh] ·became stubborn [L hardened his heart] and refused to let the Israelites go, just as the Lord had said through [L the hand of] Moses.
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