8
1 Then the Lord told Moses, “Go and see Pharaoh and say to him, ‘This is what the Lord says: Let my people go, so that they can worship me. 2 If you refuse to let them leave, I will send a plague of frogs all over your country. 3 They will swarm out of the Nile, and they will enter your palace and get into your bedroom and jump onto your bed. They will get into the houses of your officials and jump around your people—even into your ovens and breadmaking bowls. 4 Frogs will jump all over you, your people, and all your officials.’ ”
5 The Lord said to Moses, “Tell Aaron, ‘Hold out your walking stick in your hand over the rivers and canals and ponds, and make frogs spread over Egypt.’ ” 6 So Aaron held out his hand over the waters of Egypt, and frogs came up and covered the land. 7 But the Egyptian magicians did the same thing using their magic arts. They brought up frogs in Egypt.
8 Pharaoh called for Moses and Aaron and pleaded with them, “Pray to the Lord, and ask him to take away the frogs from me and my people. Then I will let your people go so they can offer sacrifices to the Lord.”
9 “You may have the honor of deciding* when I'll pray for you, your officials, and your people that the frogs will be removed from you and your houses. They will remain only in the Nile.”
10 “Do it tomorrow,” Pharaoh replied.
Moses said, “It will happen as you have requested so you will know that there is no one like the Lord our God. 11 The frogs will leave you and your houses, your officials and your people, and they will remain only in the Nile.”
12 Moses and Aaron left Pharaoh, and Moses pleaded with the Lord about the frogs he had sent against Pharaoh. 13 The Lord did as Moses asked. The frogs in the houses, the courtyards, and the fields died. 14 The people collected them in pile upon pile, and the whole country smelled terrible. 15 But when Pharaoh realized the plague had passed, he chose to become hard and stubborn again, and wouldn't listen to Moses and Aaron, just as the Lord had predicted.
16 The Lord said to Moses, “Tell Aaron, ‘Pick up your walking stick and hit the dust of the ground. The dust will become gnats† swarming all over Egypt.’ ”
17 They did what the Lord said. When Aaron lifted up his walking stick and hit the dust of the earth, gnats swarmed over both people and animals. The dust in the whole of Egypt turned into gnats. 18 The magicians also tried to make gnats using their magic arts, but they couldn't. The gnats stayed on both people and animals.
19 “This is an act of God,”‡ the magicians told Pharaoh. But Pharaoh chose to be stubbornly hard-hearted, and he wouldn't listen to Moses and Aaron, just as the Lord had predicted.
20 The Lord told Moses, “Tomorrow morning get up early and block Pharaoh's way as he walks down to the river. Tell him, ‘This is what the Lord says: Let my people go, so that they can worship me. 21 If you don't let my people leave, I will send swarms of flies on you and your officials, and on your people and your houses. Every Egyptian house and even the ground on which they stand will be filled with swarms of flies. 22 However, on this occasion I will treat the land of Goshen differently—that's where my people live—there won't be any swarms of flies there. This is how you will know that I, the Lord, am here in your country. 23 I will distinguish§ my people from your people. You will see this sign that confirms it tomorrow.’ ”
24 The Lord did what he had said. Huge swarms of flies swept into Pharaoh's palace and into the houses of his officials. The whole of Egypt was devastated because of these swarms of flies.
25 Pharaoh called for Moses and Aaron and told them, “Go and offer sacrifices to your God here in this country.”
26 “No, that wouldn't be the right thing to do,” Moses replied. “The sacrifices we offer to the Lord our God would be offensive to Egyptians. If we went ahead and offered sacrifices offensive to Egyptians, they'd stone us! 27 We must make a three-day journey into the wilderness and offer sacrifices there to the Lord our God as he has told us.”
28 “I'll let you go and offer sacrifices to the Lord your God in the desert, but don't go very far,” Pharaoh answered. “Now pray for me that this plague ends.”*
29 “As soon as I leave you, I will pray to the Lord,” Moses replied, “and tomorrow the flies will leave Pharaoh and his officials and his people. But Pharaoh should be sure not to be deceitful again and refuse to let the people go and offer sacrifices to the Lord.”
30 Moses left Pharaoh and prayed to the Lord, 31 and the Lord did as Moses asked, and removed the swarms of flies from Pharaoh and his officials and his people. Not a single fly remained. 32 But once again Pharaoh chose to be stubbornly hard-hearted and would not let the people leave.
* 8:9 “You may have the honor of deciding”: literally, “Glorify yourself over me.” † 8:16 The exact insect mentioned here is not known with certainty. The Hebrew suggests “annoying insect,” and has been variously translated as lice, mosquitoes, or fleas in addition to gnats. However, some form of small biting flying insect like a gnat would best fit the context of “dust.” ‡ 8:19 “This is an act of God”: literally, “It is the finger of God.” § 8:23 The Hebrew has “redemption” here, but it appears to be a slip of the pen. The Septuagint reading is followed here. * 8:28 “That this plague ends.” Implied.