7 Then the Lord said to Moses, “See, I have made you like Godl to Pharaoh, and your brother Aaron will be your prophet.m 2 You are to say everything I command you, and your brother Aaron is to tell Pharaoh to let the Israelites go out of his country. 3 But I will harden Pharaoh’s heart,n and though I multiply my signs and wonderso in Egypt, 4 he will not listenp to you. Then I will lay my hand on Egypt and with mighty acts of judgmentq I will bring out my divisions,r my people the Israelites. 5 And the Egyptians will know that I am the Lords when I stretch out my handt against Egypt and bring the Israelites out of it.”

6 Moses and Aaron did just as the Lord commandedu them. 7 Moses was eighty years oldv and Aaron eighty-three when they spoke to Pharaoh.

Aaron’s Staff Becomes a Snake

8 The Lord said to Moses and Aaron, 9 “When Pharaoh says to you, ‘Perform a miracle,w’ then say to Aaron, ‘Take your staff and throw it down before Pharaoh,’ and it will become a snake.”x

10 So Moses and Aaron went to Pharaoh and did just as the Lord commanded. Aaron threw his staff down in front of Pharaoh and his officials, and it became a snake. 11 Pharaoh then summoned wise men and sorcerers,y and the Egyptian magiciansz also did the same things by their secret arts:a 12 Each one threw down his staff and it became a snake. But Aaron’s staff swallowed up their staffs. 13 Yet Pharaoh’s heartb became hard and he would not listenc to them, just as the Lord had said.

The Plague of Blood

14 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Pharaoh’s heart is unyielding;d he refuses to let the people go. 15 Go to Pharaoh in the morning as he goes out to the river.e Confront him on the bank of the Nile,f and take in your hand the staff that was changed into a snake. 16 Then say to him, ‘The Lord, the God of the Hebrews, has sent me to say to you: Let my people go, so that they may worshipg me in the wilderness. But until now you have not listened.h 17 This is what the Lord says: By this you will know that I am the Lord:i With the staff that is in my hand I will strike the water of the Nile, and it will be changed into blood.j 18 The fish in the Nile will die, and the river will stink;k the Egyptians will not be able to drink its water.’ ”l

19 The Lord said to Moses, “Tell Aaron, ‘Take your staffm and stretch out your handn over the waters of Egypt—over the streams and canals, over the ponds and all the reservoirs—and they will turn to blood.’ Blood will be everywhere in Egypt, even in vesselsa of wood and stone.”

20 Moses and Aaron did just as the Lord had commanded.o He raised his staff in the presence of Pharaoh and his officials and struck the water of the Nile,p and all the water was changed into blood.q 21 The fish in the Nile died, and the river smelled so bad that the Egyptians could not drink its water. Blood was everywhere in Egypt.

22 But the Egyptian magiciansr did the same things by their secret arts,s and Pharaoh’s heartt became hard; he would not listen to Moses and Aaron, just as the Lord had said. 23 Instead, he turned and went into his palace, and did not take even this to heart. 24 And all the Egyptians dug along the Nile to get drinking wateru, because they could not drink the water of the river.

The Plague of Frogs

25 Seven days passed after the Lord struck the Nile.

8 a Then the Lord said to Moses, “Go to Pharaoh and say to him, ‘This is what the Lord says: Let my people go, so that they may worshipv me. 2 If you refuse to let them go, I will send a plague of frogsw on your whole country. 3 The Nile will teem with frogs. They will come up into your palace and your bedroom and onto your bed, into the houses of your officials and on your people,x and into your ovens and kneading troughs.y 4 The frogs will come up on you and your people and all your officials.’ ”

5 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Tell Aaron, ‘Stretch out your hand with your staffz over the streams and canals and ponds, and make frogsa come up on the land of Egypt.’ ”

6 So Aaron stretched out his hand over the waters of Egypt, and the frogsb came up and covered the land. 7 But the magicians did the same things by their secret arts;c they also made frogs come up on the land of Egypt.

8 Pharaoh summoned Moses and Aaron and said, “Prayd to the Lord to take the frogs away from me and my people, and I will let your people go to offer sacrificese to the Lord.”

9 Moses said to Pharaoh, “I leave to you the honor of setting the timef for me to pray for you and your officials and your people that you and your houses may be rid of the frogs, except for those that remain in the Nile.”

10 “Tomorrow,” Pharaoh said.

Moses replied, “It will be as you say, so that you may know there is no one like the Lord our God.g 11 The frogs will leave you and your houses, your officials and your people; they will remain only in the Nile.”

12 After Moses and Aaron left Pharaoh, Moses cried out to the Lord about the frogs he had brought on Pharaoh. 13 And the Lord did what Moses asked.h The frogs died in the houses, in the courtyards and in the fields. 14 They were piled into heaps, and the land reeked of them. 15 But when Pharaoh saw that there was relief,i he hardened his heartj and would not listen to Moses and Aaron, just as the Lord had said.

The Plague of Gnats

16 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Tell Aaron, ‘Stretch out your staffk and strike the dust of the ground,’ and throughout the land of Egypt the dust will become gnats.” 17 They did this, and when Aaron stretched out his hand with the staff and struck the dust of the ground, gnatsl came on people and animals. All the dust throughout the land of Egypt became gnats. 18 But when the magiciansm tried to produce gnats by their secret arts,n they could not.

Since the gnats were on people and animals everywhere, 19 the magicians said to Pharaoh, “This is the fingero of God.” But Pharaoh’s heartp was hard and he would not listen,q just as the Lord had said.

The Plague of Flies

20 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Get up early in the morningr 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 worships me. 21 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.

22 “ ‘But on that day I will deal differently with the land of Goshen,t where my people live;u no swarms of flies will be there, so that you will knowv that I, the Lord, am in this land. 23 I will make a distinctionb between my people and your people.w This sign will occur tomorrow.’ ”

24 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.x

25 Then Pharaoh summonedy Moses and Aaron and said, “Go, sacrifice to your God here in the land.”

26 But Moses said, “That would not be right. The sacrifices we offer the Lord our God would be detestable to the Egyptians.z And if we offer sacrifices that are detestable in their eyes, will they not stone us? 27 We must take a three-day journeya into the wilderness to offer sacrificesb to the Lord our God, as he commands us.”

28 Pharaoh said, “I will let you go to offer sacrifices to the Lord your God in the wilderness, but you must not go very far. Now prayc for me.”

29 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 deceitfullyd again by not letting the people go to offer sacrifices to the Lord.”

30 Then Moses left Pharaoh and prayed to the Lord,e 31 and the Lord did what Moses asked. The flies left Pharaoh and his officials and his people; not a fly remained. 32 But this time also Pharaoh hardened his heartf and would not let the people go.

The Plague on Livestock

9 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Go to Pharaoh and say to him, ‘This is what the Lord, the God of the Hebrews, says: “Let my people go, so that they may worshipg me.” 2 If you refuse to let them go and continue to hold them back, 3 the handh of the Lord will bring a terrible plaguei on your livestock in the field—on your horses, donkeys and camels and on your cattle, sheep and goats. 4 But the Lord will make a distinction between the livestock of Israel and that of Egypt,j so that no animal belonging to the Israelites will die.’ ”

5 The Lord set a time and said, “Tomorrow the Lord will do this in the land.” 6 And the next day the Lord did it: All the livestockk of the Egyptians died,l but not one animal belonging to the Israelites died. 7 Pharaoh investigated and found that not even one of the animals of the Israelites had died. Yet his heartm was unyielding and he would not let the people go.n

The Plague of Boils

8 Then the Lord said to Moses and Aaron, “Take handfuls of soot from a furnace and have Moses toss it into the air in the presence of Pharaoh. 9 It will become fine dust over the whole land of Egypt, and festering boilso will break out on people and animals throughout the land.”

10 So they took soot from a furnace and stood before Pharaoh. Moses tossed it into the air, and festering boils broke out on people and animals. 11 The magiciansp could not stand before Moses because of the boils that were on them and on all the Egyptians. 12 But the Lord hardened Pharaoh’s heartq and he would not listenr to Moses and Aaron, just as the Lord had said to Moses.

The Plague of Hail

13 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Get up early in the morning, confront Pharaoh and say to him, ‘This is what the Lord, the God of the Hebrews, says: Let my people go, so that they may worships me, 14 or this time I will send the full force of my plagues against you and against your officials and your people, so you may knowt that there is no one likeu me in all the earth. 15 For by now I could have stretched out my hand and struck you and your peoplev with a plague that would have wiped you off the earth. 16 But I have raised you upa for this very purpose,w that I might show you my powerx and that my name might be proclaimed in all the earth. 17 You still set yourself against my people and will not let them go. 18 Therefore, at this time tomorrow I will send the worst hailstormy that has ever fallen on Egypt, from the day it was founded till now.z 19 Give an order now to bring your livestock and everything you have in the field to a place of shelter, because the hail will fall on every person and animal that has not been brought in and is still out in the field, and they will die.’ ”

20 Those officials of Pharaoh who feareda the word of the Lord hurried to bring their slaves and their livestock inside. 21 But those who ignoredb the word of the Lord left their slaves and livestock in the field.

22 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Stretch out your hand toward the sky so that hail will fall all over Egypt—on people and animals and on everything growing in the fields of Egypt.” 23 When Moses stretched out his staff toward the sky, the Lord sent thunderc and hail,d and lightning flashed down to the ground. So the Lord rained hail on the land of Egypt; 24 hail fell and lightning flashed back and forth. It was the worst storm in all the land of Egypt since it had become a nation.e 25 Throughout Egypt hail struck everything in the fields—both people and animals; it beat down everything growing in the fields and stripped every tree.f 26 The only place it did not hail was the land of Goshen,g where the Israelites were.h

27 Then Pharaoh summoned Moses and Aaron. “This time I have sinned,”i he said to them. “The Lord is in the right,j and I and my people are in the wrong. 28 Prayk to the Lord, for we have had enough thunder and hail. I will let you go;l you don’t have to stay any longer.”

29 Moses replied, “When I have gone out of the city, I will spread out my handsm in prayer to the Lord. The thunder will stop and there will be no more hail, so you may know that the earthn is the Lord’s. 30 But I know that you and your officials still do not fearo the Lord God.”

31 (The flax and barleyp were destroyed, since the barley had headed and the flax was in bloom. 32 The wheat and spelt,q however, were not destroyed, because they ripen later.)

33 Then Moses left Pharaoh and went out of the city. He spread out his hands toward the Lord; the thunder and hail stopped, and the rain no longer poured down on the land. 34 When Pharaoh saw that the rain and hail and thunder had stopped, he sinned again: He and his officials hardened their hearts. 35 So Pharaoh’s heartr was hard and he would not let the Israelites go, just as the Lord had said through Moses.