Exodus 8

King James Version

1 And the LORD spake unto Moses, Go unto Pharaoh, and say unto him, Thus saith the LORD, Let my people go, that they may serve me.2 And if thou refuse to let them go, behold, I will smite all thy borders with frogs:3 And the river shall bring forth frogs abundantly, which shall go up and come into thine house, and into thy bedchamber, and upon thy bed, and into the house of thy servants, and upon thy people, and into thine ovens, and into thy kneadingtroughs:4 And the frogs shall come up both on thee, and upon thy people, and upon all thy servants.5 And the LORD spake unto Moses, Say unto Aaron, Stretch forth thine hand with thy rod over the streams, over the rivers, and over the ponds, and cause frogs to come up upon the land of Egypt.6 And Aaron stretched out his hand over the waters of Egypt; and the frogs came up, and covered the land of Egypt.7 And the magicians did so with their enchantments, and brought up frogs upon the land of Egypt.8 Then Pharaoh called for Moses and Aaron, and said, Intreat the LORD, that he may take away the frogs from me, and from my people; and I will let the people go, that they may do sacrifice unto the LORD.9 And Moses said unto Pharaoh, Glory over me: when shall I intreat for thee, and for thy servants, and for thy people, to destroy the frogs from thee and thy houses, that they may remain in the river only?10 And he said, To morrow. And he said, Be it according to thy word: that thou mayest know that there is none like unto the LORD our God.11 And the frogs shall depart from thee, and from thy houses, and from thy servants, and from thy people; they shall remain in the river only.12 And Moses and Aaron went out from Pharaoh: and Moses cried unto the LORD because of the frogs which he had brought against Pharaoh.13 And the LORD did according to the word of Moses; and the frogs died out of the houses, out of the villages, and out of the fields.14 And they gathered them together upon heaps: and the land stank.15 But when Pharaoh saw that there was respite, he hardened his heart, and hearkened not unto them; as the LORD had said.16 And the LORD said unto Moses, Say unto Aaron, Stretch out thy rod, and smite the dust of the land, that it may become lice throughout all the land of Egypt.17 And they did so; for Aaron stretched out his hand with his rod, and smote the dust of the earth, and it became lice in man, and in beast; all the dust of the land became lice throughout all the land of Egypt.18 And the magicians did so with their enchantments to bring forth lice, but they could not: so there were lice upon man, and upon beast.19 Then the magicians said unto Pharaoh, This is the finger of God: and Pharaoh' heart was hardened, and he hearkened not unto them; as the LORD had said.20 And the LORD said unto Moses, Rise up early in the morning, and stand before Pharaoh; lo, he cometh forth to the water; and say unto him, Thus saith the LORD, Let my people go, that they may serve me.21 Else, if thou wilt not let my people go, behold, I will send swarms of flies upon thee, and upon thy servants, and upon thy people, and into thy houses: and the houses of the Egyptians shall be full of swarms of flies , and also the ground whereon they are .22 And I will sever in that day the land of Goshen, in which my people dwell, that no swarms of flies shall be there; to the end thou mayest know that I am the LORD in the midst of the earth.23 And I will put a division between my people and thy people: to morrow shall this sign be.24 And the LORD did so; and there came a grievous swarm of flies into the house of Pharaoh, and into his servants'houses, and into all the land of Egypt: the land was corrupted by reason of the swarm of flies .25 And Pharaoh called for Moses and for Aaron, and said, Go ye, sacrifice to your God in the land.26 And Moses said, It is not meet so to do; for we shall sacrifice the abomination of the Egyptians to the LORD our God: lo, shall we sacrifice the abomination of the Egyptians before their eyes, and will they not stone us?27 We will go three days'journey into the wilderness, and sacrifice to the LORD our God, as he shall command us.28 And Pharaoh said, I will let you go, that ye may sacrifice to the LORD your God in the wilderness; only ye shall not go very far away: intreat for me.29 And Moses said, Behold, I go out from thee, and I will intreat the LORD that the swarms of flies may depart from Pharaoh, from his servants, and from his people, to morrow: but let not Pharaoh deal deceitfully any more in not letting the people go to sacrifice to the LORD.30 And Moses went out from Pharaoh, and intreated the LORD.31 And the LORD did according to the word of Moses; and he removed the swarms of flies from Pharaoh, from his servants, and from his people; there remained not one.32 And Pharaoh hardened his heart at this time also, neither would he let the people go.

Exodus 8

New International Reader’s Version

1 Then the LORD said to Moses, ‘Go to Pharaoh. Tell him, “The LORD says, ‘Let my people go. Then they will be able to worship me.2 If you refuse to let them go, I will send a plague of frogs on your whole country.3 The River Nile will be full of frogs. They will come up into your palace. You will have frogs in your bedroom and on your bed. They will be in the homes of your officials and your people. They will be in your ovens and in the bowls for kneading your bread.4 The frogs will be on you, your people and all your officials.’ ” ’5 Then the LORD spoke to Moses. He said, ‘Tell Aaron, “Reach out your hand. Hold your walking stick over the streams, canals and ponds. Make frogs come up on the land of Egypt.” ’6 So Aaron reached out his hand over the waters of Egypt. The frogs came up and covered the land.7 But the magicians did the same things by doing their magic tricks. They also made frogs come up on the land of Egypt.8 Pharaoh sent for Moses and Aaron. He said to them, ‘Pray to the LORD to take the frogs away from me and my people. Then I’ll let your people go to offer sacrifices to the LORD.’9 Moses said to Pharaoh, ‘You can have the honour of setting the time for me to pray. I will pray for you, your officials and your people. I’ll pray that the frogs will leave you and your homes. The only frogs left will be the ones in the River Nile.’10 ‘Tomorrow’, Pharaoh said. Moses replied, ‘It will happen just as you say. Then you will know that there is no one like the LORD our God.11 The frogs will leave you and your houses. They will leave your officials and your people. The frogs will remain only in the River Nile.’12 Moses and Aaron left Pharaoh. Then Moses cried out to the LORD about the frogs he had brought on Pharaoh.13 And the LORD did what Moses asked. The frogs died in the houses, courtyards and fields.14 The Egyptians piled them up. The land smelled very bad because of them.15 But when Pharaoh saw that the frogs were dead, he became stubborn. He wouldn’t listen to Moses and Aaron, just as the LORD had said.16 Then the LORD spoke to Moses. He said, ‘Tell Aaron, “Reach out your walking stick. Strike the dust on the ground with it.” Then all over the land of Egypt the dust will turn into gnats.’17 So they did it. Aaron reached out the stick that was in his hand. He struck the dust on the ground with it. The dust all over the land of Egypt turned into gnats. They landed on people and animals alike.18 The magicians tried to produce gnats by doing their magic tricks. But they couldn’t. The gnats stayed on people and animals everywhere.19 So the magicians said to Pharaoh, ‘God’s powerful finger has done this.’ But Pharaoh remained stubborn. He wouldn’t listen, just as the LORD had said.20 Then the LORD spoke to Moses. He said, ‘Get up early in the morning. Talk to Pharaoh as he goes down to the River Nile. Say to him, “The LORD says, ‘Let my people go. Then they will be able to worship me.21 If you do not let my people go, I will send large numbers of flies. I will send them on you and your officials. I will send them on your people and into your homes. 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 treat the area of Goshen differently from yours. That is where my people live. There will not be large numbers of flies in Goshen. Then you will know that I, the LORD, am in this land.23 I will treat my people differently from yours. This sign will take place tomorrow.’ ” ’24 So the LORD did it. Huge numbers of flies poured into Pharaoh’s palace. They came into the homes of his officials. All over Egypt the flies destroyed the land.25 Then Pharaoh sent for Moses and Aaron. He said to them, ‘Go. Offer sacrifices to your God here in the land.’26 But Moses said, ‘That wouldn’t be right. The sacrifices we offer to the LORD our God wouldn’t be accepted by the Egyptians because of their beliefs. For that reason, they would throw stones at us and try to kill us.27 We have to take a journey that lasts about three days. We want to go into the desert to offer sacrifices to the LORD our God, just as he commands us.’28 Pharaoh said, ‘I will let you and your people go to offer sacrifices. You can offer them to the LORD your God in the desert. But you must not go very far. Now pray for me.’29 Moses replied, ‘As soon as I leave you, I will pray to the LORD. Tomorrow the flies will leave you. They will also leave your officials and your people. Just be sure you don’t try to trick us again. Let the people go to offer sacrifices to the LORD.’30 Then Moses left Pharaoh and prayed to the LORD.31 And the LORD did what Moses asked. The flies left Pharaoh, his officials and his people. Not one fly remained.32 But Pharaoh became stubborn this time also. He wouldn’t let the people go.