Study Desk

And they did so; Aaron stretched out his hand with his staff and struck the dust of the earth, and gnats came on humans and animals alike; all the dust of the earth turned into gnats throughout the whole land of Egypt.

Then the Lord said to Moses, "Rise early in the morning and present yourself before Pharaoh, as he goes out to the water, and say to him, ‘Thus says the Lord : Let my people go, so that they may worship me.

For if you will not let my people go, I will send swarms of flies on you, your officials, and your people, and into your houses; and the houses of the Egyptians shall be filled with swarms of flies; so also the land where they live.

But on that day I will set apart the land of Goshen, where my people live, so that no swarms of flies shall be there, that you may know that I the Lord am in this land.

The Lord did so, and great swarms of flies came into the house of Pharaoh and into his officials' houses; in all of Egypt the land was ruined because of the flies.

But Moses said, "It would not be right to do so; for the sacrifices that we offer to the Lord our God are offensive to the Egyptians. If we offer in the sight of the Egyptians sacrifices that are offensive to them, will they not stone us?

So Pharaoh said, "I will let you go to sacrifice to the Lord your God in the wilderness, provided you do not go very far away. Pray for me."

So Moses went out from Pharaoh and prayed to the Lord .

Then the Lord said to Moses, "Go to Pharaoh, and say to him, ‘Thus says the Lord , the God of the Hebrews: Let my people go, so that they may worship me.

But the Lord will make a distinction between the livestock of Israel and the livestock of Egypt, so that nothing shall die of all that belongs to the Israelites.'"

And on the next day the Lord did so; all the livestock of the Egyptians died, but of the livestock of the Israelites not one died.

So they took soot from the kiln, and stood before Pharaoh, and Moses threw it in the air, and it caused festering boils on humans and animals.

Then the Lord said to Moses, "Rise up early in the morning and present yourself before Pharaoh, and say to him, ‘Thus says the Lord , the God of the Hebrews: Let my people go, so that they may worship me.

For this time I will send all my plagues upon you yourself, and upon your officials, and upon your people, so that you may know that there is no one like me in all the earth.

The Lord said to Moses, "Stretch out your hand toward heaven so that hail may fall on the whole land of Egypt, on humans and animals and all the plants of the field in the land of Egypt."

Moses said to him, "As soon as I have gone out of the city, I will stretch out my hands to the Lord ; the thunder will cease, and there will be no more hail, so that you may know that the earth is the Lord 's.

So Moses left Pharaoh, went out of the city, and stretched out his hands to the Lord ; then the thunder and the hail ceased, and the rain no longer poured down on the earth.

So the heart of Pharaoh was hardened, and he would not let the Israelites go, just as the Lord had spoken through Moses.

and that you may tell your children and grandchildren how I have made fools of the Egyptians and what signs I have done among them—so that you may know that I am the Lord ."

So Moses and Aaron went to Pharaoh, and said to him, "Thus says the Lord , the God of the Hebrews, ‘How long will you refuse to humble yourself before me? Let my people go, so that they may worship me.