Study Desk

Let more work be given to the men so they will not have time to listen to lies."

So the men who made the people work went out and said to the people, "This is what Pharaoh says: ‘I will not give you straw.

So the people went out through all the land of Egypt to gather what they could use for straw.

But Pharaoh said, "You are lazy, very lazy. So you say, ‘Let us go and give a gift on an altar in worship to the Lord.'

So say to the people of Israel, ‘I am the Lord. I will take you away from the hard work and suffering in Egypt. I will take you away from being their servants. I will make you free by the strength of My arm and by the great things I will do to punish the guilty.

So Moses said this to the people of Israel. But they did not listen to Moses because of their broken spirit and how hard they were made to work.

But I will make Pharaoh's heart hard. So I will do many powerful works for the people to see in the land of Egypt.

So Moses and Aaron did what the Lord told them to do.

"When Pharaoh says to you, ‘Prove yourselves by doing a powerful work,' then you say to Aaron, ‘Take your special stick and throw it down in front of Pharaoh so that it will become a snake.'"

So Moses and Aaron went to Pharaoh. They did just as the Lord had told them. Aaron threw his stick down in front of Pharaoh and his servants and it became a snake.

And say to him, ‘The Lord, the God of the Hebrews, sent me to you, saying, "Let My people go, so they may worship Me in the desert. But see, you have not yet listened."

So the Lord says, "By this you will know that I am the Lord. I will hit the water of the Nile with the special stick that is in my hand. And the water will be changed to blood.

Then the Lord said to Moses, "Say to Aaron, ‘Take your special stick and put your hand out over the waters of Egypt, over their rivers, their pools, and all their man-made lakes of water, so they will become blood. There will be blood through all the land of Egypt, even in pots of wood and pots of stone.'"

The fish that were in the Nile died. And the Nile had a bad smell. So the Egyptians could not drink water from the Nile. The blood was through all the land of Egypt.

Then the Lord said to Moses, "Go to Pharaoh and say to him, ‘The Lord says this: "Let My people go, so they may worship Me.

So Aaron put his hand out over the waters of Egypt. And the frogs came up and covered the land of Egypt.

Then Pharaoh called for Moses and Aaron and said, "You pray to the Lord to take the frogs away from me and my people. And I will let the people go, so they may give a gift in worship to the Lord."

And they did so. Aaron put out his hand with his stick and hit the dust of the earth. And there were lice on man and animal. All the dust of the earth became lice through all the land of Egypt.

The wonder-workers tried to cause lice to come by using their secret ways. But they could not. So there were lice on man and animal.

Then the Lord said to Moses, "Get up early in the morning and wait for Pharaoh as he goes out to the water. Say to him, ‘The Lord says this: "Let My people go, so they may worship Me.