Study Desk

The Egyptians could not drink the water from the Nile, so all of them dug along the bank of the river, looking for water to drink.

So Aaron held his hand over all the waters of Egypt, and the frogs came up out of the water and covered the land of Egypt.

The magicians used their tricks to do the same thing, so even more frogs came up onto the land of Egypt.

So the magicians told the king that the power of God had done this. But the king was stubborn and refused to listen to them, just as the Lord had said.

The Lord told Moses, "Get up early in the morning, and meet the king of Egypt as he goes out to the river. Tell him, ‘This is what the Lord says: Let my people go so they can worship me.

So the Lord did as he had said, and great swarms of flies came into the king's palace and his officers' houses. All over Egypt flies were ruining the land.

The king said, "I will let you go so that you may offer sacrifices to the Lord your God in the desert, but you must not go very far away. Now go and pray for me."

So Moses left the king and prayed to the Lord ,

and the Lord did as he asked. He removed the flies from the king, his officers, and his people so that not one fly was left.

So Moses and Aaron took ashes from a furnace and went and stood before the king. Moses threw ashes into the air, which caused boils to break out and become sores on people and animals.

But the Lord made the king stubborn, so he refused to listen to Moses and Aaron, just as the Lord had said.

But I have let you live for this reason: to show you my power so that my name will be talked about in all the earth.

So at this time tomorrow, I will send a terrible hailstorm, the worst in Egypt since it became a nation.

When Moses raised his walking stick toward the sky, the Lord sent thunder and hail, and lightning flashed down to the earth. So he caused hail to fall upon the land of Egypt.

The flax was in bloom, and the barley had ripened, so these crops were destroyed.

But both wheat crops ripen later, so they were not destroyed.

So the king became stubborn and refused to let the Israelites go, just as the Lord had said through Moses.

The Lord said to Moses, "Go to the king of Egypt. I have made him and his officers stubborn so I could show them my powerful miracles.

I also did this so you could tell your children and your grandchildren how I was hard on the Egyptians. Tell them about the miracles I did among them so that all of you will know that I am the Lord ."

So Moses and Aaron went to the king and told him, "This is what the Lord , the God of the Hebrews, says: ‘How long will you refuse to be sorry for what you have done? Let my people go to worship me.