Study Desk

So Moses and Aaron came to Pharaoh, and did just as the LORD had commanded; Aaron threw down his staff before Pharaoh and his servants, and it became a serpent.

"You shall say to him, 'The LORD, the God of the Hebrews, has sent me to you, saying, "Let My people go, so that they may serve Me in the wilderness. But behold, you have not listened until now."

Then the LORD said to Moses, "Say to Aaron, 'Take your staff and stretch out your hand over the waters of Egypt, over their rivers, over their streams, over their pools, and over all their reservoirs of water, so that they may become blood; and there shall be blood throughout all the land of Egypt, in containers both of wood and of stone.'"

So Moses and Aaron did as the LORD commanded; Aaron lifted up the staff and struck the waters in the Nile, in the sight of Pharaoh and in the sight of his servants, and all the water that was in the Nile was turned into blood.

But the magicians of Egypt did the same by their secret arts and enchantments; so Pharaoh's heart was hardened, and he did not listen to Moses and Aaron, just as the LORD had said.

So all the Egyptians dug near the river for water to drink, because they could not drink the water of the Nile.

Then the LORD said to Moses, "Go to Pharaoh and say to him, 'Thus says the LORD, "Let My people go, so that they may serve Me.

"So the frogs will come up on you and on your people and all your servants."'"

So Aaron stretched out his hand [with his staff] 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, "Plead with the LORD that He may take away the frogs from me and my people; and I will let the people go, so that they may sacrifice to the LORD."

And Moses said to Pharaoh, "I am entirely at your service: when shall I plead [with the Lord] for you and your servants and your people, so that the frogs may leave you and your houses and remain only in the Nile?"

Then Pharaoh said, "Tomorrow." Moses replied, "May it be as you say, so that you may know [without any doubt] and acknowledge that there is no one like the LORD our God.

So Moses and Aaron left Pharaoh, and Moses cried out to the LORD [as he had agreed to do] concerning the frogs which God had inflicted on Pharaoh.

So they piled them up in heaps, and the land was detestable and stank.

They did so; Aaron stretched out his hand with his staff and struck the dust of the earth, and there were [biting] gnats on man and animal. All the dust of the land became gnats through all the land of Egypt.

Now the LORD said to Moses, "Get up early in the morning and stand before Pharaoh as he is coming out to the water [of the Nile], and say to him, 'Thus says the LORD, "Let My people go, so that they may serve Me.

"But on that day I will separate and set apart the land of Goshen, where My people are living, so that no swarms of insects will be there, so that you may know [without any doubt] and acknowledge that I, the LORD, am in the midst of the earth.

Then the LORD did so. And there came heavy and oppressive swarms of [bloodsucking] insects into the house of Pharaoh and his servants' houses; in all the land of Egypt the land was corrupted and ruined because of the [great invasion of] insects.

So Pharaoh said, "I will let you go, so that you may sacrifice to the LORD your God in the wilderness; only you shall not go very far away. Plead [with your God] for me."

So Moses left Pharaoh and prayed to the LORD [on behalf of Pharaoh].