Study Desk

The Nile River will be filled with frogs. They will come from the river and enter your houses. They will be in your bedrooms and in your beds. They will be in the houses of your officials and in your ovens and in your jars of water.

Moses said to Pharaoh, "I will pray for you, your people, and your officials. Then the frogs will leave you and your houses. They will remain only in the river. When do you want the frogs to go away?"

The frogs will leave you, your house, your officials, and your people. They will remain only in the river."

They began to rot, and the whole country began to stink.

But when Pharaoh saw that they were free of the frogs, he again became stubborn. Pharaoh did not do what Moses and Aaron had asked him to do. This happened just as the Lord had said.

They did this. Aaron raised the stick in his hand and hit the dust on the ground, and everywhere in Egypt the dust became lice. The lice got on the animals and the people.

If you don't let my people go, then flies will come into your houses. The flies will be on you and your officials. The houses of Egypt will be full of flies. They will be all over the ground too!

So the Lord did just what he said. Millions of flies came into Egypt. The flies were in Pharaoh's house, and they were in all his officials' houses. They were all over Egypt. The flies were ruining the country.

Some of Pharaoh's officials paid attention to the Lord 's message. They quickly put all of their animals and slaves into houses.

So Moses and Aaron went to Pharaoh. They told him, "The Lord , the God of the Hebrews, says, ‘How long will you refuse to obey me? Let my people go to worship me!

They will fill all your houses, and all your officials' houses, and all the houses in Egypt. There will be more locusts than your fathers or your grandfathers have ever seen. There will be more locusts than there have ever been since people began living in Egypt.'" Then Moses turned and left Pharaoh.

The Lord told Moses, "Raise your hand over the land of Egypt and the locusts will come! They will spread all over the land of Egypt and will eat all the plants that the hail did not destroy."

They covered the ground, and the whole country became dark. The locusts ate every plant on the ground and all the fruit in the trees that the hail had not destroyed. There were no leaves left on any of the trees or plants anywhere in Egypt.

All these officials of yours will come down and bow to me. They will say, ‘Leave and take all your people with you.' Only then will I leave!" Then in anger, Moses left the meeting with Pharaoh.

The people of Egypt also asked them to hurry and leave. They said, "If you don't leave, we will all die!"

The Israelites did not have time to put the yeast in their bread. They just wrapped the bowls of dough with cloth and carried them on their shoulders.

Then the Israelites did what Moses asked them to do. They went to their Egyptian neighbors and asked for clothing and things made from silver and gold.

"In the future, your children will ask why you do this. They will say, ‘What does all this mean?' And you will answer, ‘The Lord used his great power to save us from Egypt. We were slaves in that place, but he led us out and brought us here.

Pharaoh made the people leave Egypt. God did not let the people take the road leading to the land of the Philistines. That road by the Mediterranean Sea is the shortest way, but God said, "If the people go that way they will have to fight. Then they might change their minds and go back to Egypt."

The Lord led the way. During the day, he used a tall cloud to lead the people. And during the night, he used a tall column of fire to lead the way. This fire gave them light so that they could also travel at night.