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Exodus 9

1 Then Jehovah said unto Moses, Go in unto Pharaoh, and tell him, Thus saith Jehovah, the God of the Hebrews, Let my people go, that they may serve me.2 For if thou refuse to let them go, and wilt hold them still,3 behold, the hand of Jehovah is upon thy cattle which are in the field, upon the horses, upon the asses, upon the camels, upon the herds, and upon the flocks: there shall be a very grievous murrain.4 And Jehovah shall make a distinction between the cattle of Israel and the cattle of Egypt; and there shall nothing die of all that belongeth to the children of Israel.5 And Jehovah appointed a set time, saying, To-morrow Jehovah shall do this thing in the land.6 And Jehovah did that thing on the morrow; and all the cattle of Egypt died; but of the cattle of the children of Israel died not one.7 And Pharaoh sent, and, behold, there was not so much as one of the cattle of the Israelites dead. But the heart of Pharaoh was stubborn, and he did not let the people go.

8 And Jehovah said unto Moses and unto Aaron, Take to you handfuls of ashes of the furnace, and let Moses sprinkle it toward heaven in the sight of Pharaoh.9 And it shall become small dust over all the land of Egypt, and shall be a boil breaking forth with blains upon man and upon beast, throughout all the land of Egypt.10 And they took ashes of the furnace, and stood before Pharaoh; and Moses sprinkled it up toward heaven; and it became a boil breaking forth with blains upon man and upon beast.11 And the magicians could not stand before Moses because of the boils; for the boils were upon the magicians, and upon all the Egyptians.12 And Jehovah hardened the heart of Pharaoh, and he hearkened not unto them, as Jehovah had spoken unto Moses.13 And Jehovah said unto Moses, Rise up early in the morning, and stand before Pharaoh, and say unto him, Thus saith Jehovah, the God of the Hebrews, Let my people go, that they may serve me.14 For I will this time send all my plagues upon thy heart, and upon thy servants, and upon thy people; that thou mayest know that there is none like me in all the earth.15 For now I had put forth my hand, and smitten thee and thy people with pestilence, and thou hadst been cut off from the earth:16 but in very deed for this cause have I made thee to stand, to show thee my power, and that my name may be declared throughout all the earth.17 As yet exaltest thou thyself against my people, that thou wilt not let them go?18 Behold, to-morrow about this time I will cause it to rain a very grievous hail, such as hath not been in Egypt since the day it was founded even until now.19 Now therefore send, hasten in thy cattle and all that thou hast in the field; for every man and beast that shall be found in the field, and shall not be brought home, the hail shall come down upon them, and they shall die.20 He that feared the word of Jehovah among the servants of Pharaoh made his servants and his cattle flee into the houses.21 And he that regarded not the word of Jehovah left his servants and his cattle in the field.

22 And Jehovah said unto Moses, Stretch forth thy hand toward heaven, that there may be hail in all the land of Egypt, upon man, and upon beast, and upon every herb of the field, throughout the land of Egypt.23 And Moses stretched forth his rod toward heaven: and Jehovah sent thunder and hail, and fire ran down unto the earth; and Jehovah rained hail upon the land of Egypt.24 So there was hail, and fire mingled with the hail, very grievous, such as had not been in all the land of Egypt since it became a nation.25 And the hail smote throughout all the land of Egypt all that was in the field, both man and beast; and the hail smote every herb of the field, and brake every tree of the field.26 Only in the land of Goshen, where the children of Israel were, was there no hail.

27 And Pharaoh sent, and called for Moses and Aaron, and said unto them, I have sinned this time: Jehovah is righteous, and I and my people are wicked.28 Entreat Jehovah; for there hath been enough of these mighty thunderings and hail; and I will let you go, and ye shall stay no longer.29 And Moses said unto him, As soon as I am gone out of the city, I will spread abroad my hands unto Jehovah; the thunders shall cease, neither shall there be any more hail; that thou mayest know that the earth is Jehovah’s.30 But as for thee and thy servants, I know that ye will not yet fear Jehovah God.31 And the flax and the barley were smitten: for the barley was in the ear, and the flax was in bloom.32 But the wheat and the spelt were not smitten: for they were not grown up.33 And Moses went out of the city from Pharaoh, and spread abroad his hands unto Jehovah: and the thunders and hail ceased, and the rain was not poured upon the earth.34 And when Pharaoh saw that the rain and the hail and the thunders were ceased, he sinned yet more, and hardened his heart, he and his servants.35 And the heart of Pharaoh was hardened, and he did not let the children of Israel go, as Jehovah had spoken by Moses.

EXODUS 9

Dead Animals

1 The [Lord] sent Moses with this message for the kingt of Egypt:
The [Lord] God of the Hebrews commands you to let his people go, so they can worship him. 2 If you keep refusing, 3 he will bring a terrible disease on your horses and donkeys, your camels and cattle, and your sheep and goats. 4 But the [Lord] will protect the animals that belong to the people of Israel, and none of theirs will die.

5 Tomorrow is the day the [Lord] has set to do this.
6 It happened the next day—all of the animals belonging to the Egyptians died, but the Israelites did not lose even one.

7 When the king found out, he was still too stubborn to let the people go.

Sores


8 The [Lord] said to Moses and Aaron:
Take a few handfuls of ashes from a stove and you, Moses, throw them into the air. Be sure the king is watching.

9 The ashes will blow across the land of Egypt, causing sores to break out on people and animals.
10  t So they took a few handfuls of ashes and went to the king.t Moses threw them into the air, and sores immediately broke out on the Egyptians and their animals. 11 The magicians were suffering so much from the sores, that they could not even come to Moses.

12 Everything happened just as the [Lord] had told Moses—he made the king too stubborn to listen to Moses and Aaron.

Hailstones


13 The [Lord] told Moses to get up early the next morning and say to the king:t
The [Lord] God of the Hebrews commands you to let his people go, so they can worship him! 14 If you don't, he will send his worst plagues to strike you, your officials, and everyone else in your country. Then you will find out that no one can oppose the [Lord]. 15 In fact, he could already have sent a terrible disease and wiped you from the face of the earth.

16 t But he has kept you alive, just to show you his power and to bring honor to himself everywhere in the world.
17 You are still determined not to let the [Lord]'s people go. 18 All right. At this time tomorrow, he will bring on Egypt the worst hailstorm in its history.

19 You had better give orders for every person and every animal in Egypt to take shelter. If they don't, they will die.
20 Some of the king's officials were frightened by what the [Lord] had said, and they hurried off to make sure their slaves and animals were safe.

21 But others paid no attention to his threats and left their slaves and animals out in the open.
22 Then the [Lord] told Moses, “Stretch your arm toward the sky, so that hailstones will fall on people, animals, and crops in the land of Egypt.” 23-24 t Moses pointed his walking stick toward the sky, and hailstones started falling everywhere. Thunder roared, and lightning flashed back and forth, striking the ground. This was the worst storm in the history of Egypt. 25 People, animals, and crops were pounded by the hailstones, and bark was stripped from trees.

26 Only Goshen, where the Israelites lived, was safe from the storm.
27 The king sent for Moses and Aaron and told them, “Now I have really sinned! My people and I are guilty, and the [Lord] is right.

28 We can't stand any more of this thunder and hail. Please ask the [Lord] to make it stop. Your people can go—you don't have to stay in Egypt any longer.”
29 Moses answered, “As soon as I leave the city, I will lift my arms in prayer. When the thunder and hail stop, you will know that the earth belongs to the [Lord].

30 But I am certain that neither you nor your officials really fear the [Lord] God.”
31 Meanwhile, the flax and barley crops had been destroyed by the storm because they were ready to ripen.

32 But the wheat cropst ripen later, and they were not damaged.
33 After Moses left the royal palace and the city, he lifted his arms in prayer to the [Lord], and the thunder, hail, and drenching rain stopped. 34 When the king realized that the storm was over, he disobeyed once more. He and his officials were so stubborn 35 that he refused to let the Israelites go. This was exactly what the [Lord] had said would happen.