Exodus 8

1 And this is what the Lord said to Moses: Go to Pharaoh and say to him, The Lord says, Let my people go so that they may give me worship.

Then Yahweh spoke to Moses, “Go to Pharaoh and tell him, 'Yahweh says this: “Let my people go so that they may worship me.

2 And if you will not let them go, see, I will send frogs into every part of your land:

If you refuse to let them go, I will afflict all your country with frogs.

3 The Nile will be full of frogs, and they will come up into your house and into your bedrooms and on your bed, and into the houses of your servants and your people, and into your ovens and into your bread-basins.

The river will swarm with frogs. They will come up and go into your house, your bedroom, and your bed. They will go into your servants' houses. They will go onto your people, into your ovens, and into your kneading bowls.

4 The frogs will come up over you and your people and all your servants.

The frogs will attack you, your people, and all your servants.”'”

5 And the Lord said to Moses, Say to Aaron, Let the rod in your hand be stretched out over the streams and the waterways and the pools, causing frogs to come up on the land of Egypt.

Yahweh said to Moses, “Say to Aaron, 'Reach out with your hand and your staff over the rivers, the streams, and the pools, and bring the frogs up over the land of Egypt.'”

6 And when Aaron put out his hand over the waters of Egypt, the frogs came up and all the land of Egypt was covered with them.

Aaron reached out with his hand over Egypt's waters, and the frogs came up and covered the land of Egypt.

7 And the wonder-workers did the same with their secret arts, making frogs come up over the land of Egypt.

But the magicians did the same with their magic; they brought up frogs over the land of Egypt.

8 Then Pharaoh sent for Moses and Aaron and said, Make prayer to the Lord that he will take away these frogs from me and my people; and I will let the people go and make their offering to the Lord.

Then Pharaoh called for Moses and Aaron and said, “Pray to Yahweh for him to take away the frogs from me and my people. Then I will let the people go, that they may sacrifice to him.”

9 And Moses said, I will let you have the honour of saying when I am to make prayer for you and your servants and your people, that the frogs may be sent away from you and your houses, and be only in the Nile.

Moses said to Pharaoh, “You can have the privilege of telling me when I should pray for you, your servants, and your people, so that the frogs may be removed from you and your houses and stay only in the river.”

10 And he said, By tomorrow. And he said, Let it be as you say: so that you may see that there is no other like the Lord our God.

Pharaoh said, “Tomorrow.” Moses said, “Let it be as you say, so that you may know that there is no one like Yahweh, our God.

11 And the frogs will be gone from you and from your houses and from your servants and from your people and will be only in the Nile.

The frogs will go from you, your houses, your servants, and your people. They will stay only in the river.”

12 Then Moses and Aaron went out from Pharaoh; and Moses made prayer to the Lord about the frogs which he had sent on Pharaoh.

Moses and Aaron went out from Pharaoh. Then Moses cried out to Yahweh concerning the frogs that he had brought on Pharaoh.

13 And the Lord did as Moses said; and there was an end of all the frogs in the houses and in the open spaces and in the fields.

Yahweh did as Moses asked: The frogs died in the houses, courts, and fields.

14 And they put them together in masses, and a bad smell went up from the land.

The people gathered them together in heaps, and the land stank.

15 But when Pharaoh saw that there was peace for a time, he made his heart hard and did not give ear to them, as the Lord had said.

But when Pharaoh saw that there was relief, he hardened his heart and did not listen to Moses and Aaron, just as Yahweh had said that he would do.

16 And the Lord said to Moses, Say to Aaron, Let your rod be stretched out over the dust of the earth so that it may become insects through all the land of Egypt.

Yahweh said to Moses, “Say to Aaron, 'Reach out with your staff and strike the dust on the ground, that it may become gnats throughout all the land of Egypt.'”

17 And they did so; and Aaron, stretching out the rod in his hand, gave a touch to the dust of the earth, and insects came on man and on beast; all the dust of the earth was changed into insects through all the land of Egypt.

They did so: Aaron reached out with his hand and his staff. He struck the dust on the ground. Gnats came onto man and beast. All the dust on the ground became gnats throughout the whole land of Egypt.

18 And the wonder-workers with their secret arts, attempting to make insects, were unable to do so: and there were insects on man and on beast.

The magicians tried with their magic to produce gnats, but they could not. There were gnats on man and beast.

19 Then the wonder-workers said to Pharaoh, This is the finger of God: but Pharaoh's heart was hard, and he did not give ear to them, as the Lord had said.

Then the magicians said to Pharaoh, “This is the finger of God.” But Pharaoh's heart was hardened, so he refused to listen to them. It was just as Yahweh had said Pharaoh would do.

20 And the Lord said to Moses, Get up early in the morning and take your place before Pharaoh when he comes out to the water; and say to him, This is what the Lord says: Let my people go to give me worship.

Yahweh said to Moses, “Get up early in the morning and stand in front of Pharaoh as he goes out to the river. Say to him, 'Yahweh says this: “Let my people go so that they may worship me.

21 For if you do not let my people go, see, I will send clouds of flies on you and on your servants and on your people and into their houses; and the houses of the Egyptians and the land where they are will be full of flies.

But if you do not let my people go, I will send swarms of flies on you, your servants, and your people, and into your houses. The Egyptians' houses will be full of swarms of flies, and even the ground on which they stand will be full of flies.

22 And at that time I will make a division between your land and the land of Goshen where my people are, and no flies will be there; so that you may see that I am the Lord over all the earth.

But on that day I will treat the land of Goshen differently, the land in which my people are living, so that no swarms of flies will be there. This will happen so that you may know that I am Yahweh in the midst of this land.

23 And I will put a division between my people and your people; tomorrow this sign will be seen.

I will make a distinction between my people and your people. This sign of my power will take place tomorrow.”'”

24 And the Lord did so; and great clouds of flies came into the house of Pharaoh and into his servants' houses, and all the land of Egypt was made waste because of the flies.

Yahweh did so, and thick swarms of flies came into Pharaoh's house and into his servants' houses. Throughout the whole land of Egypt, the land was ruined because of the swarms of flies.

25 And Pharaoh sent for Moses and Aaron and said, Go and make your offering to your God here in the land.

Pharaoh called for Moses and for Aaron and said, “Go, sacrifice to your God in our own land.”

26 And Moses said, It is not right to do so; for we make our offerings of that to which the Egyptians give worship; and if we do so before their eyes, certainly we will be stoned.

Moses said, “It is not right for us to do so, for the sacrifices we make to Yahweh our God are something disgusting to the Egyptians. If we make sacrifices right before their eyes that are disgusting to the Egyptians, will they not stone us?

27 But we will go three days' journey into the waste land and make an offering to the Lord our God as he may give us orders.

No, it is a three days' journey into the wilderness that we must make, in order to sacrifice to Yahweh our God, as he commands us.”

28 Then Pharaoh said, I will let you go to make an offering to the Lord your God in the waste land; but do not go very far away, and make prayer for me.

Pharaoh said, “I will allow you to go and sacrifice to Yahweh your God in the wilderness. Only you must not go very far away. Pray for me.”

29 And Moses said, When I go out from you I will make prayer to the Lord that the cloud of flies may go away from Pharaoh and from his people and from his servants tomorrow: only let Pharaoh no longer by deceit keep back the people from making their offering to the Lord.

Moses said, “As soon as I go out from you, I will pray to Yahweh that the swarms of flies may leave you, Pharaoh, and your servants and people tomorrow. But you must not deal deceitfully any more by not letting our people go to sacrifice to Yahweh.”

30 Then Moses went out from Pharaoh and made prayer to the Lord.

Moses went out from Pharaoh and prayed to Yahweh.

31 And the Lord did as Moses said, and took away the cloud of flies from Pharaoh and from his servants and from his people; not one was to be seen.

Yahweh did as Moses asked; and he removed the swarms of flies from Pharaoh, his servants, and his people. Not one remained.

32 But again Pharaoh made his heart hard and did not let the people go.

But Pharaoh hardened his heart this time also, and he did not let the people go.