Exodus 8

1 The Lord also said to Moses: “Enter to Pharaoh, and you will say to him: ‘Thus says the Lord: Release my people in order to sacrifice to me.

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 But if you are not willing to release them, behold, I will strike all your coasts with frogs.

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

3 And the river will seethe with frogs, which will go up and enter into your house, and your bedroom, and upon your bed, and into the houses of your servants and your people, and into your ovens, and into the remains of your foods.

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 And to you, and to your people, and to all your servants, the frogs will enter.’”

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

5 And the Lord said to Moses: “Say to Aaron: ‘Extend your hand over the rivers, and also over the streams and the marshes, and bring forth frogs over 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 Aaron extended his hand over the waters of Egypt, and the frogs came up and covered the land of Egypt.

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

7 Then the sorcerers also, by their incantations, did similarly, and they brought forth frogs upon the land of Egypt.

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

8 But Pharaoh called Moses and Aaron, and he said to them: “Pray to the Lord, so as to take away the frogs from me and from my people. And I will release the people, so as to sacrifice 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 to Pharaoh: “Appoint for me a time, when I should petition on behalf of you, and your servants, and your people, so that the frogs may be driven away from you, and from your house, and from your servants, and from your people, and so that they may remain only in the river.”

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 responded, “Tomorrow.” Then he said, “I will act according to your word, so that you may know that there is no one 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 withdraw from you, and from your house, and from your servants, and from your people. And they will remain only in the river.”

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

12 And Moses and Aaron departed from Pharaoh. And Moses cried out to the Lord on behalf of the promise that he had made to Pharaoh concerning the frogs.

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 acted according to the word of Moses. And the frogs died out of the houses, and out of the villages, and out of the fields.

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

14 And they gathered them together into immense piles, and the land was polluted.

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

15 Then Pharaoh, seeing that relief had been provided, hardened his own heart, and he did not listen to them, just as the Lord had instructed.

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: ‘Extend your staff and strike the dust of the earth. And let there be stinging insects throughout the entire 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 extended his hand, holding the staff, and he struck the dust of the earth, and there came stinging insects upon men and upon beasts. All the dust of the earth was turned into stinging 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 sorcerers, with their incantations, did similarly, in order to bring forth stinging insects, but they were not able. And there were stinging insects, as much on men as on beasts.

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

19 And the sorcerers said to Pharaoh: “This is the finger of God.” And the heart of Pharaoh was hardened, and he did not listen to them, just as the Lord had instructed.

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 The Lord also said to Moses: “Arise at first light, and stand in the sight of Pharaoh, for he will go out to the waters. And you will say to him: ‘Thus says the Lord: Release my people to sacrifice to me.

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 But if you will not release them, behold, I will send upon you, and upon your servants, and upon your people, and into your houses, diverse kinds of flies. And the houses of the Egyptians will be filled with diverse kinds of flies, as well as the whole land in which they will be.

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 in that day, I will cause a miracle in the land of Goshen, where my people are, so that flies will not be there. And you will know that I am the Lord in the midst of 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 set a division between my people and your people. Tomorrow this sign will be.’”

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 there came very grievous flies into the houses of Pharaoh and of his servants, and into all the land of Egypt. And the land was polluted, in this way, by 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 called Moses and Aaron, and he said to them, “Go and sacrifice to your God in this land.”

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

26 And Moses said: “It cannot be so. For we will immolate the abominations of the Egyptians to the Lord our God. For if we slaughter those things which the Egyptians worship, in their presence, they will stone us.

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 We will sojourn three days’ journey into the wilderness. And we will sacrifice to the Lord our God, just as he has instructed us.”

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 And Pharaoh said: “I will release you in order to sacrifice to the Lord your God in the desert. Yet you may only go so far. Petition 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: “After departing from you, I will pray to the Lord. And the flies will withdraw from Pharaoh, and from his servants, and from his people, tomorrow. Yet do not be willing to deceive any longer, so that you would not release the people to sacrifice 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 And Moses, departing from Pharaoh, prayed to the Lord.

Moses went out from Pharaoh and prayed to Yahweh.

31 And he acted according to his word. And he took away the flies from Pharaoh, and from his servants, and from his people. There was not even one left behind.

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

32 And the heart of Pharaoh was hardened, so that, even at this turn, he would not release the people.

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