Exodus 8

1 Then Yahweh said to Moses/me, “Go back to the king and tell him, ‘Yahweh says that you must let my people go, in order that they can worship me [in the desert].

And the LORD spoke unto Moses: 'Go in unto Pharaoh, and say unto him: Thus saith the LORD: Let My people go, that they may serve Me.

2 But if you refuse to let them go, I will punish you by sending frogs to cover your country.

And if thou refuse to let them go, behold, I will smite all thy borders with frogs.

3 [Not only] will the Nile [River] be full of frogs, [but] the frogs will come up [out of the river] into your palace. They will come into your bedroom and onto your bed. They will be in the houses of your officials and all [the rest of] your people. They will even get into your ovens and your pans for mixing the materials for baking bread.

And the river shall swarm with frogs, which shall go up and come into thy house, and into thy bed-chamber, and upon thy bed, and into the house of thy servants, and upon thy people, and into thine ovens, and into thy kneading-troughs.

4 The frogs will jump up on you and your officials and [all the rest of] your people.’”

And the frogs shall come up both upon thee, and upon thy people, and upon all thy servants.'

5 Yahweh [also] said to Moses/me, “Say this to Aaron: ‘Hold your stick in your hand and stretch it out [as though you were stretching it] over the river, the canals, and over the pools, and cause frogs to come up [from all this water and] cover the land of Egypt.’”

And the LORD said unto Moses: 'Say unto Aaron: Stretch forth thy hand with thy rod over the rivers, over the canals, and over the pools, and cause frogs to come up upon the land of Egypt.'

6 [After Moses/I told that to] Aaron, he stretched out his hand [as though he were stretching it] over all the water in Egypt. And the frogs came up [from the water and] covered Egypt.

And Aaron stretched out his hand over the waters of Egypt; and the frogs came up, and covered the land of Egypt.

7 But the men who performed magic did the same thing, and they caused [more] frogs to come up [from the water onto the land].

And the magicians did in like manner with their secret arts, and brought up frogs upon the land of Egypt.

8 Then the king summoned Moses/me and said, “Ask Yahweh to take away these frogs from me and my people. After that happens, I will allow your people to go, in order that they can offer sacrifices to Yahweh.”

Then Pharaoh called for Moses and Aaron, and said: 'Entreat the LORD, that He take away the frogs from me, and from my people; and I will let the people go, that they may sacrifice unto the LORD.'

9 Moses/I said to the king, “I will be glad to pray for you and for your officials and for [the rest of] your people. [I will ask Yahweh] to get rid of the frogs from all your houses. The only frogs left will be [those] in the Nile [River]. Just tell me when I should pray.”

And Moses said unto Pharaoh: 'Have thou this glory over me; against what time shall I entreat for thee, and for thy servants, and for thy people, that the frogs be destroyed from thee and thy houses, and remain in the river only?'

10 He replied, “Tomorrow.” So Moses/I said, “[I will do] what you say, and then you will know that Yahweh God, the one we [worship, is the only true god], and that there is no other god like him.

And he said: 'Against to-morrow.' And he said: 'Be it according to thy word; that thou mayest know that there is none like unto the LORD our God.

11 The frogs will leave you and your officials and all [the rest of] your people. The only ones left will be in the Nile [River].”

And the frogs shall depart from thee, and from thy houses, and from thy servants, and from thy people; they shall remain in the river only.'

12 Aaron and Moses/I left the king. Then Moses/I prayed to Yahweh, [asking him to take away] all the frogs he had [brought to the king’s land].

And Moses and Aaron went out from Pharaoh; and Moses cried unto the LORD concerning the frogs, which He had brought upon Pharaoh.

13 And Yahweh did just what Moses/I [asked him to do]. As a result, all the frogs in the houses, in their courtyards, and in the fields died.

And the LORD did according to the word of Moses; and the frogs died out of the houses, out of the courts, and out of the fields.

14 The people gathered together all the dead frogs into big piles, and the land stank [from the smell].

And they gathered them together in heaps; and the land stank.

15 But when the king saw that [the problem] was ended, he became stubborn [IDM] [again]. And just as Yahweh had predicted, he would not pay attention to what Aaron and Moses/we told him.

But when Pharaoh saw that there was respite, he hardened his heart, and hearkened not unto them; as the LORD had spoken.

16 Then Yahweh said to Moses/me, “Tell Aaron to strike the ground with his stick. [When he does that], all the fine particles of ground/dust will become gnats, all over the land of Egypt.”

And the LORD said unto Moses: 'Say unto Aaron: Stretch out thy rod, and smite the dust of the earth, that it may become gnats throughout all the land of Egypt.'

17 So they/we did that. Aaron struck the ground with his stick, and all over Egypt, the fine particles of ground/dirt became gnats. The gnats covered the people and all [their] animals.

And they did so; and Aaron stretched out his hand with his rod, and smote the dust of the earth, and there were gnats upon man, and upon beast; all the dust of the earth became gnats throughout all the land of Egypt.

18 The men who worked magic tried to cause gnats to appear, but they were unable to do it. So the gnats [stayed] on the Egyptian people and on their animals.

And the magicians did so with their secret arts to bring forth gnats, but they could not; and there were gnats upon man, and upon beast.

19 The men who worked magic said to the king, “It is God who has done this with his power [MTY]!” But the king continued to be stubborn [IDM], and he would not pay attention to us, just as Yahweh had predicted.

Then the magicians said unto Pharaoh: 'This is the finger of God'; and Pharaoh's heart was hardened, and he hearkened not unto them; as the LORD had spoken.

20 Then Yahweh said to Moses/me, “Get up early [tomorrow] morning. [Go down] to the river and wait for the king. [When he comes to bathe] [MTY], say to him, ‘This is what Yahweh says to you: “Let my people go, in order that they may worship me [in the desert].

And the LORD said unto Moses: 'Rise up early in the morning, and stand before Pharaoh; lo, he cometh forth to the water; and say unto him: Thus saith the LORD: Let My people go, that they may serve Me.

21 [I warn you that] if you do not let my people go, I will send swarms of flies to you. They will come down on you and on your officials and on [the rest of] your people. The houses of all you Egyptians will be full of flies. They will [even] cover the ground.

Else, if thou wilt not let My people go, behold, I will send swarms of flies upon thee, and upon thy servants, and upon thy people, and into thy houses; and the houses of the Egyptians shall be full of swarms of flies, and also the ground whereon they are.

22 But when that happens, I will treat the Goshen region, where my people live, differently. There will be no swarms of flies there. In that way, you will know that I, Yahweh, am doing these things [here] in this land.

And I will set apart in that day the land of Goshen, in which My people dwell, that no swarms of flies shall be there; to the end that thou mayest know that I am the LORD in the midst of the earth.

23 I will distinguish clearly between [how I act toward] my people and [how I act toward] your people. And this plague is going to happen tomorrow!”’”

And I will put a division between My people and thy people — by to-morrow shall this sign be.'

24 [Early the next morning, Moses/I told that to the king, but the king would not pay any attention]. So Yahweh did what he said he would do. He sent great swarms of flies into the palace of the king and into the houses of his officials. The whole country of Egypt was ruined by the flies.

And the LORD did so; and there came grievous swarms of flies into the house of Pharaoh, and into his servants' houses; and in all the land of Egypt the land was ruined by reason of the swarms of flies.

25 Then the king summoned Aaron and Moses/me and said, “You Israeli people can go and offer sacrifices to your god, [but you must do it] here in [this] land.”

And Pharaoh called for Moses and for Aaron, and said: 'Go ye, sacrifice to your God in the land.'

26 But Moses/I replied, “It would not be right [for us] to do that, because we will be offering sacrifices that are very offensive to the Egyptian people. If we offer sacrifices that the Egyptian people think are disgusting, they will kill us by throwing stones at us [RHQ]!

And Moses said: 'It is not meet so to do; for we shall sacrifice the abomination of the Egyptians to the LORD our God; lo, if we sacrifice the abomination of the Egyptians before their eyes, will they not stone us?

27 No, we need to travel for three days into the desert. There we will offer sacrifices to Yahweh, the God we worship, just as he commands (OR, has commanded) us.”

We will go three days' journey into the wilderness, and sacrifice to the LORD our God, as He shall command us.'

28 So the king said, “I will let your people go to offer sacrifices to Yahweh, your god, in the desert. But you must not go very far. [Now] pray for me!”

And Pharaoh said: 'I will let you go, that ye may sacrifice to the LORD your God in the wilderness; only ye shall not go very far away; entreat for me.'

29 Moses/I said, “Listen [to me]! After I leave you, I will pray to Yahweh, [asking] that tomorrow [he will cause] the swarms of flies to leave you and your officials and [the rest of] your people. But do not deceive us again by refusing to let our people go to offer sacrifices to Yahweh!”

And Moses said: 'Behold, I go out from thee, and I will entreat the LORD that the swarms of flies may depart from Pharaoh, from his servants, and from his people, tomorrow; only let not Pharaoh deal deceitfully any more in not letting the people go to sacrifice to the LORD.'

30 Then Moses/I left the king and prayed to Yahweh.

And Moses went out from Pharaoh, and entreated the LORD.

31 And Yahweh did what Moses/I asked, and he got rid of the swarms of flies from [around] the king and his officials and [the rest of] his people. No flies remained.

And the LORD did according to the word of Moses; and He removed the swarms of flies from Pharaoh, from his servants, and from his people; there remained not one.

32 But the king was stubborn [IDM] this time also, and he did not allow the Israeli people to go.

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