Exodus 8 The LORD spoke to Moses, Go in to Pharaoh, and tell him, "This is what the LORD says, 'Let my people go, that they may serve me.

VIN⁽ⁱ⁾ ¹ The LORD spoke to Moses, Go in to Pharaoh, and tell him, "This is what the LORD says, 'Let my people go, that they may serve me. ² If you refuse to let them go, look, I will plague all your borders with frogs: ³ The river will swarm with frogs, which will go up and come into your house, and into your bedroom, and on your bed, and into the house of your servants, and on your people, and into your ovens, and into your kneading troughs. ⁴ "'"The frogs will come up on you and your people and all your servants."'" ⁵ the LORD said to Moses, Tell Aaron, 'Stretch out your hand with your rod over the rivers, over the streams, and over the pools, and cause frogs to come up on the land of Egypt'. ⁶ Aaron stretched out his hand over the waters of Egypt; and the frogs came up, and covered the land of Egypt. ⁷ But the magicians did the same thing with their secret arts, and they brought up frogs on the land of Egypt. ⁸ "The king sent for Moses and Aaron and told them: If you ask the LORD to take these frogs away from me and my people, I will let your people go and offer sacrifices to him." ⁹ Moses said to Pharaoh, "I give you the honor of setting the time that I should pray for you, and for your servants, and for your people, that the frogs be destroyed from you and your houses, and remain in the river only." ¹⁰ Pharaoh said, "Tomorrow." Moses said, "It will be just as you say, so that you may know that there is no one like the LORD our God. ¹¹ The frogs will leave you, your house, your officials, and your people. They'll remain only in the Nile." ¹² Then Moses and Aaron left Pharaoh's presence, and Moses cried out to the LORD about the frogs which he had sent on Pharaoh. ¹³ The LORD did just as Moses asked, and the frogs died in the houses, in the courtyards, and in the fields. ¹⁴ And they gathered them in heaps; and the land stank. ¹⁵ But when Pharaoh saw that there was relief, he hardened his heart and did not listen to them, just as the LORD had said. ¹⁶ Then the LORD said to Moses, "Tell Aaron, 'Stretch out your staff, strike the dust of the ground, and the dust will become gnats throughout the land of Egypt.'" ¹⁷ And they did so, and Aaron stretched out his hand with his staff and struck the dust of the earth. And the lice were on man and on beast. All the dust of the earth became lice in the land of Egypt. ¹⁸ And the scribes did so with their sorceries, to bring forth gnats; but they could not. And the gnats were on man and on beast. ¹⁹ And the magicians said to Pharaoh, This is the finger of God. And Pharaoh's heart was hardened, and he did not listen to them, as the LORD had said. ²⁰ The LORD said to Moses, "Rise up early in the morning, and stand before Pharaoh; look, he comes forth to the water; and tell him, 'This is what the LORD says, "Let my people go, that they may serve me. ²¹ Else, if you will not let my people go, look, I will send swarms of flies on you, and on your servants, and on your people, and into your houses: and the houses of the Egyptians shall be full of swarms of flies, and also the ground whereon they are. ²² "‘"At that same time I will cut off the land of Goshen where my people live. No swarms of flies shall be there. / Then you will know that I am the LORD in the midst of the earth. ²³ I'll make a distinction between my people and your people, and this sign will occur tomorrow."'" ²⁴ the LORD did what he said. Dense swarms of flies came into Pharaoh's palace and into the houses of his officials. All over Egypt the flies ruined everything. ²⁵ Then Pharaoh summoned Moses and Aaron and said, "Go, offer sacrifices to your God in the land." ²⁶ And Moses said, "To do so is not right, because we will sacrifice to the LORD our God a thing detestable to the Egyptians. Look, if we sacrifice before their eyes the thing detestable to the Egyptians, will they not stone us? ²⁷ We must go a three-day journey into the desert, and we'll offer sacrifices to the LORD our God just as he has told us." ²⁸ Then Pharaoh said, "I'll let you go so you can offer sacrifices to the LORD your God in the desert. But you must not go very far away. Pray for me." ²⁹ Moses answered: "As soon as I leave you, I will pray to the LORD. Tomorrow the swarms of flies will go away from you, your officials, and your people. But you must stop tricking us by not letting the people go to offer sacrifices to the LORD." ³⁰ Moses left Pharaoh and prayed to the LORD. ³¹ the LORD did what Moses asked. The swarms of flies left Pharaoh, his officials, and his people. Not a single fly was left. ³² But this time also Pharaoh hardened his heart, and he did not let the people go.