Exo 8 | EE | STEP | The LORD said to Moses: ‘Go to Pharaoh and say to him: “These are the words of the LORD. Let my people go. Let them worship me.

Exodus 8

Moses and Aaron bring frogs out of the water

1 The LORD said to Moses: ‘Go to Pharaoh and say to him: “These are the words of the LORD. Let my people go. Let them worship me. 2 But if you do not let them go, I will send thousands of frogs into your country.

3 The river will be full of frogs. The frogs will come into your house. They will jump into your bed. They will come into the houses of your servants. They will come into the houses of your people. They will jump into the hot places where you cook your food. They will jump into the dishes where you mix your flour and water.

4 The frogs will jump up on you. They will jump up on your people and on all your servants.”’ ^{▼▼8:4 A frog is a small animal with four legs that lives in water. It can also live on the land. It can jump with its long back legs.}

5 Then the LORD said to Moses: ‘Say to Aaron: “Take your stick in your hand. Then raise your hand. Lift it up over the rivers, the streams and the pools. You will cause frogs to come up over the whole country of Egypt.”’

6 So Aaron lifted up his hand over the waters of Egypt. Then the frogs came up over the whole country of Egypt.

7 But the magicians did the same thing by their bad powerful authority. They also made frogs come up on the country of Egypt.

8 Then Pharaoh commanded Moses and Aaron to come to him. He said: ‘Ask the LORD to remove the frogs from me and from my people. Then I will let your people go. They can sacrifice to the LORD.’ 9 Moses said to Pharaoh: ‘You can choose the time when I will speak to God. Then I will ask God to do this for you, for your servants and for your people. I will ask God to remove the frogs from you and from your house. The frogs will remain only in the river.’

10 And Pharaoh said: ‘Do it tomorrow.’

Moses answered: ‘It will be as you say. Then you will know that there is nobody like the LORD our God. 11 The frogs will leave you and your house. They will leave the houses of your servants and your people. They will remain only in the river.’

12 So Moses and Aaron left Pharaoh. Then Moses prayed to the LORD about the frogs that he had brought on Pharaoh. 13 And the LORD did what Moses asked. The frogs died in the houses, in the yards and in the fields. 14 The people swept the frogs together and there was a very bad smell over the whole country. 15 But when Pharaoh saw that the frogs were dead, he became angry again. He refused to listen to Moses and Aaron. The LORD had said that this would happen.

The gnats arrive

16 Then the LORD said to Moses: ‘Say to Aaron, “Lift up your stick and hit the dirt on the ground. It will become gnats in the whole country of Egypt.”’

17 Moses and Aaron obeyed God. Aaron lifted up his hand and he hit the dirt with his stick. Then gnats flew on to all the people and on to all the animals. The dirt on the ground became gnats through the whole country of Egypt. 18 Then the magicians tried to make gnats by their bad powerful authority. But they could not do it. And the gnats were on all the people and on all the animals.

19 Then the magicians said to Pharaoh: ‘This is the work of God.’ But there was no change in Pharaoh’s thoughts. He would not listen to the magicians. The LORD had said that this would happen.

The flies arrive

20 Then the LORD said to Moses: ‘Get up early in the morning. Meet Pharaoh when he goes out to the water. Then say to him: “The LORD says: ‘Let My people go. Let them worship me. 21 If you do not let my people go, I will send thousands of flies on you. I will send them on your servants and on your people. I will send them into your houses. The houses of the Egyptians will be full of flies. The flies will even cover the ground that the houses stand on.

22 But on that day, the country of Goshen will be separate. That is where my people live. There will be no flies there. Then you will know that I, the LORD, am in this country.

23 I will make a difference between my people and your people. This sign will happen tomorrow.’”’

24 And this is what the LORD did. Great numbers of flies came into Pharaoh’s house and into his servants’ houses. The flies destroyed the whole country of Egypt.

25 Then Pharaoh commanded Moses and Aaron to come to him. He said: ‘Go! You can sacrifice to your God here, in the country of Egypt.’ 26 But Moses said: ‘It would not be right to do that. The Egyptians do not like our sacrifices of animals to the LORD our God. If we sacrifice these animals, the Egyptians will throw stones at us. They will throw them until we are dead. 27 We must go on a journey for three days, into the desert. Then we shall sacrifice to the LORD our God, as he commands us.’

28 So Pharaoh said: ‘I will let you go. You can sacrifice to the LORD your God in the desert. But do not go very far away. And pray for me too.’

29 Then Moses said: ‘I will leave you now. And I will pray to the LORD. Tomorrow, all the flies will leave the country of Egypt. They will fly away from your servants and from your people. But be careful! Do not do wrong things to us, as you did before. At that time, you did not let the people sacrifice to the LORD.’

30 So Moses left Pharaoh and Moses prayed to the LORD. 31 And the LORD did what Moses asked him. All the flies left Pharaoh and his servants and his people. Not one fly remained! 32 But again, Pharaoh refused to let the people go. There was no change in his thoughts.