The Second Book of Moses: Exodus

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- Chapter 8 -

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.

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

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.

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

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.’ ”

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

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

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.”(a)

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.”

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.

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.”

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.

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.

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

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.(b)

The Third Plague: Gnats

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.’ ”(c)

(d)

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.

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.

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.

The Fourth Plague: Flies

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.

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.

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.

And I will set a division between my people and your people. Tomorrow this sign will be.’ ”

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.

And Pharaoh called Moses and Aaron, and he said to them, “Go and sacrifice to your God in this land.”

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.(e)

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

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.”

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.”

And Moses, departing from Pharaoh, prayed to the Lord.

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.

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

Footnotes

(a)8:8 Pray ye to the Lord, etc:By this it appears, that though the magicians, by the help of the devil, could bring frogs, yet they could not take them away: God being pleased to abridge in this the power of Satan. So we see they could not afterwards produce the lesser insects; and in this restraint of the power of the devil, were forced to acknowledge the finger of God.(Challoner)

(b)8:15 Pharao hardened his own heart:By this we see that Pharao was himself the efficient cause of his heart being hardened, and not God.--See the same repeated in ver. 32. Pharao hardened his heart at this time also: likewise chap. 9.7, 35, and chap. 13.15.(Challoner)

(c)8:16 The word ‘sciniphes’ refers to a type of stinging insect. It is often translated somewhat inaccurately as ‘gnats.’(Conte)

(d)8:16 Sciniphs:Or Cinifs, Hebrew Chinnim, small flying insects, very troublesome both to men and beast.(Challoner)

(e)8:26 The abominations, etc:That is, the things they worship for Gods: oxen, rams, etc. It is the usual style of the scriptures to call all idols and false gods, abominations, to signify how much the people of God ought to detest and abhor them.(Challoner)

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.

If you refuse to let them go, behold, I will plague all your borders with frogs.

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.

The frogs shall come up both on you, and on your people, and on all your servants.”’”

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.’”

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

The magicians did the same thing with their enchantments, and brought up frogs on the land of Egypt.

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 to the LORD.”

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.”

Pharaoh said, “Tomorrow.” Moses said, “Let it be according to your word, that you may know that there is no one like the LORD our God.

The frogs shall depart from you, and from your houses, and from your servants, and from your people. They shall remain in the river only.”

Moses and Aaron went out from Pharaoh, and Moses cried to the LORD concerning the frogs which he had brought on Pharaoh.

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.

They gathered them together in heaps, and the land stank.

But when Pharaoh saw that there was a respite, he hardened his heart, and didn’t listen to them, as the LORD had spoken.

The Third Plague: Gnats

The LORD said to Moses, “Tell Aaron, ‘Stretch out your rod, and strike the dust of the earth, that it may become lice throughout all the land of Egypt.’”

They did so; and Aaron stretched out his hand with his rod, and struck the dust of the earth, and there were lice on man, and on animal; all the dust of the earth became lice throughout all the land of Egypt.

The magicians tried with their enchantments to produce lice, but they couldn’t. There were lice on man, and on animal.

Then the magicians said to Pharaoh, “This is God’s finger;” but Pharaoh’s heart was hardened, and he didn’t listen to them, as the LORD had spoken.

The Fourth Plague: Flies

The LORD said to Moses, “Rise up early in the morning, and stand before Pharaoh; behold, he comes out to the water; and tell him, ‘This is what the LORD says, “Let my people go, that they may serve me.

Else, if you will not let my people go, behold, I will send swarms of flies on you, and on your servants, and on your people, and into your houses. The houses of the Egyptians shall be full of swarms of flies, and also the ground they are on.

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 you may know that I am the LORD on the earth.

I will put a division between my people and your people. This sign shall happen by tomorrow.”’”

The LORD did so; and there came grievous swarms of flies into the house of Pharaoh, and into his servants’ houses. In all the land of Egypt the land was corrupted by reason of the swarms of flies.

Pharaoh called for Moses and for Aaron, and said, “Go, sacrifice to your God in the land!”

Moses said, “It isn’t appropriate to do so; for we shall sacrifice the abomination of the Egyptians to the LORD our God. Behold, if we sacrifice the abomination of the Egyptians before their eyes, won’t they stone us?

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

Pharaoh said, “I will let you go, that you may sacrifice to the LORD your God in the wilderness, only you shall not go very far away. Pray for me.”

Moses said, “Behold, I am going out from you. I will pray to the LORD that the swarms of flies may depart from Pharaoh, from his servants, and from his people, tomorrow; only don’t let Pharaoh deal deceitfully any more in not letting the people go to sacrifice to the LORD.”

Moses went out from Pharaoh, and prayed to the LORD.

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.

Pharaoh hardened his heart this time also, and he didn’t let the people go.