Exodus 7:8-12:32 — Legacy Standard Bible

Aaron’s Staff Becomes a Serpent

⁸And Yahweh spoke to Moses and Aaron, saying, ⁹“When Pharaoh speaks to you, saying, ‘¹^,^aWork a miraculous wonder,’ then you shall say to Aaron, ‘^bTake your staff and throw it down before Pharaoh, that it may become a ²serpent.’” ¹⁰So Moses and Aaron came to Pharaoh, and thus they did just as Yahweh had commanded; and Aaron threw his staff down before Pharaoh and ¹his ²servants, and it ^abecame a ³serpent. ¹¹Then Pharaoh also ^acalled for the wise men and the sorcerers, and they also, the ¹^,^bmagicians of Egypt, did ²the same with ^ctheir secret arts. ¹²And each one threw down his staff, and they became ¹serpents. But Aaron’s staff swallowed up their staffs. ¹³Yet ^aPharaoh’s heart was ¹hardened with strength, and he did not listen to them, as Yahweh had spoken.

The Plague of Water Turning to Blood

¹⁴Then Yahweh said to Moses, “Pharaoh’s heart is ¹hard with firmness; he refuses to let the people go. ¹⁵“Go to Pharaoh in the morning ¹as ^ahe is going out to the water, and station yourself to meet him on the bank of the Nile; and you shall take in your hand ^bthe staff that was turned into a serpent. ¹⁶“^aAnd you shall say to him, ‘Yahweh, the God of the Hebrews, sent me to you, saying, “^bLet My people go, that they may serve Me in the wilderness. But behold, you have not listened until now.” ¹⁷‘Thus says Yahweh, “^aBy this you shall know that I am Yahweh: behold, I am about to strike ¹the water that is in the Nile with the staff that is in my hand, and ^bit will be turned to blood. ¹⁸“^aAnd the fish that are in the Nile will die, and the Nile will ¹become foul, and the Egyptians will ^bbe weary of drinking water from the Nile.”’” ¹⁹Then Yahweh said to Moses, “Say to Aaron, ‘Take your staff and ^astretch out your hand over the waters of Egypt, over their rivers, over their ¹streams, and over their pools and over all their reservoirs of water, that they may become blood; and there will be blood throughout all the land of Egypt, both in vessels of wood and in vessels of stone.’”

²⁰So Moses and Aaron did thus, as Yahweh had commanded. And he raised up ¹^,^athe staff and struck the water that was in the Nile, in the sight of Pharaoh and in the sight of his servants, and ^ball the water that was in the Nile was turned to blood. ²¹And the fish that were in the Nile died, and the Nile ¹became foul, so that the Egyptians could not drink water from the Nile. And the blood was through all the land of Egypt. ²²^aYet the ¹magicians of Egypt did ²the same with their secret arts; and Pharaoh’s heart was ³hardened with strength, and he did not listen to them, as Yahweh had spoken. ²³Then Pharaoh turned and went into his house, and he did not set his heart even on this. ²⁴So all the Egyptians dug around the Nile for water to drink, for they could not drink of the water of the Nile. ²⁵And seven full days ¹passed after Yahweh had struck the Nile.

The Plague of Frogs

8¹Then Yahweh said to Moses, “Come to Pharaoh and say to him, ‘Thus says Yahweh, “^aLet My people go, that they may serve Me. ²“But if you refuse to let them go, behold, I ¹will smite your whole territory with frogs. ³“And the Nile will ^aswarm with frogs, and they will go up and come into your house and into your bedroom and on your bed and into the houses of your servants and on your people and into your ovens and into your kneading bowls. ⁴“So the frogs will come up on you and on your people and on all your servants.”’” ⁵¹Then Yahweh said to Moses, “Say to Aaron, ‘^aStretch out your hand with your staff over the rivers, over the ²streams and over the pools, and cause the frogs to come up on the land of Egypt.’” ⁶So Aaron stretched out his hand over the waters of Egypt, and the ¹^,^afrogs came up and covered the land of Egypt. ⁷^aAnd the ¹magicians did ²the same with their secret arts; they caused the frogs to come up on the land of Egypt.

⁸Then Pharaoh ^acalled for Moses and Aaron and said, “^bEntreat Yahweh that He may cause the frogs to depart from me and from my people; and ^cI will let the people go, that they may sacrifice to Yahweh.” ⁹And Moses said to Pharaoh, “¹May the honor be yours to tell me: when shall I entreat for you and for your servants and for your people, that the frogs be cut off from you and your houses, that they may remain only in the Nile?”

¹⁰Then he said, “Tomorrow.” So he said, “May it be according to your word, that you may know that there is ^ano one like Yahweh our God. ¹¹“And the ^afrogs will depart from you and your houses and your servants and your people; they will remain only in the Nile.” ¹²Then Moses and Aaron went out from Pharaoh, and ^aMoses cried out to Yahweh concerning the frogs which He had set upon Pharaoh. ¹³So Yahweh did according to the word of Moses, and the frogs died out of the houses, the courts, and the fields. ¹⁴So they piled them in heaps, and the land ¹became foul. ¹⁵Then Pharaoh saw that there was relief, and he ¹hardened his heart with firmness and ^adid not listen to them, as Yahweh had spoken.

The Plague of Gnats

¹⁶Then Yahweh said to Moses, “Say to Aaron, ‘Stretch out your staff and strike the dust of the earth, that it may become ¹gnats through all the land of Egypt.’” ¹⁷And they did so; and Aaron stretched out his hand with his staff and struck the dust of the earth, and there were ¹gnats on man and beast. All the dust of the earth became ²^,^agnats through all the land of Egypt. ¹⁸Then ¹the magicians did the same with their secret arts in order to bring forth ²gnats, but ^athey could not; so there were ³gnats on man and beast. ¹⁹And the ¹magicians said to Pharaoh, “^aThis is the finger of God.” But Pharaoh’s heart was ²hardened with strength, and he did not listen to them, as Yahweh had spoken.

The Plague of Flies

²⁰And Yahweh said to Moses, “^aRise early in the morning and stand before Pharaoh ¹as ^bhe comes out to the water, and you shall say to him, ‘Thus says Yahweh, “^cLet My people go, that they may serve Me. ²¹“For if you do 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; and the houses of the Egyptians will be full of swarms of flies, and also the ground on which they stand. ²²“^aBut on that day I will make a distinction for the land of Goshen, where My people are ¹living, so that no swarms of flies will be there, that you may know that ²^,^bI, Yahweh, am in the midst of the land. ²³“And I will ¹put a division between My people and your people. Tomorrow this sign will happen.”’” ²⁴Then Yahweh did so. And there came heavy swarms of flies into the house of Pharaoh and the houses of his servants, and the land was ^alaid waste because of the swarms of flies in all the land of Egypt.

²⁵And Pharaoh ^acalled for Moses and Aaron and said, “^bGo, sacrifice to your God within the land.” ²⁶But Moses said, “It is not right to do so, for we will sacrifice to Yahweh our God ¹what is ^aan abomination to the Egyptians. If we sacrifice ²what is an abomination to the Egyptians before their eyes, will they not then stone us? ²⁷“We must go a ^athree days’ journey into the wilderness and sacrifice to Yahweh our God as He says to us.” ²⁸And Pharaoh said, “^aI will let you go, that you may sacrifice to Yahweh your God in the wilderness; only you shall not go very far away. ^bEntreat for me.” ²⁹Then Moses said, “Behold, I am going out from you, and I shall entreat Yahweh that the swarms of flies may depart from Pharaoh, from his servants, and from his people tomorrow; only may Pharaoh not ^adeal deceitfully again in not letting the people go to sacrifice to Yahweh.”

³⁰So ^aMoses went out from Pharaoh and entreated Yahweh. ³¹And Yahweh did according to the word of Moses and caused the swarms of flies to depart from Pharaoh, from his servants, and from his people; not one remained. ³²Then Pharaoh ¹hardened his heart with firmness this time also, and ^ahe did not let the people go.

The Plague of Dying Egyptian Livestock

9Then Yahweh said to Moses, “Come to Pharaoh and speak to him, ‘Thus says Yahweh, the God of the Hebrews, “^aLet My people go, that they may serve Me. ²“For ^aif you refuse to let them go and ¹continue to hold them, ³behold, ^athe hand of Yahweh ¹will come with a very heavy pestilence on your livestock which are in the field, on the horses, on the donkeys, on the camels, on the herds, and on the flocks. ⁴“^aBut Yahweh will make a distinction between the livestock of Israel and the livestock of Egypt, so that ^bnothing will die of all that belongs to the sons of Israel.”’” ⁵Yahweh also set a definite time, saying, “Tomorrow Yahweh will do this thing in the land.” ⁶So Yahweh did this thing on the next day, and ^aall the livestock of Egypt died; ^bbut of the livestock of the sons of Israel, not one died. ⁷And Pharaoh sent, and behold, there was not even one of the livestock of Israel dead. But ^athe heart of Pharaoh was ¹hardened with firmness, and he did not let the people go.

The Plague of Boils

⁸Then Yahweh said to Moses and Aaron, “Take for yourselves handfuls of soot from a kiln, and let Moses toss it toward the sky in the sight of Pharaoh. ⁹“And it will become fine dust over all the land of Egypt, and it will become ^aboils breaking out with sores on man and beast through all the land of Egypt.” ¹⁰So they took the soot from the kiln and stood before Pharaoh; and Moses tossed it toward the sky, and it became boils breaking out with sores on man and beast. ¹¹^aAnd the ¹magicians could not stand before Moses because of the boils, for the boils were on the magicians ²as well as on all the Egyptians. ¹²And ^aYahweh ¹hardened Pharaoh’s heart with strength, and he did not listen to them, just as Yahweh had spoken to Moses.

The Plague of Hail

¹³And Yahweh said to Moses, “^aRise up early in the morning and stand before Pharaoh, and you shall say to him, ‘Thus says Yahweh, the God of the Hebrews, “^bLet My people go, that they may serve Me. ¹⁴“For this time I will send all My plagues against your heart and amongst your servants and your people, so that ^ayou may know that there is no one like Me in all the earth. ¹⁵“For if by now I had sent forth My hand and struck you and your people with pestilence, you would then have been wiped out from the earth. ¹⁶“But, indeed, ^afor this reason I have caused you to stand, in order to show you My power and in order to recount My name through all the earth. ¹⁷“Still you ¹exalt yourself against My people ²by not letting them go. ¹⁸“Behold, about this time tomorrow, ^aI will rain down very heavy hail, such as has not been seen in Egypt from the day it was founded ¹until now. ¹⁹“So now, send, bring ^ayour livestock and whatever you have in the field to safety. ^bEvery man and beast that is found in the field and is not brought home, the hail will come down on them, and they will die.”’” ²⁰^aThe one among the servants of Pharaoh who ¹feared the word of Yahweh made his servants and his livestock flee into the houses; ²¹but he who did not ¹consider in his heart the word of Yahweh ²left his servants and his livestock in the field.

²²Now Yahweh said to Moses, “Stretch out your hand toward the sky, that ^athere may be hail on all the land of Egypt, on man and on beast and on every plant of the field, throughout the land of Egypt.” ²³So Moses stretched out his staff toward the sky, and Yahweh gave forth ¹thunder and ^ahail, and fire went down to the earth. And Yahweh rained down hail on the land of Egypt. ²⁴So there was hail, and fire ¹flashing continually in the midst of the hail, very heavy, such as had not been in all the land of Egypt since it became a nation. ²⁵^aAnd the hail struck all that was in the field through all the land of Egypt, from man to beast; the hail also struck every plant of the field and shattered every tree of the field. ²⁶^aOnly in the land of Goshen, where the sons of Israel were, there was no hail.

²⁷Then Pharaoh ^asent and called for Moses and Aaron and said to them, “^bI have sinned this time; Yahweh is the righteous one, and I and my people are the wicked ones. ²⁸“^aEntreat Yahweh, for God’s ¹thunder and hail are too much; and ^bI will let you go, and you shall stay no longer.” ²⁹And Moses said to him, “As soon as I go out of the city, I will ^aspread out my ¹hands to Yahweh; the ²thunder will cease, and there will be hail no longer, that you may know that ^bthe earth is Yahweh’s. ³⁰“^aBut as for you and your servants, I know that ^byou do not yet ¹fear ²Yahweh God.” ³¹(Now the flax and the ^abarley were struck down, for the barley was in the ear and the flax was in bud. ³²But the wheat and the spelt were not struck down, for they are late-ripening.) ³³^aAnd Moses went out of the city from Pharaoh and spread out his ¹hands to Yahweh; and the ²thunder and the hail ceased, and rain ³no longer poured on the earth. ³⁴But Pharaoh saw that the rain and the hail and the ¹thunder had ceased. So he sinned again and ²hardened his heart with firmness, he and his servants. ³⁵And Pharaoh’s heart was ¹hardened with strength, and he did not let the sons of Israel go, just as ^aYahweh had spoken by the hand of Moses.

The Plague of Locusts

10Then Yahweh said to Moses, “Come to Pharaoh, for ^aI have ¹hardened his heart and the heart of his servants with firmness, that I may ²set these signs of Mine ³among them, ²and ^athat you may recount in the ¹hearing of your son and of your grandson, how I dealt severely with the Egyptians, and how I ²put My signs among them, ^bthat you may know that I am Yahweh.”

³Then Moses and Aaron came to Pharaoh and said to him, “Thus says Yahweh, the God of the Hebrews, ‘How long will you refuse to ^ahumble yourself before Me? ^bLet My people go, that they may serve Me. ⁴‘For if you refuse to let My people go, behold, tomorrow I will bring locusts into your territory. ⁵‘And they shall cover the ¹surface of the land, so that no one will be able to see the land. ^aThey will also eat the rest of what has escaped—what remains for you from the hail—and they will eat every tree which sprouts for you out of the field. ⁶‘Then ^ayour houses and the houses of all your servants and the houses of all the Egyptians shall be filled, something which neither your fathers nor your grandfathers have seen, from the day that they ¹came upon the earth until this day.’” And he turned and went out from Pharaoh. ⁷^aAnd Pharaoh’s servants said to him, “How long will this man be ^ba snare to us? Let the men go, that they may serve Yahweh their God. Do you not yet know that Egypt is destroyed?” ⁸So Moses and Aaron ^awere brought back to Pharaoh, and he said to them, “^bGo, serve Yahweh your God! ¹Who are the ones that are going?” ⁹And Moses said, “^aWe shall go with our young and our old; with our sons and our daughters, ^bwith our flocks and our herds we shall go, for it is a feast of Yahweh for us.” ¹⁰Then he said to them, “Thus may Yahweh be with you, ¹if ever I let you and your little ones go! See, for evil is ²on your faces. ¹¹“Not so! Go now, the men among you, and serve Yahweh, for ¹that is what you are seeking.” So ^athey were driven out from Pharaoh’s presence.

¹²Then Yahweh said to Moses, “^aStretch out your hand over the land of Egypt for the locusts, that they may come up on the land of Egypt and ^beat every plant of the land, all that the hail has left remaining.” ¹³So Moses stretched out his staff over the land of Egypt, and Yahweh directed an east wind on the land all that day and all that night; and when it was morning, the east wind ¹brought the ^alocusts. ¹⁴^aAnd the locusts came up over all the land of Egypt and rested on all the territory of Egypt; they were very heavy. There had never been so many ¹locusts, nor would there be so many ²again. ¹⁵For they covered the surface of the whole land, so that the land was darkened; and they ^aate every plant of the land and all the fruit of the trees that the hail had left. Thus nothing green was left on tree or plant of the field through all the land of Egypt. ¹⁶Then Pharaoh hurriedly ^acalled for Moses and Aaron, and he said, “^bI have sinned against Yahweh your God and against you. ¹⁷“So now, please forgive my sin only this once and ^aentreat Yahweh your God, that He would only cause this death to depart from me.” ¹⁸^aAnd he went out from Pharaoh and entreated Yahweh. ¹⁹So Yahweh changed the wind to a very strong west wind which took up the locusts and drove them into the ¹Red Sea; not one locust remained in all the territory of Egypt. ²⁰But ^aYahweh ¹hardened Pharaoh’s heart with strength, and he did not let the sons of Israel go.

The Plague of Darkness

²¹Then Yahweh said to Moses, “^aStretch out your hand toward the sky, that there may be darkness over the land of Egypt, even a darkness ^bwhich may be felt.” ²²So Moses stretched out his hand toward the sky, and there was ^athick darkness in all the land of Egypt for three days. ²³They did not see one another, nor did anyone rise from his place for three days, ^abut all the sons of Israel had light in their places of habitation. ²⁴Then Pharaoh ^acalled to Moses and said, “Go, serve Yahweh; only let your flocks and your herds be detained. Even ^byour little ones may go with you.” ²⁵But Moses said, “You must also ¹let us have in our hand sacrifices and burnt offerings, that we may ²sacrifice them to Yahweh our God. ²⁶“^aTherefore, our livestock too shall go with us; not a hoof shall remain behind, for we shall take some of them to serve Yahweh our God. And until we come there, we ourselves do not know with what we shall serve Yahweh.” ²⁷But ^aYahweh ¹hardened Pharaoh’s heart with strength, and he was not willing to let them go. ²⁸Then Pharaoh said to him, “^aGet away from me! ¹Beware, do not see my face again, for in the day you see my face you shall die!” ²⁹And Moses said, “As you have spoken; ^aI shall never see your face again!”

Yahweh Says One More Plague

11Then Yahweh said to Moses, “One more plague I will bring on Pharaoh and on Egypt; ^aafter that he will let you go from here. When he lets you go, he will surely drive you out from here completely. ²“Speak now in the ¹hearing of the people so that ^aeach man may ask from his neighbor and each woman from her neighbor for articles of silver and articles of gold.” ³^a(And Yahweh gave the people favor in the sight of the Egyptians. ^bMoreover, the man Moses himself was very great in the land of Egypt, both in the sight of Pharaoh’s servants and in the sight of the people.)

⁴So Moses said, “Thus says Yahweh, ‘About ^amidnight I am going out into the midst of Egypt, ⁵and ^aall the firstborn in the land of Egypt shall die, from the firstborn of the Pharaoh who sits on his throne, even to the firstborn of the servant-girl who is behind the millstones; and all the firstborn of the cattle. ⁶‘Moreover, there shall be ^aa great cry in all the land of Egypt, such as there has not been before and such as shall never be again. ⁷‘^aBut for any of the sons of Israel a dog will not even ¹bark, whether against man or beast, that you may know how Yahweh makes a distinction between Egypt and Israel.’ ⁸“^aThen all these your servants will come down to me and bow themselves ¹before me, saying, ‘Go out, you and all the people who ²follow you,’ and after that I will go out.” ^bAnd he went out from Pharaoh in hot anger.

⁹Then Yahweh said to Moses, “^aPharaoh will not listen to you, so ^bthat My miraculous wonders will be multiplied in the land of Egypt.” ¹⁰^aNow Moses and Aaron did all these miraculous wonders before Pharaoh; yet ^bYahweh ¹hardened Pharaoh’s heart with strength, and he did not let the sons of Israel go out of his land.

The Passover Lamb

12Now Yahweh said to Moses and Aaron in the land of ¹Egypt, ²“^aThis month shall be the beginning of months for you; it is to be the first month of the year to you. ³“Speak to all the congregation of Israel, saying, ‘On the tenth of this month they are each one to take a ¹lamb for themselves, according to their fathers’ households, a ²lamb for ³each household. ⁴‘Now if the household is too small for a ¹lamb, then he and his neighbor nearest to his house are to take one according to the ²number of persons in them; according to ³what each man should eat, you are to ⁴apportion the lamb. ⁵‘Your ¹lamb shall be ^aa male, without blemish, a year old; you may take it from the sheep or from the goats. ⁶‘¹And you shall keep it until the ^afourteenth day of the same month, then the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel shall slaughter it ²^,^bat twilight. ⁷‘^aMoreover, they shall take some of the blood and put it on the two doorposts and on the lintel ¹of the houses in which they eat it. ⁸‘And they shall eat the flesh ^athat night, ^broasted with fire, and they shall eat it with ^cunleavened bread ¹^,^dand bitter herbs. ⁹‘Do not eat any of it raw or boiled at all with water, but rather ^aroasted with fire, both its head and its legs along with ^bits entrails. ¹⁰‘^aAnd you shall not leave any of it over until morning, but whatever is left of it until morning, you shall burn with fire. ¹¹‘Now you shall eat it in this manner: with your loins girded, your sandals on your feet, and your staff in your hand; and you shall eat it in haste—it is ^athe Passover of Yahweh. ¹²‘And ^aI will go through the land of Egypt on that night and will strike down all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both man and beast; and ^bagainst all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgments—^cI am Yahweh. ¹³‘^aAnd the blood shall be a sign for you on the houses where you are; and I will see the blood, and I will pass over you, and there shall be no plague among you ¹to destroy you when I strike the land of Egypt.

The Feast of Unleavened Bread

¹⁴‘Now ^athis day will be ^ba memorial to you, and you shall celebrate it as a feast to Yahweh; throughout your generations you are to celebrate it as ¹^,^ca perpetual statute. ¹⁵‘^aSeven days you shall eat unleavened bread, but on the first day you shall ¹remove leaven from your houses; for whoever eats anything leavened from the first day until the seventh day, ^bthat ²person shall be cut off from Israel. ¹⁶‘^aNow on the first day there shall be a holy convocation, and on the seventh day there shall be a holy convocation for you; no work at all shall be done on them, except what must be eaten ¹by every person, that alone may be done by you. ¹⁷‘You shall also keep ^athe Feast of Unleavened Bread, for on this ^bvery day I brought your hosts out of the land of Egypt; therefore you shall keep this day throughout your generations as ¹^,^ca perpetual statute. ¹⁸‘^aIn the first month, on the fourteenth day of the month at evening, you shall eat unleavened bread until the twenty-first day of the month at evening. ¹⁹‘^aSeven days there shall be no leaven found in your houses; for whoever eats what is leavened, that ¹^,^bperson shall be cut off from the congregation of Israel, whether he is a sojourner or a native of the land. ²⁰‘You shall not eat anything leavened; in all your places of habitation you shall eat unleavened bread.’”

²¹Then ^aMoses called for all the elders of Israel and said to them, “¹Bring out and ^btake for yourselves ²lambs according to your families and slaughter ^cthe Passover lamb. ²²“^aAnd you shall take a bunch of hyssop and dip it in the blood which is in the basin, and ¹touch some of the blood that is in the basin to the lintel and the two doorposts; and none of you shall go outside the doorway of his house until morning. ²³“And ^aYahweh will pass through to smite the Egyptians; and He will see the blood on the lintel and on the two doorposts, and Yahweh will pass over the doorway and will ^bnot allow the ^cdestroyer to come into your houses to smite you. ²⁴“And ^ayou shall keep this event as a statute for you and your children forever. ²⁵“And it will be, when you enter the land which Yahweh will give you, as He has ¹promised, you shall keep this new ²slavery. ²⁶“^aAnd it will be when your children say to you, ‘¹What is the meaning of this new slavery to you?’ ²⁷that you shall say, ‘It is a Passover sacrifice to ^aYahweh who passed over the houses of the sons of Israel in Egypt when He smote the Egyptians, but delivered our homes.’” ^bAnd the people bowed low and worshiped.

²⁸Then the sons of Israel went and did so; just as Yahweh had commanded Moses and Aaron, so they did.

Death of the Firstborn of Egypt

²⁹Now it happened at ^amidnight that ^bYahweh struck all ^cthe firstborn in the land of Egypt, from the firstborn of Pharaoh who sat on his throne to the firstborn of the captive who was in the ¹dungeon, and all the firstborn of ^dcattle. ³⁰Then Pharaoh arose in the night, he and all his servants and all the Egyptians, and there was ^aa great cry in Egypt, for there was no home where there was not someone dead. ³¹Then ^ahe called for Moses and Aaron at night and said, “Rise up, ^bget out from among my people, both you and the sons of Israel; and go, ¹serve Yahweh, as you have spoken. ³²“Take ^aboth your flocks and your herds, as you have spoken, and go, and bless me also.”