Exodus 8:1-32 (New American Standard)

Frogs over the Land

1 ^aThen the LORD said to Moses, "Go to Pharaoh and say to him, 'Thus says the LORD, "¹Let My people go, that they may serve Me. 2 "But if you refuse to let them go, behold, I will smite your whole territory with frogs. 3 "The Nile will ²swarm with frogs, which will come up and go 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 your people and all your servants.""' 5 ^bThen the LORD said to Moses, "Say to Aaron, '³Stretch out your hand with your staff over the rivers, over the ^cstreams and over the pools, and make frogs come up on the land of Egypt.' " 6 So Aaron stretched out his hand over the waters of Egypt, and the ^d4frogs came up and covered the land of Egypt. 7 ⁵The ^emagicians did ^fthe same with their secret arts, ^gmaking frogs come up on the land of Egypt. 8 Then Pharaoh ⁶called for Moses and Aaron and said, "⁷Entreat the LORD that He remove the frogs from me and from my people ; and ⁸I will let the people go, that they may sacrifice to the LORD." 9 Moses said to Pharaoh, "^hThe honor is yours to tell me: when shall I entreat for you and your servants and your people, that the frogs be ⁱdestroyed from you and your houses, that they may be left only in the Nile ?" 10 Then he said, "Tomorrow." So he said, "May it be according to your word, that you may know that there is ⁹no one like the LORD our God. 11 "The ¹⁰frogs will depart from you and your houses and your servants and your people ; they will be left only in the Nile." 12 Then Moses and Aaron went out from Pharaoh, and ¹¹Moses cried to the LORD concerning the frogs which He had ^jinflicted upon Pharaoh. 13 The LORD did according to the word of Moses, and the frogs died out of the houses, the courts, and the fields. 14 So they piled them in heaps, and the land ^kbecame foul. 15 But when Pharaoh saw that there was relief, he ^lhardened his heart and ¹²did not listen to them, as the LORD had said.

The Plague of Insects

16 Then the LORD said to Moses, "Say to Aaron, 'Stretch out your staff and strike the dust of the earth, that it may become ^mgnats through all the land of Egypt.' " 17 They did so ; and Aaron stretched out his hand with his staff, and struck the dust of the earth, and there were ⁿgnats on man and beast. All the dust of the earth became ^o13gnats through all the land of Egypt. 18 The ^pmagicians tried with their secret arts to bring forth ^qgnats, but ¹⁴they could not; so there were ^rgnats on man and beast. 19 Then the ^smagicians said to Pharaoh, "¹⁵This is the finger of God." But Pharaoh's heart was ^thardened, and he did not listen to them, as the LORD had said. 20 Now the LORD said to Moses, "¹⁶Rise early in the morning and present yourself before Pharaoh, ^uas ¹⁷he comes out to the water, and say to him, 'Thus says the LORD, "¹⁸Let My people go, that they may serve Me. 21 "For if you do not let My people go, behold, I will send swarms of insects 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 insects, and also the ground on which they dwell. 22 "¹⁹But on that day I will set apart the land of Goshen, where My people are ^vliving, so that no swarms of flies will be there, in order that you may know that ^w20 I, the LORD, am in the midst of the land. 23 "I will ^xput a division between My people and your people. Tomorrow this sign will occur.""' 24 Then the LORD did so. And there came ^ygreat swarms of flies into the house of Pharaoh and the houses of his servants and the land was laid waste because of the swarms of flies in all the land of Egypt. 25 Pharaoh ²¹called for Moses and Aaron and said, "²²Go, sacrifice to your God within the land." 26 But Moses said, "It is not right to do so, for we will sacrifice to the LORD our God ^zwhat is ²³an abomination to the Egyptians. If we sacrifice ^aawhat is an abomination to the Egyptians before their eyes, will they not then stone us? 27 "We must go a ²⁴three days' journey into the wilderness and sacrifice to the LORD our God as He ^bbcommands us." 28 Pharaoh said, "²⁵I will let you go, that you may sacrifice to the LORD your God in the wilderness ; only you shall not go very far away. ²⁶Make supplication for me." 29 Then Moses said, "Behold, I am going out from you, and I shall make supplication to the LORD that the swarms of flies may depart from Pharaoh, from his servants, and from his people tomorrow; only do not let Pharaoh deal deceitfully again in not letting the people go to sacrifice to the LORD." 30 So ²⁷Moses went out from Pharaoh and made supplication to the LORD. 31 The LORD did ^ccas Moses asked, and removed the swarms of insects from Pharaoh, from his servants and from his people ; not one remained. 32 But Pharaoh ^ddhardened his heart this time also, and ²⁸he did not let the people go.