Exodus 9:2

2 If you refuse to let them go and continue to hold them back,

Exodus 9:2 in Other Translations

King James Version (KJV)
2 For if thou refuse to let them go, and wilt hold them still,
English Standard Version (ESV)
2 For if you refuse to let them go and still hold them,
New Living Translation (NLT)
2 If you continue to hold them and refuse to let them go,
The Message Bible (MSG)
2 If you refuse to release them and continue to hold on to them,
American Standard Version (ASV)
2 For if thou refuse to let them go, and wilt hold them still,
GOD'S WORD Translation (GW)
2 If you refuse to let them go and continue to hold them [in slavery],
Holman Christian Standard Bible (CSB)
2 But if you refuse to let [them] go and keep holding them,
New International Reader's Version (NIRV)
2 Do not refuse to let them go. Do not keep holding them back.

Exodus 9:2 Meaning and Commentary

Exodus 9:2

For if thou refuse to let them go
Continue to refuse, as he had done: and wilt hold them still;
in the land, and under his dominion and oppression.

Exodus 9:2 In-Context

1 Then the LORD said to Moses, “Go to Pharaoh and say to him, ‘This is what the LORD, the God of the Hebrews, says: “Let my people go, so that they may worship me.”
2 If you refuse to let them go and continue to hold them back,
3 the hand of the LORD will bring a terrible plague on your livestock in the field—on your horses, donkeys and camels and on your cattle, sheep and goats.
4 But the LORD will make a distinction between the livestock of Israel and that of Egypt, so that no animal belonging to the Israelites will die.’ ”
5 The LORD set a time and said, “Tomorrow the LORD will do this in the land.”
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