English Standard Version ESV
The Message Bible MSG
1 Then the LORD said to Moses, "Go in to Pharaoh and say to him, 'Thus says the LORD, the God of the Hebrews, "Let my people go, that they may serve me.
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God said to Moses, "Go to Pharaoh and tell him, 'God, the God of the Hebrews, says: Release my people so they can worship me.
2 For if you refuse to let them go and still hold them,
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If you refuse to release them and continue to hold on to them,
3 behold, the hand of the LORD will fall with a very severe plague upon your livestock that are in the field, the horses, the donkeys, the camels, the herds, and the flocks.
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I'm giving you fair warning: God will come down hard on your livestock out in the fields - horses, donkeys, camels, cattle, sheep - striking them with a severe disease.
4 But the LORD will make a distinction between the livestock of Israel and the livestock of Egypt, so that nothing of all that belongs to the people of Israel shall die."'"
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God will draw a sharp line between the livestock of Israel and the livestock of Egypt. Not one animal that belongs to the Israelites will die.'"
5 And the LORD set a time, saying, "Tomorrow the LORD will do this thing in the land."
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Then God set the time: "Tomorrow God will do this thing."
6 And the next day the LORD did this thing. All the livestock of the Egyptians died, but not one of the livestock of the people of Israel died.
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And the next day God did it. All the livestock of Egypt died, but not one animal of the Israelites died.
7 And Pharaoh sent, and behold, not one of the livestock of Israel was dead. But the heart of Pharaoh was hardened, and he did not let the people go.
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Pharaoh sent men to find out what had happened and there it was: none of the livestock of the Israelites had died - not one death. But Pharaoh stayed stubborn. He wouldn't release the people. Strike Six: Boils
8 And the LORD said to Moses and Aaron, "Take handfuls of soot from the kiln, and let Moses throw them in the air in the sight of Pharaoh.
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God said to Moses and Aaron, "Take fistfuls of soot from a furnace and have Moses throw it into the air right before Pharaoh's eyes;
9 It shall become fine dust over all the land of Egypt, and become boils breaking out in sores on man and beast throughout all the land of Egypt."
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it will become a film of fine dust all over Egypt and cause sores, an eruption of boils on people and animals throughout Egypt."
10 So they took soot from the kiln and stood before Pharaoh. And Moses threw it in the air, and it became boils breaking out in sores on man and beast.
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So they took soot from a furnace, stood in front of Pharaoh, and threw it up into the air. It caused boils to erupt on people and animals.
11 And the magicians could not stand before Moses because of the boils, for the boils came upon the magicians and upon all the Egyptians.
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The magicians weren't able to compete with Moses this time because of the boils - they were covered with boils just like everyone else in Egypt.
12 But the LORD hardened the heart of Pharaoh, and he did not listen to them, as the LORD had spoken to Moses.
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God hardened Pharaoh in his stubbornness. He wouldn't listen, just as God had said to Moses. Strike Seven: Hail
13 Then the LORD said to Moses, "Rise up early in the morning and present yourself before Pharaoh and say to him, 'Thus says the LORD, the God of the Hebrews, "Let my people go, that they may serve me.
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God said to Moses, "Get up early in the morning and confront Pharaoh. Tell him, 'God, the God of the Hebrews, says: Release my people so they can worship me.
14 For this time I will send all my plagues on you yourself, and on your servants and your people, so that you may know that there is none like me in all the earth.
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This time I am going to strike you and your servants and your people with the full force of my power so you'll get it into your head that there's no one like me anywhere in all the Earth.
15 For by now I could have put out my hand and struck you and your people with pestilence, and you would have been cut off from the earth.
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You know that by now I could have struck you and your people with deadly disease and there would be nothing left of you, not a trace.
16 But for this purpose I have raised you up, to show you my power, so that my name may be proclaimed in all the earth.
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But for one reason only I've kept you on your feet: To make you recognize my power so that my reputation spreads in all the Earth.
17 You are still exalting yourself against my people and will not let them go.
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You are still building yourself up at my people's expense. You are not letting them go.
18 Behold, about this time tomorrow I will cause very heavy hail to fall, such as never has been in Egypt from the day it was founded until now.
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So here's what's going to happen: At this time tomorrow I'm sending a terrific hailstorm - there's never been a storm like this in Egypt from the day of its founding until now.
19 Now therefore send, get your livestock and all that you have in the field into safe shelter, for every man and beast that is in the field and is not brought home will die when the hail falls on them."'"
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So get your livestock under roof - everything exposed in the open fields, people and animals, will die when the hail comes down.'"
20 Then whoever feared the word of the LORD among the servants of Pharaoh hurried his slaves and his livestock into the houses,
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All of Pharaoh's servants who had respect for God's word got their workers and animals under cover as fast as they could,
21 but whoever did not pay attention to the word of the LORD left his slaves and his livestock in the field.
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but those who didn't take God's word seriously left their workers and animals out in the field.
22 Then the LORD said to Moses, "Stretch out your hand toward heaven, so that there may be hail in all the land of Egypt, on man and beast and every plant of the field, in the land of Egypt."
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God said to Moses: "Stretch your hands to the skies. Signal the hail to fall all over Egypt on people and animals and crops exposed in the fields of Egypt."
23 Then Moses stretched out his staff toward heaven, and the LORD sent thunder and hail, and fire ran down to the earth. And the LORD rained hail upon the land of Egypt.
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Moses lifted his staff to the skies and God sent peals of thunder and hail shot through with lightning strikes. God rained hail down on the land of Egypt.
24 There was hail and fire flashing continually in the midst of the hail, very heavy hail, such as had never been in all the land of Egypt since it became a nation.
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The hail came, hail and lightning - a fierce hailstorm. There had been nothing like it in Egypt in its entire history.
25 The hail struck down everything that was in the field in all the land of Egypt, both man and beast. And the hail struck down every plant of the field and broke every tree of the field.
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The hail hit hard all over Egypt. Everything exposed out in the fields, people and animals and crops, was smashed. Even the trees in the fields were shattered.
26 Only in the land of Goshen, where the people of Israel were, was there no hail.
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Except for Goshen where the Israelites lived; there was no hail in Goshen.
27 Then Pharaoh sent and called Moses and Aaron and said to them, "This time I have sinned; the LORD is in the right, and I and my people are in the wrong.
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Pharaoh summoned Moses and Aaron. He said, "I've sinned for sure this time - God is in the right and I and my people are in the wrong.
28 Plead with the LORD, for there has been enough of God's thunder and hail. I will let you go, and you shall stay no longer."
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Pray to God. We've had enough of God's thunder and hail. I'll let you go. The sooner you're out of here the better."
29 Moses said to him, "As soon as I have gone out of the city, I will stretch out my hands to the LORD. The thunder will cease, and there will be no more hail, so that you may know that the earth is the LORD's.
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Moses said, "As soon as I'm out of the city, I'll stretch out my arms to God. The thunder will stop and the hail end so you'll know that the land is God's land.
30 But as for you and your servants, I know that you do not yet fear the LORD God."
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Still, I know that you and your servants have no respect for God."
31 (The flax and the barley were struck down, for the barley was in the ear and the flax was in bud.
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(The flax and the barley were ruined, for they were just ripening,
32 But the wheat and the emmer were not struck down, for they are late in coming up.)
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but the wheat and spelt weren't hurt - they ripen later.)
33 So Moses went out of the city from Pharaoh and stretched out his hands to the LORD, and the thunder and the hail ceased, and the rain no longer poured upon the earth.
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Moses left Pharaoh and the city and stretched out his arms to God. The thunder and hail stopped; the storm cleared.
34 But when Pharaoh saw that the rain and the hail and the thunder had ceased, he sinned yet again and hardened his heart, he and his servants.
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But when Pharaoh saw that the rain and hail and thunder had stopped, he kept right on sinning, stubborn as ever, both he and his servants.
35 So the heart of Pharaoh was hardened, and he did not let the people of Israel go, just as the LORD had spoken through Moses.
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Pharaoh's heart turned rock-hard. He refused to release the Israelites, as God had ordered through Moses.
The English Standard Version is published with the permission of Good News Publishers.
Published by permission. Originally published by NavPress in English as THE MESSAGE: The Bible in Contemporary Language copyright 2002 by Eugene Peterson. All rights reserved.