The Second Book of Moses: Exodus

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- Chapter 9 -

Then the Lord said to Moses: “Enter to Pharaoh, and say to him: ‘Thus says the Lord God of the Hebrews: Release my people, to sacrifice to me.

But if you still refuse, and you retain them,

behold, my hand will be over your fields. And a very grievous pestilence will be upon the horses, and the donkeys, and the camels, and the oxen, and the sheep.

And the Lord will cause a miracle between the possessions of Israel and the possessions of the Egyptians, so that nothing at all will perish from those things which belong to the sons of Israel.”

And the Lord appointed a time, saying: “Tomorrow, the Lord will accomplish this word in the land.”

Therefore, the Lord accomplished this word the next day. And all the animals of the Egyptians died. Yet truly, of the animals of the sons of Israel, nothing at all perished.(a)

And Pharaoh sent to see; neither was there anything dead of those things that Israel possessed. And the heart of Pharaoh was hardened, and he did not release the people.

The Sixth Plague: Boils

And the Lord said to Moses and to Aaron: “Take handfuls of ashes from the oven, and let Moses sprinkle it into the air, in the sight of Pharaoh.

And let there be dust upon all the land of Egypt. For there will be sores and swelling pustules on men and on beasts, throughout the entire land of Egypt.”

And they took ashes from the oven, and they stood in the sight of Pharaoh, and Moses sprinkled it in the air. And there came sores with swelling pustules on men and on beasts.

Neither could the sorcerers stand in the sight of Moses, because of the sores that were on them and on all the land of Egypt.

And the Lord hardened the heart of Pharaoh, and he did not listen to them, just as the Lord said to Moses.(b)

The Seventh Plague: Hail

And the Lord said to Moses: “Rise up in the morning, and stand in the sight of Pharaoh, and you will say to him: ‘Thus says the Lord God of the Hebrews: Release my people to sacrifice to me.

For at this turn, I will send all my plagues upon your heart, and upon your servants, and upon your people. So may you know that there is no one like me in all the earth.

For now, extending my hand, I shall strike you and your people with pestilence, and you will perish from the earth.

But it was for this reason that I appointed you, so that I may reveal my strength by you, and so that my name may be described throughout all the earth.

Do you still retain my people, and are you still unwilling to release them?

So then, tomorrow, at this same hour, I will rain down exceedingly great hail, such as has not been in Egypt from the day that it was founded, even until this present time.

Therefore, send immediately and gather together your cattle, and all that you have in the field. For men and beasts, and all things that will be found outside, not gathered in from the fields, and on which the hail will fall, shall die.’ ”

He who feared the word of the Lord among the servants of Pharaoh caused his servants and cattle to flee together into the houses.

But he who neglected the word of the Lord released his servants and cattle into the fields.

And the Lord said to Moses: “Extend your hand into the sky, so that there may be hail in the entire land of Egypt, on men, and on beasts, and on every plant of the field in the land of Egypt.”

And Moses extended his staff into the sky, and the Lord sent thunder and hail, and also lightning dashing across the earth. And the Lord rained down hail upon the land of Egypt.

And the hail and intermingled fire drove on together. And it was of such magnitude as had never before been seen in the entire land of Egypt, from the time when that nation was formed.

And the hail struck, throughout all the land of Egypt, everything that was in the fields, from man even to beast. And the hail struck down every plant of the field, and it broke every tree of the region.

Only in the land of Goshen, where the sons of Israel were, did the hail not fall.

And Pharaoh sent and called Moses and Aaron, saying to them: “I have sinned even until now. The Lord is just. I and my people are impious.

Pray to the Lord, so that the thundering of God and the hail may cease, so that I may release you, and so that you may by no means remain here any longer.”

Moses said: “When I have departed from the city, I will extend my hands to the Lord, and the thunders will cease, and the hail will not be, so that you may know that the earth belongs to the Lord.

But I know that both you and your servants do not yet fear the Lord God.”

And so, the flax and the barley were damaged, because the barley was growing, and the flax was already developing grains.

But the wheat and the spelt were not damaged, because they were late.

And Moses, departing from Pharaoh out of the city, reached out his hands toward the Lord. And the thunders and hail ceased, neither did there drop any more rain upon the land.

Then Pharaoh, seeing that the rain, and the hail, and the thunders had ceased, added to his sin.

And his heart was weighed down, along with that of his servants, and it was hardened exceedingly. Neither did he release the sons of Israel, just as the Lord had instructed by the hand of Moses.

Footnotes

(a)9:6 All the beasts:That is, many of all kinds.(Challoner)

(b)9:12 Hardened, etc:See the annotations above, chap. 4.21, chap. 7.3, and chap. 8.15.(Challoner)

Then the LORD said to Moses, “Go in to Pharaoh, and tell him, ‘This is what the LORD, the God of the Hebrews, says: “Let my people go, that they may serve me.

For if you refuse to let them go, and hold them still,

behold, the LORD’s hand is on your livestock which are in the field, on the horses, on the donkeys, on the camels, on the herds, and on the flocks with a very grievous pestilence.

The LORD will make a distinction between the livestock of Israel and the livestock of Egypt; and nothing shall die of all that belongs to the children of Israel.”’”

The LORD appointed a set time, saying, “Tomorrow the LORD shall do this thing in the land.”

The LORD did that thing on the next day; and all the livestock of Egypt died, but of the livestock of the children of Israel, not one died.

Pharaoh sent, and, behold, there was not so much as one of the livestock of the Israelites dead. But the heart of Pharaoh was stubborn, and he didn’t let the people go.

The Sixth Plague: Boils

The LORD said to Moses and to Aaron, “Take handfuls of ashes of the furnace, and let Moses sprinkle it toward the sky in the sight of Pharaoh.

It shall become small dust over all the land of Egypt, and shall be boils and blisters breaking out on man and on animal, throughout all the land of Egypt.”

They took ashes of the furnace, and stood before Pharaoh; and Moses sprinkled it up toward the sky; and it became boils and blisters breaking out on man and on animal.

The magicians couldn’t stand before Moses because of the boils; for the boils were on the magicians and on all the Egyptians.

The LORD hardened the heart of Pharaoh, and he didn’t listen to them, as the LORD had spoken to Moses.

The Seventh Plague: Hail

The LORD said to Moses, “Rise up early in the morning, and stand before Pharaoh, and tell him, ‘This is what the LORD, the God of the Hebrews, says: “Let my people go, that they may serve me.

For this time I will send all my plagues against your heart, against your officials, and against your people; that you may know that there is no one like me in all the earth.

For now I would have stretched out my hand, and struck you and your people with pestilence, and you would have been cut off from the earth;

but indeed for this cause I have made you stand: to show you my power, and that my name may be declared throughout all the earth,

because you still exalt yourself against my people, that you won’t let them go.

Behold, tomorrow about this time I will cause it to rain a very grievous hail, such as has not been in Egypt since the day it was founded even until now.

Now therefore command that all of your livestock and all that you have in the field be brought into shelter. The hail will come down on every man and animal that is found in the field, and isn’t brought home, and they will die.”’”

Those who feared the LORD’s word among the servants of Pharaoh made their servants and their livestock flee into the houses.

Whoever didn’t respect the LORD’s word left his servants and his livestock in the field.

The LORD said to Moses, “Stretch out your hand toward the sky, that there may be hail in all the land of Egypt, on man, and on animal, and on every herb of the field, throughout the land of Egypt.”

Moses stretched out his rod toward the heavens, and the LORD sent thunder and hail; and lightning flashed down to the earth. The LORD rained hail on the land of Egypt.

So there was very severe hail, and lightning mixed with the hail, such as had not been in all the land of Egypt since it became a nation.

The hail struck throughout all the land of Egypt all that was in the field, both man and animal; and the hail struck every herb of the field, and broke every tree of the field.

Only in the land of Goshen, where the children of Israel were, there was no hail.

Pharaoh sent and called for Moses and Aaron, and said to them, “I have sinned this time. The LORD is righteous, and I and my people are wicked.

Pray to the LORD; for there has been enough of mighty thunderings and hail. I will let you go, and you shall stay no longer.”

Moses said to him, “As soon as I have gone out of the city, I will spread out my hands to the LORD. The thunders shall cease, and there will not be any more hail; that you may know that the earth is the LORD’s.

But as for you and your servants, I know that you don’t yet fear the LORD God.”

The flax and the barley were struck, for the barley had ripened and the flax was blooming.

But the wheat and the spelt were not struck, for they had not grown up.

Moses went out of the city from Pharaoh, and spread out his hands to the LORD; and the thunders and hail ceased, and the rain was not poured on the earth.

When Pharaoh saw that the rain and the hail and the thunders had ceased, he sinned yet more, and hardened his heart, he and his servants.

The heart of Pharaoh was hardened, and he didn’t let the children of Israel go, just as the LORD had spoken through Moses.