Day 18 – The Ten Plagues

₂₈When the LORD spoke to Moses in the land of Egypt, ₂₉he said, “I am the LORD. Tell the king of Egypt everything I tell you.”

₃₀But Moses answered, “You know that I am such a poor speaker; why should the king listen to me?”

₁The LORD said, “I am going to make you like God to the king, and your brother Aaron will speak to him as your prophet. ₂Tell Aaron everything I command you, and he will tell the king to let the Israelites leave his country. _3-4But I will make the king stubborn, and he will not listen to you, no matter how many terrifying things I do in Egypt. Then I will bring severe punishment on Egypt and lead the tribes of my people out of the land. ₅The Egyptians will then know that I am the LORD, when I raise my hand against them and bring the Israelites out of their country.” ₆Moses and Aaron did what the LORD commanded. ₇At the time when they spoke to the king, Moses was eighty years old, and Aaron was 83.

₈The LORD said to Moses and Aaron, ₉“If the king demands that you prove yourselves by performing a miracle, tell Aaron to take his stick and throw it down in front of the king, and it will turn into a snake.” ₁₀So Moses and Aaron went to the king and did as the LORD had commanded. Aaron threw his stick down in front of the king and his officers, and it turned into a snake. ₁₁Then the king called for his wise men and magicians, and by their magic they did the same thing. ₁₂They threw down their sticks, and the sticks turned into snakes. But Aaron's stick swallowed theirs. ₁₃The king, however, remained stubborn and, just as the LORD had said, the king would not listen to Moses and Aaron.

₁₄Then the LORD said to Moses, “The king is very stubborn and refuses to let the people go. ₁₅So go and meet him in the morning when he goes down to the Nile. Take with you the stick that was turned into a snake, and wait for him on the bank of the river. ₁₆Then say to the king, ‘The LORD, the God of the Hebrews, sent me to tell you to let his people go, so that they can worship him in the desert. But until now you have not listened. ₁₇Now, Your Majesty, the LORD says that you will find out who he is by what he is going to do. Look, I am going to strike the surface of the river with this stick, and the water will be turned into blood. ₁₈The fish will die, and the river will stink so much that the Egyptians will not be able to drink from it.’ ”

₁₉The LORD said to Moses, “Tell Aaron to take his stick and hold it out over all the rivers, canals, and pools in Egypt. The water will become blood, and all over the land there will be blood, even in the wooden tubs and stone jars.”

₂₀Then Moses and Aaron did as the LORD commanded. In the presence of the king and his officers, Aaron raised his stick and struck the surface of the river, and all the water in it was turned into blood. ₂₁The fish in the river died, and it smelt so bad that the Egyptians could not drink from it. There was blood everywhere in Egypt. ₂₂Then the king's magicians did the same thing by means of their magic, and the king was as stubborn as ever. Just as the LORD had said, the king refused to listen to Moses and Aaron. ₂₃Instead, he turned and went back to his palace without paying any attention even to this. ₂₄All the Egyptians dug along the bank of the river for drinking water, because they were not able to drink water from the river.

₂₅Seven days passed after the LORD struck the river.

₁Then the LORD said to Moses, “Go to the king and tell him that the LORD says, ‘Let my people go, so that they can worship me. ₂If you refuse, I will punish your country by covering it with frogs. ₃The Nile will be so full of frogs that they will leave it and go into your palace, your bedroom, your bed, the houses of your officials and your people, and even into your ovens and baking pans. ₄They will jump up on you, your people, and all your officials.’ ”

₅The LORD said to Moses, “Tell Aaron to hold out his stick over the rivers, the canals, and the pools, and make frogs come up and cover the land of Egypt.” ₆So Aaron held it out over all the water, and the frogs came out and covered the land. ₇But the magicians used magic, and they too made frogs come up on the land.

₈The king called for Moses and Aaron and said, “Pray to the LORD to take away these frogs, and I will let your people go, so that they can offer sacrifices to the LORD.”

₉Moses replied, “I will be glad to pray for you. Just set the time when I am to pray for you, your officers, and your people. Then you will be rid of the frogs, and there will be none left except in the Nile.”

₁₀The king answered, “Pray for me tomorrow.”

Moses said, “I will do as you ask, and then you will know that there is no other god like the LORD, our God. ₁₁You, your officials, and your people will be rid of the frogs, and there will be none left except in the Nile.” ₁₂Then Moses and Aaron left the king, and Moses prayed to the LORD to take away the frogs which he had brought on the king. ₁₃The LORD did as Moses asked, and the frogs in the houses, the courtyards, and the fields died. ₁₄The Egyptians piled them up in great heaps, until the land stank with them. ₁₅When the king saw that the frogs were dead, he became stubborn again and, just as the LORD had said, the king would not listen to Moses and Aaron.

₁₆The LORD said to Moses, “Tell Aaron to strike the ground with his stick, and all over the land of Egypt the dust will change into gnats.” ₁₇So Aaron struck the ground with his stick, and all the dust in Egypt was turned into gnats, which covered the people and the animals. ₁₈The magicians tried to use their magic to make gnats appear, but they failed. There were gnats everywhere, ₁₉and the magicians said to the king, “God has done this!” But the king was stubborn and, just as the LORD had said, the king would not listen to Moses and Aaron.

₂₀The LORD said to Moses, “Early tomorrow morning go and meet the king as he goes to the river, and tell him that the LORD says, ‘Let my people go, so that they can worship me. ₂₁I warn you that if you refuse, I will punish you by sending flies on you, your officials, and your people. The houses of the Egyptians will be full of flies, and the ground will be covered with them. ₂₂But I will spare the region of Goshen, where my people live, so that there will be no flies there. I will do this so that you will know that I, the LORD, am at work in this land. ₂₃I will make a distinction between my people and your people. This miracle will take place tomorrow.’ ” ₂₄The LORD sent great swarms of flies into the king's palace and the houses of his officials. The whole land of Egypt was brought to ruin by the flies.

₂₅Then the king called for Moses and Aaron and said, “Go and offer sacrifices to your God here in this country.”

₂₆“It would not be right to do that,” Moses answered, “because the Egyptians would be offended by our sacrificing the animals that we offer to the LORD our God. If we use these animals and offend the Egyptians by sacrificing them where they can see us, they will stone us to death. ₂₇We must travel three days into the desert to offer sacrifices to the LORD our God, just as he commanded us.”

₂₈The king said, “I will let you go to sacrifice to the LORD, your God, in the desert, if you do not go very far. Pray for me.”

₂₉Moses answered, “As soon as I leave, I will pray to the LORD that tomorrow the flies will leave you, your officials, and your people. But you must not deceive us again and prevent the people from going to sacrifice to the LORD.”

₃₀Moses left the king and prayed to the LORD, ₃₁and the LORD did as Moses asked. The flies left the king, his officials, and his people; not one fly remained. ₃₂But even this time the king became stubborn, and again he would not let the people go.

₁The LORD said to Moses, “Go to the king and tell him that the LORD, the God of the Hebrews, says, ‘Let my people go, so that they may worship me. ₂If you again refuse to let them go, ₃I will punish you by sending a terrible disease on all your animals — your horses, donkeys, camels, cattle, sheep, and goats. ₄I will make a distinction between the animals of the Israelites and those of the Egyptians, and no animal that belongs to the Israelites will die. ₅I, the LORD, have set tomorrow as the time when I will do this.’ ”

₆The next day the LORD did as he had said, and all the animals of the Egyptians died, but not one of the animals of the Israelites died. ₇The king asked what had happened and was told that none of the animals of the Israelites had died. But he was stubborn and would not let the people go.

₈Then the LORD said to Moses and Aaron, “Take a few handfuls of ashes from a furnace; Moses shall throw them into the air in front of the king. ₉They will spread out like fine dust over all the land of Egypt, and everywhere they will produce boils that become open sores on the people and the animals.” ₁₀So they got some ashes and stood before the king; Moses threw them into the air, and they produced boils that became open sores on the people and the animals. ₁₁The magicians were not able to appear before Moses, because they were covered with boils, like all the other Egyptians. ₁₂But the LORD made the king stubborn and, just as the LORD had said, the king would not listen to Moses and Aaron.

₁₃The LORD then said to Moses, “Early tomorrow morning meet with the king and tell him that the LORD, the God of the Hebrews, says, ‘Let my people go, so that they may worship me. ₁₄This time I will punish not only your officials and your people, but I will punish you as well, so that you may know that there is no one like me in all the world. ₁₅If I had raised my hand to strike you and your people with disease, you would have been completely destroyed. ₁₆But to show you my power I have let you live so that my fame might spread over the whole world. ₁₇Yet you are still arrogant and refuse to let my people go. ₁₈This time tomorrow I will cause a heavy hailstorm, such as Egypt has never known in all its history. ₁₉Now give orders for your livestock and everything else you have in the open to be put under shelter. Hail will fall on the people and animals left outside unprotected, and they will all die.’ ” ₂₀Some of the king's officials were afraid because of what the LORD had said, and they brought their slaves and animals indoors for shelter. ₂₁Others, however, paid no attention to the LORD's warning and left their slaves and animals out in the open.

₂₂Then the LORD said to Moses, “Raise your hand towards the sky, and hail will fall over the whole land of Egypt — on the people, the animals, and all the plants in the fields.” ₂₃So Moses raised his stick towards the sky, and the LORD sent thunder and hail, and lightning struck the ground. The LORD sent ₂₄a heavy hailstorm, with lightning flashing to and fro. It was the worst storm that Egypt had ever known in all its history. ₂₅All over Egypt the hail struck down everything in the open, including all the people and all the animals. It beat down all the plants in the fields and broke all the trees. ₂₆The region of Goshen, where the Israelites lived, was the only place where there was no hail.

₂₇The king sent for Moses and Aaron and said, “This time I have sinned; the LORD is in the right, and my people and I are in the wrong. ₂₈Pray to the LORD! We have had enough of this thunder and hail! I promise to let you go; you don't have to stay here any longer.”

₂₉Moses said to him, “As soon as I go out of the city, I will lift up my hands in prayer to the LORD. The thunder will stop, and there will be no more hail, so that you may know that the earth belongs to the LORD. ₃₀But I know that you and your officials do not yet fear the LORD God.”

₃₁The flax and the barley were ruined, because the barley was ripe, and the flax was budding. ₃₂But none of the wheat was ruined, because it ripens later.

₃₃Moses left the king, went out of the city, and lifted up his hands in prayer to the LORD. The thunder, the hail, and the rain all stopped. ₃₄When the king saw what had happened, he sinned again. He and his officials remained as stubborn as ever ₃₅and, just as the LORD had foretold through Moses, the king would not let the Israelites go.

₁Then the LORD said to Moses, “Go and see the king. I have made him and his officials stubborn, in order that I may perform these miracles among them ₂and in order that you may be able to tell your children and grandchildren how I made fools of the Egyptians when I performed the miracles. All of you will know that I am the LORD.”

₃So Moses and Aaron went to the king and said to him, “The LORD, the God of the Hebrews, says ‘How much longer will you refuse to submit to me? Let my people go, so that they may worship me. ₄If you keep on refusing, then I will bring locusts into your country tomorrow. ₅There will be so many that they will completely cover the ground. They will eat everything that the hail did not destroy, even the trees that are left. ₆They will fill your palaces and the houses of all your officials and all your people. They will be worse than anything your ancestors ever saw.’ ” Then Moses turned and left.

₇The king's officials said to him, “How long is this man going to give us trouble? Let the Israelite men go, so that they can worship the LORD their God. Don't you realize that Egypt is ruined?”

₈So Moses and Aaron were brought back to the king, and he said to them, “You may go and worship the LORD your God. But exactly who will go?”

₉Moses answered, “We will all go, including our children and our old people. We will take our sons and daughters, our sheep and goats, and our cattle, because we must hold a festival to honour the LORD.”

₁₀The king said, “I swear by the LORD that I will never let you take your women and children! It is clear that you are plotting to revolt. ₁₁No! Only the men may go and worship the LORD if that is what you want.” With that, Moses and Aaron were driven out of the king's presence.

₁₂Then the LORD said to Moses, “Raise your hand over the land of Egypt to bring the locusts. They will come and eat everything that grows, everything that has survived the hail.” ₁₃So Moses raised his stick, and the LORD caused a wind from the east to blow on the land all that day and all that night. By morning it had brought the locusts. ₁₄They came in swarms and settled over the whole country. It was the largest swarm of locusts that had ever been seen or that ever would be seen again. ₁₅They covered the ground until it was black with them; they ate everything that the hail had left, including all the fruit on the trees. Not a green thing was left on any tree or plant in all the land of Egypt.

₁₆Then the king hurriedly called Moses and Aaron and said, “I have sinned against the LORD your God and against you. ₁₇Now forgive my sin this once and pray to the LORD your God to take away this fatal punishment from me.” ₁₈Moses left the king and prayed to the LORD. ₁₉And the LORD changed the east wind into a very strong west wind, which picked up the locusts and blew them into the Gulf of Suez. Not one locust was left in all Egypt. ₂₀But the LORD made the king stubborn, and he did not let the Israelites go.

₂₁The LORD then said to Moses, “Raise your hand towards the sky, and a darkness thick enough to be felt will cover the land of Egypt.” ₂₂Moses raised his hand towards the sky, and there was total darkness throughout Egypt for three days. ₂₃The Egyptians could not see each other, and no one left his house during that time. But the Israelites had light where they were living.

₂₄The king called Moses and said, “You may go and worship the LORD; even your women and children may go with you. But your sheep, goats, and cattle must stay here.”

₂₅Moses answered, “Then you would have to provide us with animals for sacrifices and burnt offerings to offer to the LORD our God. ₂₆No, we will take our animals with us; not one will be left behind. We ourselves must select the animals with which to worship the LORD our God. And until we get there, we will not know what animals to sacrifice to him.”

₂₇The LORD made the king stubborn, and he would not let them go. ₂₈He said to Moses, “Get out of my sight! Don't let me ever see you again! On the day I do, you will die!”

₂₉“You are right,” Moses answered. “You will never see me again.”

₁Then the LORD said to Moses, “I will send only one more punishment on the king of Egypt and his people. After that he will let you leave. In fact, he will drive all of you out of here. ₂Now speak to the people of Israel and tell all of them to ask their neighbours for gold and silver jewellery.” ₃The LORD made the Egyptians respect the Israelites. Indeed, the officials and all the people considered Moses to be a very great man.

₄Moses then said to the king, “The LORD says, ‘At about midnight I will go through Egypt, ₅and every firstborn son in Egypt will die, from the king's son, who is heir to the throne, to the son of the slave woman who grinds corn. The firstborn of all the cattle will die also. ₆There will be loud crying all over Egypt, such as there has never been before or ever will be again. ₇But not even a dog will bark at the Israelites or their animals. Then you will know that I, the LORD, make a distinction between the Egyptians and the Israelites.’ ” ₈Moses concluded by saying, “All your officials will come to me and bow down before me, and they will beg me to take all my people and go away. After that, I will leave.” Then in great anger Moses left the king.

₉The LORD had said to Moses, “The king will continue to refuse to listen to you, in order that I may do more of my miracles in Egypt.” ₁₀Moses and Aaron performed all these miracles before the king, but the LORD made him stubborn, and he would not let the Israelites leave his country.