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18 But on that day I will make an exception of the land of Goshen, where my people are, and no swarms of flies will be there, so that you may know that I the Lord am in the midst of the land. 19 I will make a distinction[a] between my people and your people. This sign will take place tomorrow. 20 This the Lord did. Thick swarms of flies entered the house of Pharaoh and the houses of his servants; throughout Egypt the land was devastated on account of the swarms of flies.(A)

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Footnotes

  1. 8:19 A distinction: while some uncertainty surrounds the Hebrew here rendered as “distinction,” it is clear that now the Israelites begin to be set apart from the Egyptians, a separation that reaches a climax in the death of the Egyptian firstborn (11:7).

18 But when the magicians(A) tried to produce gnats by their secret arts,(B) they could not.

Since the gnats were on people and animals everywhere, 19 the magicians said to Pharaoh, “This is the finger(C) of God.” But Pharaoh’s heart(D) was hard and he would not listen,(E) just as the Lord had said.

The Plague of Flies

20 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Get up early in the morning(F) and confront Pharaoh as he goes to the river and say to him, ‘This is what the Lord says: Let my people go, so that they may worship(G) me.

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