7 The Lord said to Moses, “I have made you like God to the king of Egypt. And your brother Aaron will be like a prophet for you. ² Tell Aaron your brother everything that I command you. Then let him tell the king of Egypt to let the Israelites leave his country. ³ But I will make the king stubborn. Then I will do many miracles in Egypt. ⁴ But he will still refuse to listen. So then I will punish Egypt terribly. And I will lead my divisions, my people the Israelites, out of that land. ⁵ I will punish Egypt with my power. And I will bring the Israelites out of that land. Then they will know I am the Lord.”

⁶ Moses and Aaron did just as the Lord had commanded them. ⁷ Moses was 80 years old, and Aaron was 83, when they spoke to the king.

Aaron’s Walking Stick Becomes a Snake

⁸ The Lord said to Moses and Aaron, ⁹ “The king will ask you to do a miracle. When he does, Moses, you tell Aaron to throw his walking stick down in front of the king. It will become a snake.”

¹⁰ So Moses and Aaron went to the king as the Lord had commanded. Aaron threw his walking stick down in front of the king and his officers. And it became a snake.

¹¹ So the king called in his wise men and his magicians. With their tricks the Egyptian magicians were able to do the same thing. ¹² They threw their walking sticks on the ground, and their sticks became snakes. But then Aaron’s stick swallowed theirs. ¹³ But the king was stubborn. He refused to listen to Moses and Aaron, just as the Lord had said.

The Water Becomes Blood

¹⁴ Then the Lord said to Moses, “The king is being stubborn. He refuses to let the people go. ¹⁵ In the morning the king will go out to the Nile River. Go meet him by the edge of the river. Take with you the walking stick that became a snake. ¹⁶ Tell him this: The Lord, the God of the Hebrews, sent me to you. He said, ‘Let my people go worship me in the desert.’ Until now you have not listened. ¹⁷ This is what the Lord says: ‘This is how you will know that I am the Lord. I will strike the water of the Nile River with this stick in my hand. And the water will change into blood. ¹⁸ Then the fish in the Nile will die, and the river will begin to stink. And the Egyptians will not be able to drink the water from the Nile.’”

¹⁹ The Lord said to Moses, “Tell Aaron to stretch the walking stick in his hand over the rivers, canals, ponds and pools in Egypt. The water will become blood everywhere in Egypt. There even will be blood in the wooden buckets and stone jars.”

²⁰ So Moses and Aaron did just as the Lord had commanded. Aaron raised his walking stick and struck the water in the Nile River. He did this in front of the king and his officers. So all the water in the Nile changed into blood. ²¹ The fish in the Nile died, and the river began to stink. So the Egyptians could not drink water from it. Blood was everywhere in the land of Egypt.

²² Using their tricks, their magicians of Egypt did the same thing. So the king was stubborn and refused to listen to Moses and Aaron. This happened just as the Lord had said. ²³ The king turned and went into his palace. He ignored what Moses and Aaron had done. ²⁴ The Egyptians could not drink the water from the Nile. So all of them dug along the bank of the river. They were looking for water to drink.

The Frogs

²⁵ Seven days passed after the Lord changed the Nile River.

8 Then the Lord told Moses, “Go to the king of Egypt and tell him, ‘This is what the Lord says: Let my people go to worship me. ² If you refuse, then I will punish Egypt with frogs. ³ The Nile River will be filled with frogs. They will come from the river and enter your palace. They will be in your bedroom and your bed. The frogs will enter the houses of your officers and your people. They will enter your ovens and your baking pans. ⁴ The frogs will jump up all over you, your people and your officers.’”

⁵ Then the Lord said to Moses, “Tell Aaron to hold his walking stick in his hand over the rivers, canals and ponds. Make frogs come up out of the water onto the land of Egypt.”

⁶ So Aaron held his hand over all the waters of Egypt. The frogs came up out of the water and covered the land of Egypt. ⁷ The magicians used their tricks to do the same thing. So even more frogs came up onto the land of Egypt.

⁸ So the king called for Moses and Aaron. He said, “Pray to the Lord to take the frogs away from me and my people. I will let your people go to offer sacrifices to the Lord.”

⁹ Moses said to the king, “Please set the time that I should pray for you, your people and your officers. Then the frogs will leave you and your houses. They will remain only in the Nile.”

¹⁰ The king answered, “Tomorrow.”

Moses said, “What you want will happen. By this you will know that there is no one like the Lord our God. ¹¹ The frogs will leave you, your houses, your officers and your people. They will remain only in the Nile.”

¹² Moses and Aaron left the king. Moses asked the Lord about the frogs he had sent to the king. ¹³ And the Lord did as Moses asked. The frogs died in the houses, in the yards and in the fields. ¹⁴ The Egyptians put them in piles. The whole country began to stink. ¹⁵ When the king saw that they were free of the frogs, he became stubborn again. He did not listen to Moses and Aaron, just as the Lord had said.

The Gnats

¹⁶ Then the Lord said to Moses, “Tell Aaron to raise his walking stick and strike the dust on the ground. Then everywhere in Egypt the dust will change into gnats.” ¹⁷ They did this. Aaron raised the walking stick that was in his hand and struck the dust on the ground. Then everywhere in Egypt the dust changed into gnats. The gnats got on the people and animals. ¹⁸ Using their tricks, the magicians tried to do the same thing. But they could not make the dust change into gnats. The gnats remained on the people and animals. ¹⁹ So the magicians told the king that the power of God had done this. But the king was stubborn and refused to listen to them. This happened just as the Lord had said.

The Flies

²⁰ The Lord told Moses, “Get up early in the morning. Meet the king of Egypt as he goes out to the river. Tell him, ‘This is what the Lord says: Let my people go so they can worship me. ²¹ If you don’t let them go, I will send swarms of flies. I will send them into your houses. The flies will be on you, your officers and your people. The houses of Egypt will be full of flies. And they will be all over the ground, too. ²² But I will not treat the people of Israel the same as the Egyptian people. There will not be any flies in the land of Goshen, where my people live. By this you will know that I, the Lord, am in this land. ²³ I will treat my people differently from your people. This miracle will happen tomorrow.’”

²⁴ So the Lord did as he had said. Great swarms of flies came into the king’s palace and his officers’ houses. All over Egypt flies were ruining the land. ²⁵ The king called for Moses and Aaron. He told them, “Offer sacrifices to your God here in this country.”

²⁶ But Moses said, “It wouldn’t be right to do that. The Egyptians hate the sacrifices we offer to the Lord our God. They will see us offer sacrifices they hate. Then they will throw stones at us and kill us. ²⁷ Let us make a three-day journey into the desert. We must offer sacrifices to the Lord our God there. This is what the Lord told us to do.”

²⁸ The king said, “I will let you go. Then you may offer sacrifices to the Lord your God in the desert. But you must not go very far away. Now go and pray for me.”

²⁹ Moses said, “I will leave and pray to the Lord. He will take the flies away from you, your officers and your people tomorrow. But do not try to trick us again. Do not stop the people from going to offer sacrifices to the Lord.”

³⁰ So Moses left the king and prayed to the Lord. ³¹ And the Lord did as Moses asked. He removed the flies from the king, his officers and his people. Not one fly was left. ³² But the king became stubborn again and did not let the people go.

The Disease on the Farm Animals

9 Then the Lord told Moses, “Go to the king of Egypt. Tell him, ‘This is what the Lord, the God of the Hebrews, says: Let my people go to worship me. ² You might refuse to let them go and continue to hold them. ³ Then the Lord will punish you. He will send a terrible disease on all your farm animals. He will cause all of your horses, donkeys, camels, cattle and sheep to become sick. ⁴ But the Lord will treat Israel’s animals differently from the animals of Egypt. None of the animals that belong to the Israelites will die. ⁵ The Lord has set tomorrow as the time he will do this in the land.’” ⁶ The next day the Lord did as he promised. All the farm animals in Egypt died. But none of the animals belonging to Israelites died. ⁷ The king sent people to see what had happened to the animals of Israel. They found that not one of them had died. But the king was still stubborn. He did not let the people go.

The Boils

⁸ The Lord said to Moses and Aaron, “Fill your hands with the ashes from a furnace. Moses, throw the ashes into the air in front of the king of Egypt. ⁹ The ashes will spread like dust through all the land of Egypt. The dust will cause boils to break out and become sores on the skin. These sores will be on people and animals everywhere in the land.”

¹⁰ So Moses and Aaron took ashes from a furnace. Then they went and stood before the king. Moses threw ashes into the air. It caused boils to break out and become sores on people and animals. ¹¹ The magicians could not stand before Moses. This was because all the Egyptians had boils, even the magicians. ¹² But the Lord made the king stubborn. So he refused to listen to Moses and Aaron. This happened just as the Lord had said.

The Hail

¹³ Then the Lord said to Moses, “Get up early in the morning and go to the king of Egypt. Tell him, ‘This is what the Lord, the God of the Hebrews, says: Let my people go to worship me. ¹⁴ If you do not do this, this time I will punish you with all my power. I will punish you, your officers and your people. Then you will know that there is no one in the whole land like me. ¹⁵ By now I could have used my power and caused a bad disease. It would have destroyed you and your people from the earth. ¹⁶ But I have let you live for this reason: to show you my power. In this way my name will be talked about in all the earth. ¹⁷ You are still against my people. You do not want to let them go. ¹⁸ So at this time tomorrow, I will send a terrible hailstorm. It will be the worst in Egypt since it became a nation. ¹⁹ Now send for your animals and whatever you have in the fields. Bring them into a safe place. The hail will fall on every person or animal that is still in the fields. If they have not been brought in, they will die.’” ²⁰ Some of the king’s officers respected the word of the Lord. They hurried to bring their slaves and animals inside. ²¹ But others ignored the Lord’s message. They left their slaves and animals in the fields.

²² The Lord told Moses, “Raise your hand toward the sky. Then the hail will start falling over all the land of Egypt. It will fall on people, animals and on everything that grows in the fields of Egypt.” ²³ So Moses raised his walking stick toward the sky. And the Lord sent thunder and hail. And lightning flashed down to the earth. So he caused hail to fall upon the land of Egypt. ²⁴ There was hail, and there was lightning flashing as it hailed. This was the worst hailstorm in Egypt since it had become a nation. ²⁵ The hail destroyed everything that was in the fields in all the land of Egypt. The hail destroyed both people and animals. It also destroyed everything that grew in the fields. It broke all the trees in the fields. ²⁶ The only place it did not hail was in the land of Goshen. The people of Israel lived there.

²⁷ The king sent for Moses and Aaron. He told them, “This time I have sinned. The Lord is in the right. And I and my people are in the wrong. ²⁸ Pray to the Lord. We have had enough of God’s thunder and hail. I will let you go. You do not have to stay here any longer.”

²⁹ Moses told the king, “When I leave the city, I will raise my hands to the Lord in prayer. And the thunder and hail will stop. Then you will know that the earth belongs to the Lord. ³⁰ But I know that you and your officers do not yet fear the Lord God.”

³¹ The flax was in bloom, and the barley had ripened. So these crops were destroyed. ³² But both wheat crops ripen later. So they were not destroyed.

³³ Moses left the king and went outside the city. He raised his hands to the Lord. And the thunder and hail stopped. The rain also stopped falling to the ground. ³⁴ The king saw that the rain, hail and thunder had stopped. Then he sinned again. He and his officers became stubborn again. ³⁵ The king became stubborn and refused to let the Israelites go. This happened just as the Lord had said through Moses.

The Locusts

10 The Lord said to Moses, “Go to the king of Egypt. I have made him and his officers stubborn. I did this so I could show them my powerful miracles. ² I also did this so you could tell your children and your grandchildren. Tell them how I made fools of the Egyptians. Tell them about the miracles I did among them. Then all of you will know that I am the Lord.”

³ So Moses and Aaron went to the king. They told him, “This is what the Lord, the God of the Hebrews, says: ‘How long will you refuse to be sorry for what you have done? Let my people go to worship me. ⁴ If you refuse to let my people go, tomorrow I will bring locusts into your country. ⁵ They will cover the land, and no one will be able to see the ground. They will eat anything that was left from the hailstorm. They will eat the leaves from every tree growing in the field. ⁶ They will fill your palaces and all your officers’ houses. They will fill the houses of all the Egyptian people. There will be more locusts than your fathers or ancestors have ever seen. There will be more locusts than there have been since people began living in Egypt.’” Then Moses turned and walked away from the king.

⁷ The king’s officers asked him, “How long will this man make trouble for us? Let the Israelite men go to worship the Lord their God. Don’t you know that Egypt is ruined?”

⁸ So Moses and Aaron were brought back to the king. He said to them, “Go and worship the Lord your God. But tell me, just who is going?”

⁹ Moses answered, “We will go with our young and our old people, our sons and daughters and sheep and cattle. This is because we are going to have a feast to honor the Lord.”

¹⁰ The king said to them, “The Lord really will have to be with you if ever I let you and all of your children leave Egypt. See, you are planning something evil. ¹¹ No! Only the men may go and worship the Lord. That is what you have been asking for.” Then the king forced Moses and Aaron out of his palace.

¹² The Lord told Moses, “Raise your hand over the land of Egypt, and the locusts will come. They will spread all over the land of Egypt. They will eat all the plants that the hail did not destroy.”

¹³ So Moses raised his walking stick over the land of Egypt. And the Lord caused a strong wind to blow from the east. It blew across the land all that day and night. When morning came, the east wind had brought the locusts. ¹⁴ Swarms of locusts covered all the land of Egypt and settled everywhere. There were more locusts than ever before or after. ¹⁵ The locusts covered the whole land so that it was black. They ate everything that was left after the hail. They ate every plant in the field and all the fruit on the trees. Nothing green was left on any tree or plant anywhere in Egypt.

¹⁶ The king quickly called for Moses and Aaron. He said, “I have sinned against the Lord your God and against you. ¹⁷ Now forgive my sin this time. Pray to the Lord your God. Ask him to stop this punishment that kills.”

¹⁸ Moses left the king and prayed to the Lord. ¹⁹ So the Lord changed the wind. He made a very strong wind to blow from the west. It blew the locusts away into the Red Sea. Not one locust was left anywhere in Egypt. ²⁰ But the Lord caused the king to be stubborn again. And he did not let the people of Israel go.

The Darkness

²¹ Then the Lord told Moses, “Raise your hand toward the sky, and darkness will cover the land of Egypt. It will be so dark you will be able to feel it.” ²² So Moses raised his hand toward the sky. Then total darkness was everywhere in Egypt for three days. ²³ No one could see anyone else. And no one could go anywhere for three days. But the Israelites had light where they lived.

²⁴ Again the king of Egypt called for Moses. He said, “All of you may go and worship the Lord. You may take your women and children with you. But you must leave your sheep and cattle here.”

²⁵ Moses said, “You must let us have animals to use as sacrifices and burnt offerings. We have to offer them to the Lord our God. ²⁶ So we must take our animals with us. Not a hoof will be left behind. We have to use some of the animals to worship the Lord our God. We do not yet know exactly what we will need to worship the Lord. We will know when we get there.”

²⁷ But the Lord made the king stubborn again. So he refused to let them go. ²⁸ Then he told Moses, “Get out of here! Don’t come here again! The next time you see me, you will die.”

²⁹ Then Moses told the king, “I’ll do what you say. I will not come to see you again.”

The Death of the Firstborn

11 Now the Lord had told Moses, “I have one more way to punish the king and the people of Egypt. After this, the king will send all of you away from Egypt. When he does, he will force you to leave completely. ² Tell the men and women of Israel to ask their neighbors for things made of silver and gold.” ³ The Lord had caused the Egyptians to respect the Israelites. The king’s officers and the Egyptian people already considered Moses to be a great man.

⁴ So Moses said to the king, “This is what the Lord says: ‘About midnight tonight I will go through all Egypt. ⁵ Every firstborn son in the land of Egypt will die. The firstborn son of the king, who sits on his throne, will die. Even the firstborn of the slave girl grinding grain will die. Also the firstborn farm animals will die. ⁶ There will be loud crying everywhere in Egypt. It will be worse than any time before or after this. ⁷ But not even a dog will bark at the Israelites or their animals.’ Then you will know that the Lord treats Israel differently from Egypt. ⁸ Then all your officers will come to me. They will bow facedown to the ground before me. They will say, ‘Leave and take all your people with you.’ After that, I will leave.” Then Moses very angrily left the king.

⁹ The Lord had told Moses, “The king will not listen to you and Aaron. This is so that I may do many miracles in the land of Egypt.” ¹⁰ Moses and Aaron did all these great miracles in front of the king. But the Lord made him stubborn. And the king would not let the people of Israel leave his country.