New King James Version

New Living Translation

The Second Plague: Frogs

And the Lord spoke to Moses, “Go to Pharaoh and say to him, ‘Thus says the Lord: “Let My people go, that they may serve Me.

1

A Plague of Frogs

aThen the LORD said to Moses, “Go back to Pharaoh and announce to him, ‘This is what the LORD says: Let my people go, so they can worship me.

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But if you refuse to let them go, behold, I will smite all your territory with frogs.

2

If you refuse to let them go, I will send a plague of frogs across your entire land.

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So the river shall bring forth frogs abundantly, which shall go up and come into your house, into your bedroom, on your bed, into the houses of your servants, on your people, into your ovens, and into your kneading bowls.

3

The Nile River will swarm with frogs. They will come up out of the river and into your palace, even into your bedroom and onto your bed! They will enter the houses of your officials and your people. They will even jump into your ovens and your kneading bowls.

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And the frogs shall come up on you, on your people, and on all your servants.” ’ ”

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Frogs will jump on you, your people, and all your officials.’”

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Then the Lord spoke to Moses, “Say to Aaron, ‘Stretch out your hand with your rod over the streams, over the rivers, and over the ponds, and cause frogs to come up on the land of Egypt.’ ”

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bThen the LORD said to Moses, “Tell Aaron, ‘Raise the staff in your hand over all the rivers, canals, and ponds of Egypt, and bring up frogs over all the land.’”

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So Aaron stretched out his hand over the waters of Egypt, and the frogs came up and covered the land of Egypt.

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So Aaron raised his hand over the waters of Egypt, and frogs came up and covered the whole land!

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And the magicians did so with their [a]enchantments, and brought up frogs on the land of Egypt.

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But the magicians were able to do the same thing with their magic. They, too, caused frogs to come up on the land of Egypt.

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Then Pharaoh called for Moses and Aaron, and said, “Entreat[b] the Lord that He may take away the frogs from me and from my people; and I will let the people go, that they may sacrifice to the Lord.”

8

Then Pharaoh summoned Moses and Aaron and begged, “Plead with the LORD to take the frogs away from me and my people. I will let your people go, so they can offer sacrifices to the LORD.”

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And Moses said to Pharaoh, “Accept the honor of saying when I shall intercede for you, for your servants, and for your people, to destroy the frogs from you and your houses, that they may remain in the river only.”

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“You set the time!” Moses replied. “Tell me when you want me to pray for you, your officials, and your people. Then you and your houses will be rid of the frogs. They will remain only in the Nile River.”

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So he said, “Tomorrow.” And he said, “Let it be according to your word, that you may know that there is no one like the Lord our God.

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“Do it tomorrow,” Pharaoh said.
“All right,” Moses replied, “it will be as you have said. Then you will know that there is no one like the LORD our God.

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And the frogs shall depart from you, from your houses, from your servants, and from your people. They shall remain in the river only.”

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The frogs will leave you and your houses, your officials, and your people. They will remain only in the Nile River.”

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Then Moses and Aaron went out from Pharaoh. And Moses cried out to the Lord concerning the frogs which He had brought against Pharaoh.

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So Moses and Aaron left Pharaoh’s palace, and Moses cried out to the LORD about the frogs he had inflicted on Pharaoh.

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So the Lord did according to the word of Moses. And the frogs died out of the houses, out of the courtyards, and out of the fields.

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And the LORD did just what Moses had predicted. The frogs in the houses, the courtyards, and the fields all died.

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They gathered them together in heaps, and the land stank.

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The Egyptians piled them into great heaps, and a terrible stench filled the land.

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But when Pharaoh saw that there was relief, he hardened his heart and did not heed them, as the Lord had said.

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But when Pharaoh saw that relief had come, he became stubborn.c He refused to listen to Moses and Aaron, just as the LORD had predicted.

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The Third Plague: Lice

So the Lord said to Moses, “Say to Aaron, ‘Stretch out your rod, and strike the dust of the land, so that it may become [c]lice throughout all the land of Egypt.’ ”

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A Plague of Gnats

So the LORD said to Moses, “Tell Aaron, ‘Raise your staff and strike the ground. The dust will turn into swarms of gnats throughout the land of Egypt.’”

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And they did so. For Aaron stretched out his hand with his rod and struck the dust of the earth, and it became lice on man and beast. All the dust of the land became lice throughout all the land of Egypt.

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So Moses and Aaron did just as the LORD had commanded them. When Aaron raised his hand and struck the ground with his staff, gnats infested the entire land, covering the Egyptians and their animals. All the dust in the land of Egypt turned into gnats.

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Now the magicians so worked with their [d]enchantments to bring forth lice, but they could not. So there were lice on man and beast.

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Pharaoh’s magicians tried to do the same thing with their secret arts, but this time they failed. And the gnats covered everyone, people and animals alike.

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Then the magicians said to Pharaoh, “This is the[e] finger of God.” But Pharaoh’s heart grew hard, and he did not heed them, just as the Lord had said.

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“This is the finger of God!” the magicians exclaimed to Pharaoh. But Pharaoh’s heart remained hard. He wouldn’t listen to them, just as the LORD had predicted.

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The Fourth Plague: Flies

And the Lord said to Moses, “Rise early in the morning and stand before Pharaoh as he comes out to the water. Then say to him, ‘Thus says the Lord: “Let My people go, that they may serve Me.

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A Plague of Flies

Then the LORD told Moses, “Get up early in the morning and stand in Pharaoh’s way as he goes down to the river. Say to him, ‘This is what the LORD says: Let my people go, so they can worship me.

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Or else, if you will not let My people go, behold, I will send swarms of flies on you and your servants, on your people and into your houses. The houses of the Egyptians shall be full of swarms of flies, and also the ground on which they stand.

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If you refuse, then I will send swarms of flies on you, your officials, your people, and all the houses. The Egyptian homes will be filled with flies, and the ground will be covered with them.

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And in that day I will set apart the land of Goshen, in which My people dwell, that no swarms of flies shall be there, in order that you may know that I am the Lord in the midst of the land.

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But this time I will spare the region of Goshen, where my people live. No flies will be found there. Then you will know that I am the LORD and that I am present even in the heart of your land.

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I will [f]make a difference between My people and your people. Tomorrow this sign shall be.” ’ ”

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I will make a clear distinction betweend my people and your people. This miraculous sign will happen tomorrow.’”

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And the Lord did so. Thick swarms of flies came into the house of Pharaoh, into his servants’ houses, and into all the land of Egypt. The land was corrupted because of the swarms of flies.

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And the LORD did just as he had said. A thick swarm of flies filled Pharaoh’s palace and the houses of his officials. The whole land of Egypt was thrown into chaos by the flies.

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Then Pharaoh called for Moses and Aaron, and said, “Go, sacrifice to your God in the land.”

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Pharaoh called for Moses and Aaron. “All right! Go ahead and offer sacrifices to your God,” he said. “But do it here in this land.”

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And Moses said, “It is not right to do so, for we would be sacrificing the abomination of the Egyptians to the Lord our God. If we sacrifice the abomination of the Egyptians before their eyes, then will they not [g]stone us?

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But Moses replied, “That wouldn’t be right. The Egyptians detest the sacrifices that we offer to the LORD our God. Look, if we offer our sacrifices here where the Egyptians can see us, they will stone us.

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We will go three days’ journey into the wilderness and sacrifice to the Lord our God as He will command us.”

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We must take a three-day trip into the wilderness to offer sacrifices to the LORD our God, just as he has commanded us.”

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So Pharaoh said, “I will let you go, that you may sacrifice to the Lord your God in the wilderness; only you shall not go very far away. Intercede for me.”

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“All right, go ahead,” Pharaoh replied. “I will let you go into the wilderness to offer sacrifices to the LORD your God. But don’t go too far away. Now hurry and pray for me.”

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Then Moses said, “Indeed I am going out from you, and I will entreat the Lord, that the swarms of flies may depart tomorrow from Pharaoh, from his servants, and from his people. But let Pharaoh not deal deceitfully anymore in not letting the people go to sacrifice to the Lord.”

29

Moses answered, “As soon as I leave you, I will pray to the LORD, and tomorrow the swarms of flies will disappear from you and your officials and all your people. But I am warning you, Pharaoh, don’t lie to us again and refuse to let the people go to sacrifice to the LORD.”

30

So Moses went out from Pharaoh and entreated the Lord.

30

So Moses left Pharaoh’s palace and pleaded with the LORD to remove all the flies.

31

And the Lord did according to the word of Moses; He removed the swarms of flies from Pharaoh, from his servants, and from his people. Not one remained.

31

And the LORD did as Moses asked and caused the swarms of flies to disappear from Pharaoh, his officials, and his people. Not a single fly remained.

32

But Pharaoh hardened his heart at this time also; neither would he let the people go.

32

But Pharaoh again became stubborn and refused to let the people go.

Parallel

New King James Version

New Living Translation

Exodus 8

Exodus 8