New King James Version

New Living Translation

The Fifth Plague: Livestock Diseased

Then the Lord said to Moses, “Go in to Pharaoh and tell him, ‘Thus says the Lord God of the Hebrews: “Let My people go, that they may serve Me.

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A Plague against Livestock

“Go back to Pharaoh,” the LORD commanded Moses. “Tell him, ‘This is what the LORD, the God of the Hebrews, says: Let my people go, so they can worship me.

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

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If you continue to hold them and refuse to let them go,

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behold, the hand of the Lord will be on your cattle in the field, on the horses, on the donkeys, on the camels, on the oxen, and on the sheep — a very severe pestilence.

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the hand of the LORD will strike all your livestock — your horses, donkeys, camels, cattle, sheep, and goats — with a deadly plague.

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And the Lord will make a difference between the livestock of Israel and the livestock of Egypt. So nothing shall die of all that belongs to the children of Israel.” ’ ”

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But the LORD will again make a distinction between the livestock of the Israelites and that of the Egyptians. Not a single one of Israel’s animals will die!

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Then the Lord appointed a set time, saying, “Tomorrow the Lord will do this thing in the land.”

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The LORD has already set the time for the plague to begin. He has declared that he will strike the land tomorrow.’”

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So the Lord did this thing on the next day, and all the livestock of Egypt died; but of the livestock of the children of Israel, not one died.

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And the LORD did just as he had said. The next morning all the livestock of the Egyptians died, but the Israelites didn’t lose a single animal.

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Then Pharaoh sent, and indeed, not even one of the livestock of the Israelites was dead. But the heart of Pharaoh became hard, and he did not let the people go.

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Pharaoh sent his officials to investigate, and they discovered that the Israelites had not lost a single animal! But even so, Pharaoh’s heart remained stubborn,a and he still refused to let the people go.

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The Sixth Plague: Boils

So the Lord said to Moses and Aaron, “Take for yourselves handfuls of ashes from a furnace, and let Moses scatter it toward the heavens in the sight of Pharaoh.

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A Plague of Festering Boils

Then the LORD said to Moses and Aaron, “Take handfuls of soot from a brick kiln, and have Moses toss it into the air while Pharaoh watches.

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And it will become fine dust in all the land of Egypt, and it will cause boils that break out in sores on man and beast throughout all the land of Egypt.”

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The ashes will spread like fine dust over the whole land of Egypt, causing festering boils to break out on people and animals throughout the land.”

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Then they took ashes from the furnace and stood before Pharaoh, and Moses scattered them toward heaven. And they caused boils that break out in sores on man and beast.

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So they took soot from a brick kiln and went and stood before Pharaoh. As Pharaoh watched, Moses threw the soot into the air, and boils broke out on people and animals alike.

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And the magicians could not stand before Moses because of the boils, for the boils were on the magicians and on all the Egyptians.

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Even the magicians were unable to stand before Moses, because the boils had broken out on them and all the Egyptians.

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But the Lord hardened the heart of Pharaoh; and he did not heed them, just as the Lord had spoken to Moses.

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But the LORD hardened Pharaoh’s heart, and just as the LORD had predicted to Moses, Pharaoh refused to listen.

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The Seventh Plague: Hail

Then the Lord said to Moses, “Rise early in the morning and stand before Pharaoh, and say to him, ‘Thus says the Lord God of the Hebrews: “Let My people go, that they may serve Me,

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A Plague of Hail

Then the LORD said to Moses, “Get up early in the morning and stand before Pharaoh. Tell him, ‘This is what the LORD, the God of the Hebrews, says: Let my people go, so they can worship me.

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for at this time I will send all My plagues to your very heart, and on your servants and on your people, that you may know that there is none like Me in all the earth.

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If you don’t, I will send more plagues on youb and your officials and your people. Then you will know that there is no one like me in all the earth.

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Now if I had stretched out My hand and struck you and your people with pestilence, then you would have been cut off from the earth.

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By now I could have lifted my hand and struck you and your people with a plague to wipe you off the face of the earth.

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But indeed for this purpose I have raised you up, that I may show My power in you, and that My name may be declared in all the earth.

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But I have spared you for a purpose — to show you my powerc and to spread my fame throughout the earth.

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As yet you exalt yourself against My people in that you will not let them go.

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But you still lord it over my people and refuse to let them go.

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Behold, tomorrow about this time I will cause very heavy hail to rain down, such as has not been in Egypt since its founding until now.

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So tomorrow at this time I will send a hailstorm more devastating than any in all the history of Egypt.

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Therefore send now and gather your livestock and all that you have in the field, for the hail shall come down on every man and every animal which is found in the field and is not brought home; and they shall die.” ’ ”

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Quick! Order your livestock and servants to come in from the fields to find shelter. Any person or animal left outside will die when the hail falls.’”

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He who feared the word of the Lord among the servants of Pharaoh made his servants and his livestock flee to the houses.

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Some of Pharaoh’s officials were afraid because of what the LORD had said. They quickly brought their servants and livestock in from the fields.

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But he who did not regard the word of the Lord left his servants and his livestock in the field.

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But those who paid no attention to the word of the LORD left theirs out in the open.

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Then the Lord said to Moses, “Stretch out your hand toward heaven, that there may be hail in all the land of Egypt — on man, on beast, and on every herb of the field, throughout the land of Egypt.”

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Then the LORD said to Moses, “Lift your hand toward the sky so hail may fall on the people, the livestock, and all the plants throughout the land of Egypt.”

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And Moses stretched out his rod toward heaven; and the Lord sent thunder and hail, and fire darted to the ground. And the Lord rained hail on the land of Egypt.

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So Moses lifted his staff toward the sky, and the LORD sent thunder and hail, and lightning flashed toward the earth. The LORD sent a tremendous hailstorm against all the land of Egypt.

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So there was hail, and fire mingled with the hail, so very heavy that there was none like it in all the land of Egypt since it became a nation.

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Never in all the history of Egypt had there been a storm like that, with such devastating hail and continuous lightning.

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

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It left all of Egypt in ruins. The hail struck down everything in the open field — people, animals, and plants alike. Even the trees were destroyed.

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

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The only place without hail was the region of Goshen, where the people of Israel lived.

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

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Then Pharaoh quickly summoned Moses and Aaron. “This time I have sinned,” he confessed. “The LORD is the righteous one, and my people and I are wrong.

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Entreat[a] the Lord, that there may be no more [b]mighty thundering and hail, for it is enough. I will let you go, and you shall stay no longer.”

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Please beg the LORD to end this terrifying thunder and hail. We’ve had enough. I will let you go; you don’t need to stay any longer.”

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So Moses said to him, “As soon as I have gone out of the city, I will spread out my hands to the Lord; the thunder will cease, and there will be no more hail, that you may know that the earth is the Lord’s.

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“All right,” Moses replied. “As soon as I leave the city, I will lift my hands and pray to the LORD. Then the thunder and hail will stop, and you will know that the earth belongs to the LORD.

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But as for you and your servants, I know that you will not yet fear the Lord God.”

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But I know that you and your officials still do not fear the LORD God.”

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Now the flax and the barley were struck, for the barley was in the head and the flax was in bud.

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(All the flax and barley were ruined by the hail, because the barley had formed heads and the flax was budding.

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But the wheat and the spelt were not struck, for they are [c]late crops.

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But the wheat and the emmer wheat were spared, because they had not yet sprouted from the ground.)

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

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So Moses left Pharaoh’s court and went out of the city. When he lifted his hands to the LORD, the thunder and hail stopped, and the downpour ceased.

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And when Pharaoh saw that the rain, the hail, and the thunder had ceased, he sinned yet more; and he hardened his heart, he and his servants.

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But when Pharaoh saw that the rain, hail, and thunder had stopped, he and his officials sinned again, and Pharaoh again became stubborn.d

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So the heart of Pharaoh was hard; neither would he let the children of Israel go, as the Lord had spoken by Moses.

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Because his heart was hard, Pharaoh refused to let the people leave, just as the LORD had predicted through Moses.

Parallel

New King James Version

New Living Translation

Exodus 9

Exodus 9