Exodus 8

1Then the Lord told Moses, “Go to Pharaoh and tell him that the Lord says, ‘Let my people go to worship me! 2If you refuse to let my people go, then I will fill Egypt with frogs. 3The Nile River will be filled with frogs. They will come from the river and enter your houses. They will be in your bedrooms and in your beds. They will be in the houses of your officials and in your ovens and in your jars of water. 4The frogs will be all over you, your people, and your officials.’”

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

6So Aaron raised his hand over the waters of Egypt, and the frogs began coming out of the water and covered the land of Egypt.

7The magicians used their magic to do the same thing—so even more frogs came out onto the land in Egypt!

8Pharaoh called for Moses and Aaron and said, “Ask the Lord to remove the frogs from me and my people. I will let the people go to offer sacrifices to the Lord.”

9Moses said to Pharaoh, “I will pray for you, your people, and your officials. Then the frogs will leave you and your houses. They will remain only in the river. When do you want the frogs to go away?”

10Pharaoh said, “Tomorrow.”

Moses said, “It will happen as you say. In this way you will know that there is no god like the Lord our God. 11The frogs will leave you, your house, your officials, and your people. They will remain only in the river.”

12Moses and Aaron left Pharaoh. Moses prayed to the Lord about the frogs he had sent against Pharaoh. 13And the Lord did what Moses asked. The frogs died in the houses, in the yards, and in the fields. 14They began to rot, and the whole country began to stink. 15But when Pharaoh saw that they were free of the frogs, he again became stubborn. Pharaoh did not do what Moses and Aaron had asked him to do. This happened just as the Lord had said.

The Lice

16Then the Lord said to Moses, “Tell Aaron to raise his stick and hit the dust on the ground, and everywhere in Egypt dust will become lice.”

17They did this. Aaron raised the stick in his hand and hit the dust on the ground, and everywhere in Egypt the dust became lice. The lice got on the animals and the people.

18The magicians used their magic and tried to do the same thing. But the magicians could not make lice come from the dust. The lice remained on the animals and the people. 19So the magicians told Pharaoh that the power of God did this. But Pharaoh refused to listen to them. This happened just as the Lord had said.

The Flies

20The Lord said to Moses, “Get up in the morning and go to Pharaoh. He will go out to the river. Tell him that the Lord says, ‘Let my people go and worship me! 21If you don’t let my people go, then flies will come into your houses. The flies will be on you and your officials. The houses of Egypt will be full of flies. They will be all over the ground too! 22But I will not treat the Israelites the same as the Egyptians. There will not be any flies in Goshen, where my people live. In this way you will know that I, the Lord, am in this land. 23So tomorrow I will treat my people differently from your people. This will be my proof.’”

24So the Lord did just what he said. Millions of flies came into Egypt. The flies were in Pharaoh’s house, and they were in all his officials’ houses. They were all over Egypt. The flies were ruining the country. 25So Pharaoh called for Moses and Aaron and told them, “Offer sacrifices to your God here in this country.”

26But Moses said, “It would not be right to do that. The Egyptians think it is terrible to kill animals as sacrifices for the Lord our God. If we do this here, the Egyptians will see us and throw stones at us and kill us. 27Let us go three days into the desert and offer sacrifices to the Lord our God. This is what he told us to do.”

28So Pharaoh said, “I will let you go and offer sacrifices to the Lord your God in the desert, but you must not go very far. Now, go and pray for me.”

29Moses said, “Look, I will leave and ask the Lord to remove the flies from you, your people, and your officials tomorrow. But you must not stop the people from offering sacrifices to the Lord.”

30So Moses left Pharaoh and prayed to the Lord. 31And the Lord did what Moses asked. He removed the flies from Pharaoh, his officials, and his people. None of the flies remained. 32But Pharaoh again became stubborn and did not let the people go.

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Exodus 8: ERV

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