Exodus 7-9

Easy-to-Read Version

7 The Lord said to Moses, “See how important I have made you? In speaking to Pharaoh, you will be like God, and your brother Aaron will be your prophet. ² You will tell Aaron everything that I command you. Then he will tell the king what I say. And Pharaoh will let the Israelites leave this country. ³ But I will make Pharaoh stubborn so that he will not do what you tell him. Then I will do many miracles in Egypt to prove who I am. ⁴ But he will still refuse to listen. So then I will punish Egypt very much. And I will lead my army, my people, out of that land. ⁵ I will punish the people of Egypt, and they will learn that I am the Lord. Then I will lead my people out of their country.”

⁶ Moses and Aaron did what the Lord told them. ⁷ Moses was 80 years old at the time, and Aaron was 83.

Moses’ Walking Stick Becomes a Snake

⁸ The Lord said to Moses and Aaron, ⁹ “Pharaoh will ask you to prove your power. He will ask you to do a miracle. Tell Aaron to throw his walking stick on the ground. While Pharaoh is watching, the stick will become a snake.”

¹⁰ So Moses and Aaron went to Pharaoh and obeyed the Lord. Aaron threw his walking stick down. While Pharaoh and his officers watched, the stick became a snake.

¹¹ So Pharaoh called for his wise men and magicians. These men used their magic, and they were able to do the same thing as Aaron. ¹² They threw their walking sticks on the ground, and their sticks became snakes. But then Aaron’s walking stick ate theirs. ¹³ Pharaoh still refused to let the people go, just as the Lord had said. Pharaoh refused to listen to Moses and Aaron.

The Water Becomes Blood

¹⁴ Then the Lord said to Moses, “Pharaoh is being stubborn. He refuses to let the people go. ¹⁵ In the morning Pharaoh will go out to the river. Go to him by the edge of the Nile River. Take the walking stick that became a snake. ¹⁶ Tell him this: ‘The Lord, the God of the Hebrews, sent me to you. He told me to tell you to let his people go worship him in the desert. Until now you have not listened to the Lord. ¹⁷ So the Lord says that he will do something to show you that he is the Lord. I will hit the water of the Nile River with this walking stick in my hand, and the river will turn into blood. ¹⁸ The fish in the river will die, and the river will begin to stink. Then the Egyptians will not be able to drink the water from the river.’”

¹⁹ The Lord said to Moses: “Tell Aaron to hold the walking stick in his hand over the rivers, canals, lakes, and every place where they store water. When he does this, all the water will turn into blood. All the water, even the water stored in wood and stone jars, will turn into blood.”

²⁰ So Moses and Aaron did what the Lord commanded. Aaron raised the walking stick and hit the water in the Nile River. He did this in front of Pharaoh and his officials. So all the water in the river changed into blood. ²¹ The fish in the river died, and the river began to stink. So the Egyptians could not drink water from the river. The blood was everywhere in Egypt.

²² The magicians used their magic to do the same thing. So Pharaoh refused to listen to Moses and Aaron. This happened just as the Lord said. ²³ Pharaoh ignored what Moses and Aaron had done. He turned and went into his house.

²⁴ The Egyptians could not drink the water from the river, so they dug wells around the river 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 Pharaoh and tell him that the Lord says, ‘Let my people go to worship me! ² If you refuse to let my people go, then I will fill Egypt with frogs. ³ The 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. ⁴ The frogs will be all over you, your people, and your officials.’”

⁵ Then 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.”

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

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

⁸ Pharaoh 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.”

⁹ Moses 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?”

¹⁰ Pharaoh 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. ¹¹ The frogs will leave you, your house, your officials, and your people. They will remain only in the river.”

¹² Moses and Aaron left Pharaoh. Moses prayed to the Lord about the frogs he had sent against Pharaoh. ¹³ And the Lord did what Moses asked. The frogs died in the houses, in the yards, and in the fields. ¹⁴ They began to rot, and the whole country began to stink. ¹⁵ But 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

¹⁶ Then 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.”

¹⁷ They 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.

¹⁸ The 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. ¹⁹ So 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

²⁰ The 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! ²¹ If 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! ²² But 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. ²³ So tomorrow I will treat my people differently from your people. This will be my proof.’”

²⁴ So 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. ²⁵ So Pharaoh called for Moses and Aaron and told them, “Offer sacrifices to your God here in this country.”

²⁶ But 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. ²⁷ Let us go three days into the desert and offer sacrifices to the Lord our God. This is what he told us to do.”

²⁸ So 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.”

²⁹ Moses 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.”

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

The Disease of the Farm Animals

9 Then the Lord told Moses to go to Pharaoh and tell him: “The Lord, the God of the Hebrews, says, ‘Let my people go to worship me!’ ² If you continue to hold them and refuse to let them go, ³ then the Lord will use his power against your animals in the fields. He will cause all of your horses, donkeys, camels, cattle, and sheep to get sick with a terrible disease. 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 the time for this to happen. He said, ‘Tomorrow the Lord will make this happen in this country.’”

⁶ The next morning the Lord did what he said. All the farm animals of the Egyptians died, but none of the animals that belonged to the Israelites died. ⁷ Pharaoh sent people to see if any of the animals of Israel died. Not one of them died. But Pharaoh remained stubborn and 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, you throw the ashes into the air in front of Pharaoh. ⁹ This will become dust that will go throughout the land of Egypt. Whenever the dust touches a person or an animal in Egypt, sores will break out on the skin.”

¹⁰ So Moses and Aaron took ashes from a furnace and went and stood before Pharaoh. Moses threw the ashes into the air, and sores began breaking out on people and animals. ¹¹ The magicians could not stop Moses from doing this, because even the magicians had the sores. This happened everywhere in Egypt. ¹² But the Lord made Pharaoh stubborn, so he refused to listen to Moses and Aaron, just as the Lord had said.

The Hail

¹³ Then the Lord said to Moses, “Get up in the morning and go to Pharaoh. Tell him that the Lord, the God of the Hebrews, says, ‘Let my people go to worship me! ¹⁴ This time, I will use my full power against you, your officials, and your people. Then you will know that there is no god in the world like me. ¹⁵ I could use my power and cause a disease that would wipe you and your people off the earth. ¹⁶ But I have put you here for a reason. I have put you here so that I could show you my power. Then people all over the world will learn about me! ¹⁷ You are still against my people. You are not letting them go free. ¹⁸ So at this time tomorrow, I will cause a very bad hailstorm. There has never been a hailstorm like this in Egypt, not since Egypt became a nation. ¹⁹ Now, you must put your animals in a safe place. Everything you own that is now in the fields must be put in a safe place. Any person or animal that remains in the fields will be killed. The hail will fall on everything that is not gathered into your houses.’”

²⁰ Some of Pharaoh’s officials paid attention to the Lord’s message. They quickly put all of their animals and slaves into houses. ²¹ But other people ignored the Lord’s message and lost all their slaves and animals that were in the fields.

²² The Lord told Moses, “Raise your hand into the air and the hail will start falling all over Egypt. The hail will fall on all the people, animals, and plants in all the fields of Egypt.”

²³ So Moses raised his walking stick into the air, and the Lord sent hail with thunder and lightning down on the earth. The Lord caused hail to fall all over Egypt. ²⁴ The hail was falling, and lightning was flashing all through it. It was the worst hailstorm that had ever hit Egypt since it had become a nation. ²⁵ The storm destroyed everything in the fields in Egypt. The hail destroyed people, animals, and plants. The hail also broke all the trees in the fields. ²⁶ The only place that did not get hail was the land of Goshen, where the Israelites lived.

²⁷ Pharaoh sent for Moses and Aaron and told them, “This time I have sinned. The Lord is right, and I and my people are wrong. ²⁸ We have had enough of this hail and thunder! Ask the Lord to stop the storm, and I will let you go. You don’t have to stay here.”

²⁹ Moses told Pharaoh, “When I leave the city, I will lift my hands in prayer to the Lord, and the thunder and hail will stop. Then you will know that the Lord is in this land. ³⁰ But I know that you and your officials don’t really fear and respect the Lord yet.”

³¹ The flax had already developed its seeds, and the barley was already blooming. So these plants were destroyed. ³² But wheat and spelt ripen later than the other grains, so these plants were not destroyed.

³³ Moses left Pharaoh and went outside the city. He lifted his hands in prayer to the Lord. And the thunder and hail stopped, and then even the rain stopped.

³⁴ When Pharaoh saw that the rain, hail, and thunder had stopped, he again did wrong. He and his officials became stubborn again. ³⁵ Pharaoh refused to let the Israelites go free, just as the Lord had said through Moses.