Exodus 7-9

New Life Version

Aaron Speaks for Moses

7 The Lord said to Moses, “See, I have made you as God to Pharaoh. Your brother Aaron will be the one who speaks for you. ² You will speak all that I tell you. Your brother Aaron will tell Pharaoh to let the people of Israel leave his land. ³ But I will make Pharaoh’s heart hard. So I will do many powerful works for the people to see in the land of Egypt. ⁴ Pharaoh will not listen to you. Then I will lay My hand on Egypt. By great acts that will punish the Egyptians, I will bring out My family groups, My people, the sons of Israel, from the land of Egypt. ⁵ The Egyptians will know that I am the Lord when I put My hand upon Egypt and bring out the people of Israel from among them.” ⁶ So Moses and Aaron did what the Lord told them to do. ⁷ Moses was eighty years old and Aaron was eighty-three years old, when they spoke to Pharaoh.

Aaron’s Special Walking Stick

⁸ The Lord said to Moses and Aaron, ⁹ “When Pharaoh says to you, ‘Prove yourselves by doing a powerful work,’ then you say to Aaron, ‘Take your special stick and throw it down in front of Pharaoh so that it will become a snake.’” ¹⁰ So Moses and Aaron went to Pharaoh. They did just as the Lord had told them. Aaron threw his stick down in front of Pharaoh and his servants and it became a snake. ¹¹ Then Pharaoh called for his wise men and wonder-workers. They did the same thing using their secret ways. ¹² For each one threw down his stick and it became a snake. But Aaron’s special stick ate their sticks. ¹³ Yet Pharaoh’s heart was hard. He did not listen to them, just as the Lord had said.

Water Becomes Blood

¹⁴ The Lord said to Moses, “Pharaoh’s heart is not changed. He will not let the people go. ¹⁵ Go to Pharaoh in the morning when he is going out to the water. Wait for him beside the Nile River. Take in your hand the special stick that became a snake. ¹⁶ And say to him, ‘The Lord, the God of the Hebrews, sent me to you, saying, “Let My people go, so they may worship Me in the desert. But see, you have not yet listened.” ¹⁷ So the Lord says, “By this you will know that I am the Lord. I will hit the water of the Nile with the special stick that is in my hand. And the water will be changed to blood. ¹⁸ The fish that are in the Nile will die. And the Nile will have a bad smell. The Egyptians will not be able to drink water from the Nile.”’” ¹⁹ Then the Lord said to Moses, “Say to Aaron, ‘Take your special stick and put your hand out over the waters of Egypt, over their rivers, their pools, and all their man-made lakes of water, so they will become blood. There will be blood through all the land of Egypt, even in pots of wood and pots of stone.’”

²⁰ Moses and Aaron did what the Lord had told them. Aaron raised the special stick and hit the water of the Nile in front of Pharaoh and his servants. And all the water in the Nile was turned into blood. ²¹ The

fish that were in the Nile died. And the Nile had a bad smell. So the Egyptians could not drink water from the Nile. The blood was through all the land of Egypt. ²² But the wonder-workers of Egypt did the same thing using their secret ways. And Pharaoh’s heart was hard. He did not listen to them, just as the Lord had said. ²³ Then Pharaoh turned and went into his house, without even thinking what had happened. ²⁴ And all the Egyptians dug around the Nile for water to drink. For they could not drink the water of the Nile. ²⁵ Seven days passed after the Lord had hit the Nile.

Frogs Cover the Land

8 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Go to Pharaoh and say to him, ‘The Lord says this: “Let My people go, so they may worship Me. ² But if you will not let them go, I will bring trouble to your whole country with frogs. ³ The Nile will be full of frogs. They will come up and go in your house and in your room and on your bed. They will come in the houses of your servants and on your people. They will come in your stoves and in your bread dough. ⁴ The frogs will come up on you and your people and all your servants.”’” ⁵ Then the Lord said to Moses, “Say to Aaron, ‘Put out your hand with your special stick over the rivers and over the pools. Make frogs come up on the land of Egypt.’” ⁶ So Aaron put his hand out over the waters of Egypt. And the frogs came up and covered the land of Egypt. ⁷ But the wonder-workers did the same thing using their secret ways. They made frogs come up on the land of Egypt.

Frogs Destroyed

⁸ Then Pharaoh called for Moses and Aaron and said, “You pray to the Lord to take the frogs away from me and my people. And I will let the people go, so they may give a gift in worship to the Lord.” ⁹ Moses said to Pharaoh, “The honor is yours to tell me when I should pray for you and your servants and your people, that the frogs may be sent away from you and your houses and stay only in the Nile.”

¹⁰ Pharaoh said, “Tomorrow.” And Moses said, “May it be as you say. You will know that there is no one like the Lord our God. ¹¹ The frogs will go away from you and your houses and your servants and your people. They will stay only in the Nile.” ¹² Then Moses and Aaron went away from Pharaoh. And Moses cried to the Lord about the frogs that He had brought against Pharaoh. ¹³ The Lord did as Moses said. The frogs died in and around the houses and the fields. ¹⁴ The people gathered them together, and the land had a bad smell. ¹⁵ But when Pharaoh saw that there was rest from the trouble, he made his heart hard. He did not listen to them, just as the Lord had said.

Dust Turned to Lice

¹⁶ Then the Lord said to Moses, “Say to Aaron, ‘Put out your special stick and hit the dust of the earth. It will become lice through all the land of Egypt.’” ¹⁷ And they did so. Aaron put out his hand with his stick and hit the dust of the earth. And there were lice on man and animal. All the dust of the earth became lice through all the land of Egypt. ¹⁸ The wonder-workers tried to cause lice to come by using their secret ways. But they could not. So there were lice on man and animal. ¹⁹ Then the wonder-workers said to Pharaoh, “This is the finger of God.” But Pharaoh’s heart was hard. He did not listen to them, just as the Lord had said.

Flies Cover All the Land

²⁰ Then the Lord said to Moses, “Get up early in the morning and wait for Pharaoh as he goes out to the water. Say to him, ‘The Lord says this: “Let My people go, so they may worship Me. ²¹ For if you will not let My people go, I will send many flies upon you and upon your servants and upon your people and into your houses. The houses of the Egyptians will be full of flies, and also the ground will be covered with them. ²² But on that day I will set apart the land of Goshen where My people are living so no flies will be there. Then you may know that I, the Lord, am in the land. ²³ I will divide My people from your people. Tomorrow you will see this happen.”’” ²⁴ And the Lord did so. And there came a great many flies flying all over inside the house of the Pharaoh and in the houses of his servants. The land was destroyed because of the many flies in all the land of Egypt.

²⁵ Then Pharaoh called for Moses and Aaron and said, “Go and give a gift in worship to your God here in the land.” ²⁶ But Moses said, “It is not right to do this. For the Egyptians hate what we would give in worship to the Lord our God. If the Egyptians see us giving this gift and doing what they think is sinful, will they not throw stones at us? ²⁷ We must travel three days to the desert and give a gift in worship to the Lord our God, as He tells us to do.”

²⁸ So Pharaoh said, “I will let you go, so you may give a gift to the Lord your God. But do not go very far away. Pray for me.” ²⁹ Then Moses said, “I am leaving you. I will pray to the Lord that the many flies may leave Pharaoh and his servants and his people tomorrow. But do not let Pharaoh lie again by not letting the people go to give a gift on an altar to the Lord.”

The Flies Are Destroyed

³⁰ So Moses left Pharaoh and prayed to the Lord. ³¹ And the Lord did as Moses asked. He took the many flies away from Pharaoh and his servants and his people. Not one was left. ³² But Pharaoh made his heart hard this time also. He did not let the people go.

Animals Owned by Egyptians Die

9 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Go to Pharaoh and say to him, ‘The Lord, the God of the Hebrews, says this: “Let My people go, so they may worship Me. ² For if you will not let them go, and still hold them, ³ the hand of the Lord will come with a very bad disease on your animals in the field: on the horses, the donkeys, the camels, the cattle and the flocks. ⁴ But the Lord will divide the animals of Israel from the animals of Egypt. So nothing will die of all that belongs to the people of Israel.”’” ⁵ The Lord made a time for this, saying, “Tomorrow the Lord will do this in the land.” ⁶ So the Lord did this on the next day. All the animals of Egypt died. But not one of the animals died that belonged to the people of Israel. ⁷ Pharaoh learned that not one of the animals of Israel was dead. But the heart of Pharaoh was hard. He did not let the people go.

Bad Sores Come on Egyptians and Their Animals

⁸ Then the Lord said to Moses and Aaron, “Fill your hands with ashes from a stove. Let Moses throw them toward the sky in front of Pharaoh. ⁹ And it will become fine dust over all the land of Egypt and will become bad sores on man and animal through all the land of Egypt.” ¹⁰ So they took ashes from a stove. Moses stood in front of Pharaoh and threw the ashes toward the sky. And it became sores on man and animal. ¹¹ The wonder-workers could not stand in front of Moses because of the sores. For the sores were on the wonder-workers and on all the Egyptians. ¹² But the Lord made the heart of Pharaoh hard. He did not listen to them, just as the Lord had said to Moses.

Large Hail and Fire

¹³ Then the Lord said to Moses, “Get up early in the morning and stand in front of Pharaoh and say to him, ‘The Lord, the God of the Hebrews, says this: “Let My people go, so they may worship Me. ¹⁴ For this time I will send all My troubles on you and your servants and your people. So you may know that there is no one like Me in all the earth. ¹⁵ For by now I could have put out My hand and hit you and your people with much trouble and great suffering. You would then have been destroyed from the earth. ¹⁶ But I have let you live so you could see My power and so My name may be honored through all the earth. ¹⁷ But you still use your power against My people by not letting them go. ¹⁸ About this time tomorrow I will send a very heavy hail such as has never been seen in Egypt from the day it began until now. ¹⁹ Have your cattle and whatever you have in the field brought to a safe place. For the hail will come down upon every man and animal that is in the field and is not brought home. And they will die.”’” ²⁰ Any of the people of Egypt who feared the word of the Lord made his servants and animals run to the houses. ²¹ But he who did not listen to the word of the Lord left his servants and animals in the field.

²² The Lord said to Moses, “Put out your hand toward the sky and hail will fall on all the land of Egypt. Hail will fall on man and animal and every plant of the field through all the land of Egypt.” ²³ Moses put out his special stick toward the sky. Then the Lord sent thunder and hail. And lightning struck the ground. The Lord poured hail on the land of Egypt. ²⁴ So there was hail and lightning striking through the hail without stopping. It was very bad, worse than had ever been in all the land of Egypt since it became a nation. ²⁵ The hail hit all that was in the field through all the land of Egypt, both man and animal. The hail hit every plant of the field and broke down every tree of the field. ²⁶ Only in the land of Goshen where the people of Israel were, there was no hail.

²⁷ Then Pharaoh sent for Moses and Aaron. He said to them, “I have sinned this time. The Lord is right. I and my people are guilty. ²⁸ Pray to the Lord. For there has been enough of God’s thunder and hail. And I will let you go. You will stay here no longer.” ²⁹ Moses said to him, “When I have gone out of the city, I will spread out my hands to the Lord. The thunder will stop. There will be no more hail. Then you may know that the earth is the Lord’s. ³⁰ But I know that you and your servants do not yet fear the Lord God.” ³¹ The flax and the barley were destroyed. For these plants had just begun to grow. ³² But the other grains were not destroyed, because they grow later.

³³ So Moses left the city and Pharaoh. He spread out his hands to the Lord. And the thunder and the hail stopped. The rain no longer poured on the earth. ³⁴ But when Pharaoh saw that the rain and hail and thunder had stopped, he sinned again. He and his servants made their hearts hard. ³⁵ Pharaoh’s heart was not changed. He did not let the people of Israel go, just as the Lord had said by Moses.