¹⁷ And take in your hand ^(A)this staff, with which you shall do the signs.”

²⁰ So Moses took ^(A)his wife and his sons and had them ride on a donkey, and went back to the land of Egypt. And Moses took ^(B)the staff of God in his hand.

^5 [a] And the Lord said to Moses, “Say to Aaron, ^(A)‘Stretch out your hand with your staff over the rivers, over the canals and over the pools, and make frogs come up on the land of Egypt!’” ⁶ So Aaron stretched out his hand over the waters of Egypt, and ^(B)the frogs came up and covered the land of Egypt. ⁷ But ^(C)the magicians did the same by their secret arts and made frogs come up on the land of Egypt.

⁸ Then Pharaoh called Moses and Aaron and said, ^(D)“Plead with the Lord to take away the frogs from me and from my people, and ^(E)I will let the people go to sacrifice to the Lord.” ⁹ Moses said to Pharaoh, “Be pleased to command me when ^(F)I am to plead for you and for your servants and for your people, that the frogs be cut off from you and your houses and be left only in the Nile.” ¹⁰ And he said, “Tomorrow.” Moses said, “Be it as you say, so ^(G)that you may know that ^(H)there is no one like the Lord our God. ¹¹ The frogs shall go away from you and your houses and your servants and your people. They shall be left only in the Nile.” ¹² So Moses and Aaron went out from Pharaoh, and Moses cried to the Lord about the frogs, as he had agreed with Pharaoh.^{[b] 13} And the Lord did according to the word of Moses. The frogs died out in the houses, the courtyards, and the fields. ¹⁴ And they gathered them together in heaps, and the land stank. ¹⁵ But when Pharaoh saw that there was a ^(I)respite, he ^(J)hardened his heart and would not listen to them, as the Lord had said.

The Third Plague: Gnats

¹⁶ Then the Lord said to Moses, “Say to Aaron, ^(K)‘Stretch out your staff and strike the dust of the earth, so that it may become gnats in all the land of Egypt.’” ¹⁷ And they did so. Aaron stretched out his hand with his staff and struck the dust of the earth, and ^(L)there were gnats on man and beast. All the dust of the earth became gnats in all the land of Egypt. ¹⁸ The ^(M)magicians tried by their secret arts to produce gnats, but they could not. So there were gnats on man and beast. ¹⁹ Then the magicians said to Pharaoh, “This is ^(N)the finger of God.” But Pharaoh's heart was hardened, and he would not listen to them, as the Lord had said.

The Fourth Plague: Flies

²⁰ Then the Lord said to Moses, ^(O)“Rise up early in the morning and present yourself to Pharaoh, as he goes out to the water, and say to him, ‘Thus says the Lord, ^(P)“Let my people go, that they may serve me.

²³ Then Moses stretched out his staff toward heaven, and the ^(A)Lord sent thunder and hail, and fire ran down to the earth. And the Lord rained hail upon the land of Egypt.

³ So Moses and Aaron went in to Pharaoh and said to him, “Thus says the Lord, the God of the Hebrews, ‘How long will you refuse to ^(A)humble yourself before me? Let my people go, that they may serve me. ⁴ For if you refuse to let my people go, behold, tomorrow I will bring ^(B)locusts into your country, ⁵ and they shall cover the face of the land, so that no one can see the land. And they shall ^(C)eat what is left to you after the hail, and they shall eat every tree of yours that grows in the field, ⁶ and they shall fill ^(D)your houses and the houses of all your servants and of all the Egyptians, as neither your fathers nor your grandfathers have seen, from the day they came on earth to this day.’” Then he turned and went out from Pharaoh.

⁷ Then Pharaoh's servants said to him, “How long shall this man be a snare to us? Let the men go, that they may serve the Lord their God. Do you not yet understand that Egypt is ruined?” ⁸ So Moses and Aaron were brought back to Pharaoh. And he said to them, ^(E)“Go, serve the Lord your God. But which ones are to go?” ⁹ Moses said, “We will go with our young and our old. We will go with our sons and daughters and with our flocks and herds, for ^(F)we must hold a feast to the Lord.” ¹⁰ But he said to them, “The Lord be with you, if ever I let you and your ^(G)little ones go! Look, you have some evil purpose in mind.^{[a] 11} No! Go, the men among you, and serve the Lord, for that is what you are asking.” And they were driven out from Pharaoh's presence.

¹² Then the Lord said to Moses, ^(H)“Stretch out your hand over the land of Egypt for the locusts, so that they may come upon the land of Egypt and ^(I)eat every plant in the land, all that the hail has left.” ¹³ So Moses stretched out his staff over the land of Egypt, and the Lord brought an east wind upon the land all that day and all that night. When it was morning, the east wind had brought the locusts. ^14 (J)The locusts came up over all the land of Egypt and settled on the whole country of Egypt, ^(K)such a dense swarm of locusts as had never been before, nor ever will be again. ¹⁵ They covered the face of the whole land, so that the land was darkened, and ^(L)they ate all the plants in the land and all the fruit of the trees that the hail had left. Not a green thing remained, neither tree nor plant of the field, through all the land of Egypt. ¹⁶ Then Pharaoh hastily called Moses and Aaron and said, ^(M)“I have sinned against the Lord your God, and against you. ¹⁷ Now therefore, forgive my sin, please, only this once, and ^(N)plead with the Lord your God only to remove this death from me.” ¹⁸ So ^(O)he went out from Pharaoh and pleaded with the Lord. ¹⁹ And the Lord turned the wind into a very strong west wind, which lifted the locusts and drove them ^(P)into the Red Sea. Not a single locust was left in all the country of Egypt. ²⁰ But the Lord ^(Q)hardened Pharaoh's heart, and he did not let the people of Israel go.

The Ninth Plague: Darkness

²¹ Then the Lord said to Moses, ^(R)“Stretch out your hand toward heaven, that there may be ^(S)darkness over the land of Egypt, a darkness to be felt.”

²¹ Then Moses ^(A)stretched out his hand over the sea, and the Lord drove the sea back by ^(B)a strong east wind all night and ^(C)made the sea dry land, and the waters were ^(D)divided.

²⁶ Then the Lord said to Moses, ^(A)“Stretch out your hand over the sea, that the water may come back upon the Egyptians, upon their chariots, and upon their horsemen.”

^27 (A)So Moses stretched out his hand over the sea, and the sea ^(B)returned to its normal course when the morning appeared. And as the Egyptians fled into it, the Lord ^(C)threw^[a] the Egyptians into the midst of the sea.

⁵ And the Lord said to Moses, “Pass on before the people, taking with you some of the elders of Israel, and take in your hand the staff with ^(A)which you struck the Nile, and go.