¹⁷ But take this staff^(A) in your hand^(B) so you can perform the signs^(C) with it.”

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

⁵ Then the Lord said to Moses, “Tell Aaron, ‘Stretch out your hand with your staff^(A) over the streams and canals and ponds, and make frogs^(B) come up on the land of Egypt.’”

⁶ So Aaron stretched out his hand over the waters of Egypt, and the frogs^(C) came up and covered the land. ⁷ But the magicians did the same things by their secret arts;^(D) they also made frogs come up on the land of Egypt.

⁸ Pharaoh summoned Moses and Aaron and said, “Pray^(E) to the Lord to take the frogs away from me and my people, and I will let your people go to offer sacrifices^(F) to the Lord.”

⁹ Moses said to Pharaoh, “I leave to you the honor of setting the time^(G) for me to pray for you and your officials and your people that you and your houses may be rid of the frogs, except for those that remain in the Nile.”

¹⁰ “Tomorrow,” Pharaoh said.

Moses replied, “It will be as you say, so that you may know there is no one like the Lord our God.^{(H) 11} The frogs will leave you and your houses, your officials and your people; they will remain only in the Nile.”

¹² After Moses and Aaron left Pharaoh, Moses cried out to the Lord about the frogs he had brought on Pharaoh. ¹³ And the Lord did what Moses asked.^(I) The frogs died in the houses, in the courtyards and in the fields. ¹⁴ They were piled into heaps, and the land reeked of them. ¹⁵ But when Pharaoh saw that there was relief,^(J) he hardened his heart^(K) and would not listen to Moses and Aaron, just as the Lord had said.

The Plague of Gnats

¹⁶ Then the Lord said to Moses, “Tell Aaron, ‘Stretch out your staff^(L) and strike the dust of the ground,’ and throughout the land of Egypt the dust will become gnats.” ¹⁷ They did this, and when Aaron stretched out his hand with the staff and struck the dust of the ground, gnats^(M) came on people and animals. All the dust throughout the land of Egypt became gnats. ¹⁸ But when the magicians^(N) tried to produce gnats by their secret arts,^(O) they could not.

Since the gnats were on people and animals everywhere, ¹⁹ the magicians said to Pharaoh, “This is the finger^(P) of God.” But Pharaoh’s heart^(Q) was hard and he would not listen,^(R) just as the Lord had said.

The Plague of Flies

²⁰ Then the Lord said to Moses, “Get up early in the morning^(S) and confront Pharaoh as he goes to the river and say to him, ‘This is what the Lord says: Let my people go, so that they may worship^(T) me.

²³ When Moses stretched out his staff toward the sky, the Lord sent thunder^(A) and hail,^(B) and lightning flashed down to the ground. So the Lord rained hail on the land of Egypt;

³ So Moses and Aaron went to Pharaoh and said to him, “This is what the Lord, the God of the Hebrews, says: ‘How long will you refuse to humble^(A) yourself before me? Let my people go, so that they may worship me. ⁴ If you refuse^(B) to let them go, I will bring locusts^(C) into your country tomorrow. ⁵ They will cover the face of the ground so that it cannot be seen. They will devour what little you have left^(D) after the hail, including every tree that is growing in your fields.^{(E) 6} They will fill your houses^(F) and those of all your officials and all the Egyptians—something neither your parents nor your ancestors have ever seen from the day they settled in this land till now.’”^(G) Then Moses turned and left Pharaoh.

⁷ Pharaoh’s officials said to him, “How long will this man be a snare^(H) to us? Let the people go, so that they may worship the Lord their God. Do you not yet realize that Egypt is ruined?”^(I)

⁸ Then Moses and Aaron were brought back to Pharaoh. “Go, worship^(J) the Lord your God,” he said. “But tell me who will be going.”

⁹ Moses answered, “We will go with our young and our old, with our sons and our daughters, and with our flocks and herds, because we are to celebrate a festival^(K) to the Lord.”

¹⁰ Pharaoh said, “The Lord be with you—if I let you go, along with your women and children! Clearly you are bent on evil.^{[a] 11} No! Have only the men go and worship the Lord, since that’s what you have been asking for.” Then Moses and Aaron were driven out of Pharaoh’s presence.

¹² And the Lord said to Moses, “Stretch out your hand^(L) over Egypt so that locusts swarm over the land and devour everything growing in the fields, everything left by the hail.”

¹³ So Moses stretched out his staff^(M) over Egypt, and the Lord made an east wind blow across the land all that day and all that night. By morning the wind had brought the locusts;^{(N) 14} they invaded all Egypt and settled down in every area of the country in great numbers. Never before had there been such a plague of locusts,^(O) nor will there ever be again. ¹⁵ They covered all the ground until it was black. They devoured^(P) all that was left after the hail—everything growing in the fields and the fruit on the trees. Nothing green remained on tree or plant in all the land of Egypt.

¹⁶ Pharaoh quickly summoned^(Q) Moses and Aaron and said, “I have sinned^(R) against the Lord your God and against you. ¹⁷ Now forgive^(S) my sin once more and pray^(T) to the Lord your God to take this deadly plague away from me.”

¹⁸ Moses then left Pharaoh and prayed to the Lord.^{(U) 19} And the Lord changed the wind to a very strong west wind, which caught up the locusts and carried them into the Red Sea.^[b] Not a locust was left anywhere in Egypt. ²⁰ But the Lord hardened Pharaoh’s heart,^(V) and he would not let the Israelites go.

The Plague of Darkness

²¹ Then the Lord said to Moses, “Stretch out your hand toward the sky so that darkness^(W) spreads over Egypt—darkness that can be felt.”

²¹ Then Moses stretched out his hand^(A) over the sea,^(B) and all that night the Lord drove the sea back with a strong east wind^(C) and turned it into dry land.^(D) The waters were divided,^(E)

²⁶ Then the Lord said to Moses, “Stretch out your hand over the sea so that the waters may flow back over the Egyptians and their chariots and horsemen.”

²⁷ Moses stretched out his hand over the sea, and at daybreak the sea went back to its place.^(A) The Egyptians were fleeing toward^[a] it, and the Lord swept them into the sea.^(B)

⁵ The Lord answered Moses, “Go out in front of the people. Take with you some of the elders of Israel and take in your hand the staff^(A) with which you struck the Nile,^(B) and go.