Exodus
Chapter 9
1 Then God told Moses, “Go to Pharaoh and say to him, ‘God of the Hebrews says, let my people go so they can worship me.’”
2 If you refuse to let them go and still hold them,
3 Look, God’s power is on your livestock in the fields—on the horses, donkeys, camels, cows, and sheep. A severe disease will come.
4 God will separate the livestock of Israel from the livestock of Egypt, and none of Israel’s animals will die.
5 God decided on a specific time and said, “Tomorrow God will do this in the land.”
6 The next day, God did that, and all of Egypt’s cattle died, but not one of Israel’s cattle died.
7 Pharaoh checked, and not one of the Israelites’ animals had died. But Pharaoh’s heart was stubborn, and he did not let the people go.
8 God told Moses and Aaron, “Grab handfuls of furnace ashes, and have Moses toss them into the air where Pharaoh can see.”
9 It will turn into fine dust over all of Egypt, causing sores that burst into blisters on people and animals everywhere in Egypt.
10 They took furnace ashes and stood before Pharaoh; Moses threw them into the air, and they caused sores to break out on people and animals.
11 The magicians couldn’t stay in front of Moses because of the sores, as the sores were on the magicians and all the Egyptians.
12 God made Pharaoh’s heart stubborn, and he didn’t listen to them, just as God had told Moses.
13 God told Moses, “Get up early in the morning, stand in front of Pharaoh, and tell him, ‘God, the God of the Hebrews, says, “Let my people go, so they can worship me.”‘”
14 I will now send all my diseases to you, your servants, and your people, so you will know there is no one like me in the whole world.
15 I will now reach out my hand to strike you and your people with disease, and you will be removed from the earth.
16 I made you strong for this reason: to show my power through you and to spread my name all over the world.
17 Are you still proud against my people and refuse to let them go?
18 Look, tomorrow at this time I will make a very terrible hailstorm happen, like none that has been in Egypt since it was founded until now.
19 Go now and bring in your animals and everything you have in the fields. If any person or animal is left outside and not brought to a safe place, they will be hit by hail and die.
20 Anyone who respected God’s message among Pharaoh’s officials brought their servants and animals inside the houses.
21 The person who ignored God’s word left their workers and animals outside.
22 God told Moses, “Reach out your hand to the sky so that hail falls over all of Egypt—on people, animals, and every plant in the fields.”
23 Moses raised his staff to the sky, and God made thunder and hail, and fire moved along the ground; and God poured down hail on Egypt.
24 There was hail and fire mixed with the hail, very terrible, like nothing ever seen in Egypt since it became a country.
25 The hail hit all over Egypt, hurting people and animals outdoors, and it damaged all the plants and broke all the trees in the fields.
26 In Goshen, where the Israelites lived, there was no hail.
27 The king sent for Moses and Aaron, and said to them, I did wrong this time: God is right, and I and my people are bad.
28 Ask God, because it’s enough, to stop the powerful thunder and hail; then I’ll let you go, and you won’t have to stay longer.
29 Moses said to him, “Once I leave the city, I will raise my hands to God; the thunder will stop and there will be no more hail. This is to show you that the earth belongs to God.”
30 But I know that you and your servants do not yet fear God.
31 The flax and barley were destroyed because the barley had heads and the flax had buds.
32 The wheat and the rye were not damaged because they had not yet grown.
33 Moses left the city, away from Pharaoh, and reached out his hands to God. Then the thunder and hail stopped, and the rain no longer fell on the land.
34 When the king saw that the rain, hail, and thunder had stopped, he sinned even more and became more stubborn, along with his officials.
35 Pharaoh’s heart was stubborn, and he wouldn’t let the Israelites go, just as God had said through Moses.