¹⁷ They did this, and when Aaron stretched out his hand with the staff and struck the dust of the ground, gnats^(A) came on people and animals. All the dust throughout the land of Egypt became gnats. ¹⁸ But when the magicians^(B) tried to produce gnats by their secret arts,^(C) they could not.

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

The Plague of Flies

²⁰ Then the Lord said to Moses, “Get up early in the morning^(G) 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^(H) me. ²¹ If you do not let my people go, I will send swarms of flies on you and your officials, on your people and into your houses. The houses of the Egyptians will be full of flies; even the ground will be covered with them.

²² “‘But on that day I will deal differently with the land of Goshen,^(I) where my people live;^(J) no swarms of flies will be there, so that you will know^(K) that I, the Lord, am in this land. ²³ I will make a distinction^[a] between my people and your people.^(L) This sign will occur tomorrow.’”

²⁴ And the Lord did this. Dense swarms of flies poured into Pharaoh’s palace and into the houses of his officials; throughout Egypt the land was ruined by the flies.^(M)

²⁵ Then Pharaoh summoned^(N) Moses and Aaron and said, “Go, sacrifice to your God here in the land.”

²⁶ But Moses said, “That would not be right. The sacrifices we offer the Lord our God would be detestable to the Egyptians.^(O) And if we offer sacrifices that are detestable in their eyes, will they not stone us? ²⁷ We must take a three-day journey^(P) into the wilderness to offer sacrifices^(Q) to the Lord our God, as he commands us.”