¹⁰ Come, let us deal shrewdly with them to stop their increase;^[a] otherwise, in time of war they too may join our enemies to fight against us, and so leave the land.”

¹¹ Accordingly, they set supervisors over the Israelites to oppress them with forced labor.^(A) Thus they had to build for Pharaoh^[b] the garrison cities of Pithom and Raamses. ¹² Yet the more they were oppressed, the more they multiplied and spread, so that the Egyptians began to loathe the Israelites. ¹³ So the Egyptians reduced the Israelites to cruel slavery, ¹⁴ making life bitter for them with hard labor, at mortar^[c] and brick and all kinds of field work—cruelly oppressed in all their labor.

Chapter 5

Pharaoh’s Hardness of Heart. ¹ Afterwards, Moses and Aaron went to Pharaoh and said, “Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel: Let my people go, that they may hold a feast^[a] for me in the wilderness.” ² Pharaoh answered, “Who is the Lord, that I should obey him and let Israel go? I do not know the Lord,^[b] and I will not let Israel go.” ³ They replied, “The God of the Hebrews has come to meet us. Let us go a three days’ journey in the wilderness, that we may offer sacrifice to the Lord, our God,^(A) so that he does not strike us with the plague or the sword.” ⁴ The king of Egypt answered them, “Why, Moses and Aaron, do you make the people neglect their work? Off to your labors!” ⁵ Pharaoh continued, “Look how they are already more numerous^[c] than the people of the land, and yet you would give them rest from their labors!”

⁶ That very day Pharaoh gave the taskmasters of the people and their foremen^[d] this order: ⁷ “You shall no longer supply the people with straw for their brickmaking^[e] as before. Let them go and gather their own straw! ⁸ Yet you shall levy upon them the same quota of bricks as they made previously. Do not reduce it. They are lazy; that is why they are crying, ‘Let us go to offer sacrifice to our God.’ ⁹ Increase the work for the men, so that they attend to it and not to deceitful words.”

¹⁰ So the taskmasters of the people and their foremen went out and told the people, “Thus says Pharaoh,^[f] ‘I will not provide you with straw. ¹¹ Go and get your own straw from wherever you can find it. But there will not be the slightest reduction in your work.’” ¹² The people, then, scattered throughout the land of Egypt to gather stubble for straw, ¹³ while the taskmasters kept driving them on, saying, “Finish your work, the same daily amount as when the straw was supplied to you.” ¹⁴ The Israelite foremen, whom the taskmasters of Pharaoh had placed over them, were beaten, and were asked, “Why have you not completed your prescribed amount of bricks yesterday and today, as before?”

Complaint of the Foremen. ¹⁵ Then the Israelite foremen came and cried out to Pharaoh:^[g] “Why do you treat your servants in this manner? ¹⁶ No straw is supplied to your servants, and still we are told, ‘Make bricks!’ Look how your servants are beaten! It is you who are at fault.” ¹⁷ He answered, “Lazy! You are lazy! That is why you keep saying, ‘Let us go and offer sacrifice to the Lord.’ ¹⁸ Now off to work! No straw will be supplied to you, but you must supply your quota of bricks.”

¹⁹ The Israelite foremen realized they were in trouble, having been told, “Do not reduce your daily amount of bricks!” ²⁰ So when they left Pharaoh they assailed Moses and Aaron, who were waiting to meet them, ²¹ and said to them, “The Lord look upon you and judge! You have made us offensive to Pharaoh and his servants, putting a sword into their hands to kill us.”

Chapter 7

¹ The Lord answered Moses: See! I have made you a god to Pharaoh,^(A) and Aaron your brother will be your prophet.^{[a] 2} You will speak all that I command you. In turn, your brother Aaron will tell Pharaoh to let the Israelites go out of his land. ³ Yet I will make Pharaoh so headstrong that, despite the many signs and wonders that I work in the land of Egypt, ⁴ Pharaoh will not listen to you. Therefore I will lay my hand on Egypt and with mighty acts of judgment I will bring my armies, my people the Israelites, out of the land of Egypt. ⁵ All Egyptians will know that I am the Lord, when I stretch out my hand against Egypt and bring the Israelites out of their midst.

⁶ This, then, is what Moses and Aaron did. They did exactly as the Lord had commanded them. ⁷ Moses was eighty years old, and Aaron eighty-three, when they spoke to Pharaoh.

III. The Contest with Pharaoh

The Staff Turned into a Serpent. ⁸ The Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron: ⁹ When Pharaoh demands of you, “Produce a sign or wonder,” you will say to Aaron: “Take your staff and throw it down before Pharaoh, and it will turn into a serpent.”^{(B) 10} Then Moses and Aaron went to Pharaoh and did just as the Lord had commanded. Aaron threw his staff down before Pharaoh and his servants, and it turned into a serpent. ¹¹ Pharaoh, in turn, summoned the wise men and the sorcerers, and they also, the magicians^(C) of Egypt, did the same thing by their magic arts. ¹² Each one threw down his staff, and they turned into serpents. But Aaron’s staff swallowed their staffs. ¹³ Pharaoh, however, hardened his heart and would not listen to them, just as the Lord had foretold.

First Plague: Water Turned into Blood.^{[b] 14} Then the Lord said to Moses: Pharaoh is obstinate^[c] in refusing to let the people go. ¹⁵ In the morning, just when he sets out for the water, go to Pharaoh and present yourself by the bank of the Nile, holding in your hand the staff that turned into a snake.^{[d] 16} Say to him: The Lord, the God of the Hebrews, sent me to you with the message: Let my people go to serve me in the wilderness. But as yet you have not listened. ¹⁷ Thus says the Lord: This is how you will know that I am the Lord. With the staff here in my hand, I will strike the water in the Nile and it will be changed into blood.^{(D) 18} The fish in the Nile will die, and the Nile itself will stink so that the Egyptians will be unable to drink water from the Nile.

¹⁹ The Lord then spoke to Moses: Speak to Aaron: Take your staff and stretch out your hand over the waters of Egypt—its streams, its canals, its ponds, and all its supplies of water—that they may become blood. There will be blood throughout the land of Egypt, even in the wooden pails and stone jars.

²⁰ This, then, is what Moses and Aaron did, exactly as the Lord had commanded. Aaron raised his staff and struck the waters in the Nile in full view of Pharaoh and his servants, and all the water in the Nile was changed into blood. ²¹ The fish in the Nile died, and the Nile itself stank so that the Egyptians could not drink water from it. There was blood throughout the land of Egypt. ²² But the Egyptian magicians did the same^[e] by their magic arts. So Pharaoh hardened his heart and would not listen to them, just as the Lord had said. ²³ Pharaoh turned away and went into his house, with no concern even for this. ²⁴ All the Egyptians had to dig round about the Nile for drinking water, since they could not drink any water from the Nile.

Second Plague: The Frogs. ²⁵ Seven days passed after the Lord had struck the Nile. ²⁶ Then the Lord said to Moses: Go to Pharaoh and tell him:^(E) Thus says the Lord: Let my people go to serve me. ²⁷ If you refuse to let them go, then I will send a plague of frogs over all your territory. ²⁸ The Nile will teem with frogs. They will come up and enter into your palace and into your bedroom and onto your bed, into the houses of your servants, too, and among your people, even into your ovens and your kneading bowls. ²⁹ The frogs will come up over you and your people and all your servants.

Chapter 8

¹ The Lord then spoke to Moses: Speak to Aaron: Stretch out your hand with your staff over the streams, the canals, and the ponds, and make frogs overrun the land of Egypt. ² So Aaron stretched out his hand over the waters of Egypt, and the frogs came up and covered the land of Egypt. ³ But the magicians did the same by their magic arts and made frogs overrun the land of Egypt.

⁴ Then Pharaoh summoned Moses and Aaron and said, “Pray to the Lord to remove the frogs from me and my people, and I will let the people go to sacrifice to the Lord.” ⁵ Moses answered Pharaoh, “Please designate for me the time when I am to pray for you and your servants and your people, to get rid of the frogs from you and your houses. They will be left only in the Nile.” ⁶ “Tomorrow,” he said. Then Moses replied, “It will be as you have said, so that you may know that there is none like the Lord, our God. ⁷ The frogs will leave you and your houses, your servants and your people; they will be left only in the Nile.”

⁸ After Moses and Aaron left Pharaoh’s presence, Moses cried out to the Lord on account of the frogs that he had inflicted on Pharaoh; ⁹ and the Lord did as Moses had asked. The frogs died off in the houses, the courtyards, and the fields. ¹⁰ Heaps of them were piled up, and the land stank. ¹¹ But when Pharaoh saw there was a respite, he became obstinate and would not listen to them, just as the Lord had said.

Third Plague: The Gnats. ¹² Thereupon the Lord spoke to Moses: Speak to Aaron: Stretch out your staff and strike the dust of the earth, and it will turn into gnats^[f](F) throughout the land of Egypt. ¹³ They did so. Aaron stretched out his hand with his staff and struck the dust of the earth, and gnats came upon human being and beast alike. All the dust of the earth turned into gnats throughout the land of Egypt. ¹⁴ Though the magicians did the same thing to produce gnats by their magic arts, they could not do so.^(G) The gnats were on human being and beast alike, ¹⁵ and the magicians said to Pharaoh, “This is the finger of God.”^[g] Yet Pharaoh hardened his heart and would not listen to them, just as the Lord had said.

Fourth Plague: The Flies. ¹⁶ Then the Lord spoke to Moses: Early tomorrow morning present yourself to Pharaoh when he sets out toward the water, and say to him: Thus says the Lord: Let my people go to serve me. ¹⁷ For if you do not let my people go, I will send swarms of flies upon you and your servants and your people and your houses. The houses of the Egyptians and the very ground on which they stand will be filled with swarms of flies. ¹⁸ But on that day I will make an exception of the land of Goshen, where my people are, and no swarms of flies will be there, so that you may know that I the Lord am in the midst of the land. ¹⁹ I will make a distinction^[h] between my people and your people. This sign will take place tomorrow. ²⁰ This the Lord did. Thick swarms of flies entered the house of Pharaoh and the houses of his servants; throughout Egypt the land was devastated on account of the swarms of flies.^(H)

²¹ Then Pharaoh summoned Moses and Aaron and said, “Go sacrifice to your God within the land.” ²² But Moses replied, “It is not right to do so, for what we sacrifice to the Lord, our God, is abhorrent to the Egyptians.^[i] If we sacrifice what is abhorrent to the Egyptians before their very eyes, will they not stone us? ²³ We must go a three days’ journey in the wilderness and sacrifice to the Lord, our God, as he commands us.” ²⁴ Pharaoh said, “I will let you go to sacrifice to the Lord, your God, in the wilderness, provided that you do not go too far away. Pray for me.” ²⁵ Moses answered, “As soon as I leave you I will pray to the Lord that the swarms of flies may depart tomorrow from Pharaoh, his servants, and his people. Pharaoh, however, must not act deceitfully again and refuse to let the people go to sacrifice to the Lord.” ²⁶ When Moses left Pharaoh, he prayed to the Lord; ²⁷ and the Lord did as Moses had asked, removing the swarms of flies from Pharaoh, his servants, and his people. Not one remained. ²⁸ But once more Pharaoh became obstinate and would not let the people go.

Chapter 9

Fifth Plague: The Pestilence. ¹ Then the Lord said to Moses: Go to Pharaoh and tell him: Thus says the Lord, the God of the Hebrews: Let my people go to serve me. ² For if you refuse to let them go and persist in holding them, ³ the hand of the Lord will strike your livestock in the field—your horses, donkeys, camels, herds and flocks—with a very severe pestilence. ⁴ But the Lord will distinguish between the livestock of Israel and that of Egypt, so that nothing belonging to the Israelites will die. ⁵ And the Lord set a definite time, saying: Tomorrow the Lord will do this in the land. ⁶ And on the next day the Lord did it. All the livestock of the Egyptians died,^(I) but not one animal belonging to the Israelites died. ⁷ But although Pharaoh found upon inquiry that not even so much as one of the livestock of the Israelites had died, he remained obstinate and would not let the people go.

Sixth Plague: The Boils. ⁸ So the Lord said to Moses and Aaron: Each of you take handfuls of soot from a kiln, and in the presence of Pharaoh let Moses scatter it toward the sky. ⁹ It will turn into fine dust over the whole land of Egypt and cause festering boils^[j] on human being and beast alike throughout the land of Egypt.

¹⁰ So they took the soot from a kiln and appeared before Pharaoh. When Moses scattered it toward the sky, it caused festering boils on human being and beast alike. ¹¹ Because of the boils the magicians could not stand in Moses’ presence, for there were boils on the magicians as well as on the rest of the Egyptians. ¹² But the Lord hardened Pharaoh’s heart, and he would not listen to them, just as the Lord had said to Moses.

Seventh Plague: The Hail. ¹³ Then the Lord spoke to Moses: Early tomorrow morning present yourself to Pharaoh and say to him: Thus says the Lord, the God of the Hebrews: Let my people go to serve me, ¹⁴ for this time I will unleash all my blows upon you and your servants and your people, so that you may know that there is none like me anywhere on earth. ¹⁵ For by now I should have stretched out my hand and struck you and your people with such pestilence that you would have vanished from the earth. ¹⁶ But this is why I have let you survive: to show you^[k] my power and to make my name resound throughout the earth!^{(J) 17} Will you continue to exalt yourself over my people and not let them go? ¹⁸ At this time tomorrow, therefore, I am going to rain down such fierce hail as there has never been in Egypt from the day it was founded up to the present. ¹⁹ Therefore, order your livestock and whatever else you have in the open fields to be brought to a place of safety. Whatever human being or animal is found in the fields and is not brought to shelter will die when the hail comes down upon them. ²⁰ Those of Pharaoh’s servants who feared the word of the Lord hurried their servants and their livestock off to shelter. ²¹ But those who did not pay attention to the word of the Lord left their servants and their livestock in the fields.

²² The Lord then said to Moses: Stretch out your hand toward the sky, that hail may fall upon the entire land of Egypt, on human being and beast alike and all the vegetation of the fields in the land of Egypt. ²³ So Moses stretched out his staff toward the sky, and the Lord sent forth peals of thunder and hail.^(K) Lightning flashed toward the earth, and the Lord rained down hail upon the land of Egypt. ²⁴ There was hail and lightning flashing here and there through the hail, and the hail was so fierce that nothing like it had been seen in Egypt since it became a nation. ²⁵ Throughout the land of Egypt the hail struck down everything in the fields, human being and beast alike; it struck down all the vegetation of the fields and splintered every tree in the fields. ²⁶ Only in the land of Goshen, where the Israelites were, was there no hail.

²⁷ Then Pharaoh sent for Moses and Aaron and said to them, “I have sinned this time! The Lord is the just one, and I and my people are the ones at fault. ²⁸ Pray to the Lord! Enough of the thunder^[l] and hail! I will let you go; you need stay no longer.” ²⁹ Moses replied to him, “As soon as I leave the city I will extend my hands to the Lord; the thunder will cease, and there will be no more hail so that you may know that the earth belongs to the Lord. ³⁰ But as for you and your servants, I know that you do not yet fear the Lord God.”

³¹ Now the flax and the barley were ruined, because the barley was in ear and the flax in bud. ³² But the wheat and the spelt were not ruined, for they grow later.

³³ When Moses had left Pharaoh and gone out of the city, he extended his hands to the Lord. The thunder and the hail ceased, and the rain no longer poured down upon the earth. ³⁴ But Pharaoh, seeing that the rain and the hail and the thunder had ceased, sinned again and became obstinate, both he and his servants. ³⁵ In the hardness of his heart, Pharaoh would not let the Israelites go, just as the Lord had said through Moses.

Chapter 10

Eighth Plague: The Locusts. ¹ Then the Lord said to Moses: Go to Pharaoh, for I have made him and his servants obstinate in order that I may perform these signs of mine among them ² and that you may recount to your son and grandson how I made a fool of the Egyptians and what signs I did among them, so that you may know that I am the Lord.^(L)

³ So Moses and Aaron went to Pharaoh and told him, “Thus says the Lord, the God of the Hebrews: How long will you refuse to submit to me? Let my people go to serve me. ⁴ For if you refuse to let my people go, tomorrow I will bring locusts into your territory. ⁵ They will cover the surface of the earth, so that the earth itself will not be visible. They will eat up the remnant you saved undamaged from the hail, as well as all the trees that are growing in your fields. ⁶ They will fill your houses and the houses of your servants and of all the Egyptians—something your parents and your grandparents have not seen from the day they appeared on this soil until today.” With that he turned and left Pharaoh.

⁷ But Pharaoh’s servants said to him, “How long will he be a snare for us? Let the people go to serve the Lord, their God. Do you not yet realize that Egypt is being destroyed?” ⁸ So Moses and Aaron were brought back to Pharaoh, who said to them, “Go, serve the Lord, your God. But who exactly will go?” ⁹ Moses answered, “With our young and old we must go; with our sons and daughters, with our flocks and herds we must go. It is a pilgrimage feast of the Lord for us.” ¹⁰ “The Lord help you,”^[m] Pharaoh replied, “if I let your little ones go with you! Clearly, you have some evil in mind. ¹¹ By no means! Just you men go and serve the Lord.^[n] After all, that is what you have been asking for.” With that they were driven from Pharaoh’s presence.

^12 (M)The Lord then said to Moses: Stretch out your hand over the land of Egypt for the locusts, that they may come upon it and eat up all the land’s vegetation, whatever the hail has left. ¹³ So Moses stretched out his staff over the land of Egypt, and the Lord drove an east wind^[o] over the land all that day and all night. When it was morning, the east wind brought the locusts. ¹⁴ The locusts came up over the whole land of Egypt and settled down over all its territory. Never before had there been such a fierce swarm of locusts, nor will there ever be again. ¹⁵ They covered the surface of the whole land, so that it became black. They ate up all the vegetation in the land and all the fruit of the trees the hail had spared. Nothing green was left on any tree or plant in the fields throughout the land of Egypt.

¹⁶ Pharaoh hurriedly summoned Moses and Aaron and said, “I have sinned against the Lord, your God, and against you. ¹⁷ But now, do forgive me my sin only this once, and pray to the Lord, your God, only to take this death from me.” ¹⁸ When Moses left Pharaoh, he prayed to the Lord, ¹⁹ and the Lord caused the wind to shift to a very strong west wind, which took up the locusts and hurled them into the Red Sea.^[p] Not a single locust remained within the whole territory of Egypt. ²⁰ Yet the Lord hardened Pharaoh’s heart, and he would not let the Israelites go.

Ninth Plague: The Darkness. ^21 (N)Then the Lord said to Moses: Stretch out your hand toward the sky, that over the land of Egypt there may be such darkness^[q] that one can feel it. ²² So Moses stretched out his hand toward the sky, and there was dense darkness throughout the land of Egypt for three days. ²³ People could not see one another, nor could they get up from where they were, for three days. But all the Israelites had light where they lived.

²⁴ Pharaoh then summoned Moses and Aaron and said, “Go, serve the Lord. Only your flocks and herds will be detained. Even your little ones may go with you.” ²⁵ But Moses replied, “You also must give us sacrifices and burnt offerings to make to the Lord, our God. ²⁶ Our livestock also must go with us. Not an animal must be left behind, for some of them we will select for service^[r] to the Lord, our God; but we will not know with which ones we are to serve the Lord until we arrive there.” ²⁷ But the Lord hardened Pharaoh’s heart, and he was unwilling to let them go. ²⁸ Pharaoh said to Moses, “Leave me, and see to it that you do not see my face again! For the day you do see my face you will die!” ²⁹ Moses replied, “You are right! I will never see your face again.”

Chapter 11

Tenth Plague: The Death of the Firstborn. ¹ Then the Lord spoke to Moses: One more plague I will bring upon Pharaoh and upon Egypt. After that he will let you depart. In fact, when he finally lets you go, he will drive you away. ^2 (O)Instruct the people that every man is to ask his neighbor, and every woman her neighbor, for silver and gold articles and for clothing. ³ The Lord indeed made the Egyptians well-disposed toward the people; Moses himself was very highly regarded by Pharaoh’s servants and the people in the land of Egypt.

⁴ Moses then said, “Thus says the Lord: About midnight I will go forth through Egypt.^{(P) 5 (Q)}Every firstborn in the land of Egypt will die, from the firstborn of Pharaoh who sits on his throne to the firstborn of the slave-girl who is at the handmill,^[s] as well as all the firstborn of the animals. ⁶ Then there will be loud wailing throughout the land of Egypt, such as has never been, nor will ever be again. ⁷ But among all the Israelites, among human beings and animals alike, not even a dog will growl, so that you may know that the Lord distinguishes between Egypt and Israel. ⁸ All these servants of yours will then come down to me and bow down before me, saying: Leave, you and all your followers!^(R) Then I will depart.” With that he left Pharaoh’s presence in hot anger.

⁹ The Lord said to Moses: Pharaoh will not listen to you so that my wonders may be multiplied in the land of Egypt. ¹⁰ Thus, although Moses and Aaron performed all these wonders in Pharaoh’s presence, the Lord hardened Pharaoh’s heart, and he would not let the Israelites go from his land.