Exodus 9  Legacy Standard Bible

The Plague of Dying Egyptian Livestock

9 Then Yahweh said to Moses, “Come to Pharaoh and speak to him, ‘Thus says Yahweh, the God of the Hebrews, “^(A)Let My people go, that they may serve Me. ² For ^(B)if you refuse to let them go and ^[a]continue to hold them, ³ behold, ^(C)the hand of Yahweh ^[b]will come with a very heavy pestilence on your livestock which are in the field, on the horses, on the donkeys, on the camels, on the herds, and on the flocks. ^4 (D)But Yahweh will make a distinction between the livestock of Israel and the livestock of Egypt, so that ^(E)nothing will die of all that belongs to the sons of Israel.”’” ⁵ Yahweh also set a definite time, saying, “Tomorrow Yahweh will do this thing in the land.” ⁶ So Yahweh did this thing on the next day, and ^(F)all the livestock of Egypt died; ^(G)but of the livestock of the sons of Israel, not one died. ⁷ And Pharaoh sent, and behold, there was not even one of the livestock of Israel dead. But ^(H)the heart of Pharaoh was ^[c]hardened with firmness, and he did not let the people go.

The Plague of Boils

⁸ Then Yahweh said to Moses and Aaron, “Take for yourselves handfuls of soot from a kiln, and let Moses toss it toward the sky in the sight of Pharaoh. ⁹ And it will become fine dust over all the land of Egypt, and it will become ^(I)boils breaking out with sores on man and beast through all the land of Egypt.” ¹⁰ So they took the soot from the kiln and stood before Pharaoh; and Moses tossed it toward the sky, and it became boils breaking out with sores on man and beast. ^11 (J)And the ^[d]magicians could not stand before Moses because of the boils, for the boils were on the magicians ^[e]as well as on all the Egyptians. ¹² And ^(K)Yahweh ^[f]hardened Pharaoh’s heart with strength, and he did not listen to them, just as Yahweh had spoken to Moses.

The Plague of Hail

¹³ And Yahweh said to Moses, “^(L)Rise up early in the morning and stand before Pharaoh, and you shall say to him, ‘Thus says Yahweh, the God of the Hebrews, “^(M)Let My people go, that they may serve Me. ¹⁴ For this time I will send all My plagues against your heart and amongst your servants and your people, so that ^(N)you may know that there is no one like Me in all the earth. ¹⁵ For if by now I had sent forth My hand and struck you and your people with pestilence, you would then have been wiped out from the earth. ¹⁶ But, indeed, ^(O)for this reason I have caused you to stand, in order to show you My power and in order to recount My name through all the earth. ¹⁷ Still you ^[g]exalt yourself against My people ^[h]by not letting them go. ¹⁸ Behold, about this time tomorrow, ^(P)I will rain down very heavy hail, such as has not been seen in Egypt from the day it was founded ^[i]until now. ¹⁹ So now, send, bring ^(Q)your livestock and whatever you have in the field to safety. ^(R)Every man and beast that is found in the field and is not brought home, the hail will come down on them, and they will die.”’” ^20 (S)The one among the servants of Pharaoh who ^[j]feared the word of Yahweh made his servants and his livestock flee into the houses; ²¹ but he who did not ^[k]consider in his heart the word of Yahweh ^[l]left his servants and his livestock in the field.

²² Now Yahweh said to Moses, “Stretch out your hand toward the sky, that ^(T)there may be hail on all the land of Egypt, on man and on beast and on every plant of the field, throughout the land of Egypt.” ²³ So Moses stretched out his staff toward the sky, and Yahweh gave forth ^[m]thunder and ^(U)hail, and fire went down to the earth. And Yahweh rained down hail on the land of Egypt. ²⁴ So there was hail, and fire ^[n]flashing continually in the midst of the hail, very heavy, such as had not been in all the land of Egypt since it became a nation. ^25 (V)And the hail struck all that was in the field through all the land of Egypt, from man to beast; the hail also struck every plant of the field and shattered every tree of the field. ^26 (W)Only in the land of Goshen, where the sons of Israel were, there was no hail.

²⁷ Then Pharaoh ^(X)sent and called for Moses and Aaron and said to them, “^(Y)I have sinned this time; Yahweh is the righteous one, and I and my people are the wicked ones. ^28 (Z)Entreat Yahweh, for God’s ^[o]thunder and hail are too much; and ^(AA)I will let you go, and you shall stay no longer.” ²⁹ And Moses said to him, “As soon as I go out of the city, I will ^(AB)spread out my ^[p]hands to Yahweh; the ^[q]thunder will cease, and there will be hail no longer, that you may know that ^(AC)the earth is Yahweh’s. ^30 (AD)But as for you and your servants, I know that ^(AE)you do not yet ^[r]fear ^[s]Yahweh God.” ³¹ (Now the flax and the ^(AF)barley were struck down, for the barley was in the ear and the flax was in bud. ³² But the wheat and the spelt were not struck down, for they are late-ripening.) ^33 (AG)And Moses went out of the city from Pharaoh and spread out his ^[t]hands to Yahweh; and the ^[u]thunder and the hail ceased, and rain ^[v]no longer poured on the earth. ³⁴ But Pharaoh saw that the rain and the hail and the ^[w]thunder had ceased. So he sinned again and ^[x]hardened his heart with firmness, he and his servants. ³⁵ And Pharaoh’s heart was ^[y]hardened with strength, and he did not let the sons of Israel go, just as ^(AH)Yahweh had spoken by the hand of Moses.