Exodus 8

Then the LORD said to Moses, "Go to Pharaoh and tell him, 'This is what the LORD says: Let my people go, so they can worship me.'"

1And the LORD spake unto Moses, Go unto Pharaoh, and say unto him, Thus saith the LORD, Let my people go, that they may serve me.

Note"LORD" printed in capitals stands where the Hebrew has God's personal name, the four letters usually written YHWH; ordinary "Lord" or "God" translates different words. The verb behind "worship me" is the same one used for slave labor, so the demand puns on it: Israel is to stop serving Pharaoh and serve the LORD instead.

2"But if you refuse to let them go, I will strike your whole country with frogs."

2And if thou refuse to let them go, behold, I will smite all thy borders with frogs:

3"The Nile will swarm with frogs. They will come up into your palace, into your bedroom, and onto your bed. They will get into the houses of your officials and onto your people, and into your ovens and your bread bowls."

3And the river shall bring forth frogs abundantly, which shall go up and come into thine house, and into thy bedchamber, and upon thy bed, and into the house of thy servants, and upon thy people, and into thine ovens, and into thy kneadingtroughs:

NoteEgyptian ovens were clay domes heated from inside, and the "bread bowls" (KJV "kneadingtroughs") were wooden or clay vessels in which dough was mixed and left to rise. Frogs in both means the daily bread supply is fouled at every stage.

4"The frogs will come up on you, on your people, and on all your officials."

4And the frogs shall come up both on thee, and upon thy people, and upon all thy servants.

5Then the LORD said to Moses, "Tell Aaron, 'Reach out your hand with your staff over the rivers, the canals, and the ponds, and make frogs come up on the land of Egypt.'"

5And the LORD spake unto Moses, Say unto Aaron, Stretch forth thine hand with thy rod over the streams, over the rivers, and over the ponds, and cause frogs to come up upon the land of Egypt.

NoteEgypt's water was not one channel: the Nile split into branches across the Delta and fed a network of dug irrigation canals and standing pools left when the flood receded. The list covers all of it.

6So Aaron stretched out his hand over the waters of Egypt, and the frogs came up and covered the land of Egypt.

6And Aaron stretched out his hand over the waters of Egypt; and the frogs came up, and covered the land of Egypt.

7But the magicians did the same thing by their secret arts, and they also brought frogs up on the land of Egypt.

7And the magicians did so with their enchantments, and brought up frogs upon the land of Egypt.

NoteThe "magicians" were a recognized Egyptian profession, temple scribes and ritual specialists, trained in written spells and rites. "Secret arts" (KJV "enchantments") translates a Hebrew word for their hidden craft; the text does not say how their results were produced.

8Then Pharaoh sent for Moses and Aaron and said, "Pray to the LORD to take the frogs away from me and my people, and I will let your people go to offer sacrifices to the LORD."

8Then Pharaoh called for Moses and Aaron, and said, Intreat the LORD, that he may take away the frogs from me, and from my people; and I will let the people go, that they may do sacrifice unto the LORD.

9Moses said to Pharaoh, "You may have the honor of naming the time. When shall I pray for you, your officials, and your people, so the frogs will be gone from you and your houses and will be left only in the Nile?"

9And Moses said unto Pharaoh, Glory over me: when shall I intreat for thee, and for thy servants, and for thy people, to destroy the frogs from thee and thy houses, that they may remain in the river only?

NoteThe King James "Glory over me" renders a Hebrew idiom, roughly "take the honour over me", Moses hands Pharaoh the advantage of naming the moment himself.

10Pharaoh said, "Tomorrow." Moses replied, "It will be just as you say, so that you may know there is no one like the LORD our God."

10And he said, To morrow. And he said, Be it according to thy word: that thou mayest know that there is none like unto the LORD our God.

11"The frogs will leave you, your houses, your officials, and your people. They will be left only in the Nile."

11And the frogs shall depart from thee, and from thy houses, and from thy servants, and from thy people; they shall remain in the river only.

12Moses and Aaron left Pharaoh, and Moses cried out to the LORD about the frogs he had brought against Pharaoh.

12And Moses and Aaron went out from Pharaoh: and Moses cried unto the LORD because of the frogs which he had brought against Pharaoh.

13The LORD did what Moses asked. The frogs died in the houses, in the courtyards, and in the fields.

13And the LORD did according to the word of Moses; and the frogs died out of the houses, out of the villages, and out of the fields.

NoteThe Hebrew word rendered "courtyards" can equally mean "villages" (so KJV); it refers to walled enclosures, whether the yard of a single house or a cluster of dwellings.

14People piled them up in heap after heap, and the land smelled terrible.

14And they gathered them together upon heaps: and the land stank.

15But when Pharaoh saw that the trouble had eased, he made his heart stubborn and would not listen to Moses and Aaron, just as the LORD had said.

15But when Pharaoh saw that there was respite, he hardened his heart, and hearkened not unto them; as the LORD had said.

NoteIn Hebrew the heart is where a person thinks and decides, not where they feel. To "harden" or "make heavy" the heart is to become fixed and unmovable in a decision. Exodus uses this language both ways: sometimes Pharaoh hardens his own heart, as here, and sometimes the LORD hardens it.

16Then the LORD said to Moses, "Tell Aaron, 'Reach out your staff and strike the dust of the ground, and it will turn into gnats all over the land of Egypt.'"

16And the LORD said unto Moses, Say unto Aaron, Stretch out thy rod, and smite the dust of the land, that it may become lice throughout all the land of Egypt.

NoteThe Hebrew word (KJV "lice") names a small biting insect that cannot be identified with certainty; ancient and modern translators have offered gnats, mosquitoes, lice and sand fleas.

17They did this. Aaron reached out his hand with his staff and struck the dust of the ground, and gnats came on people and animals. All the dust of the land turned into gnats throughout Egypt.

17And they did so; for Aaron stretched out his hand with his rod, and smote the dust of the earth, and it became lice in man, and in beast; all the dust of the land became lice throughout all the land of Egypt.

18The magicians tried by their secret arts to produce gnats, but they could not. So the gnats stayed on people and animals.

18And the magicians did so with their enchantments to bring forth lice, but they could not: so there were lice upon man, and upon beast.

19Then the magicians said to Pharaoh, "This is the finger of God." But Pharaoh's heart stayed hard, and he would not listen to them, just as the LORD had said.

19Then the magicians said unto Pharaoh, This is the finger of God: and Pharaoh’s heart was hardened, and he hearkened not unto them; as the LORD had said.

Note"The finger of God" is an idiom for direct divine action, as opposed to something worked through human technique. The word the magicians use, elohim, can mean "God", "a god" or "the gods", so it is unclear whether they are naming Israel's God or simply conceding that some divine power, not craft, is at work.

20Then the LORD said to Moses, "Get up early in the morning and stand in front of Pharaoh as he goes out to the water. Tell him, 'This is what the LORD says: Let my people go, so they can worship me.'"

20And the LORD said unto Moses, Rise up early in the morning, and stand before Pharaoh; lo, he cometh forth to the water; and say unto him, Thus saith the LORD, Let my people go, that they may serve me.

NotePharaoh going down to the water in the early morning was a predictable royal routine (the Nile was both the country's lifeline and a focus of state religion), so Moses knows exactly where to intercept him.

21"But if you will not let my people go, I will send swarms of flies on you, on your officials, on your people, and into your houses. The houses of the Egyptians will be full of flies, and so will the ground they stand on."

21Else, if thou wilt not let my people go, behold, I will send swarms of flies upon thee, and upon thy servants, and upon thy people, and into thy houses: and the houses of the Egyptians shall be full of swarms of flies, and also the ground whereon they are.

NoteThe Hebrew word means simply "swarm" and does not say of what. Ancient translators guessed variously: the Greek version has dog-flies, others a mixture of wild creatures. "Flies" in the King James is supplied by the translators.

22"But on that day I will treat the land of Goshen differently, since my people live there. No swarms of flies will be there. This is so you will know that I, the LORD, am here in the land."

22And I will sever in that day the land of Goshen, in which my people dwell, that no swarms of flies shall be there; to the end thou mayest know that I am the LORD in the midst of the earth.

NoteGoshen was the district of the eastern Nile Delta where, according to Genesis, Jacob's family had been settled as herdsmen, good grazing land, somewhat apart from the Egyptian heartland. The closing phrase is ambiguous in Hebrew: the same word means "the earth" and "the land", so it reads either "I am the LORD in the midst of the earth" or "…here in this country".

23"I will make a clear difference between my people and your people. This sign will happen tomorrow."

23And I will put a division between my people and thy people: to morrow shall this sign be.

NoteThe Hebrew noun here normally means "ransom" or "redemption"; the sense "division, distinction" required by the context is unusual, and some scholars think the text has been altered. Translations differ accordingly.

24And the LORD did it. Thick swarms of flies came into Pharaoh's palace and into the houses of his officials, and all through Egypt the land was ruined by the swarms of flies.

24And the LORD did so; and there came a grievous swarm of flies into the house of Pharaoh, and into his servants’ houses, and into all the land of Egypt: the land was corrupted by reason of the swarm of flies.

25Then Pharaoh sent for Moses and Aaron and said, "Go, offer sacrifices to your God, but do it here inside this country."

25And Pharaoh called for Moses and for Aaron, and said, Go ye, sacrifice to your God in the land.

26But Moses said, "It would not be right to do that. The animals we sacrifice to the LORD our God are the very ones the Egyptians find disgusting. If we offer such sacrifices where the Egyptians can watch, won't they stone us?"

26And Moses said, It is not meet so to do; for we shall sacrifice the abomination of the Egyptians to the LORD our God: lo, shall we sacrifice the abomination of the Egyptians before their eyes, and will they not stone us?

Note"Abomination" translates a word for something ritually detestable or taboo. Certain animals (bulls, cows, rams) were sacred in Egyptian cults, and Genesis records that Egyptians found shepherds objectionable; killing such beasts openly would be sacrilege in Egyptian eyes. Stoning was the standard way a crowd, rather than a court, killed someone on the spot.

27"We must travel three days into the wilderness and sacrifice to the LORD our God, just as he tells us to do."

27We will go three days’ journey into the wilderness, and sacrifice to the LORD our God, as he shall command us.

Note"Three days' journey into the wilderness" is the same request Moses has made from the start. It measures traveling time out and back, not a fixed distance, and puts the sacrifice beyond Egyptian territory. "Wilderness" means unfarmed grazing country, not necessarily sand desert.

28Pharaoh said, "I will let you go and sacrifice to the LORD your God in the wilderness, but you must not go very far. Now pray for me."

28And Pharaoh said, I will let you go, that ye may sacrifice to the LORD your God in the wilderness; only ye shall not go very far away: intreat for me.

29Moses said, "As soon as I leave you, I will pray to the LORD, and tomorrow the swarms of flies will leave Pharaoh, his officials, and his people. But Pharaoh must not cheat us again by refusing to let the people go and sacrifice to the LORD."

29And Moses said, Behold, I go out from thee, and I will intreat the LORD that the swarms of flies may depart from Pharaoh, from his servants, and from his people, to morrow: but let not Pharaoh deal deceitfully any more in not letting the people go to sacrifice to the LORD.

30So Moses left Pharaoh and prayed to the LORD.

30And Moses went out from Pharaoh, and intreated the LORD.

31The LORD did what Moses asked. He took the swarms of flies away from Pharaoh, his officials, and his people. Not one was left.

31And the LORD did according to the word of Moses; and he removed the swarms of flies from Pharaoh, from his servants, and from his people; there remained not one.

32But Pharaoh made his heart stubborn this time too, and he would not let the people go.

32And Pharaoh hardened his heart at this time also, neither would he let the people go.