Exodus 8

1 And the Lord said to Moses, “Go in to Pharaoh and say to him: This is what the Lord says — send my people out, so that they may serve me. 2 And if you will not send them out, look: I am striking your whole territory with frogs. 3 The river will swarm with frogs, and they will come up and go into your houses, into the inner rooms where you sleep and onto your beds, and into the houses of your servants and of your people, and into your dough and into your ovens. 4 And on you and on your servants and on your people the frogs will come up.” [a] 5 And the Lord said to Moses, “Say to Aaron your brother: Stretch out your hand with your staff over the rivers and over the canals and over the marshes, and bring up the frogs.” 6 So Aaron stretched out his hand over the waters of Egypt and brought up the frogs; and the frogs came up and covered the land of Egypt. 7 And the chanters of the Egyptians did the same by their sorceries, and brought up frogs on the land of Egypt. 8 Then Pharaoh called Moses and Aaron and said, “Pray to the Lord for me, and let him take the frogs away from me and from my people, and I will send the people out, and they will sacrifice to the Lord.” 9 And Moses said to Pharaoh, “Set the time for me — when shall I pray for you and for your servants and for your people, that the frogs may be wiped out from you and from your people and out of your houses? Only in the river will they be left.” 10 And he said, “Tomorrow.” So he said, “As you have said — so that you may know there is no one else but the Lord. 11 And the frogs will be taken away from you and from your houses and from your farmyards and from your servants and from your people. Only in the river will they be left.” 12 And Moses and Aaron went out from Pharaoh; and Moses cried to the Lord about the limit he had set for the frogs, as Pharaoh had appointed. 13 And the Lord did just as Moses said, and the frogs died out of the houses and out of the farmyards and out of the fields. 14 And they gathered them into heaps and heaps, and the land stank. 15 But when Pharaoh saw that there was relief, his heart grew heavy, and he did not listen to them, just as the Lord had said.

16 And the Lord said to Moses, “Say to Aaron: Stretch out your hand with your staff and strike the dust of the ground, and there will be gnats on people and on animals and in all the land of Egypt.” [b] 17 So Aaron stretched out his hand with the staff and struck the dust of the ground, and the gnats came on people and on animals; and in all the dust of the ground there were gnats, in all the land of Egypt. 18 And the chanters tried to do the same by their sorceries, to bring out the gnat — and they could not. And the gnats were on the people and on the animals. 19 So the chanters said to Pharaoh, “This is the finger of God.” But Pharaoh’s heart was hardened, and he did not listen to them, just as the Lord had said.

20 And the Lord said to Moses, “Get up early in the morning and stand in front of Pharaoh — he will be going out to the water — and say to him: This is what the Lord says: Send my people out, so that they may serve me in the wilderness. 21 And if you will not send my people out, look: I am sending the dog-fly on you and on your servants and on your people and on your houses; and the houses of the Egyptians will be filled with the dog-fly, and the ground they stand on as well. [c] 22 And on that day I will set apart the land of Goshen, where my people are, and there will be no dog-fly there — so that you may know that I am the Lord, the Lord of all the earth. 23 And I will make a division between my people and your people. Tomorrow this sign will be on the land.” 24 And the Lord did so. The dog-fly came in swarms into Pharaoh’s houses and into the houses of his servants and into all the land of Egypt, and the land was ruined by the dog-fly. 25 Then Pharaoh called Moses and Aaron and said, “Go and sacrifice to your God — in the land.” 26 And Moses said, “It cannot be done that way. What we sacrifice to the Lord our God is what the Egyptians count detestable; if we sacrifice what the Egyptians count detestable, right in front of them, they will stone us. 27 We will go three days’ journey into the wilderness and sacrifice to the Lord our God, just as he told us.” 28 And Pharaoh said, “I am sending you out. Sacrifice to the Lord your God in the wilderness — only do not go far away. Pray to the Lord for me, then.” 29 And Moses said, “I am going out from you now, and I will pray to God, and tomorrow the dog-fly will leave you and your servants and your people. Only do not deal falsely again, Pharaoh, by not sending the people out to sacrifice to the Lord.” 30 And Moses went out from Pharaoh and prayed to God. 31 And the Lord did just as Moses said, and took the dog-fly away from Pharaoh and from his servants and from his people; not one was left. 32 And Pharaoh made his own heart heavy this time too, and he was not willing to send the people out. [d]