Exodus 9

1 And the Lord said to Moses, “Go in to Pharaoh and say to him: This is what the Lord, the God of the Hebrews, says — send my people out, so that they may serve me. 2 If you will not send my people out, but keep holding on to them — 3 look, the hand of the Lord will be on your cattle in the fields, on the horses and the donkeys and the camels and the oxen and the sheep: a very great death. 4 And at that time I will set apart the cattle of the Egyptians from the cattle of the children of Israel: nothing at all belonging to the children of Israel will die.” 5 And God set a time, saying, “Tomorrow the Lord will do this thing in the land.” 6 And the Lord did this thing the next day, and all the cattle of the Egyptians died; but of the cattle of the children of Israel not one died. 7 And when Pharaoh saw that not one of all the cattle of the children of Israel had died, Pharaoh’s heart grew heavy, and he did not send the people out.

8 And the Lord said to Moses and Aaron, “Take handfuls of soot from a kiln, and let Moses throw it toward the sky in front of Pharaoh and in front of his servants. 9 And it will become fine dust over all the land of Egypt, and it will become sores on people and on animals — blisters breaking out — on people and on animals in all the land of Egypt.” 10 So he took the soot of the kiln in front of Pharaoh, and Moses threw it toward the sky; and it became sores, blisters breaking out, on people and on animals. 11 And the sorcerers could not stand in front of Moses because of the sores, for the sores were on the sorcerers and on all the land of Egypt. 12 And the Lord hardened Pharaoh’s heart, and he did not listen to them, just as the Lord had ordered.

13 And the Lord said to Moses, “Get up early in the morning and stand in front of Pharaoh, and say to him: This is what the Lord, the God of the Hebrews, says — send my people out, so that they may serve me. 14 For this time I am sending all my blows against your own heart and against your servants and against your people, so that you may know there is no one like me in all the earth. 15 For now I will stretch out my hand and strike you and your people with death, and you will be rubbed off the earth. 16 And for this you were kept alive: so that I might show my strength in you, and so that my name might be told through all the earth. 17 So you still hold on to my people, and will not send them out. 18 Look — tomorrow at this hour I am raining down a very heavy hail, such as has never been in Egypt from the day it was founded until this day. 19 So hurry now and gather in your cattle and everything you have in the field. Every person and every animal found in the field, that has not come under a roof, will die when the hail falls on them.” 20 The one among Pharaoh’s servants who feared the word of the Lord gathered his cattle into the houses; 21 but whoever did not take the word of the Lord to heart left his cattle in the fields. 22 And the Lord said to Moses, “Stretch out your hand toward the sky, and there will be hail over all the land of Egypt — on people and on animals and on every green thing in the land.” 23 So Moses stretched out his hand toward the sky, and the Lord sent thunder and hail, and fire ran along the ground; and the Lord rained hail over all the land of Egypt. [a] 24 There was hail, and fire flaming in among the hail — hail so very heavy that there had been nothing like it in Egypt since there was a nation on it. 25 And the hail struck all the land of Egypt, from people to animals; and the hail struck every green thing in the field, and the hail broke every tree in the fields. 26 Only in the land of Goshen, where the children of Israel were, there was no hail. 27 Then Pharaoh sent and called Moses and Aaron and said to them, “This time I have sinned. The Lord is righteous; I and my people are ungodly. 28 Pray to the Lord for me, and let the thunders of God and the hail and the fire stop, and I will send you out, and you will not stay any longer.” 29 And Moses said to him, “As soon as I am out of the city I will spread out my hands to the Lord, and the thunders will stop, and there will be no more hail or rain — so that you may know that the earth is the Lord’s. 30 But as for you and your servants, I know that you do not yet fear the Lord.” 31 Now the flax and the barley were struck down, for the barley was in the ear and the flax was in seed; 32 but the wheat and the spelt were not struck down, because they were late. [b] 33 And Moses went out from Pharaoh, outside the city, and spread out his hands to the Lord; and the thunders stopped and the hail, and the rain no longer poured on the ground. 34 But when Pharaoh saw that the rain and the hail and the thunders had stopped, he went on sinning, and he made his own heart heavy, and his servants’ hearts too. 35 And Pharaoh’s heart was hardened, and he did not send the children of Israel out, just as the Lord had said to Moses.