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The Book of Exodus 8

8 Then Yahweh said to Moses, “Go back to the king and tell him, ‘Yahweh says that you must let my people go in order that they can worship me in the desert. 2 But if you do not let them go, watch out! I will punish you by sending frogs to cover your country. 3 Not only will the Nile River be full of frogs, but the frogs will also come up out of the river into your house. They will come into your bedroom and onto your bed. They will be in the houses of your slaves and all the rest of your people. They will even get into your ovens and your pans for mixing the materials for baking bread. 4 The frogs will jump up on you, on the Egyptian people, and on all your slaves.’ ”

5 Yahweh also said to Moses, “Say this to Aaron: ‘Hold your staff in your hand and stretch it out as though you were stretching it over the river, the canals, and the ponds, and cause frogs to come up from all this water and to cover the land of Egypt.’ ” 6 After Moses told that to him, Aaron stretched out his hand as though he were stretching it over all the water in Egypt. Then the frogs came up from the water and covered Egypt. 7 But the men who did magic did the same thing by magic, and they caused more frogs to come up from the water onto the land.

8 Then the king called Moses and Aaron and said, “Ask Yahweh to take these frogs away from me and my people. After that happens, I will allow your people to go to worship Yahweh.”

9 Moses said to the king, “Show how you are more glorious than me by telling me when to pray for you and your officials and the rest of your peoples. I will pray that the frogs stop coming to your houses and stay in the Nile River.”

10 The king replied, “Pray for us tomorrow.”

So Moses said, “I will do what you say. You will know that the God named Yahweh, the one we worship, is the only true God, and that there is no other God like him when 11 the frogs leave you, your officials, all the rest of your people and all your houses; when the only ones left are in the Nile River.”

12 Then Moses and Aaron left the king. Moses pleaded with Yahweh about the frogs he had used to punish the king. 13 Yahweh did just what Moses asked him to do. As a result, all the frogs in the houses, in their courtyards, and in their fields died. 14 The people gathered together all the dead frogs into big piles, and the land smelled very bad. 15 But when the king noticed that the frogs were gone, he made himself stubborn again. Just as Yahweh had said would happen, the king did not do what Aaron and Moses told him.

16 Then Yahweh said to Moses, “Tell Aaron to strike the dusty ground with his staff so that all the dust all over Egypt will become gnats.” 17 Moses and Aaron obeyed Yahweh. Aaron hit the dusty ground with his staff, and all over Egypt the dust became gnats. The gnats covered the people and the animals. 18 The men who worked magic tried to cause gnats to appear, but they could not do it. Gnats were on the people and animals.

19 The magicians said to the king, “A god did this!” But just like Yahweh had said, the king continued to be stubborn and would not obey Aaron and Moses.

20 Then Yahweh said to Moses, “Get up early tomorrow morning. Wait to meet the king as he comes to the river and tell him, ‘This is what Yahweh says to you: “Let my people go in order that they may worship me. 21 If you do not let my people go immediately, watch out! Be sure that I will shortly send swarms of flies which will cover you, your slaves, the rest of your people, and your houses. All the Egyptian’s houses will be full of flies. They will even cover the ground. 22 But when that happens, I will treat the region of Goshen differently, because my people live there. There will be no swarms of flies there. In that way, you will know that I, Yahweh, am here in this land. 23 I will treat my people and your people differently. I will prove how powerful I am tomorrow!” ’ ” 24 In the morning, Moses warned the king, but he did not listen. So Yahweh did what he said he would do. He sent great swarms of flies into the king’s palace and into his officials’ houses. They were everywhere in Egypt. The flies ruined the country.

25 Then the king summoned Moses and Aaron and said, “Just go worship your god here in Egypt!”

26 But Moses replied, “It would not be right for us to do that, because we will offer sacrifices to Yahweh, the God we worship, that are very offensive to the Egyptians. Look, it is certain that if we offer sacrifices right in front of them that the Egyptians hate passionately, they will kill us by throwing stones at us! 27 We need to travel for three days into the wilderness. There we will offer sacrifices to Yahweh, the God we worship, just as he commands us.”

28 So the king said, “I will let your people go to offer sacrifices to Yahweh, the god you worship, in the desert. But you must not go very far. Now pray for me!”

29 Moses said to the king, “Listen to me! After I leave you, I will pray to Yahweh, asking that he would cause the swarms of flies to leave you, your slaves, and the rest of your people tomorrow. But do not lie to us again by refusing to let our people go to offer sacrifices to Yahweh!” 30 Then Moses left the king and prayed to Yahweh. 31 Yahweh did what Moses asked. He got rid of the swarms of flies from around the king, his slaves, and the rest of his people. No flies remained. 32 But the king was stubborn this time also, and he did not allow the Israelites to go.

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