Exodus 8

¹ then Yahweh said to Moses: "Enter to Pharaoh, and say to him, Thus says Yahweh: Dismiss My people that they may serve Me! ² And if you refuse to dismiss them, behold, I will be striking all your boundary with frogs. ³ The waterway will swarm with frogs, and they will ascend and enter into your house and your bed chamber and onto your couch, into the house of your servants and on your people, into your stoves and into your kneading-troughs. ⁴ On you and on your people and on all your servants shall the frogs ascend." ⁵ Then Yahweh said to Moses: "Say to Aaron, Stretch out your hand with your rod over the streams, over the waterways and over the ponds, and bring up the frogs on the land of Egypt." ⁶ Now Aaron stretched out his hand over the waters of Egypt. And the frogs ascended and covered the land of Egypt. ⁷ Also the sacred scribes did so with their occultisms, and they brought up frogs over the land of Egypt. ⁸ Then Pharaoh called for Moses and for Aaron and said: "Make an entreaty to Yahweh that He may take away the frogs from me and from my people; then I shall dismiss the people that they may sacrifice to Yahweh." ⁹ Moses said to Pharaoh: "Vaunt yourself over me as to when I should make entreaty for you and for your servants and for your people to cut off the frogs from you and from your houses. But in the waterway shall they remain." ¹⁰ So he said: "Tomorrow." And he said: "Be it according to your word, that you may know that there is no one as Yahweh our Elohim. ¹¹ The frogs will withdraw from you and from your houses, from your servants and from your people. But in the waterway shall they remain." ¹² Then Moses and Aaron went forth from Pharaoh, and Moses cried to Yahweh concerning the matter of the frogs which He had appointed for Pharaoh. ¹³ So Yahweh did according to the word of Moses, and the frogs died from the houses, from the hamlets and from the fields. ¹⁴ They piled them up, homer after homer, and the land stank. ¹⁵ When Pharaoh saw that there came to be an interval, he caused his heart to glory, and he hearkened not to them, just as Yahweh had spoken. ¹⁶ Then Yahweh said to Moses: "Say to Aaron, Stretch out your hand with your rod and smite the soil of the land, and there will come to be lice in all the land of Egypt." ¹⁷ And they did so; Aaron stretched out his hand with his rod and smote the soil of the land: and there came to be lice on human and on beast. All the soil of the land came to be lice in all the land of Egypt. ¹⁸ Now the sacred scribes did so by their occultisms so as to bring forth the lice, yet they were unable. Since there had come to be lice on human and on beast. ¹⁹ The sacred scribes said to Pharaoh: "This is the finger of Elohim!" Yet the heart of Pharaoh was steadfast, and he did not hearken to them just as Yahweh had spoken. ²⁰ Then Yahweh said to Moses: "Rise early in the morning and station yourself before Pharaoh. Behold, he will be going forth to the waters. Then you will say to him: Thus says Yahweh, Dismiss My people that they may serve Me. ²¹ For should you not dismiss My people, behold Me sending on you, on your servants, on your people and on your houses a mixture of flies. The houses of Egypt will be full with the mixture of flies, and even the ground on which they are. ²² Yet I will distinguish, in that day, the land of Goshen on which My people are standing, that by no means there come to be there a mixture of flies so that you may know that I am Yahweh within the land. ²³ And I will place a distinction between My people and your people. Tomorrow shall this sign come to be." ²⁴ And Yahweh did so. A heavy mixture of flies came into the house of Pharaoh and the house of his servants and into all the land of Egypt. The land was ruined because of the presence of the mixture of flies. ²⁵ Then Pharaoh called for Moses and for Aaron and said: "Go! Sacrifice to your Elohim in the land." ²⁶ Yet Moses said: "It is not the established custom to do so, for we shall sacrifice that which is an abhorrence of the Egyptians to Yahweh our Elohim. Behold, should we sacrifice an abhorrence of the Egyptians before their eyes, would they not stone us? ²⁷ A way of three days shall we go into the wilderness and sacrifice to Yahweh our Elohim, just as He said to us." ²⁸ So Pharaoh said: "I shall dismiss you, that you may sacrifice to Yahweh your Elohim in the wilderness, but you shall not fare far, not far to go. Make an entreaty about me." ²⁹ And Moses said: "Behold, I am going forth from you, and I will make an entreaty to Yahweh that the mixture of flies withdraw from Pharaoh, from his servants and from his people tomorrow. But Pharaoh must not continue to trifle in not dismissing the people to sacrifice to Yahweh." ³⁰ Then Moses went forth from Pharaoh, and he entreated Yahweh. ³¹ And Yahweh did according to the word of Moses; and the mixture of flies withdrew from Pharaoh, from his servants and from his people. Not one remained. ³² Yet Pharaoh gloried in his heart, even at this time, and he did not dismiss the people.