25:1 1 The Lord spoke to Moses:
9:1 2 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Go to Pharaoh and tell him, ‘Thus says the Lord, the God of the Hebrews, “Release my people that they may serve me! 9:2 For if you refuse to release them 3 and continue holding them, 4 9:3 then the hand of the Lord will surely bring 5 a very terrible plague 6 on your livestock in the field, on the horses, the donkeys, the camels, 7 the herds, and the flocks. 9:4 But the Lord will distinguish 8 between the livestock of Israel and the livestock of Egypt, and nothing 9 will die of all that the Israelites have.”’” 10
9:5 The Lord set 11 an appointed time, saying, “Tomorrow the Lord will do this 12 in the land.” 9:6 And the Lord did this 13 on the next day; 14 all 15 the livestock of the Egyptians 16 died, but of the Israelites’ livestock not one died. 9:7 Pharaoh sent representatives to investigate, 17 and indeed, not even one of the livestock of Israel had died. But Pharaoh’s heart remained hard, 18 and he did not release the people.
9:8 19 Then the Lord said to Moses and Aaron, “Take handfuls of soot 20 from a furnace, and have Moses throw it 21 into the air while Pharaoh is watching. 22 9:9 It will become fine dust over the whole land of Egypt and will cause boils to break out and fester 23 on both people and animals in all the land of Egypt.” 9:10 So they took soot from a furnace and stood before Pharaoh, Moses threw it into the air, and it caused festering boils to break out on both people and animals.
9:11 The magicians could not stand before Moses because of the boils, for boils were on the magicians and on all the Egyptians. 9:12 But the Lord hardened 24 Pharaoh’s heart, and he did not listen to them, just as the Lord had predicted to Moses.
9:13 25 The Lord said 26 to Moses, “Get up early in the morning, stand 27 before Pharaoh, and tell him, ‘Thus says the Lord, the God of the Hebrews: “Release my people so that they may serve me! 9:14 For this time I will send all my plagues 28 on your very self 29 and on your servants and your people, so that you may know that there is no one like me in all the earth. 9:15 For by now I could have stretched out 30 my hand and struck you and your people with plague, and you would have been destroyed 31 from the earth. 9:16 But 32 for this purpose I have caused you to stand: 33 to show you 34 my strength, and so that my name may be declared 35 in all the earth. 9:17 You are still exalting 36 yourself against my people by 37 not releasing them. 9:18 I am going to cause very severe hail to rain down 38 about this time tomorrow, such hail as has never occurred 39 in Egypt from the day it was founded 40 until now. 9:19 So now, send instructions 41 to gather 42 your livestock and all your possessions in the fields to a safe place. Every person 43 or animal caught 44 in the field and not brought into the house – the hail will come down on them, and they will die!”’”
9:20 Those 45 of Pharaoh’s servants who feared the word of the Lord hurried to bring their 46 servants and livestock into the houses, 9:21 but those 47 who did not take 48 the word of the Lord seriously left their servants and their cattle 49 in the field.
9:22 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Extend your hand toward the sky 50 that there may be 51 hail in all the land of Egypt, on people and on animals, 52 and on everything that grows 53 in the field in the land of Egypt.” 9:23 When Moses extended 54 his staff toward the sky, the Lord 55 sent thunder 56 and hail, and fire fell to the earth; 57 so the Lord caused hail to rain down on the land of Egypt. 9:24 Hail fell 58 and fire mingled 59 with the hail; the hail was so severe 60 that there had not been any like it 61 in all the land of Egypt since it had become a nation. 9:25 The hail struck everything in the open fields, both 62 people and animals, throughout all the land of Egypt. The hail struck everything that grows 63 in the field, and it broke all the trees of the field to pieces. 9:26 Only in the land of Goshen, where the Israelites lived, was there no hail.
9:27 So Pharaoh sent and summoned Moses and Aaron and said to them, “I have sinned this time! 64 The Lord is righteous, and I and my people are guilty. 65 9:28 Pray to the Lord, for the mighty 66 thunderings and hail are too much! 67 I will release you and you will stay no longer.” 68
9:29 Moses said to him, “When I leave the city 69 I will spread my hands to the Lord, the thunder will cease, and there will be no more hail, so that you may know that the earth belongs to the Lord. 70 9:30 But as for you 71 and your servants, I know that you do not yet fear 72 the Lord God.”
9:31 (Now the 73 flax and the barley were struck 74 by the hail, 75 for the barley had ripened 76 and the flax 77 was in bud. 9:32 But the wheat and the spelt 78 were not struck, for they are later crops.) 79
9:33 So Moses left Pharaoh, went out of the city, and spread out his hands to the Lord, and the thunder and the hail ceased, and the rain stopped pouring on the earth. 9:34 When Pharaoh saw 80 that the rain and hail and thunder ceased, he sinned again: 81 both he and his servants hardened 82 their hearts. 9:35 So Pharaoh’s heart remained hard, 83 and he did not release the Israelites, as the Lord had predicted through Moses.
20:1 84 God spoke all these words: 85
20:2 “I, 86 the Lord, am your God, 87 who brought you 88 from the land of Egypt, from the house of slavery. 89
20:3 “You shall have no 90 other gods before me. 91
20:4 “You shall not make for yourself a carved image 92 or any likeness 93 of anything 94 that is in heaven above or that is on the earth beneath or that is in the water below. 95 20:5 You shall not bow down to them or serve them, 96 for I, the Lord, your God, am a jealous 97 God, responding to 98 the transgression of fathers by dealing with children to the third and fourth generations 99 of those who reject me, 100 20:6 and showing covenant faithfulness 101 to a thousand generations 102 of those who love me and keep my commandments.
20:7 “You shall not take 103 the name of the Lord your God in vain, 104 for the Lord will not hold guiltless 105 anyone who takes his name in vain.
20:8 “Remember 106 the Sabbath 107 day to set it apart as holy. 108 20:9 For six days 109 you may labor 110 and do all your work, 111 20:10 but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the Lord your God; on it 112 you shall not do any work, you, 113 or your son, or your daughter, or your male servant, or your female servant, or your cattle, or the resident foreigner who is in your gates. 114 20:11 For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth and the sea and all that is in them, and he rested on the seventh day; therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and set it apart as holy.
20:12 “Honor 115 your father and your mother, that you may live a long time 116 in the land 117 the Lord your God is giving to you.
20:13 “You shall not murder. 118
20:14 “You shall not commit adultery. 119
20:15 “You shall not steal. 120
20:16 “You shall not give 121 false testimony 122 against your neighbor.
20:17 “You shall not covet 123 your neighbor’s house. You shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, nor his male servant, nor his female servant, nor his ox, nor his donkey, nor anything that belongs to your neighbor.” 124
20:18 All the people were seeing 125 the thundering and the lightning, and heard 126 the sound of the horn, and saw 127 the mountain smoking – and when 128 the people saw it they trembled with fear 129 and kept their distance. 130 20:19 They said to Moses, “You speak 131 to us and we will listen, but do not let God speak with us, lest we die.” 20:20 Moses said to the people, “Do not fear, for God has come to test you, 132 that the fear of him 133 may be before you so that you do not 134 sin.” 20:21 The people kept 135 their distance, but Moses drew near the thick darkness 136 where God was. 137
20:22 138 The Lord said 139 to Moses: “Thus you will tell the Israelites: ‘You yourselves have seen that I have spoken with you from heaven. 20:23 You must not make gods of silver alongside me, 140 nor make gods of gold for yourselves. 141
20:24 ‘You must make for me an altar made of earth, 142 and you will sacrifice on it your burnt offerings and your peace offerings, 143 your sheep and your cattle. In every place 144 where I cause my name to be honored 145 I will come to you and I will bless you. 20:25 If you make me an altar of stone, you must not build it 146 of stones shaped with tools, 147 for if you use your tool on it you have defiled it. 148 20:26 And you must not go up by steps to my altar, so that your nakedness is not exposed.’ 149