5:1 1 Afterward Moses and Aaron went to Pharaoh and said, “Thus says the Lord, 2 the God of Israel, ‘Release 3 my people so that they may hold a pilgrim feast 4 to me in the desert.’” 5:2 But Pharaoh said, “Who is the Lord 5 that 6 I should obey him 7 by releasing 8 Israel? I do not know the Lord, 9 and I will not release Israel!” 5:3 And they said, “The God of the Hebrews has met with us. Let us go a three-day journey 10 into the desert so that we may sacrifice 11 to the Lord our God, so that he does not strike us with plague or the sword.” 12 5:4 The king of Egypt said to them, “Moses and Aaron, why do you cause the people to refrain from their work? 13 Return to your labor!” 5:5 Pharaoh was thinking, 14 “The people of the land are now many, and you are giving them rest from their labor.”
5:6 That same day Pharaoh commanded 15 the slave masters and foremen 16 who were 17 over the people: 18 5:7 “You must no longer 19 give straw to the people for making bricks 20 as before. 21 Let them go 22 and collect straw for themselves. 5:8 But you must require 23 of them the same quota of bricks that they were making before. 24 Do not reduce it, for they are slackers. 25 That is why they are crying, ‘Let us go sacrifice to our God.’ 5:9 Make the work harder 26 for the men so they will keep at it 27 and pay no attention to lying words!” 28
5:10 So the slave masters of the people and their foremen went to the Israelites and said, 29 “Thus says Pharaoh: ‘I am not giving 30 you straw. 5:11 You 31 go get straw for yourselves wherever you can 32 find it, because there will be no reduction at all in your workload.’” 5:12 So the people spread out 33 through all the land of Egypt to collect stubble for straw. 5:13 The slave masters were pressuring 34 them, saying, “Complete 35 your work for each day, just like when there was straw!” 5:14 The Israelite foremen whom Pharaoh’s slave masters had set over them were beaten and were asked, 36 “Why did you not complete your requirement for brickmaking as in the past – both yesterday and today?” 37
5:15 38 The Israelite foremen went and cried out to Pharaoh, “Why are you treating 39 your servants this way? 5:16 No straw is given to your servants, but we are told, 40 ‘Make bricks!’ Your servants are even 41 being beaten, but the fault 42 is with your people.”
5:17 But Pharaoh replied, 43 “You are slackers! Slackers! 44 That is why you are saying, ‘Let us go sacrifice to the Lord.’ 5:18 So now, get back to work! 45 You will not be given straw, but you must still produce 46 your quota 47 of bricks!” 5:19 The Israelite foremen saw 48 that they 49 were in trouble when they were told, 50 “You must not reduce the daily quota of your bricks.”
5:20 When they went out from Pharaoh, they encountered Moses and Aaron standing there to meet them, 51 5:21 and they said to them, “May the Lord look on you and judge, 52 because you have made us stink 53 in the opinion of 54 Pharaoh and his servants, 55 so that you have given them an excuse to kill us!” 56
5:22 57 Moses returned 58 to the Lord, and said, “Lord, 59 why have you caused trouble for this people? 60 Why did you ever 61 send me? 5:23 From the time I went to speak to Pharaoh in your name, he has caused trouble 62 for this people, and you have certainly not rescued 63 them!” 64
6:1 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Now you will see what I will do to Pharaoh, 65 for compelled by my strong hand 66 he will release them, and by my strong hand he will drive them out of his land.” 67
6:2 God spoke 68 to Moses and said to him, “I am the Lord. 69 6:3 I appeared to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob as 70 God Almighty, 71 but by 72 my name ‘the Lord’ 73 I was not known to them. 74 6:4 I also established my covenant with them 75 to give them the land of Canaan, where they were living as resident foreigners. 76 6:5 I 77 have also heard 78 the groaning of the Israelites, whom the Egyptians are enslaving, 79 and I have remembered my covenant. 80 6:6 Therefore, tell the Israelites, ‘I am the Lord. I will bring you out 81 from your enslavement to 82 the Egyptians, I will rescue you from the hard labor they impose, 83 and I will redeem you with an outstretched arm and with great judgments. 6:7 I will take you to myself for a people, and I will be your God. 84 Then you will know that I am the Lord your God, who brought you out from your enslavement to 85 the Egyptians. 6:8 I will bring you to the land I swore to give 86 to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob – and I will give it to you 87 as a possession. I am the Lord!’”
6:9 88 Moses told this 89 to the Israelites, but they did not listen to him 90 because of their discouragement 91 and hard labor. 6:10 Then the Lord said to Moses, 6:11 “Go, tell Pharaoh king of Egypt that he must release 92 the Israelites from his land.” 6:12 But Moses replied to 93 the Lord, “If the Israelites did not listen to me, then 94 how will Pharaoh listen to me, since 95 I speak with difficulty?” 96
6:13 The Lord spoke 97 to Moses and Aaron and gave them a charge 98 for the Israelites and Pharaoh king of Egypt to bring the Israelites out of the land of Egypt.
6:14 99 These are the heads of their fathers’ households: 100
The sons 101 of Reuben, the firstborn son of Israel, were Hanoch and Pallu, Hezron and Carmi. These were the clans 102 of Reuben.
6:15 The sons of Simeon were Jemuel, Jamin, Ohad, Jakin, Zohar, and Shaul, the son of a Canaanite woman. These were the clans of Simeon.
6:16 Now these are the names of the sons of Levi, according to their records: 103 Gershon, Kohath, and Merari. (The length of Levi’s life was 137 years.)
6:17 The sons of Gershon, by their families, were Libni and Shimei.
6:18 The sons of Kohath were Amram, Izhar, Hebron, and Uzziel. (The length of Kohath’s life was 133 years.)
6:19 The sons of Merari were Mahli and Mushi. These were the clans of Levi, according to their records.
6:20 Amram married 104 his father’s sister Jochebed, and she bore him Aaron and Moses. (The length of Amram’s life was 137 years.)
6:21 The sons of Izhar were Korah, Nepheg, and Zikri.
6:22 The sons of Uzziel were Mishael, Elzaphan, and Sithri.
6:23 Aaron married Elisheba, the daughter of Amminadab and sister of Nahshon, and she bore him Nadab and Abihu, Eleazar and Ithamar.
6:24 The sons of Korah were Assir, Elkanah, and Abiasaph. These were the Korahite clans.
6:25 Now Eleazar son of Aaron married one of the daughters of Putiel and she bore him Phinehas.
These are the heads of the fathers’ households 105 of Levi according to their clans.
6:26 It was the same Aaron and Moses to whom the Lord said, “Bring the Israelites out of the land of Egypt by their regiments.” 106 6:27 They were the men who were speaking to Pharaoh king of Egypt, in order to bring the Israelites out of Egypt. It was the same Moses and Aaron.
6:28 107 When 108 the Lord spoke to Moses in the land of Egypt, 6:29 he said to him, 109 “I am the Lord. Tell 110 Pharaoh king of Egypt all that 111 I am telling 112 you.” 6:30 But Moses said before the Lord, “Since I speak with difficulty, 113 why should Pharaoh listen to me?”
7:1 So the Lord said to Moses, “See, I have made you like God 114 to Pharaoh, and your brother Aaron will be your prophet. 115 7:2 You are to speak 116 everything I command you, 117 and your brother Aaron is to tell Pharaoh that he must release 118 the Israelites from his land. 7:3 But I will harden 119 Pharaoh’s heart, and although I will multiply 120 my signs and my wonders in the land of Egypt, 7:4 Pharaoh will not listen to you. 121 I will reach into 122 Egypt and bring out my regiments, 123 my people the Israelites, from the land of Egypt with great acts of judgment. 7:5 Then 124 the Egyptians will know that I am the Lord, when I extend my hand 125 over Egypt and bring the Israelites out from among them.
7:6 And Moses and Aaron did so; they did just as the Lord commanded them. 7:7 Now Moses was eighty years old and Aaron was eighty-three years old when they spoke to Pharaoh.
7:8 The Lord said 126 to Moses and Aaron, 127 7:9 “When Pharaoh says to you, ‘Do 128 a miracle,’ and you say to Aaron, ‘Take your staff and throw it down 129 before Pharaoh,’ it will become 130 a snake.” 7:10 When 131 Moses and Aaron went to Pharaoh, they did so, just as the Lord had commanded them – Aaron threw 132 down his staff before Pharaoh and his servants and it became a snake. 133 7:11 Then Pharaoh also summoned wise men and sorcerers, 134 and the magicians 135 of Egypt by their secret arts 136 did the same thing. 7:12 Each man 137 threw down his staff, and the staffs became snakes. But Aaron’s staff swallowed up their staffs. 7:13 Yet Pharaoh’s heart became hard, 138 and he did not listen to them, just as the Lord had predicted.
7:14 139 The Lord said to Moses, “Pharaoh’s heart is hard; 140 he refuses to release 141 the people. 7:15 Go to Pharaoh in the morning when 142 he goes out to the water. Position yourself 143 to meet him by the edge of the Nile, 144 and take 145 in your hand the staff 146 that was turned into a snake. 7:16 Tell him, ‘The Lord, the God of the Hebrews, has sent me to you to say, 147 “Release my people, that they may serve me 148 in the desert!” But until now 149 you have not listened. 150 7:17 Thus says the Lord: “By this you will know that I am the Lord: I am going to strike 151 the water of the Nile with the staff that is in my hand, and it will be turned into blood. 152 7:18 Fish 153 in the Nile will die, the Nile will stink, and the Egyptians will be unable 154 to drink water from the Nile.”’” 7:19 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Tell Aaron, ‘Take your staff and stretch out your hand over Egypt’s waters – over their rivers, over their canals, 155 over their ponds, and over all their reservoirs 156 – so that it becomes 157 blood.’ There will be blood everywhere in 158 the land of Egypt, even in wooden and stone containers.” 7:20 Moses and Aaron did so, 159 just as the Lord had commanded. Moses raised 160 the staff 161 and struck the water that was in the Nile right before the eyes 162 of Pharaoh and his servants, 163 and all the water that was in the Nile was turned to blood. 164 7:21 When the fish 165 that were in the Nile died, the Nile began 166 to stink, so that the Egyptians could not drink water from the Nile. There was blood 167 everywhere in the land of Egypt! 7:22 But the magicians of Egypt did the same 168 by their secret arts, and so 169 Pharaoh’s heart remained hard, 170 and he refused to listen to Moses and Aaron 171 – just as the Lord had predicted. 7:23 And Pharaoh turned and went into his house. He did not pay any attention to this. 172 7:24 All the Egyptians dug around the Nile for water to drink, 173 because they could not drink the water of the Nile.
7:25 174 Seven full days passed 175 after the Lord struck 176 the Nile. 8:1 (7:26) 177 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Go to Pharaoh and tell him, ‘Thus says the Lord: “Release my people in order that they may serve me! 8:2 But if you refuse to release them, then I am going to plague 178 all your territory with frogs. 179 8:3 The Nile will swarm 180 with frogs, and they will come up and go into your house, in your bedroom, and on your bed, and into the houses of your servants and your people, and into your ovens and your kneading troughs. 181 8:4 Frogs 182 will come up against you, your people, and all your servants.”’” 183
8:5 The Lord spoke to Moses, “Tell Aaron, ‘Extend your hand with your staff 184 over the rivers, over the canals, and over the ponds, and bring the frogs up over the land of Egypt.’” 8:6 So Aaron extended his hand over the waters of Egypt, and frogs 185 came up and covered the land of Egypt.
8:7 The magicians did the same 186 with their secret arts and brought up frogs on the land of Egypt too. 187
8:8 Then Pharaoh summoned 188 Moses and Aaron and said, “Pray 189 to the Lord that he may take the frogs away 190 from me and my people, and I will release 191 the people that they may sacrifice 192 to the Lord.” 8:9 Moses said to Pharaoh, “You may have the honor over me 193 – when shall I pray for you, your servants, and your people, for the frogs to be removed 194 from you and your houses, so that 195 they will be left 196 only in the Nile?” 8:10 He said, “Tomorrow.” And Moses said, 197 “It will be 198 as you say, 199 so that you may know that there is no one like the Lord our God. 8:11 The frogs will depart from you, your houses, your servants, and your people; they will be left only in the Nile.”
8:12 Then Moses and Aaron went out from Pharaoh, and Moses cried 200 to the Lord because of 201 the frogs that he had brought on 202 Pharaoh. 8:13 The Lord did as Moses asked 203 – the 204 frogs died out of the houses, the villages, and the fields. 8:14 The Egyptians 205 piled them in countless heaps, 206 and the land stank. 8:15 But when Pharaoh saw that there was relief, 207 he hardened 208 his heart and did not listen to them, just as the Lord had predicted. 209
8:16 210 The Lord said to Moses, “Tell Aaron, ‘Extend your staff and strike the dust of the ground, and it will become 211 gnats 212 throughout all the land of Egypt.’” 8:17 They did so; Aaron extended his hand with his staff, he struck the dust of the ground, and it became gnats on people 213 and on animals. All the dust of the ground became gnats throughout all the land of Egypt. 8:18 When 214 the magicians attempted 215 to bring forth gnats by their secret arts, they could not. So there were gnats on people and on animals. 8:19 The magicians said 216 to Pharaoh, “It is the finger 217 of God!” But Pharaoh’s heart remained hard, 218 and he did not listen to them, just as the Lord had predicted.
8:20 219 The Lord 220 said to Moses, “Get up early in the morning and position yourself before Pharaoh as he goes out to the water, and tell him, ‘Thus says the Lord, “Release my people that they may serve me! 8:21 If you do not release 221 my people, then I am going to send 222 swarms of flies 223 on you and on your servants and on your people and in your houses. The houses of the Egyptians will be full of flies, and even the ground they stand on. 224 8:22 But on that day I will mark off 225 the land of Goshen, where my people are staying, 226 so that no swarms of flies will be there, that you may know that I am the Lord in the midst of this land. 227 8:23 I will put a division 228 between my people and your people. This sign will take place 229 tomorrow.”’” 8:24 The Lord did so; a 230 thick 231 swarm of flies came into 232 Pharaoh’s house and into the houses 233 of his servants, and throughout the whole land of Egypt the land was ruined 234 because of the swarms of flies.
8:25 Then Pharaoh summoned Moses and Aaron and said, “Go, sacrifice to your God within the land.” 235 8:26 But Moses said, “That would not be the right thing to do, 236 for the sacrifices we make 237 to the Lord our God would be an abomination 238 to the Egyptians. 239 If we make sacrifices that are an abomination to the Egyptians right before their eyes, 240 will they not stone us? 241 8:27 We must go 242 on a three-day journey 243 into the desert and sacrifice 244 to the Lord our God, just as he is telling us.” 245
8:28 Pharaoh said, “I will release you 246 so that you may sacrifice 247 to the Lord your God in the desert. Only you must not go very far. 248 Do 249 pray for me.”
8:29 Moses said, “I am going to go out 250 from you and pray to the Lord, and the swarms of flies will go away from Pharaoh, from his servants, and from his people tomorrow. Only do not let Pharaoh deal falsely again 251 by not releasing 252 the people to sacrifice to the Lord.” 8:30 So Moses went out from Pharaoh and prayed to the Lord, 8:31 and the Lord did as Moses asked 253 – he removed the swarms of flies from Pharaoh, from his servants, and from his people. Not one remained! 8:32 But Pharaoh hardened 254 his heart this time also and did not release the people.