am Jehovah: See, I will strike the waters which are in the river with

the rod that is in my hand and they shall be changed into blood. The

fish, too, that are in the Nile shall die, and the Nile shall become

foul, so that the Egyptians will hate to drink its water.'"



Then Moses lifted up the staff and in the presence of Pharaoh and his

servants struck the waters that were in the river Nile; and all its

waters were changed into blood. The fish, too, that were in the Nile

died, and the river became so foul that the Egyptians could not drink

its water, but dug round about the Nile for water to drink.



Seven days later Jehovah gave this command to Moses, "Go in to Pharaoh

and say to him, 'Jehovah commands: Let my people go that they may

worship me. If you refuse to let them go, then I will afflict all your

land with frogs; and the Nile shall swarm with frogs which shall go up

and come into your house, into your sleeping chamber, upon your bed,

into the houses of your servants, upon your people, and into your ovens

and kneading-troughs; and the frogs shall come up even upon you and your

people and all your servants.'"



Then Jehovah said to Moses, "Say to Aaron: 'Stretch out your hand with

your staff over the rivers, over the canals, and over the pools, and

cause frogs to come up over the land of Egypt.'" So Aaron stretched out

his hand over the waters of Egypt; and the frogs came up and covered the

land of Egypt.



Then Pharaoh called for Moses and Aaron and said, "Pray to Jehovah to

take away the frogs from me and my people; then I will let the people

go, that they may offer a sacrifice to Jehovah." Moses said to Pharaoh,

"Will you do yourself the honor of telling me at what time I shall pray

to Jehovah in your behalf and in behalf of your servants and people,

that the frogs be destroyed from your palaces and be left only in the

Nile?" Pharaoh answered, "To-morrow." Then Moses said, "Let it be as you

say; that you may know that there is none like Jehovah our God, the

frogs shall depart from you, from your palaces, and from your servants

and people; they shall be left only in the Nile."



When Moses and Aaron had gone out from Pharaoh, Moses prayed to Jehovah

to remove the frogs which he had brought upon Pharaoh; and Jehovah did

as Moses asked. The frogs died in the houses, in the courts, and in the

fields, and the people gathered them together in many heaps; and the

land was filled with a vile odor. But when Pharaoh saw that relief had

come, he was stubborn and, as Jehovah had said, did not listen to Moses

and Aaron.



Then Jehovah said to Moses, "Get up early in the morning and stand

before Pharaoh, just as he goes out to the water, and say to him,

'Jehovah commands: Let my people go that they may worship me. If you

will not let my people go, I will send swarms of flies upon you, upon

your servants, and upon your people and into your palaces, so that the

houses of the Egyptians shall be full of swarms of flies, as well as the

ground upon which they stand. But at that time I will set apart the land

of Goshen in which my people live, and no swarms of flies shall be

there, so that you may know that I, Jehovah, am in the midst of the

earth.'"



And Jehovah did so: a vast swarm of flies came upon Pharaoh's palace and

into the homes of his servants; and all the land of Egypt was ruined by

the swarms of flies.



Then Pharaoh called for Moses and Aaron and said, "I will let you go

that you may offer a sacrifice to Jehovah your God in the wilderness;

only you must not go far away. Pray for me." Moses replied, "I will go

out and will pray to Jehovah that the swarms of flies may depart from

Pharaoh, from his servants and from his people to-morrow; only let not

Pharaoh again act deceitfully by refusing to let the people go to offer

a sacrifice to Jehovah."



So Moses went out from Pharaoh and prayed to Jehovah. And Jehovah did as

Moses asked; but this time also Pharaoh was stubborn and would not let

the people go.



Then Jehovah said to Moses, "Go to Pharaoh and tell him, 'Jehovah the

God of the Hebrews commands: Let my people go that they may worship me.

For if you refuse to let them go and still hold them, then the power of

Jehovah will bring a very severe pest upon your cattle which are in the

field, upon the horses, the asses, the camels, the herds, and the

flocks. But Jehovah will make a difference between the cattle of Israel

and the cattle of Egypt, and not one that belongs to the Israelites

shall die.'"



So Jehovah set a fixed time, saying, "To-morrow Jehovah will do this in

the land." Jehovah did this on the next day, and all the cattle of the

Egyptians died; but none of the cattle of the Israelites. Then Pharaoh

sent and found that not even one of the cattle of the Israelites was

dead; but Pharaoh was stubborn and would not let the people go.



Then Jehovah said to Moses, "Get up early in the morning and stand

before Pharaoh, and say to him,'Jehovah, the God of the Hebrews,

commands: Let my people go, that they may worship me. Do you still set

yourself against my people, so that you will not let them go? To-morrow

about this time I will send down a very heavy fall of hail, such as has

not been in Egypt from the day that it became a nation until now.'"



So Jehovah sent down hail upon the land of Egypt, and the lightning

flashing in the midst of the hail was very severe, such as had not been

before in all Egypt since it became a nation. Through the whole land of

Egypt the hail struck down everything that was in the field, both man

and beast. The hail also struck down all the growing plants and broke

all the trees in the fields. Only in the land of Goshen, where the

Israelites were, there was no hail.



Again Pharaoh sent and called for Moses and Aaron and said to them, "I

have sinned this time; Jehovah is right and I and my people are wrong.

Pray to Jehovah, for there has been enough of these mighty thunderings

and hail, and I will let you go, and you shall stay no longer." Moses

said to him, "As soon as I have gone out of the city, I will spread out

my hands in prayer to Jehovah; the thunders shall stop, and there shall

be no more hail, that you may know that the earth is Jehovah's. But as

for you and your servants, I know that even then you will not fear

Jehovah."



So Moses went out of the city from Pharaoh and spread out his hands to

Jehovah; and the thunders and hail stopped, and the rain was no longer

poured upon the earth. But when Pharaoh saw that the rain and the hail

and the thunders had stopped, he sinned again, and he and his servants

became stubborn, and he would not let the Israelites go.



So Moses and Aaron went to Pharaoh, and said to him, "Jehovah, the God

of the Hebrews, commands: 'How long will you refuse to obey me? Let my

people go that they may worship me. For if you refuse to let my people

go, then to-morrow I will bring locusts into your land, and they will

cover the surface of the earth, so that no one will be able to see the

ground, and they shall eat the rest of that which is left to you from

the hail, and they shall eat all your trees which grow in the field.'"



Then Moses and Aaron were driven out from Pharaoh's presence, but Moses

stretched out his staff over the land of Egypt, and Jehovah caused an

east wind to blow over the land all that day and night. In the morning

the east wind brought the locusts, and they went over all the land of

Egypt and settled down in all the land of Egypt, a very large swarm,

more locusts than there ever were before or ever will be again. For they

covered the surface of the whole land, so that the land was darkened and

nothing green was left, neither tree nor growing plants, anywhere in all

the land of Egypt.



Then Pharaoh called for Moses in haste and said, "I have sinned against

Jehovah your God and against you. Now therefore forgive my sin only this

once, and pray to Jehovah your God to take away from me this deadly

plague." So Moses went out from Pharaoh and prayed to Jehovah, and

Jehovah made a very strong west wind to blow which took up the locusts

and drove them into the Red Sea; not a single locust was left in all

the land of Egypt. But Jehovah let Pharaoh's heart remain stubborn, so

that he would not let the Israelites go.



Then Jehovah said to Moses, "Stretch out your hand toward heaven, that

there may be darkness over the land of Egypt, so dark that it may be

felt." So Moses stretched out his hand toward heaven; and there was

complete darkness in all the land of Egypt for three days; no one could

see another, nor did any one move about for three days. But the

Israelites had light in their homes.



Then Pharaoh called Moses and said, "Go, worship Jehovah; only let your

flocks and your herds stay behind; let your little ones go with you."

But Moses said, "You must also give us animals for sacrifices and

burnt-offerings, that we may offer a sacrifice to Jehovah our God. Our

cattle too must go with us; not a hoof shall be left behind, for we must

take these to offer to Jehovah our God, and we do not know what we must

offer to Jehovah until we arrive there."



But Jehovah let Pharaoh's heart remain stubborn, and he would not let

them go. And Pharaoh said to him, "Go away from me; take care that you

never come to me again; for on the day that you come to me you shall

die." Moses replied, "You have spoken truly, I shall never see you

again."



Moses said to Pharaoh, "Jehovah declares: 'About midnight I will go

through all of Egypt. All the eldest sons in the land of Egypt shall

die, from the eldest son of Pharaoh who sits upon his throne, even to

the eldest son of the slave girl who is behind the mill, and all the

first-born of the cattle. There shall be a great cry of sorrow all over

the land of Egypt, such as has never been before and never shall be

again.' But not a single dog shall bark at any of the Israelites nor

their animals, that you may know that Jehovah does make a difference

between the Egyptians and Israelites. All these your servants shall come

to me and bow down before me, saying, 'Go away, together with all the

people that follow you.' After that I will go away." And Moses went from

Pharaoh in great anger.