Exodus
8:1-32
Then the Lord said to Moses,
"Go in to Pharaoh and say to him,' Thus says the Lord, "Let my people
go, that they may serve me. But if you refuse to let them go, behold, I will
plague all your country with frogs. The Nile shall swarm with frogs that shall
come up into your house and into your bedroom and on your bed and into the
houses of your servants and your people, and into your ovens and your kneading
bowls. The frogs shall come up on you and on your people and on all your
servants." ' " And the Lord said to Moses, "Say to Aaron,
'Stretch out your hand with your staff over the rivers, over the canals and
over the pools, and make frogs come up on 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. But the magicians did the same by their secret arts
and made frogs come up on the land of Egypt.
Then Pharaoh called Moses and Aaron
and said, "Plead with the Lord to take away the frogs from me and from my
people, and I will let the people go to sacrifice to the Lord." Moses said
to Pharaoh, "Be pleased to command me when I am to plead for you and for
your servants and for your people, that the frogs be cut off from you and your
houses and be left only in the Nile."
And he said,
"Tomorrow." Moses said, "Be it as you say, so that you may know
that there is no one like the Lord our God. The frogs shall go away from you
and your houses and your servants and your people. They shall be left only in
the Nile." So Moses and Aaron went out from Pharaoh, and Moses cried to
the Lord about the frogs, as he had agreed with Pharaoh. And the Lord did
according to the word of Moses. The frogs died out in the houses, the
courtyards, and the fields. And they gathered them together in heaps, and the
land stank. But when Pharaoh saw that there was a respite, he hardened his
heart and would not listen to them, as the Lord had said.
Then the Lord said to Moses,
"Say to Aaron, 'Stretch out your staff and strike the dust of the earth,
so that it may become gnats in all the land of Egypt.' " And they did so.
Aaron stretched out his hand with his staff and struck the dust of the earth,
and there were gnats on man and beast. All the dust of the earth became gnats
in all the land of Egypt. The magicians tried by their secret arts to produce
gnats, but they could not. So there were gnats on man and beast. Then the
magicians said to Pharaoh, "This is the finger of God." But Pharaoh's
heart was hardened, and he would not listen to them, as the Lord had said.
Then the Lord said to Moses,
"Rise up early in the morning and present yourself to Pharaoh, as he goes
out to the water, and say to him, 'Thus says the Lord, "Let my people go,
that they may serve me. Or else, if you will not let my people go, behold, I
will send swarms of flies on you and your servants and your people, and into
your houses. And the houses of the Egyptians shall be filled with swarms of
flies, and also the ground on which they stand. But on that day I will set
apart the land of Goshen, where my people dwell, so that no swarms of flies
shall be there, that you may know that I am the Lord in the midst of the earth.
Thus I will put a division between my people and your people. Tomorrow this
sign shall happen." ' " And the Lord did so. There came great swarms
of flies into the house of Pharaoh and into his servants' houses. Throughout
all the land of Egypt the land was ruined by the swarms of flies.
Then Pharaoh called Moses and Aaron
and said, "Go, sacrifice to your God within the land." But Moses
said, "It would not be right to do so, for the offerings we shall
sacrifice to the Lord our God are an abomination to the Egyptians. If we
sacrifice offerings abominable to the Egyptians before their eyes,
will they not stone us? We must go three days' journey into the wilderness and
sacrifice to the Lord our God as he tells us." So Pharaoh said, "I
will let you go to sacrifice to the Lord your God in the wilderness; only you
must not go very far away. Plead for me." Then Moses said, "Behold, I
am going out from you and I will plead with the Lord that the swarms of flies
may depart from Pharaoh, from his servants, and from his people, tomorrow. Only
let not Pharaoh cheat again by not letting the people go to sacrifice to the
Lord." So Moses went out from Pharaoh and prayed to the Lord. And the Lord
did as Moses asked, and removed the swarms of flies from Pharaoh, from his
servants, and from his people; not one remained. But Pharaoh hardened his heart
this time also, and did not let the people go.
(ESV)
This reading is taken from Thirty Scripture Readings on God's
Amazing Power. The complete book can be found here: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B005HEHSNQ
The
Holy Bible: English Standard Version, copyright © 2001, Wheaton: Good News
Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
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