Exodus 8

8 ¹ Then our Father said to Moses, "Go to Pharaoh and say to him, 'This is what our Father says: Let my people go, so that they may serve me. ² But if you refuse to let them go, I will plague your whole country with frogs. ³ The Nile will swarm with frogs that will come up and enter your house, your bedroom, and your bed, the houses of your servants and your people, your ovens and your kneading bowls. ⁴ The frogs will come up on you, on your people, and on all your servants."'"

⁵ And our Father said to Moses, "Say to Aaron, 'Stretch out your hand with your staff over the rivers, the canals, and the pools, and bring up the frogs over the land of Egypt.'"

⁶ So Aaron stretched out his hand over the waters of Egypt, and the frogs came up and covered the land of Egypt. ⁷ But the magicians did the same by their secret arts and brought up frogs over the land of Egypt.

⁸ Then Pharaoh called for Moses and Aaron and said, "Plead with the LORD to take the frogs away from me and my people, and I will let the people go to sacrifice to the LORD."

⁹ Moses said to Pharaoh, "The honor is yours — name the time when I should plead for you, your servants, and your people, so that the frogs will be cut off from you and your houses and remain only in the Nile."

¹⁰ "Tomorrow," he said. Moses replied, "As you say — so you will know there is no one like our Father.

¹¹ The frogs will leave you, your houses, your servants, and your people; they will remain only in the Nile."

¹² So Moses and Aaron went out from Pharaoh, and Moses cried out to our Father about the frogs he had brought against Pharaoh. ¹³ And our Father did as Moses asked. The frogs died in the houses, the courtyards, and the fields. ¹⁴ They piled them into heaps upon heaps, and the land reeked. ¹⁵ But when Pharaoh saw that there was relief, he hardened his heart and would not listen to them, just as our Father had said.

Gnats From the Dust

¹⁶ Then our Father said to Moses, "Say to Aaron, 'Stretch out your staff and strike the dust of the ground, and it will become gnats throughout all the land of Egypt.'"

¹⁷ And they did so. Aaron stretched out his hand with his staff and struck the dust of the ground, and gnats came on people and animals. All the dust of the ground became gnats throughout the whole land of Egypt. ¹⁸ The magicians tried by their secret arts to produce gnats, but they could not. So the gnats were on people and animals. ¹⁹ Then the magicians said to Pharaoh, "This is the finger of God." But Pharaoh's heart was hard, and he would not listen to them, just as our Father had said.

A Line Drawn at Goshen

²⁰ Then our Father said to Moses, "Rise early in the morning and present yourself before Pharaoh as he goes out to the water, and say to him, 'This is what our Father says: Let my people go, so that they may serve me. ²¹ For if you will not let my people go, I will send swarms of flies on you, your servants, your people, and your houses. The houses of the Egyptians will be full of swarms, and even the ground where they stand. ²² But on that day I will set apart the land of Goshen, where my people live, so that no swarms of flies will be there, so you will know that I am your Father in the midst of the land. ²³ I will make a distinction between my people and your people. Tomorrow this sign will happen.'"

²⁴ And our Father did so. Thick swarms of flies poured into the house of Pharaoh and the houses of his servants, and throughout all the land of Egypt the land was ruined by the swarms of flies.

²⁵ Then Pharaoh called for Moses and Aaron and said, "Go, sacrifice to your God here within the land."

²⁶ But Moses said, "It would not be right to do that, for what we sacrifice to our Father is detestable to the Egyptians. If we sacrifice what is detestable to the Egyptians before their very eyes, will they not stone us? ²⁷ We must go a three days' journey into the wilderness and sacrifice to our Father, as he commands us."

²⁸ 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. Plead for me."

²⁹ Then Moses said, "As soon as I leave you, I will plead with our Father, and tomorrow the swarms of flies will depart from Pharaoh, his servants, and his people. Only let Pharaoh not act deceitfully again by refusing to let the people go to sacrifice to our Father." ³⁰ So Moses went out from Pharaoh and pleaded with our Father. ³¹ And our Father did as Moses asked: he removed the swarms of flies from Pharaoh, his servants, and his people; not one remained. ³² But Pharaoh hardened his heart this time also, and he would not let the people go.