1    ^noteThe Lord then told Moses to go into Pharaoh's presence and say to him, ‘These are the words of the Lord: “Let my people go in order to worship me. 2   If you refuse to let them go, I will plague the whole of your territory with frogs. 3   The Nile shall swarm with them. They shall come up from the river into your house, into your bedroom and on to your bed, into the houses of your courtiers and your people, into your ovens and your kneading-troughs. 4   The frogs shall clamber over you, your people, and your courtiers.”’ 5    ^noteThen the Lord told Moses to say to Aaron, ‘Take your staff in your hand and stretch it out over the rivers, streams, and pools, to bring up frogs upon the land of Egypt.’ 6   So Aaron stretched out his hand over the waters of Egypt, and the frogs came up and covered all the land. 7   The magicians did the same

Israel enslaved in Egypt thing by their spells: they too brought up frogs upon the land of Egypt. Then Pharaoh summoned Moses and Aaron. 8   ‘Pray to the Lord’, he said, ‘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, ‘Of your royal favour, appoint a time when I may intercede for you and your courtiers and people, so that you and your houses may be rid of the frogs, and none be left except in the Nile.’ 10   ‘Tomorrow’, Pharaoh said. ‘It shall be as you say,’ replied Moses, ‘so that you may know there is no one like our God, the Lord. 11   The frogs shall depart from you, from your houses, your courtiers, and your people: none shall be left except in the Nile.’ 12   Moses and Aaron left Pharaoh's presence, and Moses appealed to the Lord to remove the frogs which he had brought on Pharaoh. 13   The Lord did as Moses had asked, and in house and courtyard and in the open the frogs all perished. 14   They piled them into countless heaps and the land stank; 15   but when Pharaoh found that he was given relief he became obdurate; as the Lord had foretold, he did not listen to Moses and Aaron.

16   The Lord then told Moses to say to Aaron, ‘Stretch out your staff and strike the dust on the ground, and it will turn into maggots throughout the land of Egypt’, and they obeyed. 17   Aaron stretched out his staff and struck the dust, and it turned into maggots on man and beast. 18   All the dust turned into maggots throughout the land of Egypt. The magicians tried to produce maggots in the same way by their spells, but they failed. The maggots were everywhere, on man and beast. 19   ‘It is the finger of God’, said the magicians to Pharaoh, but Pharaoh remained obstinate; as the Lord had foretold, he did not listen to them.

20   The Lord told Moses to rise early in the morning and stand in Pharaoh's path as he went out to the river and to say to him, ‘These are the words of the Lord: “Let my people go in order to worship me. 21   If you do not let my people go, I will send swarms of flies upon you, your courtiers, your people, and your houses. The houses of the Egyptians shall be filled with the swarms and so shall all the land they live in, 22   but on that day I will make an exception of Goshen, the land where my people live: there shall be no swarms there. Thus you shall know that I, the Lord, am here in the land. 23   I will make a distinction ^note between my people and yours. 24   Tomorrow this sign shall appear.”’ The Lord did this; dense swarms of flies infested Pharaoh's house and those of his courtiers; throughout Egypt the land was threatened with ruin by the swarms. 25   Pharaoh summoned Moses and Aaron and said to them, ‘Go and sacrifice to your God, but in this country.’ 26   ‘That we cannot do,’ replied Moses, ‘because the victim we shall sacrifice to the Lord our God is an abomination to the Egyptians. If the Egyptians

Israel enslaved Egypt see us offer such an animal, will they not stone us to death? 27   We must go a three days' journey into the wilderness to sacrifice to the Lord our God, as he commands us.’ 28   ‘I will let you go,’ said Pharaoh, ‘and you shall sacrifice to your God in the wilderness; only do not go far. 29   Now intercede for me.’ Moses answered, ‘As soon as I leave you I will intercede with the Lord. Tomorrow the swarms will depart from Pharaoh, his courtiers, and his people. Only let not Pharaoh trifle any more with the people by preventing them from going to sacrifice to the Lord.’ 30    31   Then Moses left Pharaoh and interceded with the Lord. The Lord did as Moses had said; he removed the swarms from Pharaoh, his courtiers, and his people; not one was left. 32   But once again Pharaoh became obdurate and did not let the people go.

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