New International Reader s Version - NIrV - 1996
Exodus 8
1
Then the Lord said to Moses, "Go to Pharaoh. Tell him, 'The Lord says, "Let my people go. Then they will be able to worship me.
Reference
3
The Nile River will be full of frogs. They will come up into your palace. You will have frogs in your bedroom and on your bed. They will be in the homes of your officials and your people. They will be in your ovens and in your bread pans.
Reference
Parallel theme
Psalm 105:30
4
The frogs will be on you, your people and all of your officials." ' "
5
Then the Lord spoke to Moses. He said, "Tell Aaron, 'Reach your hand out. Hold your staff over the streams, waterways and ponds. Make frogs come up on the land of Egypt.' "
Reference
References Lord
Exodus 7:19
6
So Aaron reached his hand out over the waters of Egypt. The frogs came up and covered the land.
Reference
7
But the magicians did the same things by doing their magic tricks. They also made frogs come up on the land of Egypt.
Reference
8
Pharaoh sent for Moses and Aaron. He said to them, "Pray to the Lord to take the frogs away from me and my people. Then I'll let your people go to offer sacrifices to the Lord."
Reference
9
Moses said to Pharaoh, "You can have the honor of setting the time for me to pray. I will pray for you, your officials and your people. I'll pray that the frogs will leave you and your homes. The only frogs left will be the ones in the Nile River."
10
"Tomorrow," Pharaoh said. Moses replied, "It will happen just as you say. Then you will know that there is no one like the Lord our God.
Reference
Parallel theme
Exodus 9:14
References God
Isaiah 46:9
Psalm 86:8
1 Chronicles 17:20
2 Samuel 7:22
Deuteronomy 33:26
11
The frogs will leave you and your houses. They will leave your officials and your people. They will remain only in the Nile River."
12
Moses and Aaron left Pharaoh. Then Moses cried out to the Lord about the frogs he had brought on Pharaoh.
Reference
References Lord
Exodus 8:30
Exodus 10:18
Exodus 8:8
Exodus 32:11
Exodus 9:33
Ezekiel 36:37
1 Samuel 12:23
13
And the Lord did what Moses asked. The frogs died in the houses, courtyards and fields.
14
The Egyptians piled them up. The land smelled very bad because of them.
15
But when Pharaoh saw that the frogs were dead, his heart became stubborn. He wouldn't listen to Moses and Aaron, just as the Lord had said.
Reference
Parallel theme
Ecclesiastes 8:11
Exodus 7:4
Hebrews 3:8
Hebrews 3:15
Exodus 14:5
Revelation 16:9
Proverbs 29:1
Hosea 6:4
References Lord
Isaiah 26:10
Exodus 4:21
16
Then the Lord spoke to Moses. He said, "Tell Aaron, 'Reach your wooden staff out. Strike the dust on the ground with it.' Then all over the land of Egypt the dust will turn into gnats."
Reference
17
So they did it. Aaron reached out the staff that was in his hand. He struck the dust on the ground with it. The dust all over the land of Egypt turned into gnats. They landed on people and animals alike.
Reference
Parallel theme
Psalm 105:31
18
The magicians tried to produce gnats by doing their magic tricks. But they couldn't. The gnats stayed on people and animals alike.
Reference
19
The magicians said to Pharaoh, "God's powerful finger has done this." But Pharaoh's heart was stubborn. He wouldn't listen, just as the Lord had said.
Reference
20
Then the Lord spoke to Moses. He said, "Get up early in the morning. Talk to Pharaoh as he goes down to the river. Say to him, 'The Lord says, "Let my people go. Then they will be able to worship me.
Reference
21
If you do not let my people go, I will send large numbers of flies. I will send them on you and your officials. I will send them on your people and into your homes. The houses of the Egyptians will be full of flies. Even the area where they live will be full of flies.
22
" ' "But on that day I will treat the area of Goshen differently from yours. That is where my people live. There will not be large numbers of flies in Goshen. Then you will know that I, the Lord, am in this land.
Reference
Parallel theme
Exodus 10:23
Malachi 3:18
Exodus 12:13
References Lord
Exodus 9:4
Exodus 9:6
Ezekiel 30:19
Psalm 110:2
Exodus 8:10
Exodus 7:17
Exodus 9:29
23
I will treat my people differently from yours. The miraculous sign will take place tomorrow." ' "
24
So the Lord did it. Huge numbers of flies poured into Pharaoh's palace. They came into the homes of his officials. All over Egypt the flies destroyed the land.
Reference
25
Then Pharaoh sent for Moses and Aaron. He said to them, "Go. Offer sacrifices to your God here in the land."
Reference
26
But Moses said, "That wouldn't be right. The sacrifices we offer to the Lord our God wouldn't be accepted by the Egyptians because of their beliefs. Suppose we offered sacrifices they couldn't accept. Then they would throw stones at us and try to kill us.
Reference
27
We have to take a journey that lasts about three days. We want to go into the desert to offer sacrifices to the Lord our God, exactly as he commands us."
Reference
28
Pharaoh said, "I will let you and your people go to offer sacrifices. You can offer them to the Lord your God in the desert. But you must not go very far. And pray for me."
Reference
29
Moses replied, "As soon as I leave you, I will pray to the Lord. Tomorrow the flies will leave you. They will also leave your officials and your people. Just be sure you don't try to trick us again. Let the people go to offer sacrifices to the Lord."
Reference
30
Then Moses left Pharaoh and prayed to the Lord.
Reference
References Lord
Exodus 8:12
31
And the Lord did what Moses asked. The flies left Pharaoh, his officials and his people. Not one fly remained.
Chapter Summary
Exodus chapter eight describes a confrontation between God and Pharaoh and three plagues, frogs, lice, and flies, which God brings upon Egypt, one after another, but Pharaoh continues to resist.
The chapter begins with God instructing Moses to return to Pharaoh and demand that he let the Israelites go, so that they may keep a feast to God, and if he refuses, God will smite all thy borders with frogs. The description of the swarms of frogs is comical in that they invade Pharaoh’s house and his bed, as well as the houses of his servants, in the kitchens and the ovens and kneading troughs. No place is left alone, for the frog appears even where food is prepared. God instructs Moses to bring out Aaron’s rod and cast it over the waters, and the whole land of Egypt shall be full of frogs. The magicians of Egypt try to imitate the power of God by casting their enchantments, and they also produce frogs, but this ability is not a blessing to Pharaoh, but rather a multiplication of the evil that afflicts his land.
The next passage describes how Pharaoh responds to the first plague. Pharaoh calls for Moses and Aaron and says that they should entreat the LORD that He may remove the frogs for him and his people, and he will let the people go, that they may sacrifice to the LORD. Moses replies that he will entreat the LORD, but he tells Pharaoh that he should name the time, and Pharaoh says, “Tomorrow.” Moses said, “Be it so,” because that he might know that there is none like unto the LORD our God. Moses prayed to the LORD, and, as God said, the frogs died throughout all the houses and villages and fields of the Egyptians, and all the heaps thereof were gathered together. When Pharaoh saw that the frogs were gone, he hardened his heart, and refused to keep his word to let the Israelites go, as the LORD had said.
And the second plague came upon Egypt. Moses had to bring Aaron’s rod and cast it upon the dust of the earth, which became lice throughout all the land of Egypt upon man and beast. The magicians of Egypt were not able to imitate this miracle, so they went unto Pharaoh and said, “This is the finger of God.” Yet, Pharaoh’s heart was hardened, and he would not hearken unto them, as the LORD had said.
The next plague that is described in the chapter is the swarms of flies. God told Moses to go unto Pharaoh, and bring him word to let the children of Israel go, that they may serve God, but if he refused, God would send swarms of flies upon the Egyptians. Moses went unto Pharaoh in the morning and told him the message of the LORD, but Pharaoh refused once more to obey the commandment of God. However, God instructed Moses to speak unto Pharaoh, saying, “In that day I will sever in that day the land of Goshen, where my people dwell, that there shall no flies be there, that the Egyptians may know that I am the LORD in the midst of the earth.” Therefore, a grievous swarm of flies invaded the house of Pharaoh and the house of his servants and all the land of Egypt, excepting the land of Goshen, where the children of Israel dwelt.
Pharaoh called for Moses and Aaron and said unto them, “Go, sacrifice to your God in this land.” But Moses replied that they could not sacrifice to God in the sight of the Egyptians, for they would surely stone them, seeing that they had consecrated to the LORD their cattle, beasts, and offerings would be accounted an abomination by the Egyptians. Moses insisted that, that they might sacrifice to the LORD their God, they would have to journey three days into the wilderness. Pharaoh said unto them, “I will let you go, only that you do not go very far away, but entreat for me.”
Moses consented, but he warned Pharaoh that he should not deal deceitfully any more. Moses went forth and prayed to the LORD, and the flies departed out of the sight of Pharaoh, but after their departure, the hardness of Pharaoh’s heart remained, and he would not let the people go.
It is noteworthy that in the chapter of events dealing with the plagues of Egypt, the LORD shows that when Pharaoh saw that the frogs were gone, he hardened his heart and refused to keep his word to let the Israelites go, as the LORD had said. The same thing happened when God brought the plague of lice, and when He sent them the swarms of flies. The word “and as the LORD had said” is repeated several times, as if to indicate to the reader that not one of these things was strange to the Divine Mind or caught Him by surprise.
Exodus 8 is a very interesting chapter because it reveals the lying nature of Pharaoh’s promises. Every time the Israelites kept a promise or fulfilled a demand of his, he broke it as soon as he had reason to believe that he would not suffer for it. Pharaoh is a most fascinating personality because he was always willing to deal deceitfully and to break a promise as soon as he felt that it was inconvenient for him to keep it. The chapter serves also to introduce a new conflict, namely, the conflict which arises whenever one or the other wills to do the right thing, but neither is quite willing to bear the cost of it.
The chapter begins with God instructing Moses to return to Pharaoh and demand that he let the Israelites go, so that they may keep a feast to God, and if he refuses, God will smite all thy borders with frogs. The description of the swarms of frogs is comical in that they invade Pharaoh’s house and his bed, as well as the houses of his servants, in the kitchens and the ovens and kneading troughs. No place is left alone, for the frog appears even where food is prepared. God instructs Moses to bring out Aaron’s rod and cast it over the waters, and the whole land of Egypt shall be full of frogs. The magicians of Egypt try to imitate the power of God by casting their enchantments, and they also produce frogs, but this ability is not a blessing to Pharaoh, but rather a multiplication of the evil that afflicts his land.
The next passage describes how Pharaoh responds to the first plague. Pharaoh calls for Moses and Aaron and says that they should entreat the LORD that He may remove the frogs for him and his people, and he will let the people go, that they may sacrifice to the LORD. Moses replies that he will entreat the LORD, but he tells Pharaoh that he should name the time, and Pharaoh says, “Tomorrow.” Moses said, “Be it so,” because that he might know that there is none like unto the LORD our God. Moses prayed to the LORD, and, as God said, the frogs died throughout all the houses and villages and fields of the Egyptians, and all the heaps thereof were gathered together. When Pharaoh saw that the frogs were gone, he hardened his heart, and refused to keep his word to let the Israelites go, as the LORD had said.
And the second plague came upon Egypt. Moses had to bring Aaron’s rod and cast it upon the dust of the earth, which became lice throughout all the land of Egypt upon man and beast. The magicians of Egypt were not able to imitate this miracle, so they went unto Pharaoh and said, “This is the finger of God.” Yet, Pharaoh’s heart was hardened, and he would not hearken unto them, as the LORD had said.
The next plague that is described in the chapter is the swarms of flies. God told Moses to go unto Pharaoh, and bring him word to let the children of Israel go, that they may serve God, but if he refused, God would send swarms of flies upon the Egyptians. Moses went unto Pharaoh in the morning and told him the message of the LORD, but Pharaoh refused once more to obey the commandment of God. However, God instructed Moses to speak unto Pharaoh, saying, “In that day I will sever in that day the land of Goshen, where my people dwell, that there shall no flies be there, that the Egyptians may know that I am the LORD in the midst of the earth.” Therefore, a grievous swarm of flies invaded the house of Pharaoh and the house of his servants and all the land of Egypt, excepting the land of Goshen, where the children of Israel dwelt.
Pharaoh called for Moses and Aaron and said unto them, “Go, sacrifice to your God in this land.” But Moses replied that they could not sacrifice to God in the sight of the Egyptians, for they would surely stone them, seeing that they had consecrated to the LORD their cattle, beasts, and offerings would be accounted an abomination by the Egyptians. Moses insisted that, that they might sacrifice to the LORD their God, they would have to journey three days into the wilderness. Pharaoh said unto them, “I will let you go, only that you do not go very far away, but entreat for me.”
Moses consented, but he warned Pharaoh that he should not deal deceitfully any more. Moses went forth and prayed to the LORD, and the flies departed out of the sight of Pharaoh, but after their departure, the hardness of Pharaoh’s heart remained, and he would not let the people go.
It is noteworthy that in the chapter of events dealing with the plagues of Egypt, the LORD shows that when Pharaoh saw that the frogs were gone, he hardened his heart and refused to keep his word to let the Israelites go, as the LORD had said. The same thing happened when God brought the plague of lice, and when He sent them the swarms of flies. The word “and as the LORD had said” is repeated several times, as if to indicate to the reader that not one of these things was strange to the Divine Mind or caught Him by surprise.
Exodus 8 is a very interesting chapter because it reveals the lying nature of Pharaoh’s promises. Every time the Israelites kept a promise or fulfilled a demand of his, he broke it as soon as he had reason to believe that he would not suffer for it. Pharaoh is a most fascinating personality because he was always willing to deal deceitfully and to break a promise as soon as he felt that it was inconvenient for him to keep it. The chapter serves also to introduce a new conflict, namely, the conflict which arises whenever one or the other wills to do the right thing, but neither is quite willing to bear the cost of it.