Then the LORD said to Moses, “Go in to Pharaoh and say to him,
‘Thus says the LORD, the God of the Hebrews, “Let my people go,
that they may serve me. For if you refuse to let them go and still
hold them, behold, the hand of the LORD will fall with a very
severe plague upon your livestock that are in the field, the
horses, the donkeys, the camels, the herds, and the flocks. But the
LORD will make a distinction between the livestock of Israel and
the livestock of Egypt, so that nothing of all that belongs to the
people of Israel shall die.”’” And the LORD set a time, saying,
“Tomorrow the LORD will do this thing in the land.” And the next
day the LORD did this thing. All the livestock of the Egyptians
died, but not one of the livestock of the people of Israel died.
And Pharaoh sent, and behold, not one of the livestock of Israel
was dead. But the heart of Pharaoh was hardened, and he did not let
the people go.
And the LORD said to Moses and Aaron, “Take handfuls of soot from
the kiln, and let Moses throw them in the air in the sight of
Pharaoh. It shall become fine dust over all the land of Egypt, and
become boils breaking out in sores on man and beast throughout all
the land of Egypt.” So they took soot from the kiln and stood
before Pharaoh. And Moses threw it in the air, and it became boils
breaking out in sores on man and beast. And the magicians could not
stand before Moses because of the boils, for the boils came upon
the magicians and upon all the Egyptians. But the LORD hardened the
heart of Pharaoh, and he did not listen to them, as the LORD had
spoken to Moses.
Then the LORD said to Moses, “Rise up early in the morning and
present yourself before Pharaoh and say to him, ‘Thus says the
LORD, the God of the Hebrews, “Let my people go, that they may
serve me. For this time I will send all my plagues on you yourself,
and on your servants and your people, so that you may know that
there is none like me in all the earth. For by now I could have put
out my hand and struck you and your people with pestilence, and you
would have been cut off from the earth. But for this purpose I have
raised you up, to show you my power, so that my name may be
proclaimed in all the earth. You are still exalting yourself
against my people and will not let them go. Behold, about this time
tomorrow I will cause very heavy hail to fall, such as never has
been in Egypt from the day it was founded until now. Now therefore
send, get your livestock and all that you have in the field into
safe shelter, for every man and beast that is in the field and is
not brought home will die when the hail falls on them.”’” Then
whoever feared the word of the LORD among the servants of Pharaoh
hurried his slaves and his livestock into the houses, but whoever
did not pay attention to the word of the LORD left his slaves and
his livestock in the field.
Then the LORD said to Moses, “Stretch out your hand toward
heaven, so that there may be hail in all the land of Egypt, on man
and beast and every plant of the field, in the land of Egypt.” Then
Moses stretched out his staff toward heaven, and the LORD sent
thunder and hail, and fire ran down to the earth. And the LORD
rained hail upon the land of Egypt. There was hail and fire
flashing continually in the midst of the hail, very heavy hail,
such as had never been in all the land of Egypt since it became a
nation. The hail struck down everything that was in the field in
all the land of Egypt, both man and beast. And the hail struck down
every plant of the field and broke every tree of the field. Only in
the land of Goshen, where the people of Israel were, was there no
hail.
Then Pharaoh sent and called Moses and Aaron and said to them,
“This time I have sinned; the LORD is in the right, and I and my
people are in the wrong. Plead with the LORD, for there has been
enough of God's thunder and hail. 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 stretch out my hands to the LORD. The thunder will
cease, and there will be no more hail, so that you may know that
the earth is the LORD's. But as for you and your servants, I know
that you do not yet fear the LORD God.” (The flax and the barley
were struck down, for the barley was in the ear and the flax was in
bud. But the wheat and the emmer were not struck down, for they are
late in coming up.) So Moses went out of the city from Pharaoh and
stretched out his hands to the LORD, and the thunder and the hail
ceased, and the rain no longer poured upon the earth. But when
Pharaoh saw that the rain and the hail and the thunder had ceased,
he sinned yet again and hardened his heart, he and his servants. So
the heart of Pharaoh was hardened, and he did not let the people of
Israel go, just as the LORD had spoken through Moses.
