Exodus 5 - 8 — Legacy Standard Bible

Pharaoh Will Not Let the People Go

5And afterward Moses and Aaron came and said to Pharaoh, “^aThus says Yahweh, the God of Israel, ‘^bLet My people go that they may celebrate a feast to Me in the wilderness.’” ²But Pharaoh said, “^aWho is Yahweh that I should listen to His voice to let Israel go? I do not know Yahweh, and also, ^bI will not let Israel go.” ³Then they said, “^aThe God of the Hebrews has met with us. Please, let us go a three days’ journey into the wilderness that we may sacrifice to Yahweh our God, lest He confront us with pestilence or with the sword.” ⁴But the king of Egypt said to them, “Moses and Aaron, why do you ¹draw the people away from their ²work? Get back to your ³^,^ahard labors!” ⁵And Pharaoh said, “Look, ^athe people of the land are now many, and you would have them cease from their hard labors!” ⁶So on that day Pharaoh commanded ^athe taskmasters over the people and their ^bforemen, saying, ⁷“You are no longer to give the people straw to make brick as previously; let them go and gather straw for themselves. ⁸“But the quota of bricks which they were making previously, you shall set upon them; you are not to reduce any of it. Because they are ^alazy, therefore they are crying out, ‘¹Let us go and sacrifice to our God.’ ⁹“Let their slavery be hard on the men, and let them work at it so that they will have no regard for false words.”

¹⁰So ^athe taskmasters of the people and their foremen went out and spoke to the people, saying, “Thus says Pharaoh, ‘I am not going to give you any straw. ¹¹‘You go and get straw for yourselves wherever you can find it, but no amount of your slave labor will be reduced.’” ¹²So the people scattered through all the land of Egypt to gather stubble for straw. ¹³And the taskmasters were pressing them, saying, “Complete your ¹work quota, ²the daily amount, just as when there was straw.” ¹⁴Moreover, ^athe foremen of the sons of Israel, whom Pharaoh’s taskmasters had set over them, ^bwere beaten ¹and were asked, “Why have you not completed your required amount either yesterday or today in making brick as previously?”

¹⁵Then the foremen of the sons of Israel came and cried out to Pharaoh, saying, “Why do you deal this way with your slaves? ¹⁶“There is no straw given to your slaves, yet they keep saying to us, ‘Make bricks!’ And behold, your slaves are being beaten; but it is the ¹sin of your own people.” ¹⁷But he said, “You are ^alazy—lazy! Therefore you say, ‘Let us go and sacrifice to Yahweh.’ ¹⁸“So now, go and labor; but straw will not be given to you, yet you must deliver the quota of bricks.” ¹⁹Then the foremen of the sons of Israel saw that they were in trouble ¹because they were told, “You must not reduce ²your daily amount of bricks.” ²⁰When they left Pharaoh’s presence, they confronted Moses and Aaron, ¹standing there to meet them. ²¹^aAnd they said to them, “^bMay Yahweh look upon you and judge, for you have ^cmade ¹us a foul smell in Pharaoh’s sight and in the sight of his servants, to put a sword in their hand to kill us.”

²²Then Moses returned to Yahweh and said, “^aO Lord, why have You brought harm to this people? Why did You ever send me? ²³“Ever since I came to Pharaoh to speak in Your name, he has done harm to this people, ^aand You have not delivered Your people at all.”

Yahweh Remembers His Covenant

6Then Yahweh said to Moses, “Now you shall see what I will do to Pharaoh; for ^aby a strong hand he will let them go, and by a strong hand he will drive them out of his land.”

²God spoke further to Moses and said to him, “I am ^aYahweh; ³and I appeared to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, as ¹^,^aGod Almighty, but by ^bMy name, Yahweh, I was not known to them. ⁴“And I also established ^aMy covenant with them, to give them the land of Canaan, the ¹land in which they sojourned. ⁵“Furthermore I have ^aheard the groaning of the sons of Israel because the Egyptians are holding them in slavery, and I have remembered My covenant. ⁶“Say, therefore, to the sons of Israel, ‘^aI am Yahweh, and ^bI will bring you out from under the hard labors of the Egyptians, and I will deliver you from their slavery. I will also ^credeem you with ^dan outstretched arm and with great judgments. ⁷‘Then I will take you ¹^,^afor My people, and ^bI will be ²your God; and ^cyou shall know that I am Yahweh your God, who brought you out from under the hard labors of the Egyptians. ⁸‘And I will bring you to the land which ^aI ¹swore to give to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, and ^bI will give it to you for a possession; ^cI am Yahweh.’” ⁹So Moses spoke thus to the sons of Israel, but they did not listen to Moses on ^aaccount of their weakness of spirit and ¹hard slavery.

¹⁰Now Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, ¹¹“^aCome, ¹tell Pharaoh king of Egypt ²to let the sons of Israel go out of his land.” ¹²But Moses spoke before Yahweh, saying, “Behold, the sons of Israel have not listened to me; ^ahow then will Pharaoh listen to me, for I am of ^buncircumcised lips?” ¹³Then Yahweh spoke to Moses and to Aaron and gave them a command for the sons of Israel and for Pharaoh king of Egypt, to bring the sons of Israel out of the land of Egypt.

The Heads of Israel’s Households

¹⁴These are the heads of their fathers’ households. ^aThe sons of Reuben, Israel’s firstborn: Hanoch and Pallu, Hezron and Carmi; these are the families of Reuben.

¹⁵The ^asons of Simeon: Jemuel and Jamin and Ohad and Jachin and Zohar and Shaul the son of a Canaanite woman; these are the families of Simeon. ¹⁶These are the names of ^athe sons of Levi according to their generations: Gershon and Kohath and Merari; and the years of Levi’s life were 137 years. ¹⁷^aThe sons of Gershon: ¹Libni and Shimei, according to their families. ¹⁸^aThe sons of Kohath: Amram and Izhar and Hebron and Uzziel; and the years of Kohath’s life were 133 years. ¹⁹^aThe sons of Merari: Mahli and Mushi. These are the families of the Levites according to their generations. ²⁰^aAnd Amram took his father’s sister Jochebed as a wife, and she bore him Aaron and Moses; and the years of Amram’s life were 137 years. ²¹^aThe sons of Izhar: Korah and Nepheg and Zichri. ²²^aThe sons of Uzziel: Mishael and ¹Elzaphan and Sithri. ²³And Aaron took Elisheba, the daughter of ^aAmminadab, the sister of ^bNahshon, as a wife, and she bore him ^cNadab and Abihu, Eleazar and Ithamar. ²⁴The ^asons of Korah: Assir and Elkanah and ¹Abiasaph; these are the families of the Korahites.

²⁵And Aaron’s son ^aEleazar took one of the daughters of Putiel as a wife, and she bore him ^bPhinehas. These are the heads of the fathers’ households of the Levites according to their families. ²⁶It was the same Aaron and Moses to whom Yahweh said, “^aBring out the sons of Israel from the land of Egypt according to their ^bhosts.” ²⁷They were the ones ^awho spoke to Pharaoh king of Egypt to bring out the sons of Israel from Egypt; it was the same Moses and Aaron.

Aaron Will Speak for Moses

²⁸Now it happened on the day when Yahweh spoke to Moses in the land of Egypt, ²⁹that Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, “^aI am Yahweh; ^bspeak to Pharaoh king of Egypt all that I am speaking to you.” ³⁰But Moses said before Yahweh, “Behold, I am of ^auncircumcised lips; how then will Pharaoh listen to me?”

7Then Yahweh said to Moses, “^aSee, I ¹set you as God to Pharaoh, and your brother Aaron shall be your prophet. ²“You shall speak all that I command you, and your brother ^aAaron shall speak to Pharaoh that he let the sons of Israel go out of his land. ³“But ^aI will harden Pharaoh’s heart with stiffness that I may ^bmultiply My signs and My ¹wonders in the land of Egypt. ⁴“But ^aPharaoh will not listen to you. And I will ¹set My hand upon Egypt and ^bbring out My hosts, My people the sons of Israel, from the land of Egypt by ^cgreat judgments. ⁵“^aThen the Egyptians shall know that I am Yahweh, when I ^bstretch out My hand against Egypt and bring out the sons of Israel from their midst.” ⁶So Moses and Aaron did it; ^aas Yahweh commanded them, thus they did. ⁷Now Moses was ^aeighty years old and Aaron eighty-three years old, when they spoke to Pharaoh.

Aaron’s Staff Becomes a Serpent

⁸And Yahweh spoke to Moses and Aaron, saying, ⁹“When Pharaoh speaks to you, saying, ‘¹^,^aWork a miraculous wonder,’ then you shall say to Aaron, ‘^bTake your staff and throw it down before Pharaoh, that it may become a ²serpent.’” ¹⁰So Moses and Aaron came to Pharaoh, and thus they did just as Yahweh had commanded; and Aaron threw his staff down before Pharaoh and ¹his ²servants, and it ^abecame a ³serpent. ¹¹Then Pharaoh also ^acalled for the wise men and the sorcerers, and they also, the ¹^,^bmagicians of Egypt, did ²the same with ^ctheir secret arts. ¹²And each one threw down his staff, and they became ¹serpents. But Aaron’s staff swallowed up their staffs. ¹³Yet ^aPharaoh’s heart was ¹hardened with strength, and he did not listen to them, as Yahweh had spoken.

The Plague of Water Turning to Blood

¹⁴Then Yahweh said to Moses, “Pharaoh’s heart is ¹hard with firmness; he refuses to let the people go. ¹⁵“Go to Pharaoh in the morning ¹as ^ahe is going out to the water, and station yourself to meet him on the bank of the Nile; and you shall take in your hand ^bthe staff that was turned into a serpent. ¹⁶“^aAnd you shall say to him, ‘Yahweh, the God of the Hebrews, sent me to you, saying, “^bLet My people go, that they may serve Me in the wilderness. But behold, you have not listened until now.” ¹⁷‘Thus says Yahweh, “^aBy this you shall know that I am Yahweh: behold, I am about to strike ¹the water that is in the Nile with the staff that is in my hand, and ^bit will be turned to blood. ¹⁸“^aAnd the fish that are in the Nile will die, and the Nile will ¹become foul, and the Egyptians will ^bbe weary of drinking water from the Nile.”’” ¹⁹Then Yahweh said to Moses, “Say to Aaron, ‘Take your staff and ^astretch out your hand over the waters of Egypt, over their rivers, over their ¹streams, and over their pools and over all their reservoirs of water, that they may become blood; and there will be blood throughout all the land of Egypt, both in vessels of wood and in vessels of stone.’”

²⁰So Moses and Aaron did thus, as Yahweh had commanded. And he raised up ¹^,^athe staff and struck the water that was in the Nile, in the sight of Pharaoh and in the sight of his servants, and ^ball the water that was in the Nile was turned to blood. ²¹And the fish that were in the Nile died, and the Nile ¹became foul, so that the Egyptians could not drink water from the Nile. And the blood was through all the land of Egypt. ²²^aYet the ¹magicians of Egypt did ²the same with their secret arts; and Pharaoh’s heart was ³hardened with strength, and he did not listen to them, as Yahweh had spoken. ²³Then Pharaoh turned and went into his house, and he did not set his heart even on this. ²⁴So all the Egyptians dug around the Nile for water to drink, for they could not drink of the water of the Nile. ²⁵And seven full days ¹passed after Yahweh had struck the Nile.

The Plague of Frogs

8¹Then Yahweh said to Moses, “Come to Pharaoh and say to him, ‘Thus says Yahweh, “^aLet My people go, that they may serve Me. ²“But if you refuse to let them go, behold, I ¹will smite your whole territory with frogs. ³“And the Nile will ^aswarm with frogs, and they will go up and come into your house and into your bedroom and on your bed and into the houses of your servants and on your people and into your ovens and into your kneading bowls. ⁴“So the frogs will come up on you and on your people and on all your servants.”’” ⁵¹Then Yahweh said to Moses, “Say to Aaron, ‘^aStretch out your hand with your staff over the rivers, over the ²streams and over the pools, and cause the frogs to come up on the land of Egypt.’” ⁶So Aaron stretched out his hand over the waters of Egypt, and the ¹^,^afrogs came up and covered the land of Egypt. ⁷^aAnd the ¹magicians did ²the same with their secret arts; they caused the frogs to come up on the land of Egypt.

⁸Then Pharaoh ^acalled for Moses and Aaron and said, “^bEntreat Yahweh that He may cause the frogs to depart from me and from my people; and ^cI will let the people go, that they may sacrifice to Yahweh.” ⁹And Moses said to Pharaoh, “¹May the honor be yours to tell me: when shall I entreat for you and for your servants and for your people, that the frogs be cut off from you and your houses, that they may remain only in the Nile?”

¹⁰Then he said, “Tomorrow.” So he said, “May it be according to your word, that you may know that there is ^ano one like Yahweh our God. ¹¹“And the ^afrogs will depart from you and your houses and your servants and your people; they will remain only in the Nile.” ¹²Then Moses and Aaron went out from Pharaoh, and ^aMoses cried out to Yahweh concerning the frogs which He had set upon Pharaoh. ¹³So Yahweh did according to the word of Moses, and the frogs died out of the houses, the courts, and the fields. ¹⁴So they piled them in heaps, and the land ¹became foul. ¹⁵Then Pharaoh saw that there was relief, and he ¹hardened his heart with firmness and ^adid not listen to them, as Yahweh had spoken.

The Plague of Gnats

¹⁶Then Yahweh said to Moses, “Say to Aaron, ‘Stretch out your staff and strike the dust of the earth, that it may become ¹gnats through all the land of Egypt.’” ¹⁷And they did so; and Aaron stretched out his hand with his staff and struck the dust of the earth, and there were ¹gnats on man and beast. All the dust of the earth became ²^,^agnats through all the land of Egypt. ¹⁸Then ¹the magicians did the same with their secret arts in order to bring forth ²gnats, but ^athey could not; so there were ³gnats on man and beast. ¹⁹And the ¹magicians said to Pharaoh, “^aThis is the finger of God.” But Pharaoh’s heart was ²hardened with strength, and he did not listen to them, as Yahweh had spoken.

The Plague of Flies

²⁰And Yahweh said to Moses, “^aRise early in the morning and stand before Pharaoh ¹as ^bhe comes out to the water, and you shall say to him, ‘Thus says Yahweh, “^cLet My people go, that they may serve Me. ²¹“For if you do not let My people go, behold, I will send swarms of flies on you and on your servants and on your people and into your houses; and the houses of the Egyptians will be full of swarms of flies, and also the ground on which they stand. ²²“^aBut on that day I will make a distinction for the land of Goshen, where My people are ¹living, so that no swarms of flies will be there, that you may know that ²^,^bI, Yahweh, am in the midst of the land. ²³“And I will ¹put a division between My people and your people. Tomorrow this sign will happen.”’” ²⁴Then Yahweh did so. And there came heavy swarms of flies into the house of Pharaoh and the houses of his servants, and the land was ^alaid waste because of the swarms of flies in all the land of Egypt.

²⁵And Pharaoh ^acalled for Moses and Aaron and said, “^bGo, sacrifice to your God within the land.” ²⁶But Moses said, “It is not right to do so, for we will sacrifice to Yahweh our God ¹what is ^aan abomination to the Egyptians. If we sacrifice ²what is an abomination to the Egyptians before their eyes, will they not then stone us? ²⁷“We must go a ^athree days’ journey into the wilderness and sacrifice to Yahweh our God as He says to us.” ²⁸And Pharaoh said, “^aI will let you go, that you may sacrifice to Yahweh your God in the wilderness; only you shall not go very far away. ^bEntreat for me.” ²⁹Then Moses said, “Behold, I am going out from you, and I shall entreat Yahweh that the swarms of flies may depart from Pharaoh, from his servants, and from his people tomorrow; only may Pharaoh not ^adeal deceitfully again in not letting the people go to sacrifice to Yahweh.”

³⁰So ^aMoses went out from Pharaoh and entreated Yahweh. ³¹And Yahweh did according to the word of Moses and caused the swarms of flies to depart from Pharaoh, from his servants, and from his people; not one remained. ³²Then Pharaoh ¹hardened his heart with firmness this time also, and ^ahe did not let the people go.