The Israelites Oppressed

These are the names of the sons of Israel who went to Egypt with Jacob, each with his family: Reuben, Simeon, Levi and Judah; Issachar, Zebulun and Benjamin; Dan and Naphtali; Gad and Asher. The descendants of Jacob numbered seventy in all; Joseph was already in Egypt.

       Now Joseph and all his brothers and all that generation died, but the Israelites were fruitful and multiplied greatly and became exceedingly numerous, so that the land was filled with them.

       Then a new king, who did not know about Joseph, came to power in Egypt. "Look," he said to his people, "the Israelites have become much too numerous for us. Come, we must deal shrewdly with them or they will become even more numerous and, if war breaks out, will join our enemies, fight against us and leave the country."

       So they put slave masters over them to oppress them with forced labor, and they built Pithom and Rameses as store cities for Pharaoh. But the more they were oppressed, the more they multiplied and spread; so the Egyptians came to dread the Israelites and worked them ruthlessly. They made their lives bitter with hard labor in brick and mortar and with all kinds of work in the fields; in all their hard labor the Egyptians used them ruthlessly.

       The king of Egypt said to the Hebrew midwives, whose names were Shiphrah and Puah, "When you help the Hebrew women in childbirth and observe them on the delivery stool, if it is a boy, kill him; but if it is a girl, let her live." The midwives, however, feared GOD and did not do what the king of Egypt had told them to do; they let the boys live. Then the king of Egypt summoned the midwives and asked them, "Why have you done this? Why have you let the boys live?"

       The midwives answered Pharaoh, "Hebrew women are not like Egyptian women; they are vigorous and give birth before the midwives arrive."

       So GOD was kind to the midwives and the people increased and became even more numerous. And because the midwives feared GOD, HE gave them families of their own.

       Then Pharaoh gave this order to all his people: "Every boy that is born you must throw into the Nile, but let every girl live."

Exodus: chapter 1

The Birth of Moses

Now a man of the house of Levi married a Levite woman, and she became pregnant and gave birth to a son. When she saw that he was a fine child, she hid him for three months. But when she could hide him no longer, she got a papyrus basket for him and coated it with tar and pitch. Then she placed the child in it and put it among the reeds along the bank of the Nile. His sister stood at a distance to see what would happen to him.

       Then Pharaoh's daughter went down to the Nile to bathe, and her attendants were walking along the river bank. She saw the basket among the reeds and sent her slave girl to get it. She opened it and saw the baby. He was crying, and she felt sorry for him. "This is one of the Hebrew babies," she said.

       Then his sister asked Pharaoh's daughter, "Shall I go and get one of the Hebrew women to nurse the baby for you?"

       "Yes, go," she answered. And the girl went and got the baby's mother. Pharaoh's daughter said to her, "Take this baby and nurse him for me, and I will pay you." So the woman took the baby and nursed him. When the child grew older, she took him to Pharaoh's daughter and he became her son. She named him Moses, saying, "I drew him out of the water."

Exodus: chapter 2, verses 1 - 10

Moses Flees to Midian

       One day, after Moses had grown up, he went out to where his own people were and watched them at their hard labor. He saw an Egyptian beating a Hebrew, one of his own people. Glancing this way and that and seeing no one, he killed the Egyptian and hid him in the sand. The next day he went out and saw two Hebrews fighting. He asked the one in the wrong, "Why are you hitting your fellow Hebrew?"

       The man said, "Who made you ruler and judge over us? Are you thinking of killing me as you killed the Egyptian?" Then Moses was afraid and thought, "What I did must have become known."

       When Pharaoh heard of this, he tried to kill Moses, but Moses fled from Pharaoh and went to live in Midian, where he sat down by a well. Now a priest of Midian had seven daughters, and they came to draw water and fill the troughs to water their father's flock. Some shepherds came along and drove them away, but Moses got up and came to their rescue and watered their flock.

       When the girls returned to Reuel their father, he asked them, "Why have you returned so early today?"

       They answered, "An Egyptian rescued us from the shepherds. He even drew water for us and watered the flock."

       "And where is he?" he asked his daughters. "Why did you leave him? Invite him to have something to eat."

       Moses agreed to stay with the man, who gave his daughter Zipporah to Moses in marriage. Zipporah gave birth to a son, and Moses named him Gershom, saying, "I have become an alien in a foreign land."

       During that long period, the king of Egypt died. The Israelites groaned in their slavery and cried out, and their cry for help because of their slavery went up to GOD. GOD heard their groaning and HE remembered HIS covenant with Abraham, with Isaac and with Jacob. So GOD looked on the Israelites and was concerned about them.

Exodus: chapter 2, verses 11 - 25

Moses and the Burning Bush

Now Moses was tending the flock of Jethro his father-in-law, the priest of Midian, and he led the flock to the far side of the desert and came to Horeb, the mountain of GOD. There the angel of THE LORD appeared to him in flames of fire from within a bush. Moses saw that though the bush was on fire it did not burn up. So Moses thought, "I will go over and see this strange sight--why the bush does not burn up."

       When THE LORD saw that he had gone over to look, GOD called to him from within the bush, "Moses! Moses!"

       And Moses said, "Here I am."

       "Do not come any closer," GOD said. "Take off your sandals, for the place where you are standing is holy ground." Then HE said, "I AM THE GOD OF YOUR FATHER, THE GOD OF ABRAHAM, THE GOD OF ISAAC AND THE GOD OF JACOB." At this, Moses hid his face, because he was afraid to look at GOD.

       THE LORD said, "I have indeed seen the misery of MY people in Egypt. I have heard them crying out because of their slave drivers, and I am concerned about their suffering. So I have come down to rescue them from the hand of the Egyptians and to bring them up out of that land into a good and spacious land, a land flowing with milk and honey--the home of the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites. And now the cry of the Israelites has reached ME, and I have seen the way the Egyptians are oppressing them. So now, go. I am sending you to Pharaoh to bring MY people the Israelites out of Egypt."

       But Moses said to GOD, "Who am I, that I should go to Pharaoh and bring the Israelites out of Egypt?"

       And GOD said, "I will be with you. And this will be the sign to you that it is I who have sent you: When you have brought the people out of Egypt, you will worship GOD on this mountain."

       Moses said to GOD, "Suppose I go to the Israelites and say to them, 'THE GOD OF YOUR FATHERS has sent me to you,' and they ask me, 'What is HIS name?' Then what shall I tell them?"

       GOD said to Moses, "I AM WHO I AM. This is what you are to say to the Israelites: 'I AM has sent me to you.' "

       GOD also said to Moses, "Say to the Israelites, 'THE LORD, THE GOD OF YOUR FATHERS--THE GOD OF ABRAHAM, THE GOD OF ISAAC AND THE GOD OF JACOB--has sent me to you.' This is MY name forever, the name by which I AM to be remembered from generation to generation.

       "Go, assemble the elders of Israel and say to them, 'THE LORD, THE GOD OF YOUR FATHERS--THE GOD OF ABRAHAM, ISAAC AND JACOB--appeared to me and said: I have watched over you and have seen what has been done to you in Egypt. And I have promised to bring you up out of your misery in Egypt into the land of the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites--a land flowing with milk and honey.'

       "The elders of Israel will listen to you. Then you and the elders are to go to the king of Egypt and say to him, 'THE LORD, THE GOD OF THE HEBREWS, has met with us. Let us take a three-day journey into the desert to offer sacrifices to THE LORD our GOD.' But I know that the king of Egypt will not let you go unless a mighty hand compels him. So I will stretch out MY hand and strike the Egyptians with all the wonders that I will perform among them. After that, he will let you go.

       "And I will make the Egyptians favorably disposed toward this people, so that when you leave you will not go empty-handed. Every woman is to ask her neighbor and any woman living in her house for articles of silver and gold and for clothing, which you will put on your sons and daughters. And so you will plunder the Egyptians."

Exodus: chapter 3

Signs for Moses

Moses answered, "What if they do not believe me or listen to me and say, 'THE LORD did not appear to you'?"

       Then THE LORD said to him, "What is that in your hand?"

       "A staff," he replied.

       THE LORD said, "Throw it on the ground."

       Moses threw it on the ground and it became a snake, and he ran from it. Then THE LORD said to him, "Reach out your hand and take it by the tail." So Moses reached out and took hold of the snake and it turned back into a staff in his hand. "This," said THE LORD, "is so that they may believe that THE LORD, THE GOD OF THEIR FATHERS--THE GOD OF ABRAHAM, THE GOD OF ISAAC AND THE GOD OF JACOB--has appeared to you."

       Then THE LORD said, "Put your hand inside your cloak." So Moses put his hand into his cloak, and when he took it out, it was leprous, like snow.

       "Now put it back into your cloak," HE said. So Moses put his hand back into his cloak, and when he took it out, it was restored, like the rest of his flesh.

       Then THE LORD said, "If they do not believe you or pay attention to the first miraculous sign, they may believe the second. But if they do not believe these two signs or listen to you, take some water from the Nile and pour it on the dry ground. The water you take from the river will become blood on the ground."

       Moses said to THE LORD, "O LORD, I have never been eloquent, neither in the past nor since YOU have spoken to YOUR servant. I am slow of speech and tongue."

       THE LORD said to him, "Who gave man his mouth? Who makes him deaf or mute? Who gives him sight or makes him blind? Is it not I, THE LORD? Now go; I will help you speak and will teach you what to say."

       But Moses said, "O LORD, please send someone else to do it."

       Then THE LORD'S anger burned against Moses and HE said, "What about your brother, Aaron the Levite? I know he can speak well. He is already on his way to meet you, and his heart will be glad when he sees you. You shall speak to him and put words in his mouth; I will help both of you speak and will teach you what to do. He will speak to the people for you, and it will be as if he were your mouth and as if you were GOD to him. But take this staff in your hand so you can perform miraculous signs with it."

Exodus: chapter 4, verses 1 - 17

Moses Returns to Egypt

       Then Moses went back to Jethro his father-in-law and said to him, "Let me go back to my own people in Egypt to see if any of them are still alive."

       Jethro said, "Go, and I wish you well."

       Now THE LORD had said to Moses in Midian, "Go back to Egypt, for all the men who wanted to kill you are dead." So Moses took his wife and sons, put them on a donkey and started back to Egypt. And he took the staff of GOD in his hand.

       THE LORD said to Moses, "When you return to Egypt, see that you perform before Pharaoh all the wonders I have given you the power to do. But I will harden his heart so that he will not let the people go. Then say to Pharaoh, 'This is what THE LORD says: Israel is MY firstborn son, and I told you, "Let MY son go, so he may worship ME." But you refused to let him go; so I will kill your firstborn son.' "

       At a lodging place on the way, THE LORD met Moses and was about to kill him. But Zipporah took a flint knife, cut off her son's foreskin and touched Moses feet with it. "Surely you are a bridegroom of blood to me," she said. So THE LORD let him alone. (At that time she said "bridegroom of blood," referring to circumcision.)

       THE LORD said to Aaron, "Go into the desert to meet Moses." So he met Moses at the mountain of GOD and kissed him. Then Moses told Aaron everything THE LORD had sent him to say, and also about all the miraculous signs HE had commanded him to perform.

       Moses and Aaron brought together all the elders of the Israelites, and Aaron told them everything THE LORD had said to Moses. He also performed the signs before the people, and they believed. And when they heard that THE LORD was concerned about them and had seen their misery, they bowed down and worshiped.

Exodus: chapter 4, verses 18 - 31

Bricks Without Straw

Afterward Moses and Aaron went to Pharaoh and said, "This is what THE LORD, THE GOD OF ISRAEL, says: 'Let MY people go, so that they may hold a festival to ME in the desert.' "

       Pharaoh said, "Who is THE LORD, that I should obey HIM and let Israel go? I do not know THE LORD and I will not let Israel go."

       Then they said, "THE GOD OF THE HEBREWS has met with us. Now let us take a three-day journey into the desert to offer sacrifices to THE LORD our GOD, or HE may strike us with plagues or with the sword."

       But the king of Egypt said, "Moses and Aaron, why are you taking the people away from their labor? Get back to your work!" Then Pharaoh said, "Look, the people of the land are now numerous, and you are stopping them from working."

       That same day Pharaoh gave this order to the slave drivers and foremen in charge of the people: "You are no longer to supply the people with straw for making bricks; let them go and gather their own straw. But require them to make the same number of bricks as before; don't reduce the quota. They are lazy; that is why they are crying out, 'Let us go and sacrifice to our GOD.' Make the work harder for the men so that they keep working and pay no attention to lies."
       Then the slave drivers and the foremen went out and said to the people, "This what Pharaoh says: 'I will not give you any more straw. Go and get your own straw wherever you can find it, but your work will not be reduced at all.' " So the people scattered all over Egypt to gather stubble to use for straw. The slave drivers kept pressing them, saying, "Complete the work required of you for each day, just as when you had straw." The Israelite foremen appointed by Pharaoh's slave drivers were beaten and were asked, "Why didn't you meet your quota of bricks yesterday or today, as before?"

       Then the Israelite foremen went and appealed to Pharaoh: "Why have you treated your servants this way? Your servants are given no straw, yet we are told, 'Make bricks!' Your servants are being beaten, but the fault is with your own people."

       Pharaoh said, "Lazy, that's what you are--lazy! That is why you keep saying, 'Let us go and sacrifice to THE LORD.' Now get to work. You will not be given any straw, yet you must produce your full quota of bricks."

       The Israelite foremen realized they were in trouble when they were told, "You are not to reduce the number of bricks required of you for each day." When they left Pharaoh, they found Moses and Aaron waiting to meet them, and they said, "May THE LORD look upon you and judge you! You have made us a stench to Pharaoh and his officials and have put a sword in their hand to kill us."

Exodus: chapter 5, verses 1 - 21

GOD Promises Deliverance

       Moses returned to THE LORD and said, "O LORD, why have YOU brought trouble upon this people? Is this why YOU sent me? Ever since I went to Pharaoh to speak in YOUR name, he has brought trouble upon this people, and YOU gave not rescued YOUR people at all."

Then THE LORD said to Moses, "Now you will see what I will do to Pharaoh: Because of MY mighty hand he will let them go; because of MY mighty hand he will drive them out of his country."

       GOD also said to Moses, "I AM THE LORD. I appeared to Abraham, to Isaac and to Jacob as GOD ALMIGHTY, but by MY name THE LORD I did not make MYSELF known to them. I also established MY covenant with them to give them the land of Canaan, where they lived as aliens. Moreover, I have heard the groaning of the Israelites, whom the Egyptians are enslaving, and I have remembered MY covenant.

       "Therefore, say to the Israelites: 'I AM THE LORD, and I will bring you out from under the yoke of the Egyptians. I will free you from being slaves to them, and I will redeem you with an outstretched arm and with mighty acts of judgment. I will take you as MY own people, and I will be your GOD. Then you will know that I AM THE LORD your GOD, who brought you out from under the yoke of the Egyptians. And I will bring you to the land I wore with uplifted hand to give to Abraham, to Isaac and to Jacob. I will give it to you as a possession. I AM THE LORD.' "

       Moses reported this to the Israelites, but they did not listen to him because of their discouragement and cruel bondage.

       Then THE LORD said to Moses, "Go, tell Pharaoh king of Egypt to let the Israelites go out of his country."

       But Moses said the THE LORD, "If the Israelites will not listen to me, why would Pharaoh listen to me, since I speak with faltering lips?"

Exodus: chapter 5, verses 22 & 23 &chapter 6, verses 1 - 12

Family Record of Moses and Aaron

       Now THE LORD spoke to Moses and Aaron about the Israelites and Pharaoh king of Egypt, and HE commanded them to bring the Israelites out of Egypt.

   These were the heads of their families:

       The sons of Reuben the firstborn son of Israel were Hanoch and Pallu, Hezron and Carmi. These were the clans of Reuben.

       The sons of Simeon were Jemuel, Jamin, Ohad, Jakin, Zohar and Shaul the son of a Canaanite woman. These were the clans of Simeon.

       These were the names of the sons of Levi according to their records: Gershon, Kohath and Merari. Levi lived 137 years.

       The sons of Gershon, by clans, were Libni and Shimei.

       The sons of Kohath were Amram, Izhar, Hebron and Uzziel. Kohath lived 133 years.

       The sons of Merari were Mahli and Mushi.

       These were the clans of Levi according to their records.

       Amram married his father's sister Jochebed, who bore him Aaron and Moses. Amram lived 137 years.

       The sons of Izhar were Korah, Nepheg and Zicri.

       The sons of Uzziel were Mishael, Elzaphan and Sithri.

       Aaron married Elisheba, daughter of Amminadab and sister of Nahshon, and she bore him Nadab and Abihu, Eleazar and Ithamar.

       The sons of Korah were Assir, Elkanah and Abiasaph. These were the Korahite clans.

       Eleazar son of Aaron married one of the daughters of Putiel, and she bore him Phinehas.

       These were the heads of the Levite families, clan by clan.

       It was this same Aaron and Moses to whom THE LORD said, "Bring the Israelites out of Egypt by their divisions." They were the ones who spoke to Pharaoh king of Egypt about bringing the Israelites out of Egypt. It was the same Moses and Aaron.

Exodus: chapter 6, verses 13 - 27

Aaron to Speak for Moses

       Now when THE LORD spoke to Moses in Egypt, HE said to him, "I AM THE LORD. Tell Pharaoh king of Egypt everything I tell you."

       But Moses said to THE LORD, "Since I speak with faltering lips, why would Pharaoh listen to me?"

Then THE LORD said to Moses, "See, I have made you like GOD to Pharaoh, and your brother Aaron will be your prophet. You are to say everything I command you, and your brother Aaron is to tell Pharaoh to let the Israelites go out of his country. But I will harden Pharaoh's heart, and though I multiply MY miraculous signs and wonders in Egypt, he will not listen to you. Then I will lay MY hand on Egypt and with mighty acts of judgment I will bring out MY divisions, MY people the Israelites. And the Egyptians will know that I AM THE LORD when I stretch out MY hand against Egypt and bring the Israelites out of it."

       Moses and Aaron did just as THE LORD commanded them. Moses was eighty years old and Aaron eighty-three when they spoke to Pharaoh.

Exodus: chapter 6, verses 28 - 30 & chapter 7, verses 1 - 7

Aaron's Staff Becomes a Snake

       THE LORD said to Moses and Aaron, "When Pharaoh says to you, 'Perform a miracle,' then say to Aaron, 'Take your staff and throw it down before Pharaoh,' and it will become a snake."

       So Moses and Aaron went to Pharaoh and did just as THE LORD commanded. Aaron threw his staff down in front of Pharaoh and his officials, and it became a snake. Pharaoh then summoned wise men and sorcerers, and the Egyptian magicians also did the same things by their secret arts: Each one threw down his staff and it became a snake. But Aaron's staff swallowed up their staffs. Yet Pharaoh's heart became hard and he would not listen to them, just as THE LORD had said.

Exodus: chapter 7, verses 8 - 13

The Plague of Blood

       Then THE LORD said to Moses, "Pharaoh's heart is unyielding; he refuses to let the people go. Go to Pharaoh in the morning as he goes out to the water. Wait on the bank of the Nile to meet him, and take in your hand the staff that was changed into a snake. Then say to him, 'THE LORD, THE GOD OF THE HEBREWS, has sent me to say to you: Let MY people go, so that they may worship ME in the desert. But until now you have not listened. This is what THE LORD says: By this you will know that I AM THE LORD: With the staff that is in MY hand I will strike the water of the Nile, and it will be changed into blood. The fish in the Nile will die, and the river will stink; the Egyptians will not be able to drink its water.' "

       THE LORD said to Moses, "Tell Aaron, 'Take your staff and stretch out your hand over the waters of Egypt--over the streams and canals, over the ponds and all the reservoirs'--and they will turn to blood. Blood will be everywhere in Egypt, even in the wooden buckets and stone jars."

       Moses and Aaron did just as THE LORD had commanded. He raised his staff in the presence of Pharaoh and his officials and struck the water of the Nile, and all the water was changed into blood. The fish in the Nile died, and the river smelled so bad that the Egyptians could not drink its water. Blood was everywhere in Egypt.

       But the Egyptian magicians did the same things by their secret arts, and Pharaoh's heart became hard; he would not listen to Moses and Aaron, just as THE LORD had said. Instead, he turned and went into his palace, and did not take even this to heart. And all the Egyptians dug along the Nile to get drinking water, because they could not drink the water of the river.

Exodus: chapter 7, verses 14 - 24

The Plague of Frogs

Seven days passed after THE LORD struck the Nile. Then THE LORD said to Moses, "Go to Pharaoh and say to him, 'This is what THE LORD says: Let MY people go, so that they may worship ME. If you refuse to let them go, I will plague your whole country with frogs. The Nile will teem with frogs. They will come up into your palace and your bedroom and onto your bed, into the houses of your officials and on your people, and into your ovens and kneading troughs. The frogs will go up on you and your people and all your officials.' "

       Then THE LORD said to Moses, "Tell Aaron, 'Stretch out your hand with your staff over the streams and canals and ponds, and make frogs come up on the land of Egypt.' "

       So Aaron stretched out his hand over the waters of Egypt, and the frogs came up and covered the land. But the magicians did the same things by their secret arts; they also made frogs come up on the land of Egypt.

       Pharaoh summoned Moses and Aaron and said, "Pray to THE LORD to take the frogs away from me and my people, and I will let your people go to offer sacrifices to THE LORD."

       Moses said to Pharaoh, "I leave to you the honor of setting the time for me to pray for you and your officials and your people that you and your houses may be rid of the frogs, except for those that remain in the Nile."

       "Tomorrow," Pharaoh said.

       Moses replied, "It will be as you say, so that you may know there is no one like THE LORD our GOD. The frogs will leave you and your houses, your officials and your people; they will remain only in the Nile."

       After Moses and Aaron left Pharaoh, Moses cried out to THE LORD about the frogs he had brought on Pharaoh. And THE LORD did what Moses asked. The frogs died in the houses, in the courtyards and in the fields. They were piled into heaps, and the land reeked of them. But when Pharaoh saw that there was relief, he hardened his heart and would not listen to Moses and Aaron, just as THE LORD had said.

Exodus: chapter 8, verses 1 - 15

The Plague of Gnats

       Then THE LORD said to Moses, "Tell Aaron, 'Stretch out your staff and strike the dust of the ground,' and throughout the land of Egypt the dust will become gnats." They did this, and when Aaron stretched out his hand with the staff and struck the dust of the ground, gnats came upon men and animals. All the dust throughout the land of Egypt became gnats. But when the magicians tried to produce gnats by their secret arts, they could not. And the gnats were on men and animals.

       The magicians said to Pharaoh, "This is the finger of GOD." But Pharaoh's heart was hard and he would not listen, just as THE LORD had said.

Exodus: chapter 8, verses 16 - 19

The Plague of Flies

       Then THE LORD said to Moses, "Get up early in the morning and confront Pharaoh as he goes to the water and say to him, 'This is what THE LORD says: Let MY people go, so that they may worship ME. If you do not let MY people go, I will send swarms of flies on you and your officials, on your people and into your houses. The houses of the Egyptians will be full of flies, and even the ground where they are.

       " 'But on that day I will deal differently with the land of Goshen, where MY people live; no swarms of flies will be there, so that you will know that I, THE LORD, am in this land. I will make a distinction between MY people and your people. This miraculous sign will occur tomorrow.' "

       And THE LORD did this. Dense swarms of flies poured into Pharaoh's palace and into the house of his officials, and throughout Egypt the land was ruined by the flies.

       Then Pharaoh summoned Moses and Aaron and said, "Go, sacrifice to your GOD here in the land."

       But Moses said, "That would not be right. The sacrifices we offer THE LORD our GOD would be detestable to the Egyptians. And if we offer sacrifices that are detestable in their eyes, will they not stone us? We must take a three-day journey into the desert to offer sacrifices to THE LORD our GOD, as HE commands us."

       Pharaoh said, "I will let you go to offer sacrifices to THE LORD your GOD in the desert, but you must not go very far. Now pray for me."

       Moses answered, "As soon as I leave you, I will pray to THE LORD, and tomorrow the flies will leave Pharaoh and his officials and his people. Only be sure that Pharaoh does not act deceitfully again by not letting the people go to offer sacrifices to THE LORD."

       Then Moses left Pharaoh and prayed to THE LORD, and THE LORD did what Moses asked: The flies left Pharaoh and his officials and his people; not a fly remained. But this time also Pharaoh hardened his heart and would not let the people go.

Exodus: chapter 8, verses 20 - 32

The Plague on Livestock

Then THE LORD said to Moses, "Go to Pharaoh and say to him, 'This is what THE LORD, THE GOD OF THE HEBREWS, says: "Let MY people go, so that they may worship ME." If you refuse to let them go and continue to hold them back, the hand of THE LORD will bring a terrible plague on your livestock in the field--on your horses and donkeys and camels and on your cattle and sheep and goats. But THE LORD will make a distinction between the livestock of Israel and that of Egypt, so that no animal belonging to the Israelites will die.' "

       THE LORD set a time and said, "Tomorrow THE LORD will do this in the land." And the next day THE LORD did it: All the livestock of the Egyptians died, but not one animal belonging to the Israelites died. Pharaoh sent men to investigate and found that not even one of the animals of the Israelites had died. Yet his heart was unyielding and he would not let the people go.

Exodus: chapter 9, verses 1 - 7

The Plague of Boils

       Then THE LORD said to Moses and Aaron, "Take handfuls of soot from a furnace and have Moses toss it into the air in the presence of Pharaoh. It will become fine dust over the whole land of Egypt, and festering boils will break out on men and animals throughout the land."

       So they took soot from a furnace and stood before Pharaoh. Moses tossed it into the air, and festering boils broke out on men and animals. The magicians could not stand before Moses because of the boils that were on them and on all the Egyptians. But THE LORD hardened Pharaoh's heart and he would not listen to Moses and Aaron, just as THE LORD had said to Moses.

Exodus: chapter 9, verses 8 - 12

The Plague of Hail

       Then THE LORD said to Moses, "Get up early in the morning, confront Pharaoh and say to him, 'This is what THE LORD, THE GOD OF THE HEBREWS, says: Let MY people go, so that they may worship ME, or this time I will send the full force of MY plagues against you and against your officials and your people, so you may know that there is no one like ME in all the earth. For by now I could have stretched out MY hand and struck you and your people with a plague that would have wiped you off the earth. But I have raised you up for this very purpose, that I might show you MY power and that MY name might be proclaimed in all the earth. You still set yourself against MY people and will not let them go. Therefore, at this time tomorrow I will send the worst hailstorm that has ever fallen on Egypt, from the day it was founded till now. Give an order now to bring your livestock and everything you have in the field to a place of shelter, because the hail will fall on every man and animal that has not been brought in and is still out in the field, and they will die.' "

       Those officials of Pharaoh who feared the word of THE LORD hurried to bring their slaves and their livestock inside. But those who ignored the word of THE LORD left their slaves and livestock in the field.

       Then THE LORD said to Moses, "Stretch out your hand toward the sky so that hail will fall all over Egypt--on men and animals and on everything growing in the fields of Egypt." When Moses stretched out his staff toward the sky, THE LORD sent thunder and hail, and lightning flashed down to the ground. So THE LORD rained hail on the land of Egypt; hail fell and lightning flashed back and forth. It was the worst storm in all the land of Egypt since it had become a nation. Throughout Egypt hail struck everything in the fields--both men and animals; it beat down everything growing in the fields and stripped every tree. The only place it did not hail was the land of Goshen, where the Israelites were.

       Then Pharaoh summoned Moses and Aaron. "This time I have sinned," he said to them. "THE LORD is in the right, and I and my people are in the wrong. Pray to THE LORD, for we have had enough thunder and hail. I will let you go; you don't have to stay any longer."

       Moses replied, "When I have gone out of the city, I will spread out my hands in prayer to THE LORD. The thunder will stop and there will be no more hail, so you may know that the earth is THE LORD'S. But I know that you and your officials still do not fear THE LORD GOD."

       (The flax and barley were destroyed, since the barley had headed and the flax was in bloom. The wheat and spelt, however, were not destroyed, because they ripen later.)

       Then Moses left Pharaoh and went out of the city. He spread out his hands toward THE LORD; the thunder and hail stopped, and the rain no longer poured down on the land. When Pharaoh saw that the rain and hail and thunder had stopped, he sinned again: He and his officials hardened their hearts. So Pharaoh's heart was hard and he would not let the Israelites go, just as THE LORD had said through Moses.

Exodus: chapter 9, verses 13 - 35

The Plague of Locusts

Then THE LORD said to Moses, "Go to Pharaoh, for I have hardened his heart and the hearts of his officials so that I may perform these miraculous signs of MINE among them that you may tell your children and grandchildren how I dealt harshly with the Egyptians and how I performed MY signs among them, and that you may know that I AM THE LORD."

       So Moses and Aaron went to Pharaoh and said the him, "This is what THE LORD, THE GOD OF THE HEBREWS, says: 'How long will you refuse to humble yourself before ME? Let MY people go, so that they may worship ME. If you refuse to let them go, I will bring locusts into your country tomorrow. They will cover the face of the ground so that it cannot be seen. They will devour what little you have left after the hail, including every tree that is growing in your fields. They will fill your houses and those of all your officials and all the Egyptians--something neither your fathers nor your forefathers have ever seen from the day they settled in this land till now.' " Then Moses turned and left Pharaoh.

       Pharaoh's officials said to him, "How long will this man be a snare to us? Let the people go, so that they may worship THE LORD their GOD. Do you not yet realize that Egypt is ruined?"

       Then Moses and Aaron were brought back to Pharaoh. "Go, worship THE LORD your GOD," he said. "But just who will be going?"

       Moses answered, "We will go with our young and old, with our sons and daughters, and with our flocks and herds, because we are to celebrate a festival to THE LORD."

       Pharaoh said, "THE LORD be with you--if I let you go, along with your women and children! Clearly you are bent on evil. No! Have only the men go; and worship THE LORD, since that's what you have been asking for." Then Moses and Aaron were driven out of Pharaoh's presence.

       And THE LORD said to Moses, "Stretch out your hand over Egypt so that locusts will swarm over the land and devour everything growing in the fields, everything left by the hail."

       So Moses stretched out his staff over Egypt, and THE LORD made an east wind blow across the land all that day and all that night. By morning the wind had brought the locusts; they invaded all Egypt and settled down in every area of the country in great numbers. Never before had there been such a plague of locusts, nor will there ever be again. They covered all the ground until it was black. They devoured all that was left after the hail--everything growing in the fields and the fruit on the trees. Nothing green remained on tree or plant in all the land of Egypt.

       Pharaoh quickly summoned Moses and Aaron and said, "I have sinned against THE LORD your GOD and against you. Now forgive my sin once more and pray to THE LORD your GOD to take this deadly plague away from me."

       Moses then left Pharaoh and prayed to THE LORD. And THE LORD changed the wind to a very strong west wind, which caught up the locusts and carried them into the Red Sea. Not a locust was left anywhere in Egypt. But THE LORD hardened Pharaoh's heart and he would not let the Israelites go.

Exodus: chapter 10, verses 1 - 20

The Plague of Darkness

       Then THE LORD said to Moses, "Stretch out your hand toward the sky so that darkness will spread over Egypt--darkness that can be felt." So Moses stretched out his hand toward the sky, and total darkness covered all Egypt for three days. No one could see anyone else or leave his place for three days. Yet all the Israelites had light in the places where they lived.

       Then Pharaoh summoned Moses and said, "Go, worship THE LORD. Even your women and children may go with you; only leave your flocks and herds behind."

       But Moses said, "You must allow us to have sacrifices and burnt offerings to present to THE LORD our GOD. Our livestock too must go with us; not a hoof is to be left behind. We have to use some of them in worshiping THE LORD our GOD, and until we get there we will not know what we are to use to worship THE LORD."

       But THE LORD hardened Pharaoh's heart, and he was not willing to let them go. Pharaoh said to Moses, "Get out of my sight! Make sure you do not appear before me again! The day you see my face you will die."

       "Just as you say," Moses replied, "I will never appear before you again."

Exodus: chapter 10, verses 21 - 29

The Plague on the Firstborn

Now THE LORD had said to Moses, "I will bring one more plague on Pharaoh and on Egypt. After that, he will let you go from here, and when he does, he will drive you out completely. Tell the people that men and women alike are to ask their neighbors for articles of silver and gold." (THE LORD made the Egyptians favorably disposed toward the people, and Moses himself was highly regarded in Egypt by Pharaoh's officials and the the people.)

So Moses said, "This is what THE LORD says: 'About midnight I will go throughout Egypt. Every firstborn son in Egypt will die, from the firstborn son of Pharaoh, who sits on the throne, to the firstborn son of the slave girl, who is at her hand mill, and all the firstborn of the cattle as well. There will be loud wailing throughout Egypt--worse than there has ever been or ever will be again. But among the Israelites not a dog will bark at any man or animal.' Then you will know that THE LORD makes a distinction between Egypt and Israel. All these officials of yours will come to me, bowing down before me and saying, 'Go, you and all the people who follow you!' After that I will leave." Then Moses, hot with anger, left Pharaoh.

       THE LORD had said to Moses, "Pharaoh will refuse to listen to you--so that MY wonders may be multiplied in Egypt." Moses and Aaron performed all these wonders before Pharaoh, but THE LORD hardened Pharaoh's heart, and he would not let the Israelites go out of his country.

Exodus: chapter 11

The Passover

THE LORD said to Moses and Aaron in Egypt, "This month is to be for you the first month, the first month of your year. Tell the whole community of Israel that on the tenth day of this month each man is to take a lamb for his family, one for each household. If any household is too small for a whole lamb, they must share one with their nearest neighbor, having taken into account the number of people there are. You are to determine the amount of lamb needed in accordance with what each person will eat. The animals you choose must be year-old males without defect, and you may take them from the sheep or the goats. Take care of them until the fourteenth day of the month, when all the people of the community of Israel must slaughter them at twilight. Then they are to take some of the blood and put it on the sides and tops of the doorframes of the houses where they eat the lambs. That same night they are to eat the meat roasted over the fire, along with bitter herbs, and bread made without yeast. Do not eat the meat raw or cooked in water, but roast it over the fire--head, legs and inner parts. Do not leave any of it till morning; if some is left till morning, you must burn it. This is how you are to eat it: with your cloak tucked into your belt, your sandals on your feet and your staff in your hand. Eat it in haste; it is THE LORD'S Passover.

       "On that same night I will pass through Egypt and strike down every firstborn--both men and animals--and I will bring judgment on all the gods of Egypt. I AM THE LORD. The blood will be a sign for you on the houses where you are; and when I see the blood, I will pass over you. No destructive plague will touch you when I strike Egypt.

       "This is a day you are to commemorate; for the generations to come you shall celebrate it as a festival to THE LORD--a lasting ordinance. For seven days you are to eat bread made without yeast. On the first day remove the yeast from your houses, for whoever eats anything with yeast in it from the first day through the seventh must be cut off from Israel. On the first day hold a sacred assembly, and another one on the seventh day. Do no work at all on these days, except to prepare food for everyone to eat--that is all you may do.

       "Celebrate the Feast of Unleavened Bread, because it was on this very day that I brought your divisions out of Egypt. Celebrate this day as a lasting ordinance for the generations to come. In the first month you are to eat bread made without yeast, from the evening of the fourteenth day until the evening of the twenty-first day. For seven days no yeast is to be found in your houses. And whoever eats anything with yeast in it must be cut off from the community of Israel, whether he is an alien or native-born. Eat nothing made with yeast. Wherever you live, you must eat unleavened bread."

       Then Moses summoned all the elders of Israel and said to them, "Go at once and select the animals for your families and slaughter the Passover lamb. Take a bunch of hyssop, dip it into the blood in the basin and put some of the blood on the top and on both sides of the doorframe. Not one of you shall go out the door of his house until morning. When THE LORD goes through the land to strike down the Egyptians, HE will see the blood on the top and sides of the doorframe and will pass over that doorway, and HE will not permit the destroyer to enter your houses and strike you down.

       "Obey these instructions as a lasting ordinance for you and your descendants. When you enter the land that THE LORD will give you as HE promised, observe this ceremony. And when your children ask you, 'What does this ceremony mean to you?' then tell them, 'It is the Passover sacrifice to THE LORD, who passed over the houses of the Israelites in Egypt and spared our homes when HE struck down the Egyptians.' " Then the people bowed down and worshiped. The Israelites did just what THE LORD commanded Moses and Aaron.

       At midnight THE LORD struck down all the firstborn in Egypt, from the firstborn of Pharaoh, who sat on the throne, to the firstborn of the prisoner, who was in the dungeon, and the firstborn of all the livestock as well. Pharaoh and all his officials and all the Egyptians got up during the night, and there was loud wailing in Egypt, for there was not a house without someone dead.

Exodus: chapter 12, verses 1 - 30

The Exodus

       During the night Pharaoh summoned Moses and Aaron and said, "Up! Leave my people, you and the Israelites! Go, worship THE LORD as you have requested. Take your flocks and herds, as you have said, and go. And also bless me."

       The Egyptians urged the people to hurry and leave the country. "For otherwise," they said, "we will all die!" So the people took their dough before the yeast was added, and carried it on their shoulders in kneading troughs wrapped in clothing. The Israelites did as Moses instructed and asked the Egyptians for articles of silver and gold and for clothing. THE LORD had made the Egyptians favorably disposed toward the people, and they gave them what they asked for; so they plundered the Egyptians.

       The Israelites journeyed from Rameses to Succoth. There were about six hundred thousand men on foot, besides women and children. Many other people went up with them, as well as large droves of livestock, both flocks and herds. With the dough they had brought from Egypt, they baked cakes of unleavened bread. The dough was without yeast because they had been driven out of Egypt and did not have time to prepare food for themselves.

       Now the length of time the Israelite people lived in Egypt was 430 years. At the end of the 430 years, to the very day, all THE LORD'S divisions left Egypt. Because THE LORD kept vigil that night to bring them out of Egypt, on this night all the Israelites are to keep vigil to honor THE LORD for the generations to come.

Exodus: chapter 12, verses 31 - 42

Passover Restrictions

       THE LORD said to Moses and Aaron, "These are the regulations for the Passover:

       "No foreigner is to eat of it. Any slave you have bought may eat of it after you have circumcised him, but a temporary resident and a hired worker may not eat of it.

       "It must be eaten inside one house; take none of the meat outside the house. Do not break any of the bones. The whole community of Israel must celebrate it.

       "An alien living among you who wants to celebrate THE LORD'S Passover must have all the males in his household circumcised; then he may take part like one born in the land. No uncircumcised male may eat of it. The same law applies to the native-born and to the alien living among you."

       All the Israelites did just what THE LORD had commanded Moses and Aaron. And on that very day THE LORD brought the Israelites out of Egypt by their divisions.

Exodus: chapter 12, verses 43 - 51

Consecration of the Firstborn

THE LORD said to Moses, "Consecrate to ME every firstborn male. The first offspring of every womb among the Israelites belongs to ME, whether man or animal."

       Then Moses said to the people, "Commemorate this day, the day you come out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery, because THE LORD brought you out of it with a mighty hand. Eat nothing containing yeast. Today, in the month of Abib, you are leaving. When THE LORD brings you into the land of the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Hivites and Jebusites--the land HE swore to your forefathers to give you, a land flowing with milk and honey--you are to observe this ceremony in this month: For seven days eat bread made without yeast and on the seventh day hold a festival to THE LORD. Eat unleavened bread during those seven days; nothing with yeast in it is to be seen among you, nor shall any yeast be seen anywhere within your borders. On that day tell your son, 'I do this because of what THE LORD did for me when I came out of Egypt.' This observance will be for you like a sign on your hand and a reminder on your forehead that the law of THE LORD is to be on your lips. For THE LORD brought you out of Egypt with HIS mighty hand. You must keep this ordinance at the appointed time year after year.

       "After THE LORD brings you into the land of the Canaanites and gives it to you, as HE promised on oath to you and to your forefathers, you are to give over to THE LORD the first offspring of every womb. All the firstborn males of your livestock belong to THE LORD. Redeem with a lamb every firstborn donkey, but if you do not redeem it, break its neck. Redeem every firstborn among your sons.

       "In days to come, when your son asks you, 'What does this mean?' say to him, 'With a mighty hand THE LORD brought us out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery. When Pharaoh stubbornly refused to let us go, THE LORD killed every firstborn in Egypt, both man and animal. This is why I sacrifice to THE LORD the first male offspring of every womb and redeem each of my firstborn sons.' And it will be like a sign on your hand and a symbol on your forehead that THE LORD brought us out of Egypt with HIS mighty hand."

Exodus: chapter 13, verses 1 - 16