Exodus 9: Dying livestock, boils, and hail

In plain English: Yahweh said to Moses, "Go to Pharaoh and tell him, 'This is what Yahweh, the God of the Hebrews, says: "Let my people go, so that they can serve me.

In plain English: If you refuse to let them go and still hold on to them,

In plain English: look, the hand of Yahweh is about to fall on your livestock in the field, on the horses, the donkeys, the camels, the herds, and the flocks, with a very heavy pestilence (a deadly disease).

In plain English: Yahweh will separate the livestock of Israel from the livestock of Egypt, and nothing that belongs to the Israelites will die."'"

In plain English: Yahweh set a time, saying, "Tomorrow Yahweh will do this thing in the land."

In plain English: Yahweh did this the next day. All the livestock of Egypt died, but not one of the livestock of the Israelites died.

Good to know: Verse 3 says the disease will fall on the livestock "in the field". Animals in Egypt are mentioned again in verse 10, verses 19 to 21 and verse 25. The text does not say how these fit together.

In plain English: Pharaoh sent, and there was not one of the Israelites' livestock dead. But Pharaoh's heart was stubborn (literally: heavy), and he did not let the people go.

In plain English: Yahweh said to Moses and to Aaron, "Take handfuls of ashes from a furnace, and let Moses sprinkle it toward the sky while Pharaoh watches.

In plain English: It will become fine dust over all the land of Egypt, and it will become boils and blisters breaking out on people and animals throughout all the land of Egypt."

In plain English: They took ashes from the furnace and stood before Pharaoh. Moses sprinkled it toward the sky, and it became boils and blisters breaking out on people and animals.

In plain English: The magicians could not stand before Moses because of the boils. The boils were on the magicians and on all the Egyptians.

In plain English: Yahweh hardened (literally: made strong) the heart of Pharaoh, and he did not listen to them, just as Yahweh had said to Moses.

The Hebrew word: "Hardened" here is chazaq, which means to make strong or firm. It is the word in Exodus 4:21.

Good to know: In the plagues the text tells of Pharaoh's heart in three ways. Pharaoh hardens it himself (8:15, 8:32, 9:34). It is hard or strong with no one named, for example in 8:19, 9:7 and 9:35. And Yahweh hardens it: this is the first plague verse that says so, and it is followed by 10:1, 10:20, 10:27 and 11:10.

Church tradition: Churches differ on how Yahweh's hardening of Pharaoh's heart and Pharaoh's own hardening of it fit together. The text states both.

In plain English: Yahweh said to Moses, "Get up early in the morning, stand before Pharaoh, and tell him, 'This is what Yahweh, the God of the Hebrews, says: "Let my people go, so that they can serve me.

In plain English: This time I will send all my plagues against your heart (or: against you yourself), against your servants, and against your people, so that you will know that there is no one like me in all the earth.

In plain English: By now I could have stretched out my hand and struck you and your people with a deadly disease, and you would have been cut off from the earth (or: Now I will stretch out my hand and strike you and your people with a deadly disease, and you will be cut off from the earth).

The Hebrew words: "Stretched out" is the verb shalach, which means to send. The verbs in this verse do not show by themselves whether God is speaking of what he could have done already, or of what he is about to do.

What changes: Read the second way, God is announcing what he is about to do to Pharaoh and his people, not what he held back from doing.

In plain English: But for this reason I have made you stand (or: kept you alive; raised you up): to show you my power, and so that my name may be told in all the earth.

The Hebrew word: "Made you stand" is the verb amad, to stand, in a form that means to cause to stand. It can be read as kept you standing (kept you alive), or as raised you up.

Good to know: Romans 9:17 quotes this verse: "For this very purpose I caused you to be raised up, that I might show in you my power, and that my name might be proclaimed in all the earth."

In plain English: You still lift yourself up against my people and will not let them go.

In plain English: Tomorrow about this time I will send a very heavy hail, such as has never been in Egypt from the day it was founded until now.

In plain English: So now give the order to bring your livestock and everything you have in the field into shelter. The hail will come down on every person and animal that is found in the field and is not brought home, and they will die."'"

In plain English: Those among Pharaoh's servants who feared Yahweh's word made their servants and their livestock flee into the houses.

In plain English: Those who did not take Yahweh's word to heart left their servants and their livestock in the field.

In plain English: Yahweh said to Moses, "Stretch out your hand toward the sky, so that there will be hail in all the land of Egypt, on people, on animals, and on every plant of the field throughout the land of Egypt."

In plain English: Moses stretched out his rod toward the sky, and Yahweh sent thunder and hail, and fire (lightning) ran down to the earth. Yahweh rained hail on the land of Egypt.

In plain English: There was hail, with fire flashing in the middle of the hail. It was very heavy hail, such as had not been in all the land of Egypt since it became a nation.

In plain English: The hail struck everything that was in the field throughout all the land of Egypt, both people and animals. It struck every plant of the field and broke every tree of the field.

In plain English: Only in the land of Goshen, where the Israelites were, was there no hail.

In plain English: Pharaoh sent and called for Moses and Aaron and said to them, "I have sinned this time. Yahweh is the righteous one, and I and my people are the wicked (or: guilty) ones.

In plain English: Pray to Yahweh. There has been enough of this mighty thunder (literally: the voices of God) and hail. I will let you go, and you will not have to stay any longer."

In plain English: Moses said to him, "As soon as I have gone out of the city, I will spread out my hands to Yahweh. The thunder will stop, and there will be no more hail, so that you will know that the earth belongs to Yahweh.

In plain English: But as for you and your servants, I know that you do not yet fear Yahweh God."

In plain English: The flax and the barley were struck, because the barley was in young ears (or: had ripened) and the flax was in bud (or: blooming).

In plain English: But the wheat and the spelt were not struck, because they were late crops (they had not grown up).

In plain English: Moses went out of the city from Pharaoh and spread out his hands to Yahweh. The thunder and the hail stopped, and the rain no longer poured on the earth.

In plain English: When Pharaoh saw that the rain, the hail, and the thunder had stopped, he sinned yet more (or: again). He hardened his heart (literally: made it heavy), he and his servants.

In plain English: Pharaoh's heart was hardened (literally: strong), and he did not let the Israelites go, just as Yahweh had said through Moses (literally: by the hand of Moses).