The Plague on Livestock
1Then the Lord spoke to Moses. He said, “Go to Pharaoh. Tell him, ‘The Lord, the God of the Hebrews, says, “Let my people go. Then they will be able to worship me. 2Do not refuse to let them go. Do not keep holding them back. 3If you refuse, my powerful hand will bring a terrible plague on you. I will strike your livestock in the fields. I will strike your horses, donkeys, camels, cattle, sheep and goats. 4But I will treat Israel’s livestock differently from yours. No animal that belongs to the people of Israel will die.” ’ ”
5The Lord set a time for the plague. He said, “Tomorrow I will send it on the land.” 6So the next day the Lord sent it. All the livestock of the Egyptians died. But not one animal that belonged to the Israelites died. 7Pharaoh searched and found out what had happened. He discovered that not even one animal that belonged to the Israelites had died. But he was still very stubborn. He wouldn’t let the people go.
The Plague of Boils
8Then the Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron. He said, “Take handfuls of ashes from a furnace. Have Moses toss them into the air in front of Pharaoh. 9The ashes will turn into fine dust over the whole land of Egypt. Then painful boils will break out on people and animals all over the land. Their bodies will be covered with them.”
10So Moses and Aaron took ashes from a furnace and stood in front of Pharaoh. Moses tossed them into the air. Then boils broke out on people and animals alike. 11The bodies of all the Egyptians were covered with boils. The magicians couldn’t stand in front of Moses because of the boils that were all over them. 12But the Lord made Pharaoh stubborn. Pharaoh wouldn’t listen to Moses and Aaron, just as the Lord had said to Moses.
The Plague of Hail
13Then the Lord spoke to Moses. He said, “Get up early in the morning. Go to Pharaoh and say to him, ‘The Lord, the God of the Hebrews, says, “Let my people go. Then they will be able to worship me. 14If you do not let them go, I will send the full force of my plagues against you this time. They will strike your officials and your people. Then you will know that there is no one like me in the whole earth. 15By now I could have reached out my hand. I could have struck you and your people with a plague that would have wiped you off the earth. 16But I had a special reason for making you king. I decided to show you my power. I wanted my name to become known everywhere on earth. 17But you are still against my people. You will not let them go. 18So at this time tomorrow I will send the worst hailstorm ever to fall on Egypt in its entire history. 19Give an order now to bring your livestock inside to a safe place. Bring in everything that is outside. The hail will fall on all the people and animals that are left outside. They will die.” ’ ”
20The officials of Pharaoh who had respect for what the Lord had said obeyed him. They hurried to bring their slaves and their livestock inside. 21But others didn’t pay attention to what the Lord had said. They left their slaves and livestock outside.
22Then the Lord spoke to Moses. He said, “Reach out your hand toward the sky. Then hail will fall all over Egypt. It will beat down on people and animals alike. It will strike everything growing in the fields of Egypt.” 23Moses reached out his walking stick toward the sky. Then the Lord sent thunder and hail. Lightning flashed down to the ground. The Lord rained hail on the land of Egypt. 24Hail fell and lightning flashed back and forth. It was the worst storm in Egypt’s entire history. 25Hail struck everything in the fields all over Egypt. It fell on people and animals alike. It beat down everything growing in the fields. It tore all the leaves off the trees. 26The only place it didn’t hail was in the area of Goshen. That’s where the people of Israel were.
27Then Pharaoh sent for Moses and Aaron. “This time I’ve sinned,” he said to them. “The Lord has done what is right. I and my people have done what is wrong. 28Pray to the Lord, because we’ve had enough thunder and hail. I’ll let you and your people go. You don’t have to stay here any longer.”
29Moses replied, “When I’ve left the city, I’ll lift up my hands and pray to the Lord. The thunder will stop. There won’t be any more hail. Then you will know that the earth belongs to the Lord. 30But I know that you and your officials still don’t have any respect for the Lord God.”
31The barley was ripe. The flax was in bloom. So they were both destroyed. 32But the wheat and spelt weren’t destroyed. That’s because they ripen later.
33Then Moses left Pharaoh and went out of the city. Moses lifted up his hands and prayed to the Lord. The thunder and hail stopped. The rain didn’t pour down on the land any longer. 34Pharaoh saw that the rain, hail and thunder had stopped. So he sinned again. He and his officials became stubborn. 35So Pharaoh was stubborn. He wouldn’t let the people of Israel go, just as the Lord had said through Moses.
瘟疫之灾
1耶和华对摩西说：“你再进宫见法老，告诉他，‘希伯来人的上帝耶和华说，让我的子民去事奉我。 2如果你不让他们走，继续扣留他们， 3我就会使你田间所有的牲畜，包括马、驴、骆驼和牛羊，都染上严重的瘟疫。 4但我要把埃及和以色列的牲畜分开，以色列人的牲畜必丝毫无损。’” 5耶和华定了日期，说：“明天耶和华必在此地行这事。” 6第二天，耶和华就这样行了，埃及的牲畜都死了，但以色列人的牲畜一头也没死。 7法老派人去探查，发现以色列人的牲畜真的安然无恙。可是，他仍然顽固，不肯让以色列人离开。
脓疮之灾
8耶和华对摩西和亚伦说：“你们去取几把窑里的灰，摩西要在法老面前把灰抛向空中。 9这灰要变成尘土，散布在埃及每一个角落，落在人或牲畜身上，就会起疱长疮。” 10摩西和亚伦便取了一些窑里的灰，站在法老面前，摩西把灰抛向空中，埃及人和牲畜身上就开始起疱长疮。 11埃及的巫师无法与摩西对抗，因为他们及所有埃及人身上都长了脓疮。 12耶和华使法老的心刚硬，他就不听他们的话，正如耶和华对摩西说的。
冰雹之灾
13耶和华对摩西说：“明天一早你再去见法老，对他说，‘希伯来人的上帝耶和华这样说，你要让我的子民出去事奉我。 14这一次，我要降下大灾祸在你及你的臣仆和百姓身上，好叫你知道普天之下我独一无二。 15我若用瘟疫攻击你和你的百姓，你们早就灭亡了。 16我让你活到现在，是为了向你彰显我的权能，使我的名传遍天下。 17但你竟然在我的子民面前狂傲自大，不让他们离开。 18明天这个时候，我要使天上降下大冰雹，是你们埃及立国以来从没有见过的。 19现在，你要叫人赶快到田间把牲畜和属于你的一切都带到安全的地方。凡留在田间的人或牲畜都会被冰雹打死。’” 20有些法老的臣仆听了耶和华的话就很害怕，赶忙把在田间的仆人和牲畜都召回屋里。 21但那些不把耶和华的话放在心上的，仍把他们的奴仆和牲畜留在田间。 22耶和华对摩西说：“你向天伸杖，天就会降下冰雹，落在埃及的一切人畜身上，摧毁田间的一切农作物。” 23摩西向天伸出手杖，耶和华就发出雷电和冰雹，火光飞向大地。耶和华在埃及降下冰雹。 24那时冰雹夹杂着火降下来，极为严重，在埃及史无前例。 25冰雹摧毁了埃及境内田间的一切，包括人和牲畜，摧毁了田里的一切作物，打断了所有的树木， 26只有以色列人所住的歌珊没有冰雹。 27法老派人召来摩西和亚伦，对他们说：“这次我犯罪了，耶和华是对的，我和我的百姓错了。 28请你们向耶和华祷告，好止住雷电和冰雹。我准许以色列人出去，你们不必再留在这里了。” 29摩西回答说：“我一出城，就向耶和华举手祷告，雷电和冰雹必立刻停止，这样你就知道普天下都属于耶和华。 30但我知道你和你的臣仆还是不敬畏上帝耶和华。”
31这场冰雹发生在大麦吐穗和亚麻开花的时候。 32小麦和粗麦较晚成熟，没有被冰雹打坏。 33摩西离开法老，走出城外向耶和华举手祷告，雷和冰雹便停止了，豪雨也不下了。 34法老看见灾祸停止，就又犯罪，他和他的臣仆都心里顽固。 35法老硬着心，不让以色列人离开，正如耶和华借摩西所言。
