Exodus 8
32 verses
Exodus 8 escalates the contest with three more plagues — frogs, gnats, and flies — and introduces a pattern that will repeat: brief softening under pressure, then renewed hardness when the pressure lifts. Frogs overrun Egypt, and Pharaoh asks Moses to pray for their removal, promising to let Israel go. Moses prays, the frogs die in heaps, and Pharaoh hardens his heart. Gnats come from the dust of the earth, and even the Egyptian magicians concede: this is the finger of God — but Pharaoh will not listen. Then flies swarm over Egypt in dense clouds, but God makes a distinction: Goshen, where Israel lives, has none. The separation between Israel and Egypt becomes geographically visible, a sign that these plagues are not natural disasters but targeted judgments. Pharaoh offers a compromise — sacrifice here in Egypt — and Moses refuses: their sacrifices would offend the Egyptians. The word 'distinction' in verse 23 becomes a key theme of the plagues: Israel is set apart not by their own merit but by God's sovereign choice. 1 Peter 2:9 applies this same language of distinction to the church.
VERSES IN THIS CHAPTER
1
And the Lord spake unto Moses, Go unto Pharaoh, and say unto him, Thus saith the Lord, Let my people go, that they may serve me.
0 0Open verse page →
2
And if thou refuse to let them go, behold, I will smite all thy borders with frogs:
0 0Open verse page →
3
And the river shall bring forth frogs abundantly, which shall go up and come into thine house, and into thy bedchamber, and upon thy bed, and into the house of thy servants, and upon thy people, and into thine ovens, and into thy kneadingtroughs:
0 0Open verse page →
4
And the frogs shall come up both on thee, and upon thy people, and upon all thy servants.
0 0Open verse page →
5
And the Lord spake unto Moses, Say unto Aaron, Stretch forth thine hand with thy rod over the streams, over the rivers, and over the ponds, and cause frogs to come up upon the land of Egypt.
0 0Open verse page →
6
And Aaron stretched out his hand over the waters of Egypt; and the frogs came up, and covered the land of Egypt.
0 0Open verse page →
My grandmother used to quote this verse every morning. The thread of covenant runs through every book of the Bible.. I t...
7
And the magicians did so with their enchantments, and brought up frogs upon the land of Egypt.
2 0Open verse page →
8
Then Pharaoh called for Moses and Aaron, and said, Intreat the Lord, that he may take away the frogs from me, and from my people; and I will let the people go, that they may do sacrifice unto the Lord.
0 0Open verse page →
9
And Moses said unto Pharaoh, Glory over me: when shall I intreat for thee, and for thy servants, and for thy people, to destroy the frogs from thee and thy houses, that they may remain in the river only?
0 0Open verse page →
10
And he said, To morrow. And he said, Be it according to thy word: that thou mayest know that there is none like unto the Lord our God.
0 0Open verse page →
11
And the frogs shall depart from thee, and from thy houses, and from thy servants, and from thy people; they shall remain in the river only.
0 0Open verse page →
12
And Moses and Aaron went out from Pharaoh: and Moses cried unto the Lord because of the frogs which he had brought against Pharaoh.
0 0Open verse page →
13
And the Lord did according to the word of Moses; and the frogs died out of the houses, out of the villages, and out of the fields.
0 0Open verse page →
14
And they gathered them together upon heaps: and the land stank.
0 0Open verse page →
15
But when Pharaoh saw that there was respite, he hardened his heart, and hearkened not unto them; as the Lord had said.
0 0Open verse page →
16
And the Lord said unto Moses, Say unto Aaron, Stretch out thy rod, and smite the dust of the land, that it may become lice throughout all the land of Egypt.
0 0Open verse page →
17
And they did so; for Aaron stretched out his hand with his rod, and smote the dust of the earth, and it became lice in man, and in beast; all the dust of the land became lice throughout all the land of Egypt.
0 0Open verse page →
18
And the magicians did so with their enchantments to bring forth lice, but they could not: so there were lice upon man, and upon beast.
0 0Open verse page →
Their context of persecution gives these words a weight we often miss.. Their context of persecution gives these words a...
19
Then the magicians said unto Pharaoh, This is the finger of God: and Pharaoh’s heart was hardened, and he hearkened not unto them; as the Lord had said.
1 0Open verse page →
20
And the Lord said unto Moses, Rise up early in the morning, and stand before Pharaoh; lo, he cometh forth to the water; and say unto him, Thus saith the Lord, Let my people go, that they may serve me.
0 0Open verse page →
21
Else, if thou wilt not let my people go, behold, I will send swarms of flies upon thee, and upon thy servants, and upon thy people, and into thy houses: and the houses of the Egyptians shall be full of swarms of flies, and also the ground whereon they are.
0 0Open verse page →
22
And I will sever in that day the land of Goshen, in which my people dwell, that no swarms of flies shall be there; to the end thou mayest know that I am the Lord in the midst of the earth.
0 0Open verse page →
23
And I will put a division between my people and thy people: to morrow shall this sign be.
0 0Open verse page →
24
And the Lord did so; and there came a grievous swarm of flies into the house of Pharaoh, and into his servants’ houses, and into all the land of Egypt: the land was corrupted by reason of the swarm of flies.
0 0Open verse page →
25
And Pharaoh called for Moses and for Aaron, and said, Go ye, sacrifice to your God in the land.
0 0Open verse page →
26
And Moses said, It is not meet so to do; for we shall sacrifice the abomination of the Egyptians to the Lord our God: lo, shall we sacrifice the abomination of the Egyptians before their eyes, and will they not stone us?
0 0Open verse page →
27
We will go three days’ journey into the wilderness, and sacrifice to the Lord our God, as he shall command us.
0 0Open verse page →
28
And Pharaoh said, I will let you go, that ye may sacrifice to the Lord your God in the wilderness; only ye shall not go very far away: intreat for me.
0 0Open verse page →
29
And Moses said, Behold, I go out from thee, and I will intreat the Lord that the swarms of flies may depart from Pharaoh, from his servants, and from his people, to morrow: but let not Pharaoh deal deceitfully any more in not letting the people go to sacrifice to the Lord.
0 0Open verse page →
30
And Moses went out from Pharaoh, and intreated the Lord.
0 0Open verse page →
31
And the Lord did according to the word of Moses; and he removed the swarms of flies from Pharaoh, from his servants, and from his people; there remained not one.
0 0Open verse page →
32
And Pharaoh hardened his heart at this time also, neither would he let the people go.
0 0Open verse page →
COMMUNITY REFLECTIONS
No notes on this chapter yet. Be the first to write one!