Immerse: Beginnings Full Volume - Flipbook - Page 107
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E x od u s
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you refuse to let them go, I will send a plague of frogs across your entire
land. The Nile River will swarm with frogs. They will come up out of the
river and into your palace, even into your bedroom and onto your bed!
They will enter the houses of your officials and your people. They will even
jump into your ovens and your kneading bowls. Frogs will jump on you,
your people, and all your officials.’”
Then the Lord said to Moses, “Tell Aaron, ‘Raise the staff in your hand
over all the rivers, canals, and ponds of Egypt, and bring up frogs over all
the land.’” So Aaron raised his hand over the waters of Egypt, and frogs
came up and covered the whole land! But the magicians were able to do
the same thing with their magic. They, too, caused frogs to come up on
the land of Egypt.
Then Pharaoh summoned Moses and Aaron and begged, “Plead with
the Lord to take the frogs away from me and my people. I will let your
people go, so they can offer sacrifices to the Lord.”
“You set the time!” Moses replied. “Tell me when you want me to pray
for you, your officials, and your people. Then you and your houses will be
rid of the frogs. They will remain only in the Nile River.”
“Do it tomorrow,” Pharaoh said.
“All right,” Moses replied, “it will be as you have said. Then you will
know that 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 River.”
So Moses and Aaron left Pharaoh’s palace, and Moses cried out to the
Lord about the frogs he had inflicted on Pharaoh. And the Lord did just
what Moses had predicted. The frogs in the houses, the courtyards, and
the fields all died. The Egyptians piled them into great heaps, and a terrible stench filled the land. But when Pharaoh saw that relief had come,
he became stubborn. He refused to listen to Moses and Aaron, just as the
Lord had predicted.
So the Lord said to Moses, “Tell Aaron, ‘Raise your staff and strike the
ground. The dust will turn into swarms of gnats throughout the land of
Egypt.’” So Moses and Aaron did just as the Lord had commanded them.
When Aaron raised his hand and struck the ground with his staff, gnats
infested the entire land, covering the Egyptians and their animals. All the
dust in the land of Egypt turned into gnats. Pharaoh’s magicians tried to
do the same thing with their secret arts, but this time they failed. And the
gnats covered everyone, people and animals alike.
“This is the finger of God!” the magicians exclaimed to Pharaoh. But
Pharaoh’s heart remained hard. He wouldn’t listen to them, just as the
Lord had predicted.
