Hello, this is Father Paul and I'm glad we're taking this journey together to read the Bible
in a year.
Yesterday we heard about when Moses went to the burning bush and how God told him to go
to Egypt and to tell Pharaoh to let the Israelites go.
We also heard that Pharaoh did not listen to the words of Moses and Aaron and how he
refused to let them go and in fact he took away the straw and told them to make bricks
without straw.
And today we're going to hear about how the stubbornness of Pharaoh brings about the 10
plagues.
We're going to hear today about the first seven plagues and we're going to see how these
things develop and after each plague how Pharaoh is given the chance and opportunity
to let the Israelites go only to refuse.
Alright let's begin.
Today's reading is from Exodus chapter 7, 8 and 9.
Chapter 7.
So the Lord said to Moses, See I have made you as God to Pharaoh, and Aaron your brother
shall be your prophet.
You shall speak all that I command you, and Aaron your brother shall tell Pharaoh to send
the children of Israel out of his land.
And I will harden Pharaoh's heart and multiply my signs and my wonders in the land of Egypt.
But Pharaoh will not heed you, so that I may lay my hand on Egypt and bring my armies and
my people, the children of Israel, out of the land of Egypt by great judgments.
And the Egyptians shall know that I am the Lord, when I stretch out my hand on Egypt
and bring out the children of Israel from among them.
Then Moses and Aaron did so, just as the Lord commanded them, so they did.
And Moses was 80 years old and Aaron 83 years old when they spoke to Pharaoh.
Then the Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron saying, When Pharaoh speaks to you, saying, Show a
miracle for yourselves, then you shall say to Aaron, Take your rod and cast it before
Pharaoh and let it become a serpent.
So Moses and Aaron went into Pharaoh and they did so, just as the Lord commanded.
And Aaron cast down his rod before Pharaoh and before his servants and it became a serpent.
But Pharaoh also called the wise men and the sorcerers, so the magicians of Egypt they
also did in like manner with their enchantments.
For every man threw down his rod and they became serpents.
But Aaron's rod swallowed up their rods, and Pharaoh's heart grew hard, and he did
not heed them as the Lord had said.
So the Lord said to Moses, Pharaoh's heart is hard, he refuses to let the people go.
Go to Pharaoh in the morning when he goes out to the water, and you shall stand by the
river's bank to meet him, and the rod which was turned to a serpent you shall take in
your hand.
And you shall say to him, The Lord God of the Hebrews has sent me to you, saying, Let
my people go, that they may serve me in the wilderness.
But indeed until now you would not hear.
Thus says the Lord, By this you shall know that I am the Lord.
Behold I will strike the waters which are in the river with the rod that is in my hand,
and they shall be turned to blood.
And the fish that are in the river shall die, and the river shall stink, and the Egyptians
will loathe to drink the water of the river.
Then the Lord spoke to Moses, Say to Aaron, Take your rod and stretch out your hand over
the waters of Egypt, over their streams, over their rivers, over their ponds, and over all
their pools of water, that they may become blood.
And there shall be blood throughout all the land of Egypt, both in buckets of wood and
pitchers of stone.
And Moses and Aaron did so just as the Lord commanded.
So he lifted up the rod and struck the waters that were in the river, in the sight of Pharaoh,
and in the sight of his servants.
And all the waters that were in the river were turned to blood.
The fish that were in the river died, the river stank, and the Egyptians could not drink
the water of the river, so there was blood throughout all the land of Egypt.
Then the magicians of Egypt did so with their enchantments, and Pharaoh's heart grew hard,
and he did not heed them, as the Lord had said.
And Pharaoh turned and went into his house, neither was his heart moved by this.
So all the Egyptians dug all around the river for water to drink, because they could not
drink the water of the river, and seven days passed after the Lord had struck the river.
After eight, and the Lord spoke to Moses, Go to Pharaoh and say to him, Thus says the
Lord, Let my people go, that they may serve me.
But if you refuse to let them go, behold, I will smite all your territory with frogs.
So the river shall bring forth frogs abundantly, which shall go up and come into your house,
into your bedroom, on your bed, into the houses of your servants, on your people, into your
ovens, and into your kneading bowls.
And the frogs shall come up on you, on your people, and on all your servants.
Then the Lord spoke to Moses, Say to Aaron, Stretch out your hand with your rod over
the streams, over the rivers, and over the ponds, and cause frogs to 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 of Egypt.
And the magicians did so with their enchantments, and brought up frogs on the land of Egypt.
Then Pharaoh called for Moses and Aaron, and said, Entreat 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 sacrifice
to the Lord.
And Moses said to Pharaoh, Accept the honor of saying, when I shall intercede for you,
for your servants and for your people, to destroy the frogs from you and your houses,
that they may remain in the river only.
So he said, Tomorrow.
And he said, Let it be according to your word, that you may know that there is no one like
the Lord our God.
And the frogs shall depart from you, from your houses, from your servants, and from
your people.
They shall remain in the river only.
Then Moses and Aaron went out from Pharaoh, and Moses cried out to the Lord concerning
the frogs, which he had brought against Pharaoh.
So the Lord did according to the word of Moses, and the frogs died out of the houses, out
of the courtyards, and out of the fields.
They gathered them together in heaps, and the land stank.
But when Pharaoh saw that there was relief, he hardened his heart, and did not heed them,
as the Lord had said.
So the Lord said to Moses, Say to Aaron, Stretch out your rod, and strike the dust of the land,
so that it may become lice throughout all the land of Egypt.
And they did so.
For Aaron stretched out his hand with his rod, and struck the dust of the earth, and
it became lice on man and beast.
All the dust of the land became lice throughout all the land of Egypt.
Now the magicians so worked with their enchantments to bring forth lice, but they could not.
So there were lice on man and beast.
Then the magicians said to Pharaoh, This is the finger of God.
But Pharaoh's heart grew hard, and he did not heed them, just as the Lord had said.
And the Lord said to Moses, Rise early in the morning, and stand before Pharaoh, as
he comes out to the water.
Then say to him, Thus says the Lord, Let my people go, that they may serve me.
Or else, if you will not let my people go, behold, I will send swarms of flies on you
and your servants, on your people and into your houses.
The houses of the Egyptians shall be full of swarms of flies, and also the ground on
which you stand.
And in that day I will set apart the land of Goshen, in which my people dwell, that
no swarms of flies shall be there, in order that you may know that I am the Lord in the
midst of the land.
I will make a difference between my people and your people.
Tomorrow this sign shall be.
And the Lord did so.
Thick swarms of flies came into the house of Pharaoh, into his servants' houses, and
into all the land of Egypt.
The land was corrupted because of the swarms of flies.
Then Pharaoh called for Moses and Aaron and said, Go, sacrifice your God in the land.
And Moses said, It is not right to do so, for we would be sacrificing the abomination
of the Egyptians to the Lord our God.
If we sacrifice the abomination of the Egyptians before their eyes, then will they not stone
us?
We will go three days' journey into the wilderness and sacrifice to the Lord our God, as he will
command us.
So Pharaoh said, I will let you go, that you may sacrifice to the Lord your God in the
wilderness.
Only you shall not go very far away.
Intercede for me.
Then Moses said, Indeed, I am going out from you, and I will entreat the Lord, that the
swarms of flies may depart tomorrow from Pharaoh, from his servants, and from his people.
But let Pharaoh not deal deceitfully any more in not letting the people go to sacrifice
to the Lord.
So Moses went out from Pharaoh and entreated the Lord.
And the Lord did according to the word of Moses.
He removed the swarms of flies from Pharaoh, from his servants, and from his people.
No one remained.
But Pharaoh hardened his heart at this time also.
Neither would he let the people go.
Chapter 9
Then the Lord said to Moses, Go into Pharaoh and tell him.
Thus says the Lord God of the Hebrews, Let my people go, that they may serve me.
For if you refuse to let them go, and still hold them, behold the hand of the Lord will
be on your cattle, in the field, on the horses, on the donkeys, on the camels, on the oxen,
and on the sheep.
A very severe pestilence.
And the Lord will make a difference between the livestock of Israel and the livestock
of Egypt.
So nothing shall die of all that belongs to the children of Israel.
Then the Lord appointed a set time, saying, Tomorrow the Lord will do this thing in the
land.
So the Lord did this thing on the next day and all the livestock of Egypt died.
But the livestock of the children of Israel, not one died.
Then Pharaoh sent and indeed, not even one of the livestock of the Israelites was dead.
But the heart of Pharaoh became hard and he did not let the people go.
So the Lord said to Moses and Aaron, Take for yourselves handfuls of ashes from a furnace,
and let Moses scatter it toward the heavens in the sight of Pharaoh, and it will become
fine dust in all the land of Egypt, and it will cause boils that break out in sores on
man and beast throughout all the land of Egypt.
Then they took ashes from the furnace and stood before Pharaoh, and Moses scattered
them toward heaven, and they caused boils that break out in sores on man and beast.
Then the magicians could not stand before Moses because of the boils, for the boils
were on the magicians and on all the Egyptians.
But the Lord hardened the heart of Pharaoh, and he did not heed them, just as the Lord
had spoken to Moses.
Then the Lord said to Moses, Rise early in the morning and stand before Pharaoh, and
say to him, Thus says the Lord God of the Hebrews, Let my people go, that they may serve
me.
For at this time I will send all my plagues to your very heart, and on your servants,
and on your people, that you may know that there is none like me in all the earth.
Now if I had stretched out my hand and struck you and your people with pestilence, then
you would have been cut off from the earth.
But indeed for this purpose I have raised you up, that I may show my power in you, and
that my name may be declared in all the earth.
As yet you exalt yourself against my people, in that you will not let them go.
Behold, tomorrow, about this time, I will cause very heavy hail to rain down, such as
has not been in Egypt since its founding until now.
Therefore send now and gather your livestock, and all that you have in the field, for the
hail shall come down on every man and every animal which is found in the field and is
not brought home, and they shall die.
He who feared the word of the Lord among the servants of Pharaoh made his servants and
his livestock flee to the houses.
But he who did not regard the word of the Lord left his servants and his livestock in
the field.
Then the Lord said to Moses, Stretch out your hand toward heaven, that there may be hail
in all the land of Egypt, on man, on beast, and on every herb of the field, throughout
the land of Egypt.
And Moses stretched out his rod toward heaven, and the Lord sent thunder and hail, and fire
darted to the ground, and the Lord rained hail on the land of Egypt.
So there was hail and fire mingled with the hail, so very heavy that there was none like
it in all the land of Egypt since it became a nation.
And the hail struck throughout the whole land of Egypt, all that was in the field, both
man and beast.
And the hail struck every herb of the field, and broke every tree of the field.
Only in the land of Goshen, where the children of Israel were, there was no hail.
And Pharaoh sent and called for Moses and Aaron, and said to them, I have sinned this
time, the Lord is righteous, and my people and I are wicked.
Entreat the Lord that there may be no more mighty thundering and hail, for it is enough.
I will let you go, and you shall stay no longer.
So Moses said to him, As soon as I have gone out of the city, I will spread out my hands
to the Lord.
The thunder will cease, and there will be no more hail, that you may know that the earth
is the Lord's.
But as for you and your servants, I know that you will not yet fear the Lord God.
Now the flax and the barley were struck, for the barley was in the head, and the flax was
in the bud.
But the wheat and the spelt were not struck, for they are late crops.
So Moses went out of the city from Pharaoh, and spread out his hands to the Lord, then
the thunder and the hail ceased, and the rain was not poured on the earth.
And when Pharaoh saw that the rain, the hail, and the thunder had ceased, he sinned yet
more, and he hardened his heart, he and his servants.
So the heart of Pharaoh was hard, neither would he let the children of Israel go, as
the Lord had spoken by Moses.
I hope you enjoyed today's reading as much as I did, and I look forward to seeing you
again tomorrow to continue on our journey.
God bless you and have a great day.