All the people who were directly descended from Jacob numbered seventy. But Joseph was already in Egypt,

and in time Joseph and his brothers and all that generation died.

Come, let's deal wisely with them. Otherwise they will continue to multiply, and if a war breaks out, they will ally themselves with our enemies and fight against us and leave the country."

They made their lives bitter by hard service with mortar and bricks and by all kinds of service in the fields. Every kind of service the Israelites were required to give was rigorous.

So God treated the midwives well, and the people multiplied and became very strong.

Then Pharaoh commanded all his people, "All sons that are born you must throw into the river, but all daughters you may let live."

Then the daughter of Pharaoh came down to wash herself by the Nile, while her attendants were walking alongside the river, and she saw the basket among the reeds. She sent one of her attendants, took it,

Pharaoh's daughter said to her, "Take this child and nurse him for me, and I will pay your wages." So the woman took the child and nursed him.

When Pharaoh heard about this event, he sought to kill Moses. So Moses fled from Pharaoh and settled in the land of Midian, and he settled by a certain well.

So Moses thought, "I will turn aside to see this amazing sight. Why does the bush not burn up?"

So now go, and I will send you to Pharaoh to bring my people, the Israelites, out of Egypt."

He replied, "Surely I will be with you, and this will be the sign to you that I have sent you: When you bring the people out of Egypt, you and they will serve God on this mountain."

and I have promised that I will bring you up out of the affliction of Egypt to the land of the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites, to a land flowing with milk and honey."'

"The elders will listen to you, and then you and the elders of Israel must go to the king of Egypt and tell him, 'The Lord, the God of the Hebrews, has met with us. So now, let us go three days' journey into the wilderness, so that we may sacrifice to the Lord our God.'

But I know that the king of Egypt will not let you go, not even under force.

So I will extend my hand and strike Egypt with all my wonders that I will do among them, and after that he will release you.

"I will grant this people favor with the Egyptians, so that when you depart you will not leave empty-handed.

Every woman will ask her neighbor and the one who happens to be staying in her house for items of silver and gold and for clothing. You will put these articles on your sons and daughters -- thus you will plunder Egypt!"

And if they do not believe even these two signs or listen to you, then take some water from the Nile and pour it out on the dry ground. The water you take out of the Nile will become blood on the dry ground."

So now go, and I will be with your mouth and will teach you what you must say."

Then the Lord became angry with Moses, and he said, "What about your brother Aaron the Levite? I know that he can speak very well. Moreover, he is coming to meet you, and when he sees you he will be glad in his heart.

"So you are to speak to him and put the words in his mouth. And as for me, I will be with your mouth and with his mouth, and I will teach you both what you must do.

He will speak for you to the people, and it will be as if he were your mouth and as if you were his God.

You will also take in your hand this staff, with which you will do the signs."

The Lord said to Moses in Midian, "Go back to Egypt, because all the men who were seeking your life are dead."

The Lord said to Moses, "When you go back to Egypt, see that you do before Pharaoh all the wonders I have put under your control. But I will harden his heart and he will not let the people go.

and I said to you, 'Let my son go that he may serve me,' but since you have refused to let him go, I will surely kill your son, your firstborn!"'"

Moses told Aaron all the words of the Lord who had sent him and all the signs that he had commanded him.

Then Moses and Aaron went and brought together all the Israelite elders.

Aaron spoke all the words that the Lord had spoken to Moses and did the signs in the sight of the people,

But Pharaoh said, "Who is the Lord that I should obey him by releasing Israel? I do not know the Lord, and I will not release Israel!"

Make the work harder for the men so they will keep at it and pay no attention to lying words!"

You go get straw for yourselves wherever you can find it, because there will be no reduction at all in your workload.'"

So the people spread out through all the land of Egypt to collect stubble for straw.

So now, get back to work! You will not be given straw, but you must still produce your quota of bricks!"

Then the Lord said to Moses, "Now you will see what I will do to Pharaoh, for compelled by my strong hand he will release them, and by my strong hand he will drive them out of his land."

Therefore, tell the Israelites, 'I am the Lord. I will bring you out from your enslavement to the Egyptians, I will rescue you from the hard labor they impose, and I will redeem you with an outstretched arm and with great judgments.

I will take you to myself for a people, and I will be your God. Then you will know that I am the Lord your God, who brought you out from your enslavement to the Egyptians.

I will bring you to the land I swore to give to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob -- and I will give it to you as a possession. I am the Lord!'"

But Moses replied to the Lord, "If the Israelites did not listen to me, then how will Pharaoh listen to me, since I speak with difficulty?"

he said to him, "I am the Lord. Tell Pharaoh king of Egypt all that I am telling you."

So the Lord said to Moses, "See, I have made you like God to Pharaoh, and your brother Aaron will be your prophet.

But I will harden Pharaoh's heart, and although I will multiply my signs and my wonders in the land of Egypt,

Pharaoh will not listen to you. I will reach into Egypt and bring out my regiments, my people the Israelites, from the land of Egypt with great acts of judgment.

Then the Egyptians will know that I am the Lord, when I extend my hand over Egypt and bring the Israelites out from among them.

"When Pharaoh says to you, 'Do a miracle,' and you say to Aaron, 'Take your staff and throw it down before Pharaoh,' it will become a snake."

Thus says the Lord: "By this you will know that I am the Lord: I am going to strike the water of the Nile with the staff that is in my hand, and it will be turned into blood.

Fish in the Nile will die, the Nile will stink, and the Egyptians will be unable to drink water from the Nile."'"

Then the Lord said to Moses, "Tell Aaron, 'Take your staff and stretch out your hand over Egypt's waters -- over their rivers, over their canals, over their ponds, and over all their reservoirs -- so that it becomes blood.' There will be blood everywhere in the land of Egypt, even in wooden and stone containers."

Moses and Aaron did so, just as the Lord had commanded. Moses raised the staff and struck the water that was in the Nile right before the eyes of Pharaoh and his servants, and all the water that was in the Nile was turned to blood.

All the Egyptians dug around the Nile for water to drink, because they could not drink the water of the Nile.

But if you refuse to release them, then I am going to plague all your territory with frogs.

The Nile will swarm with frogs, and they will come up and go into your house, in your bedroom, and on your bed, and into the houses of your servants and your people, and into your ovens and your kneading troughs.

Frogs will come up against you, your people, and all your servants."'"

Then Pharaoh summoned Moses and Aaron and said, "Pray to the Lord that he may take the frogs away from me and my people, and I will release the people that they may sacrifice to the Lord."

Moses said to Pharaoh, "You may have the honor over me -- when shall I pray for you, your servants, and your people, for the frogs to be removed from you and your houses, so that they will be left only in the Nile?"

He said, "Tomorrow." And Moses said, "It will be as you say, so that you may know that there is no one like the Lord our God.

The frogs will depart from you, your houses, your servants, and your people; they will be left only in the Nile."

The Lord said to Moses, "Tell Aaron, 'Extend your staff and strike the dust of the ground, and it will become gnats throughout all the land of Egypt.'"

They did so; Aaron extended his hand with his staff, he struck the dust of the ground, and it became gnats on people and on animals. All the dust of the ground became gnats throughout all the land of Egypt.

If you do not release my people, then I am going to send swarms of flies on you and on your servants and on your people and in your houses. The houses of the Egyptians will be full of flies, and even the ground they stand on.

But on that day I will mark off the land of Goshen, where my people are staying, so that no swarms of flies will be there, that you may know that I am the Lord in the midst of this land.

I will put a division between my people and your people. This sign will take place tomorrow."'"

The Lord did so; a thick swarm of flies came into Pharaoh's house and into the houses of his servants, and throughout the whole land of Egypt the land was ruined because of the swarms of flies.

But Moses said, "That would not be the right thing to do, for the sacrifices we make to the Lord our God would be an abomination to the Egyptians. If we make sacrifices that are an abomination to the Egyptians right before their eyes, will they not stone us?

Pharaoh said, "I will release you so that you may sacrifice to the Lord your God in the desert. Only you must not go very far. Do pray for me."

Moses said, "I am going to go out from you and pray to the Lord, and the swarms of flies will go away from Pharaoh, from his servants, and from his people tomorrow. Only do not let Pharaoh deal falsely again by not releasing the people to sacrifice to the Lord."

then the hand of the Lord will surely bring a very terrible plague on your livestock in the field, on the horses, the donkeys, the camels, the herds, and the flocks.

But the Lord will distinguish between the livestock of Israel and the livestock of Egypt, and nothing will die of all that the Israelites have."'"

The Lord set an appointed time, saying, "Tomorrow the Lord will do this in the land."

And the Lord did this on the next day; all the livestock of the Egyptians died, but of the Israelites' livestock not one died.

Then the Lord said to Moses and Aaron, "Take handfuls of soot from a furnace, and have Moses throw it into the air while Pharaoh is watching.

It will become fine dust over the whole land of Egypt and will cause boils to break out and fester on both people and animals in all the land of Egypt."

The magicians could not stand before Moses because of the boils, for boils were on the magicians and on all the Egyptians.

For this time I will send all my plagues on your very self and on your servants and your people, so that you may know that there is no one like me in all the earth.

But for this purpose I have caused you to stand: to show you my strength, and so that my name may be declared in all the earth.

So now, send instructions to gather your livestock and all your possessions in the fields to a safe place. Every person or animal caught in the field and not brought into the house -- the hail will come down on them, and they will die!"'"

Then the Lord said to Moses, "Extend your hand toward the sky that there may be hail in all the land of Egypt, on people and on animals, and on everything that grows in the field in the land of Egypt."

Hail fell and fire mingled with the hail; the hail was so severe that there had not been any like it in all the land of Egypt since it had become a nation.

The hail struck everything in the open fields, both people and animals, throughout all the land of Egypt. The hail struck everything that grows in the field, and it broke all the trees of the field to pieces.

Pray to the Lord, for the mighty thunderings and hail are too much! I will release you and you will stay no longer."

Moses said to him, "When I leave the city I will spread my hands to the Lord, the thunder will cease, and there will be no more hail, so that you may know that the earth belongs to the Lord.

They will cover the surface of the earth, so that you will be unable to see the ground. They will eat the remainder of what escaped -- what is left over for you -- from the hail, and they will eat every tree that grows for you from the field.

They will fill your houses, the houses of your servants, and all the houses of Egypt, such as neither your fathers nor your grandfathers have seen since they have been in the land until this day!'" Then Moses turned and went out from Pharaoh.

Pharaoh's servants said to him, "How long will this man be a menace to us? Release the people so that they may serve the Lord their God. Do you not know that Egypt is destroyed?"

Moses said, "We will go with our young and our old, with our sons and our daughters, and with our sheep and our cattle we will go, because we are to hold a pilgrim feast for the Lord."

He said to them, "The Lord will need to be with you if I release you and your dependents! Watch out! Trouble is right in front of you!

So Moses extended his staff over the land of Egypt, and then the Lord brought an east wind on the land all that day and all night. The morning came, and the east wind had brought up the locusts!

The locusts went up over all the land of Egypt and settled down in all the territory of Egypt. It was very severe; there had been no locusts like them before, nor will there be such ever again.

They covered the surface of all the ground, so that the ground became dark with them, and they ate all the vegetation of the ground and all the fruit of the trees that the hail had left. Nothing green remained on the trees or on anything that grew in the fields throughout the whole land of Egypt.

and the Lord turned a very strong west wind, and it picked up the locusts and blew them into the Red Sea. Not one locust remained in all the territory of Egypt.

Then Pharaoh summoned Moses and said, "Go, serve the Lord -- only your flocks and herds will be detained. Even your families may go with you."

But Moses said, "Will you also provide us with sacrifices and burnt offerings that we may present them to the Lord our God?

Pharaoh said to him, "Go from me! Watch out for yourself! Do not appear before me again, for when you see my face you will die!"

Moses said, "As you wish! I will not see your face again."

The Lord said to Moses, "I will bring one more plague on Pharaoh and on Egypt; after that he will release you from this place. When he releases you, he will drive you out completely from this place.

Moses said, "Thus says the Lord: 'About midnight I will go throughout Egypt,

and all the firstborn in the land of Egypt will die, from the firstborn son of Pharaoh who sits on his throne, to the firstborn son of the slave girl who is at her hand mill, and all the firstborn of the cattle.

There will be a great cry throughout the whole land of Egypt, such as there has never been, nor ever will be again.

But against any of the Israelites not even a dog will bark against either people or animals, so that you may know that the Lord distinguishes between Egypt and Israel.'