Thematic Bible: Plague


Thematic Bible



and said: My lord the king! Why have you come to see me? David answered: I came to buy your threshing place. I have to build Jehovah an altar here, so this disease will stop killing the people. Verse ConceptsAltars To The LordBuilding Altars

David built an altar for Jehovah there and sacrificed burnt offerings and fellowship offerings. So Jehovah heard the prayers for the country. The plague on Israel stopped. Verse ConceptsFellowship OfferingBuildingMediationAltars To The LordBuilding AltarsAltarsGod Answered PrayerPeace offerings

So Jehovah sent a plague among the Israelites from that morning until the time he had chosen. Of the people from Dan to Beersheba, seventy thousand died. Verse ConceptsPestilenceFifty To Ninety ThousandDeath As Punishment

While the meat was still in their mouths, before they had even had a chance to chew it, Jehovah became angry with the people and struck them with a severe plague. Verse ConceptsTeethAt The Same Time

A letter came to him from the prophet Elijah. It read: This is what Jehovah the God of your ancestor David says: You have not followed the ways of your father Jehoshaphat or the ways of King Asa of Judah. Instead, you have followed the ways of the kings of Israel. You, like Ahab's family, have caused Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem to chase after foreign gods as if they were prostitutes. You have killed your brothers, your father's family. Your brothers were better than you. Jehovah will strike a great blow to your people, your sons, your wives, and all your property because you did this. read more.
You will be affected by a painful stomach disease and suffer until you die.

Pharaoh quickly called for Moses and Aaron and said: I have sinned against Jehovah your God and against you. Please forgive my sin one more time. Pray to Jehovah your God to take this deadly plague away from me. Moses left Pharaoh and prayed to Jehovah. read more.
Jehovah changed the wind to a very strong west wind. It picked up the locusts and blew them into the Red Sea. Not one locust was left anywhere in Egypt. But Jehovah made the king stubborn. He did not let the Israelites go.

Jehovah then said to Moses: Raise your hand toward the sky. Darkness thick enough to be felt will cover the land of Egypt. Moses raised his hand toward the sky. Total darkness fell throughout Egypt for three days. The Egyptians could not see each other. No one left his house during that time. The Israelites, however, had light where they were living.

Moses left Pharaoh and prayed to Jehovah. Jehovah did what Moses asked. The swarms of flies left Pharaoh, his officials, and his people. Not a single fly was left. Again Pharaoh was stubborn and did not let the people go.

One of the Israelite men brought a Midianite woman to his brothers. He did this right in front of Moses and the entire congregation of Israel while they were crying at the entrance to the tent of meeting. Phinehas, son of Eleazar and grandson of the priest Aaron, saw this. He left the assembly and grabbed a spear in his hand. He went into the tent after the Israelite man. He drove the spear through the man and into the woman's body. Because of this, the plague that the Israelites were experiencing stopped. read more.
Twenty-four thousand people died from that plague. Jehovah continued speaking to Moses: Jehovah said to Moses: Phinehas, son of Eleazar and grandson of the priest Aaron, turned my fury away from the Israelites. Since he stood up for me, I did not have to stand up for myself and destroy them. Tell Phinehas that I now make a promise of peace to him. My promise is that he and his descendants will be priests for a very long time because he stood up for his God. He made peace with Jehovah for the Israelites. The name of the Israelite man who was killed with the Midianite woman was Zimri, son of Salu. Salu was the leader of a family from Simeon. The name of the Midianite woman who was killed was Cozbi, daughter of Zur. Zur was the head of a family from the Midianite tribes.

After the plague Jehovah said to Moses and Eleazar son of the priest Aaron: Verse ConceptsCensus


The men Moses sent to explore the land died in front of Jehovah from a plague. They died because they had returned and made the whole community complain about Moses. They spread lies about the land.

I am Jehovah your God. I brought you out of Egypt so that you are no longer slaves of the Egyptians. I have broken their power over you and made you live as a free people. If you will not listen to me and obey all these commandments, if you reject my laws and look at my rules with disgust, if you reject my promise by disobeying my commandments, read more.
then this is what I will do to you: I will terrorize you with disease and fever. You will suffer from eye problems and depression. You will plant your crops and get nothing because your enemies will eat them. I will condemn you so that you will go down in defeat in front of your enemies. Those who hate you will be your rulers. You will run away even when no one is chasing you. If you still will not listen to me, I will discipline you seven times for your sins. I will crush your arrogance. You will have no rain, and your land will be as hard as cement. Your strength will be spent uselessly. Your land will not yield its produce and the trees of the land will not yield their fruit. If you act with hostility against me and are unwilling to obey me I will increase the plague on you seven times according to your sins. I will send wild animals among you. They will rob you of your children. They will destroy your cattle, and make you so few that your roads will be deserted.

You might not faithfully obey every word of the teachings that are written in this book. You might not respect this glorious and awe inspiring name: JEHOVAH your God. If so, Jehovah will strike you and your descendants with unimaginable plagues. They will be terrible continuing plagues. They will be severe and lingering diseases. He will bring all the diseases of Egypt that you dreaded. They will cling to you. read more.
Jehovah will also bring you every kind of sickness and plague not written in this Book of the Law. They will continue until you are dead. You were at one time as numerous as the stars in the sky. But only a few of you will be left. This is because you did not obey Jehovah your God.

At Mount Horeb they made a statue of a calf. They worshiped an idol made of metal. They traded their glorious God for the statue of a bull that eats grass. They forgot the God of their salvation, the one who did spectacular things in Egypt, read more.
miracles in the land of Ham, and terrifying things at the Red Sea. God said he was going to destroy them, but Moses, his chosen one, stood in his way to prevent him from exterminating them. They refused to enter the pleasant land. They did not believe what he said. They complained in their tents. They did not obey Jehovah. Raising his hand, he swore that he would kill them in the wilderness, kill their descendants among the nations, and scatter them throughout various lands. They joined in worshiping the god Baal while they were at Peor. They ate what was sacrificed to the dead. They infuriated God by what they did, and a plague broke out among them.

After these things I saw another angel come down from heaven. He had great authority. The earth was illuminated with his glory. He cried out with a strong voice: Babylon the Great has fallen, she has fallen! She has become the habitation of demons, and a haunt for every unclean spirit. She is a prison for every unclean and hateful bird. All nations have drunk of the wine of the wrath of her fornication (immorality). The kings of the earth have committed fornication with her, and the merchants of the earth are very rich through the abundance of her luxury. read more.
I heard another voice from heaven, say: Come out of her, my people, that you do not partake of her sins, and that you do not receive her plagues! For her sins have reached up to heaven, and God has remembered her iniquities. Render to her even as she rendered to you. Pay back double to her, double according to her works: in the cup that she has filled, fill double for her! To the extent she glorified herself and lived sensuously, to that extent give her much torment and sorrow. She says in her heart: 'I sit a queen, and am no widow, and I shall see no sorrow.' Therefore her plagues (literal and figurative) will overtake her in one day, death and mourning and famine; and she will be utterly burned with fire, for mighty is Jehovah God who judges her. (Jeremiah 50:34; 51:58)

I testify to every man who hears the words of the prophecy of this book, if any man shall add to these things, God shall add to him the plagues that are written in this book. Verse ConceptsPlaguesWatchfulness, Of LeadersAdding To GodBooks Of ProphecyProphecyPunishmentPunishmentsProphecies concerning

These (two witnesses) have power to shut the sky so that it will not rain in the days of their prophecy. They have power over waters to turn them to blood, and to strike the earth with all plagues, as often as they will. Verse ConceptsBlood, Miracles Connected WithPlaguesRainSkyTurned To BloodLack Of RainAuthority Of DisciplesThe Two WitnessesWeather In The Last DaysweatherempowermentGod Controlling The Rain

I testify to every man who hears the words of the prophecy of this book, if any man shall add to these things, God shall add to him the plagues that are written in this book. If any man shall take away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part out of the book of life, and out of the holy city, and from the things that are written in this book.

I saw another sign in heaven, great and marvelous, seven angels having the seven last plagues. God uses them to finish expressing his anger. Verse ConceptsGod's IndignationPlaguesEnd Of The WorldSeven SpiritsSeven ThingsSigns In The SkyAngels Doing God's WorkGod Will No More Be AngryAngels Activities Among Unbelievers

The seven angels with the seven plagues came out of the temple. They were clothed in pure white linen, with their chests girded with golden girdles. One of the four beasts gave the seven angels bowls full of the anger of God who lives forever and ever. The temple was filled with smoke from the glory and power of God. No man was able to enter into the temple till the seven plagues of the seven angels were finished.

He brought them out. He showed wonders and signs in the land of Egypt, in the Red sea, and in the wilderness forty years. Verse ConceptsGuidance, Examples Of God'sPlaguesThe Number Forty40 To 50 YearsIsrael In The WildernessComing To The Red SeaOther MiraclesSigns And Wonders Before ChristWeed

He destroyed the first-born of Egypt, both of man and animal. He sent signs and wonders into your midst, O Egypt, on Pharaoh and on all his servants.

At midnight Jehovah killed every firstborn male in Egypt from the firstborn son of Pharaoh who ruled the land to the firstborn son of the prisoner in jail, and also every firstborn animal. Pharaoh, all his officials, and all the other Egyptians got up during the night. There was loud crying throughout Egypt because in every house someone had died.

You shall also observe the Feast of Unleavened Bread. That was the day I brought your hosts out of the land of Egypt. Observe this day throughout your generations as a long lasting ordinance. Verse ConceptsGenerationsLaw, OtNew Year, TheOrdinancesRegulations For PassoverEarthly ArmiesGod Bringing Israel Out Of EgyptThe Law Given To Israel

Moses approached the king. He said: I have come to let you know what Jehovah is going to do. About midnight he will go through the land of Egypt, and wherever he goes, the first-born son in every family will die. Your own son will die. So will the son of the lowest slave woman. Even the first-born males of cattle will die. Everywhere in Egypt there will be loud crying. Nothing like this has ever happened before or will ever happen again. read more.
But against any of the sons of Israel a dog will not even bark, whether against man or beast. This is so you may understand how Jehovah makes a distinction between Egypt and Israel.

If so, Jehovah will strike you and your descendants with unimaginable plagues. They will be terrible continuing plagues. They will be severe and lingering diseases. Verse ConceptsDiseaseIllness

If you act with hostility against me and are unwilling to obey me I will increase the plague on you seven times according to your sins. Verse ConceptsAttitudes Of HostilitySevenfold

After David had everyone counted, he felt guilty and told Jehovah: What I did was stupid and terribly wrong. Jehovah, please forgive me. When David got up in the morning, Jehovah spoke his word to the prophet Gad, David's seer. Go tell David: 'This is what Jehovah says: I offer you three choices. Choose the one you want me to do to you.' read more.
Gad told David the three choices as follows: Seven years of famine could come to you and your land. You could flee from your enemies as they pursue you for three months. Or there could be a three-day plague in your land? Think it over, and decide what answer I should give the one who sent me. I am in a desperate situation, David told Gad. Please let us fall into Jehovah's hands because he is very merciful. But do not let me fall into human hands. So Jehovah sent a plague among the Israelites from that morning until the time he had chosen. Of the people from Dan to Beersheba, seventy thousand died. When the angel stretched out his arm to destroy Jerusalem, Jehovah changed his mind about the disaster. Enough! He said to the angel who was destroying the people. Put down your weapon. The angel of Jehovah was at the threshing floor of Araunah the Jebusite. David saw the angel who had been killing the people. He said to Jehovah: I have sinned. I have done wrong. What have these sheep done? Please let your punishment be against me and against my father's family. Gad came to David and said: Go, set up an altar for Jehovah at Araunah the Jebusite's threshing floor. David obeyed Jehovah's command and went as Gad had told him to. Araunah saw David and his soldiers coming toward him. He went over to David and bowed down low, and said: My lord the king! Why have you come to see me? David answered: I came to buy your threshing place. I have to build Jehovah an altar here, so this disease will stop killing the people. Araunah said: Take what you want and offer your sacrifice. Here are some cattle for the sacrifice. You can use the threshing-boards and the wooden yokes for the fire. Araunah gave this to the king and said: May Jehovah your God accept you. No! The king said to Araunah. I must buy it from you at a fair price. I will not offer Jehovah my God burnt sacrifices that cost me nothing. So David bought the threshing floor and the cattle for one and one quarter pounds of silver. David built an altar for Jehovah there and sacrificed burnt offerings and fellowship offerings. So Jehovah heard the prayers for the country. The plague on Israel stopped.

The next day the whole congregation of Israel complained to Moses and Aaron. They said: You have killed Jehovah's people. The congregation came together to confront Moses and Aaron. When they turned toward the tent of meeting, they saw the smoke covering it, and the glory of Jehovah appeared. Then Moses and Aaron went to the front of the tent of meeting. read more.
Jehovah said to Moses: Get away from these people, and let me destroy them in an instant! Immediately, they bowed with their faces touching the ground. Moses said to Aaron: Take your incense burner, put burning coals from the altar and incense in it, and go quickly into the congregation to make peace with Jehovah for the people. Jehovah shows his anger! A plague has started. Aaron took his incense burner, as Moses told him. He ran into the middle of the assembly, because the plague had already begun among the people. He put incense on the incense burner to make peace with Jehovah for the people. He stood between those who had died and those who were still alive. The plague stopped. Fourteen thousand seven hundred died from the plague in addition to those who died because of Korah. By the time Aaron came back to Moses at the entrance to the tent of meeting, the plague had stopped.

Jehovah then said to Moses: Raise your hand toward the sky. Darkness thick enough to be felt will cover the land of Egypt. Moses raised his hand toward the sky. Total darkness fell throughout Egypt for three days. The Egyptians could not see each other. No one left his house during that time. The Israelites, however, had light where they were living.

Jehovah said to Moses: Pharaoh is being stubborn. He will not let my people go. In the morning meet Pharaoh when he is on his way to the Nile. Wait for him on the bank of the river. Take the staff that turned into a snake. Say to Pharaoh: 'Jehovah the God of the Hebrews sent me to tell you, Let my people go to worship me in the wilderness. So far you have not listened.' read more.
Jehovah says: 'This is the way you will recognize that I am Jehovah: I will strike the Nile with this staff in my hand. The water will turn into blood. The fish in the Nile will die. The river will stink. The Egyptians will not be able to drink any water from the Nile.' Jehovah then spoke to Moses: Tell Aaron, Take your staff and stretch out your hand over the waters of Egypt; its rivers, canals, ponds, and all its reservoirs. They will turn into blood. There will be blood everywhere in Egypt, even in the buckets of wood and stone pitchers. Moses and Aaron did as Jehovah commanded. Aaron raised his staff and struck the Nile in front of Pharaoh and his officials. All the water in the river turned into blood. The fish in the Nile died. The river smelled bad. The Egyptians could not drink any water from the river. There was blood everywhere in Egypt. But the Egyptian magicians did the same thing using their magic spells. So Pharaoh continued to be stubborn. He would not listen to Moses and Aaron, just as Jehovah predicted. Pharaoh turned and went back to his palace. This did not change his mind and heart. All the Egyptians dug along the Nile for water to drink because they could not drink any of the water from the river. Seven days passed after Jehovah struck the Nile.

Jehovah said to Moses: Tell Aaron, Strike the ground with your stick. The dust will change into gnats in all of Egypt.' So Aaron struck the ground with his stick. The dust in Egypt was turned into gnats. They swarmed over the people and the animals. The magicians tried to use their magic to make gnats appear, but they failed. There were gnats everywhere! read more.
The magicians said to the king: It is the finger of God! (God has done this!) But the king was stubborn. Just as Jehovah predicted, the king would not listen to Moses and Aaron.

Jehovah told Moses: Go back to the king. I have made him and his officials stubborn, so that I could work these signs. I did this because I want you to tell your children and your grandchildren about the mighty things and the signs I have done in Egypt. Then all of you will know that I am Jehovah. Moses and Aaron went to Pharaoh and said to him: Thus says Jehovah, the God of the Hebrews, 'How long will you refuse to humble yourself before me? Let my people go, that they may serve me. read more.
If you refuse to let my people go, behold, tomorrow I will bring locusts into your territory. They shall cover the surface of the land. No one will be able to see the land. They will also eat the rest of what has escaped and is left to you from the hail. They will eat every tree that sprouts for you out of the field. Your houses shall be filled and the houses of all your servants and the houses of all the Egyptians. This is something neither your fathers nor your grandfathers have seen, from the day that they came upon the earth until this day. He turned and went out from Pharaoh.' Pharaoh's servants said to him: How long shall this man be a snare to us? Let the men go so that they may serve Jehovah their God. Do you not yet know that Egypt is destroyed? Moses and Aaron were brought again to Pharaoh. He said to them: Go! Serve Jehovah your God. Who are the ones that shall go? Moses said: We will go with our young and with our old, with our sons and with our daughters. We will go with our flocks and with our herds. We must hold a feast to Jehovah. He said to them: May Jehovah be with you, as I send you and your little ones away. Watch out for evil is before you. Not so! You men go now and serve Jehovah. It is you who desired it. So they were driven out from Pharaoh's presence. Jehovah said to Moses: Stretch out your hand over the land of Egypt for the locusts. Let them come up upon the land of Egypt and eat every herb of the land, all that the hail has left. Moses held his staff over the land of Egypt. Jehovah made a wind from the east blow over the land all that day and all that night. By morning the east wind had brought the locusts. They invaded all of Egypt and landed all over the country in great swarms. Never before had there been so many locusts, nor would there ever be that many again. They covered all the ground until it was black with them. They ate all the plants and all the fruit on the trees that the hail had left. Nothing green was left on any tree or plant anywhere in Egypt. Pharaoh quickly called for Moses and Aaron and said: I have sinned against Jehovah your God and against you. Please forgive my sin one more time. Pray to Jehovah your God to take this deadly plague away from me. Moses left Pharaoh and prayed to Jehovah. Jehovah changed the wind to a very strong west wind. It picked up the locusts and blew them into the Red Sea. Not one locust was left anywhere in Egypt. But Jehovah made the king stubborn. He did not let the Israelites go.

At this time tomorrow, I will send a very heavy hail, such as has not been seen in Egypt from the day it was founded until now. Bring your livestock and whatever you have in the field to safety. Every man and beast that is found in the field and is not brought home will die from the hail. The ones among the servants of Pharaoh who respected the word of Jehovah made his servants and his livestock flee into the houses. read more.
He who paid no regard to the word of Jehovah left his servants and his livestock in the field. Jehovah said to Moses: Stretch out your hand toward the sky. Hail will fall on all the land of Egypt, on man and on beast and on every plant of the field, throughout the land of Egypt. Moses stretched out his staff toward the sky. Then Jehovah sent thunder and hail, and fire ran down to the earth. Jehovah rained hail on the land of Egypt. It hailed, and lightning flashed while it hailed. This was the worst storm in all the land of Egypt since it had become a nation. All over Egypt the hail knocked down everything that was out in the open. It struck down people, animals, and every plant in the fields and destroyed every tree in the fields. The region of Goshen, where the Israelites lived, was the only place where there was no hail. The king sent for Moses and Aaron and said: This time I have sinned. Jehovah is in the right. My people and I are in the wrong. Pray to Jehovah! We have had enough of this thunder and hail! I promise to let you go. You do not have to stay here any longer. Moses said to him: As soon as I go out of the city, I will lift up my hands in prayer to Jehovah. The thunder will stop. There will be no more hail. Thus you may know that the earth belongs to Jehovah. But I know that you and your servants do not yet respect Jehovah God. The flax and the barley were ruined, because the barley was ripe, and the flax was budding. But the wheat crops ripen later, and they were not damaged. Moses left the royal palace and the city. He lifted his arms in prayer to Jehovah. The thunder, hail, and drenching rain stopped. The king realized that the storm was over. He disobeyed once more. He and his officials were so stubborn

Do you remember our sin at Peor, when Jehovah punished his own people with an epidemic? We are still suffering because of that. Was that not enough sin? Verse ConceptsPurifying Oneself

Then Jehovah said to Moses: Approach Pharaoh and say to him, 'Jehovah says: Let My people go, that they may serve me. But if you refuse to let them go, behold, I will afflict your whole territory with frogs. The Nile will swarm with frogs. They will come up and go into your house and into your bedroom and on your bed. They will go into the houses of your servants and on your people, and into your ovens and into your kneading bowls. read more.
The frogs will come up on you and your people and all your servants.' Jehovah also said to Moses: Say to Aaron, 'Stretch out your hand with your staff over the rivers, over the streams and over the pools. Make frogs come up on the land of Egypt.' So Aaron stretched out his hand over the waters of Egypt. The frogs came up and covered the land of Egypt. But the magicians used their secret powers to do the same thing. The king sent for Moses and Aaron and told them: If you ask Jehovah to take these frogs away from me and my people, I will let your people go and offer sacrifices to him. Moses answered: You choose the time when I am to pray for the frogs to stop bothering you, your officials, and your people, and for them to leave your houses and be found only in the river. The king replied: Do it tomorrow! As you wish: Moses agreed. Then everyone will discover that there is no god like Jehovah! The frogs will no longer be found anywhere, except in the Nile. Moses and Aaron left the palace. Moses begged Jehovah to do something about the frogs he had sent as punishment for the king. Jehovah did as Moses asked. The frogs in the houses, the courtyards, and the fields died. The Egyptians piled them up in large mounds, until the land began to stink with them. The king saw that the frogs were dead. He became stubborn again and, just as Jehovah had said, the king would not listen to Moses and Aaron.

Then Jehovah said to Moses and Aaron: Take a few handfuls of ashes from a furnace. Moses is to throw them into the air in front of the king. They will spread out like fine dust over all the land of Egypt. They will produce boils that become open sores on the people and the animals. They got some ashes and stood before the king. Moses threw them into the air. They produced boils that became open sores on the people and the animals. read more.
The magicians were not able to appear before Moses, because they were covered with boils, like all the other Egyptians. Jehovah hardened the heart of Pharaoh and he did not listen to Moses and Aaron. Everything happened just as Jehovah had told Moses.

What guilt offering (trespass gift) shall we send him? The people asked. They answered: Five gold models of tumors and five gold mice, one of each for each Philistine king. The same plague was sent on all of you and on the five kings. You must make these models of the tumors and of the mice that are ravaging your country. You must give honor to the God of Israel. Perhaps he will stop punishing you, your gods, and your land.

They died because they had returned and made the whole community complain about Moses. They spread lies about the land. Verse Conceptsdoubt, results ofAnger Of God, Examples OfDeath As Punishmentnegativity

While the meat was still in their mouths, before they had even had a chance to chew it, Jehovah became angry with the people and struck them with a severe plague. Verse ConceptsTeethAt The Same Time

Then Jehovah said to Moses: Go to Pharaoh, and tell him, this is what Jehovah the God of the Hebrews says: Let my people go to serve me. If you refuse to let them go and continue to hold them in slavery, Jehovah will bring a terrible plague on your livestock, including your horses, donkeys, camels, cattle, sheep, and goats. read more.
Jehovah will distinguish between Israel's livestock and the livestock of the Egyptians. The animals belonging to the Israelites will not die.' Jehovah set a definite time: I, Jehovah, choose tomorrow as the time when I will do this. The next day Jehovah did as he had said. The Egyptian's animals all died. Not one of the animals of the Israelites died. The king asked what had happened. He was told that none of the animals of the Israelites had died. He was stubborn and would not let the people go.

Jehovah sent poisonous snakes among the people. They bit the people, and many of the Israelites died. Verse ConceptsBitingPoisonSerpentsAnger Of God, Examples OfDeath As Punishment

Jehovah said to Moses: Early tomorrow morning, go and meet the king as he goes to the river. Tell him that Jehovah says: 'Let my people go, so that they can serve me. Verse ConceptsConfrontationMorningRising EarlyThose Who Rose EarlyWorshipping God

Seven days passed after Jehovah struck the Nile. Verse ConceptsWeeksSevenSeven Days