1 Then Yahweh said to Moses, “Go to Pharaoh and tell him, 'Yahweh, the God of the Hebrews, says this: “Let my people go so that they may worship me.” 2 But if you refuse to let them go, if you still keep them back, 3 then Yahweh's hand will be on your cattle in the fields and on the horses, donkeys, camels, herds, and flocks, and it will cause a terrible disease. 4 Yahweh will treat Israel's cattle and Egypt's cattle differently and no animal that belongs to the Israelites will die. 5 Yahweh has fixed a time; he has said, “It is tomorrow that I will do this thing in the land.”'” 6 Yahweh did this the next day: All the cattle of Egypt died, but none of the Israelites' animals died, not one animal. 7 Pharaoh investigated, and, behold, not even one animal of the Israelites died. But his heart was stubborn, so he did not let the people go. 8 Then Yahweh said to Moses and to Aaron, “Take some handfuls of ashes from a kiln. You, Moses, must throw the ashes up into the air while Pharaoh is watching. 9 They will become fine dust over all the land of Egypt. They will cause blisters and sores to break out on people and animals throughout all the land of Egypt.” 10 So Moses and Aaron took ashes from a kiln and stood in front of Pharaoh. Then Moses threw the ashes up into the air. The ashes caused blisters and sores to break out on people and animals. 11 The magicians could not resist Moses because of the blisters, because the blisters were on them and on all the other Egyptians. 12 Yahweh hardened Pharaoh's heart, so Pharaoh did not listen to Moses and Aaron. This was just as Yahweh had said to Moses that Pharaoh would do. 13 Then Yahweh said to Moses, “Get up early in the morning, stand in front of Pharaoh, and say to him, 'Yahweh, the God of the Hebrews, says this: “Let my people go so that they may worship me. 14 For this time I will send all my plagues on you yourself, on your servants and your people. I will do this so that you may know that there is no one like me in all the earth. 15 By now I could have reached out with my hand and attacked you and your people with disease, and you would have been eradicated from the land. 16 But it was for this reason I allowed you to survive: In order to show you my power, so that my name may be proclaimed throughout all the earth. 17 You are still lifting yourself up against my people by not letting them go. 18 Listen! Tomorrow about this time I will bring a very strong hail storm, such as has not been seen in Egypt since the day it was begun until now. 19 Now then, send men and gather your cattle and everything you have in the fields to a safe place. Every man and animal that is in the field and is not brought home—the hail will come down on them, and they will die.”'” 20 Then those of Pharaoh's servants who believed in Yahweh's message hurried to bring their slaves and cattle into the houses. 21 But those who did not take Yahweh's message seriously left their slaves and cattle in the fields. 22 Then Yahweh said to Moses, “Reach out with your hand toward the sky so that there will be hail in all the land of Egypt, on people, on animals, and on all the plants in the fields throughout the land of Egypt.” 23 Moses reached out with his staff toward the sky, and Yahweh sent thunder, hail, and lightning to the ground. He also rained hail on the land of Egypt. 24 So there were hail and lightning mixed with hail, very severe, such as had not been in all the land of Egypt since it became a nation. 25 Throughout all the land of Egypt, the hail struck everything in the fields, both people and animals. It struck every plant in the fields and broke every tree. 26 Only in the land of Goshen, where the Israelites lived, was there no hail. 27 Then Pharaoh sent men to summon Moses and Aaron. He said to them, “I have sinned this time. Yahweh is righteous, and I and my people are wicked. 28 Pray to Yahweh, because the mighty thunderbolts and hail are too much. I will let you go, and you will stay here no longer.” 29 Moses said to him, “As soon as I leave the city, I will spread my hands out to Yahweh. The thunder will stop, and there will not be any more hail. In this way you will know that the earth belongs to Yahweh. 30 But as for you and your servants, I know that you do not yet really honor Yahweh God.” 31 Now the flax and the barley were ruined, for the barley was maturing in the ear, and the flax was in bloom. 32 But the wheat and the spelt were not harmed because they were later crops. 33 When Moses had left Pharaoh and the city, he spread out his hands to Yahweh; the thunder and hail stopped, and the rain came down no more. 34 When Pharaoh saw that the rain, hail, and thunder had ceased, he sinned again and hardened his heart, together with his servants. 35 Pharaoh's heart was hardened, so he did not let the people of Israel go. This was the way that Yahweh had said to Moses that Pharaoh would act.
Exodus · Unlocked Literal Bible
Exodus 9 Unlocked Literal Bible
Audio: World English Bible (WEB), read by Winfred W. Henson · About the recordings
People & places in this chapter
From this site's family tree and Bible maps, only where those guides cite this chapter.
People
Aaron
Moses' brother and spokesman, Israel's first high priest.
Cited in the guide: Exodus 4–40; Leviticus 8–10
Moses
Drawn from the Nile, he led Israel out of Egypt and received God's Law.
Cited in the guide: Exodus 2–Deuteronomy 34
Cross references (35)
Related passages for each verse, from the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge as collected and ranked by readers at OpenBible.info.
- 1 Exodus 8:1; Exodus 10:3; Exodus 9:13; Exodus 8:20; Exodus 3:18
- 2 Exodus 8:2; Leviticus 26:23–24; Isaiah 1:20; Psalm 68:21; Exodus 4:23
- 3 Exodus 7:4; Acts 13:11; 1 Samuel 6:9; 1 Samuel 5:6–11; Exodus 8:19
- 4 Exodus 8:22; Exodus 12:13; Malachi 3:18; Isaiah 65:13–14; Exodus 10:23
- 5 Exodus 8:23; Jeremiah 28:16–17; Numbers 16:5; Job 24:1; Exodus 9:18
- 6 Psalm 78:48; Exodus 9:25; Psalm 78:50; Exodus 9:19–20
- 7 Exodus 7:14; Exodus 8:32; Job 9:4; Proverbs 29:1; Romans 9:18
- 8 Exodus 8:16
- 9 Revelation 16:2; Deuteronomy 28:27; Deuteronomy 28:35; Job 2:7; Leviticus 13:18–20
- 10 Deuteronomy 28:27
- 11 2 Timothy 3:8–9; Isaiah 47:12–14; Exodus 7:11–12; Revelation 16:2; Exodus 8:18–19
- 12 Exodus 4:21; Psalm 81:11–12; Exodus 7:13–14; Revelation 16:10–11
- 13 Exodus 8:20; Exodus 7:15; Exodus 9:1
- 14 Exodus 8:10; Leviticus 26:18; Leviticus 26:28; Leviticus 26:21; Deuteronomy 32:39–42
- 15 Exodus 3:20; Exodus 12:29–30; Exodus 9:3; Exodus 9:6; Exodus 11:4–6
- 16 Romans 9:17; Proverbs 16:4; Psalm 83:17–18; Psalm 64:9; 1 Chronicles 16:24
- 17 1 Corinthians 10:22; Isaiah 37:29; Isaiah 37:23–24; Job 9:4; Isaiah 45:9
- 18 1 Kings 20:6; 1 Kings 19:2; 2 Kings 7:1; Psalm 83:15; Exodus 9:22–25
- 19 Habakkuk 3:2
- 20 Proverbs 13:13; Proverbs 22:3; Hebrews 11:7; Mark 13:14–16; Jonah 3:5–6
- 21 1 Chronicles 22:19; Job 7:17; Exodus 7:23; Daniel 10:12; Proverbs 24:32
- 22 Revelation 16:21; Exodus 7:19; Exodus 8:16; Exodus 8:5
- 23 Joshua 10:11; Psalm 18:13; Ezekiel 38:22; Isaiah 30:30; Revelation 8:7
- 24 Exodus 9:23; Matthew 24:21; Exodus 10:6
- 25 Psalm 105:32–33; Psalm 78:47
- 26 Exodus 11:7; Exodus 9:4; Exodus 10:23; Exodus 9:6; Exodus 12:13
- 27 2 Chronicles 12:6; Exodus 10:16; Lamentations 1:18; Psalm 129:4; Psalm 145:17
- 28 Exodus 8:8; Exodus 10:17; Exodus 8:28; Acts 8:24; Psalm 29:3–4
- 29 Psalm 143:6; 1 Kings 8:38; 1 Kings 8:22; 1 Corinthians 10:26; Isaiah 1:15
- 30 Isaiah 26:10; Proverbs 16:6; Isaiah 63:17
- 31 Ruth 1:22; Ruth 2:23; Habakkuk 3:17; Amos 4:9
- 32 Exodus 10:22
- 33 Exodus 9:29; Exodus 8:12; James 5:17–18; Exodus 10:18–19
- 34 Exodus 7:14; 2 Chronicles 28:22; Exodus 8:15; 2 Chronicles 36:13; Exodus 4:21
- 35 Exodus 4:21
Cross references: OpenBible.info (CC BY), drawn mainly from the public-domain Treasury of Scripture Knowledge. · Sources & licences
What the Fathers said
Passages from the Church Fathers that expound or quote this chapter, verbatim from the public-domain Schaff edition (19th-century English translations).
How these were chosen
“Commentary” is the opening of a homily or exposition on this chapter (John Chrysostom’s homilies, Augustine’s tractates, sermons and expositions of the Psalms). “Quotes” are sentences where the edition’s own footnotes identify a quotation of a verse here, kept only when the wording matches the verse. Only works whose authorship is not in doubt are used. Psalms follow the Hebrew/English numbering (Augustine numbers them as the Septuagint does: his Psalm 50 is Psalm 51 here).
"But," say they, "God hardened the heart of Pharaoh and of his servants." Those, then, who allege such difficulties, do not read in the Gospel that passage where the Lord replied to the disciples, when they asked Him, "Why speakest Thou unto them in parables?"--"Because it is given unto you to know the mystery of the kingdom of heaven; but …