Daily Text and Bible Reading: Monday, January 20 [Press play below]

8.1 Then Jehovah said to Moses: “Go in to Pharaoh and say to him, ‘This is what Jehovah says: “Send my people away so that they may serve me.
8.2 If you keep refusing to send them away, I will plague all your territory with frogs.
8.3 And the Nile River will swarm with frogs, and they will come up and enter into your house, into your bedroom, on your bed, into the houses of your servants and on your people, into your ovens, and into your kneading troughs.
8.4 On you, on your people, and on all your servants, the frogs will come up.”’”
8.5 Jehovah later said to Moses: “Say to Aaron, ‘Stretch out your hand with your rod over the rivers, the Nile canals, and the marshes, and make the frogs come up over the land of Egypt.’”
8.6 So Aaron stretched out his hand over the waters of Egypt, and the frogs began to come up and to cover the land of Egypt.
8.7 However, the magic-practicing priests did the same thing by their secret arts, and they too made the frogs come up over the land of Egypt.
8.8 Pharaoh then called Moses and Aaron and said: “Plead with Jehovah to remove the frogs from me and my people, as I want to send the people away so that they may sacrifice to Jehovah.”
8.9 Then Moses said to Pharaoh: “I leave to you the honor of telling me when I should plead to have the frogs removed from you, your servants, your people, and your houses. Only in the Nile River will they be left.”
8.10 To this he said: “Tomorrow.” So he said: “It will be according to your word so that you may know that there is no one else like Jehovah our God.
8.11 The frogs will depart from you, your houses, your servants, and your people. They will be left only in the Nile.”
8.12 So Moses and Aaron went out from Pharaoh, and Moses pleaded with Jehovah about the frogs that He had brought upon Pharaoh.
8.13 Then Jehovah did as Moses asked, and the frogs began to die in the houses, the courtyards, and the fields.
8.14 They were piling them up in countless heaps, and the land began to stink.
8.15 When Pharaoh saw that there was relief, he hardened his heart and he refused to listen to them, just as Jehovah had said.
8.16 Jehovah now said to Moses: “Say to Aaron, ‘Stretch out your rod and strike the dust of the earth, and it must become gnats in all the land of Egypt.’”
8.17 And they did this. Aaron stretched out his hand with his rod and struck the dust of the earth, and the gnats came on man and beast. All the dust of the earth became gnats in all the land of Egypt.
8.18 The magic-practicing priests tried to do the same and produce gnats by their secret arts, but they could not. And the gnats came on man and beast.
8.19 So the magic-practicing priests said to Pharaoh: “It is the finger of God!” But Pharaoh’s heart continued to be obstinate, and he did not listen to them, just as Jehovah had said.
8.20 Then Jehovah said to Moses: “Get up early in the morning and station yourself in front of Pharaoh. Look! He is coming out to the water! And you must say to him, ‘This is what Jehovah has said: “Send my people away so that they may serve me.
8.21 But if you do not send my people away, I will send on you, your servants, and your people and into your houses the gadfly; and the houses of Egypt will be full of gadflies, and they will even cover the ground they stand on.
8.22 On that day I will certainly set apart the land of Goshen, where my people are dwelling. No gadflies will exist there, and by this you will know that I, Jehovah, am here in the land.
8.23 And I will make a distinction between my people and your people. Tomorrow this sign will take place.”’”
8.24 And Jehovah did so, and heavy swarms of gadflies began to invade the house of Pharaoh and the houses of his servants and all the land of Egypt. The land was ruined by the gadflies.
8.25 Finally, Pharaoh called Moses and Aaron and said: “Go, sacrifice to your God in the land.”
8.26 But Moses said: “It is not proper to do so, because what we would sacrifice to Jehovah our God would be detestable to the Egyptians. If we would make a sacrifice that was detestable to the Egyptians right before their eyes, would they not stone us?
8.27 We will make a three-day journey into the wilderness, and there we will sacrifice to Jehovah our God, just as he has said to us.”
8.28 Pharaoh now said: “I will send you away to sacrifice to Jehovah your God in the wilderness. Only, you must not go so far away. Plead in my behalf.”
8.29 Then Moses said: “Now I am going away from you, and I will plead with Jehovah, and the gadflies will depart from Pharaoh, his servants, and his people tomorrow. But Pharaoh must stop trifling with us by refusing to send the people away to sacrifice to Jehovah.”
8.30 Moses then went out from Pharaoh and pleaded with Jehovah.
8.31 So Jehovah did according to Moses’ word, and the gadflies departed from Pharaoh, his servants, and his people. Not one was left.
8.32 However, Pharaoh again hardened his heart and did not send the people away.
9.1 So Jehovah said to Moses: “Go in to Pharaoh and say to him, ‘This is what Jehovah the God of the Hebrews has said: “Send my people away so that they may serve me.
9.2 But if you refuse to send them away and you keep holding them,
9.3 look! Jehovah’s hand will come against your livestock in the field. On the horses, the donkeys, the camels, the herd, and the flock, there will be a devastating plague.
9.4 And Jehovah will certainly make a distinction between the livestock of Israel and the livestock of Egypt, and nothing that belongs to the Israelites will die.”’”
9.5 Moreover, Jehovah set an appointed time, saying: “Tomorrow Jehovah will do this in the land.”
9.6 And Jehovah did this on the very next day, and all sorts of livestock of Egypt began to die, but not one of Israel’s livestock died.
9.7 When Pharaoh inquired, look! not so much as one of Israel’s livestock had died. Nevertheless, Pharaoh’s heart continued to be unresponsive, and he did not send the people away.
9.8 Jehovah then said to Moses and Aaron: “Fill both of your hands with soot from a kiln, and Moses must throw it into the air in front of Pharaoh.
9.9 And it will become a fine dust on all the land of Egypt, and it will become festering boils on man and beast in all the land of Egypt.”
9.10 So they took soot from a kiln and stood before Pharaoh, and Moses tossed it into the air, and it became festering boils breaking out on man and beast.
9.11 The magic-practicing priests were unable to stand before Moses because of the boils, for they had developed on the magic-practicing priests and on all the Egyptians.
9.12 But Jehovah allowed Pharaoh’s heart to become obstinate, and he did not listen to them, just as Jehovah had told Moses.
9.13 Then Jehovah said to Moses: “Get up early in the morning and station yourself in front of Pharaoh, and say to him, ‘This is what Jehovah the God of the Hebrews has said: “Send my people away so that they may serve me.
9.14 For now I am directing all my blows to strike your heart, your servants, and your people, so that you may know that there is no one like me in all the earth.
9.15 For by now I could have thrust my hand out to strike you and your people with a devastating plague, and you would have been wiped out from the earth.
9.16 But for this very reason I have kept you in existence: to show you my power and to have my name declared in all the earth.
9.17 Are you still behaving arrogantly against my people by not sending them away?
9.18 Here I will cause a very great hail to rain down tomorrow about this time, such as has never occurred in Egypt from the day it was founded until now.
9.19 Therefore, send word to bring all your livestock and all that is yours in the field under shelter. Every man and beast caught in the field and not brought into the house will die when the hail comes down on them.”’”
9.20 Anyone among Pharaoh’s servants who feared Jehovah’s word quickly brought his own servants and his livestock into the houses,
9.21 but whoever did not take Jehovah’s word to heart left his servants and his livestock in the field.
9.22 Jehovah now said to Moses: “Stretch out your hand toward the heavens, so that hail may come down on all the land of Egypt, on man and beast and all the vegetation of the field in the land of Egypt.”
9.23 So Moses stretched out his rod toward the heavens, and Jehovah sent thunder and hail, and fire fell down to the earth, and Jehovah kept making it rain down hail on the land of Egypt.
9.24 There was hail, and there was fire flashing in the midst of the hail. It was very heavy; there had never been any like it in the land since Egypt had become a nation.
9.25 The hail struck everything in the field throughout the land of Egypt, from man to beast, and it struck down all the vegetation and shattered all the trees of the field.
9.26 Only in the land of Goshen, where the Israelites were, there was no hail.
9.27 So Pharaoh sent for Moses and Aaron and said to them: “I have sinned this time. Jehovah is righteous, and I and my people are in the wrong.
9.28 Plead with Jehovah that there may be an end to God’s thunder and hail. Then I will be willing to send you away, and you will not stay any longer.”
9.29 So Moses said to him: “As soon as I go out of the city, I will spread out my hands before Jehovah. The thunder will stop and the hail will not continue any longer, so that you may know that the earth belongs to Jehovah.
9.30 But as for you and your servants, I know already that even then, you will not fear Jehovah God.”
9.31 Now the flax and the barley had been struck down, because the barley was in the ear and the flax had flower buds.
9.32 But the wheat and the spelt had not been struck down, because they were later crops.
9.33 Moses now went out of the city from Pharaoh and spread out his hands before Jehovah, and the thunder and the hail stopped and the rain quit pouring down on the earth.
9.34 When Pharaoh saw that the rain, the hail, and the thunder had stopped, he sinned again and hardened his heart, he as well as his servants.
9.35 And Pharaoh’s heart continued obstinate, and he did not send the Israelites away, just as Jehovah had stated through Moses.
10.1 Then Jehovah said to Moses: “Go in to Pharaoh, for I have allowed his heart and the hearts of his servants to become unresponsive, so that I may display these signs of mine right before him,
10.2 and in order that you may declare to your sons and your grandsons how severely I have dealt with Egypt and what signs I have performed among them; and you will certainly know that I am Jehovah.”
10.3 So Moses and Aaron went in to Pharaoh and said to him: “This is what Jehovah the God of the Hebrews has said, ‘How long will you refuse to submit to me? Send my people away so that they may serve me.
10.4 For if you keep refusing to send my people away, here I am bringing locusts within your boundaries tomorrow.
10.5 And they will cover the surface of the earth, and it will not be possible to see the ground. They will eat up what escaped the hail and was left for you, and they will eat all your trees that are growing in the field.
10.6 They will fill your houses, the houses of all your servants, and the houses of all Egypt to an extent that your fathers and your grandfathers never saw from the time they have been in this land until today.’” With that he turned and went out from Pharaoh.
10.7 Then Pharaoh’s servants said to him: “How long will this man continue to menace us? Send the men away so that they may serve Jehovah their God. Do you not yet realize that Egypt has been ruined?”
10.8 So Moses and Aaron were brought back to Pharaoh, and he said to them: “Go, serve Jehovah your God. But just who will be going?”
10.9 Then Moses said: “We will go with our young people, our old people, our sons, our daughters, our sheep, and our cattle, because we will hold a festival to Jehovah.”
10.10 He said to them: “If I ever send you and your children away, then Jehovah is indeed with you! It is clear that you intend to do something evil.
10.11 No! Only your men may go and serve Jehovah, for that is what you requested.” With that they were driven out from before Pharaoh.
10.12 Jehovah now said to Moses: “Stretch out your hand over the land of Egypt for the locusts, so that they may come up over the land of Egypt and eat up all the vegetation of the land, everything that the hail has let remain.”
10.13 At once Moses stretched out his rod over the land of Egypt, and Jehovah caused an east wind to blow on the land all that day and all night. The morning came, and the east wind brought the locusts.
10.14 And the locusts came up over all the land of Egypt and settled down on the whole territory of Egypt. It was extremely severe; never before had there been so many locusts, nor would there ever be so many again.
10.15 They covered the surface of the entire land, and the land grew dark with them; they devoured all the vegetation of the land and all the fruit of the trees that the hail had left; nothing green was left on the trees or on the vegetation of the field in all the land of Egypt.
10.16 So Pharaoh quickly called Moses and Aaron and said: “I have sinned against Jehovah your God and against you.
10.17 Now, please, pardon my sin just this once, and plead with Jehovah your God that he just remove this deadly plague from upon me.”
10.18 So he went out from Pharaoh and pleaded with Jehovah.
10.19 Then Jehovah caused the wind to shift, and it became a very stiff west wind, and it carried the locusts away and drove them into the Red Sea. Not a single locust remained in all the territory of Egypt.
10.20 However, Jehovah allowed Pharaoh’s heart to become obstinate, and he did not send the Israelites away.
10.21 Jehovah then said to Moses: “Stretch out your hand toward the heavens so that there may be darkness over the land of Egypt, a darkness so thick that it can be felt.”
10.22 Moses immediately stretched out his hand toward the heavens, and there was a dense darkness in all the land of Egypt for three days.
10.23 They did not see one another, and none of them got up from where they were for three days; but all the Israelites had light in their dwellings.
10.24 Pharaoh then called Moses and said: “Go, serve Jehovah. Only your sheep and your cattle will remain behind. Even your children may go with you.”
10.25 But Moses said: “You yourself will also provide us with sacrifices and burnt offerings, and we will offer them to Jehovah our God.
10.26 Our livestock will also go with us. Not an animal will be allowed to remain, because we will be using some of them to worship Jehovah our God, and we do not know what we will offer in worship to Jehovah until we arrive there.”
10.27 So Jehovah allowed Pharaoh’s heart to become obstinate, and he did not consent to send them away.
10.28 Pharaoh said to him: “Get out of my sight! Make sure that you do not try to see my face again, for on the day you see my face, you will die.”
10.29 To this Moses said: “Just as you have spoken, I will not try to see your face again.”